Learning the skills necessary to make beautiful, well-crafted furniture can be very challenging. It takes a lot of time and practice to develop the wide range of skills and techniques needed for the craft. Meanwhile learning on your own can often feel like you’re taking more steps backward than you are forward.
To help in the learning process, I’m happy to announce two separate 12-Week Furniture Making Intensives at Philadelphia Furniture Workshop this coming autumn and winter. The Intensive course is "Designed for the aspiring cabinetmaker or furniture maker whose aim is to work at a high level of skill and create work that reflects personal expression". The autumn dates are September 28 - December 18, 2020 and the winter dates are January 11 - April 2, 2021.
The 12-week Intensive is divided into a Fundamentals section, followed by student Projects. The fundamentals section of the course introduces students to woodshop safety, sharpening, the selection and use of hand tools, classic cabinetmaker’s techniques & joinery, toolmaking, choosing & milling lumber as well as many other techniques.
Participants continue steadily building on their fundamental skills as they move into the project section of the course, where the focus shifts to designing and creating individual furniture pieces as additional techniques are introduced. Designing and drawing, making and fitting dovetail drawers, installing knife hinges, creating hand-planed surfaces, working with sawn veneers, and steam bending/shaping wood are a few of the techniques that will be instructed alongside individual projects.
I’ve carefully designed the curriculum to cover as much ground as possible during the 12-week course. It's a full-time commitment with class hours Monday through Friday, 9 am — 4 pm. The course offers a unique opportunity for woodworkers to immerse themselves in the basics as well as the finer points of one-of-a-kind woodworking.
I’m delighted to be teaching the course at Philadelphia Furniture Workshop. I've had the pleasure of teaching a number of long-term woodworking courses such as this at various furniture-making programs in the US. Multi-week Intensives tend to create a strong feeling of community between classmates as people go through similar challenges. Participants learn not only from their own projects but benefit as well from the challenges and successes of the other people in the class. The friendly, energetic environment really lends itself to creative, satisfying work. Along with excellent, professional woodworking machinery and equipment, the wood studio has wood floors, high ceilings and abundant natural light. It’s an excellent space for learning. There are 12 full-size cabinetmakers benches grouped in pairs and the course will be limited to 6 students. This way each participant will occupy 2 benches allowing plenty of workspace while also being able to maintain social distancing.
If you have any questions about the Intensive or would like to make payment arrangements for the course, please give the shop a call at 251-849-5174.