Center for Essential Education
School of Woodworking
Discover the Art of Hand Tool Woodworking

Additional Foundational Courses

We offer the following hands-on instruction to further enhance your woodworking skills. Each of these foundational level workshops provides a comprehensive course for students to gain confidence and develop their skills under the guidance of our master craftsmen.

Furniture Finishing and Restoration

A three-day workshop for new and restorative projects
Learn to finish, refinish and repair your furniture pieces through this three-day hands-on workshop. Wood finishing is one of the most important steps to completing a furniture or woodworking project. Stan Beckworth teaches from his many years of experience as furniture maker and restorer of antique and modern furniture. This workshop will also give students a practical understanding of the basic skills needed to restore and refinish vintage furniture pieces. You will learn to finish new furniture pieces, repair scratches, gouges and broken parts, as well as techniques on how to match stains and woods, remove old finishes and apply new protective coats. Through step-by-step, hands-on instruction each student will practice these methods and learn how to remedy problems associated with refinishing furniture.




Making Classic Hand Tools

A six-day workshop
Early craftsmen made many of the hand tools they worked with throughout their lives and, without the aid of any machines, produced some of the most finely crafted tools ever made. We introduce this six-day workshop for students to build eight different types of traditional woodworking hand tools.
Class size limited to 8.


 
 
 
 

Creating a Wall Clock

A two-day workshop

We have developed this two-day clock building workshop to include various aspects of our wood working with hand tools workshop for those who prefer a two-day project-oriented class.

Each student will master a range of basic woodworking skills including edge-tool sharpening, using hand tools (saws, planes, chisels and hand routers). They will also learn traditional layout methods in preparation for hand joinery. We accept this course as a prerequisite to the Woodworking Basics workshop.

Students will build a traditional wall clock from solid native American black walnut or black cherry. Please specify your choice of wood when registering for this class.

Class size limited to 10.

 

Windsor Chairmaking

A six-day workshop
Making a complete sack-back Windsor chair using traditional hand methods is one of the most rewarding experiences a woodworker can experience. We take you step-by-step through each stage as you build your first sack-back Windsor chair.