Two More Upcoming Classes at our Storefront –
Megan Fitzpatrick and Brendan Gaffney will each teach a weekend class in April at our storefront in Covington, Ky. Registration will open at noon on Friday, Oct. 20.
Just like with the Welsh stick chair class with Chris Williams, these will be small classes with only six attendees. Also, these are not money-making enterprises for me or Lost Art Press. All proceeds go directly to the instructor.
I’m allowing them to use the space for free because they are my friends, I think they each have something valuable to teach and the classes build the local woodworking community in Covington. Here are the details.
Build a Shaker Silverware Tray with Megan Fitzpatrick
April 7-8, 2018
Cost: $250, plus a small materials fee for wood & cut brads (likely around $30)
Make a classic Shaker silverware tray in this introduction to hand-cut dovetails. In this two-day class, you’ll learn:
- Dovetail layout using dividers
- How to use a backsaw to saw to a line
- How to wield a coping or fret saw
- How to pare and chop to a line with a chisel
- Several strategies for transferring the tails to the pin board
- Techniques for fitting the joint
- Why dovetails work – and we’ll look at some examples of long-lasting period dovetails that look as if they were gnawed out by a beaver – “perfection” is overrated when it comes to the efficacy of this joint. (That said, you’ll also learn some “tricks” for fixing less-than-stellar dovetails.)
- How to lay out then cut and fair the handles (both the hand holds and the curved top edge)
- How to smooth-plane your surfaces
- How to use cut nails (to secure the bottom board)
- And of course, how to put it all together (and why I recommend liquid hide glue).
Build the Cabinetmaker’s Sector with Brendan Gaffney
April 21-22, 2018
Cost: $300, which includes all raw materials
In this two-day class, students will build their own Cabinetmaker’s Sector, my modernized design for the ancient geometer’s tool, used for drawing, drafting and (in my shop) the layout of dimensions and joinery on woodwork. The class will revolve around the skills of modern hand-tool makers, including careful marking and measuring, mixing metal and wood, hand shaping, finishing and (of course) how to use the tool.
Each student will be provided the wood and the necessary brass hinges and pins, everything needed to produce the sector. The first day will revolve around affixing the brass and wooden tabs into the tools, riveting the leaves together, flattening and lapping the tools and reviewing the principles behind the geometry of the sector. The second day will revolve around shaping the sectors, stamping and inking the sector marks, finishing the sectors and learning to use them in the shop. Every student will leave with a completed sector, plus the knowledge of how it works and how to use it.
