furniture projects

Course Length: 5 Days

Skill Level: Intermediate

Pre-Requisites:  contact us  

In this course, you will build your own classic Bow arm Morris chair, side by side with Gregory Paolini.   The arms are created using a bending form and a bent lamination technique.  There will be extensive Mortise and tennon joinery challenges, including traditional integral tennons; Floating tennons, and hand cut "through" mortise and tennon joints, on a curved surface.  You will also learn how to lay out the curved arms, and match them to the corresponding side rails and legs, with a tight fit.   Upholstery and finishing techniques will be reviewed but not applied during the class. Upon completion of the course, students will have a chair that is dry fit, together, and ready for sanding, glue up, and finishing work in their own home shops.  Or students can choose to have us complete their chair to our museum quality standards.

Course based on Gregory's article & Video which appeared in Fine Woodworking magazine.

Course Length: 5 Days

Skill Level: ALL

Pre-Requisites: None

Practical, common sense woodworking.  Our woodworking fundamentals course is a great introduction for people who are brand new to woodworking, or looking to gain a solid understanding of the fundamentals of woodworking.  This is a machine based course, with an emphasis on safety and techniques, while producing a classic piece of furniture.  In this course you will learn about the properties of wood and materials; how to read and interpret woodworking drawings and plans; reading grain and milling stock square and flat; the use of various woodworking tools including table saws, planers, routers, & jointers.   You will learn how to layout and cut mortise and tennon joinery, while focusing on datum surfaces, as well as template and pattern routing.

In the words of one of my Woodworking Fundamentals students "I learned more in one week with Gregory, than in 20 years woodworking on my own" 

Build a Limbert inspired Coffee table

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Glue up and Flatten large panels; template fabrication and template routing; bridle joinery, M&T joinery; creating and cutting ovals and ellipses

Build an Arts & Crafts bookcase

Course Length: 5 days

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This beautiful Arts & Crafts inspired bookcase will become an heirloom that can be passed down for generations.  in this course, students will build their own bookcase, and master many different furniture making skills.  We will cover mortise and tennon joinery, fashioning book matched panels, and  creating a ship lap back.

Course based on Gregory's article which appeared in Fine Woodworking magazine

resawing lumber; book matching panels; large casework construction; various router jigs; ship lap joinery

Course Length:  5 days

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In this course, you will build a classic Stickley inspired flat arm Morris chair, side by side with Gregory Paolini.   We will cover traditional and modern mortise and tennon joinery.  Upholstery and finishing techniques will be reviewed but not applied during the class. 

Course based on Gregory's article which appeared in Fine Woodworking magazine

Description coming soon

Course Length:  5 days

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Description coming soon

hand tool skills

Course Length: 1 Day

Skill Level: All

Pre-Requisites: Sharpening Skills 

Students are encouraged to bring their own hand plane, which we will tune during class  

Nothing says old world craftsmanship like the whoosh of a well tuned hand plane, in the hands of a skilled craftsman, taking a gossamer shaving off a board.  In this full day class, students will learn about various planes as well as how and when to use them.  We will thoroughly cover plane nomenclature on various styles of western bench and bevel up planes.  Students will tune and set up a western style bench plane, review sharpening, and learn proper technique for edge and face jointing with a hand plane.  During the day we will perform various real world planing exercises, including planing down to a reference surface (flush planing), and flattening a glued up panel.  Troubleshooting and Q&A will be addressed throughout the day.  

Every student who has taken this course, without exception, has left being able to produce full width shavings they can read through!

Course Length: 1/2 Day

Skill Level: ALL

Pre-Requisites: None

One of the most utilized tools in a professional furniture maker’s shop is the scraper.  It’s a simple tool, which can help to flatten panels, shape wood, and eliminate hours of sanding.  In this workshop you will learn how to sharpen, burnish, and use a card scraper properly.  We will examine variations of the basic card scraper, such as the cabinet scraper, and scraper plane, delving into their pros and cons.   Students will go home with a new card scraper and the skills to use it.  All materials provided, including a new, high quality card scraper.

Course Length: 1/2 day

Skill Level: All

Pre-Requisites:  None

Are you frustrated with tools that just don't cut it anymore?  Sharp tools make woodworking easier and enjoyable.  In this workshop Gregory will cover a variety of methods to make your tools razor sharp, including sandpaper on glass, water stones, and slow speed grinding machines.  Feel free to bring one dull chisel or plane iron.

jigs and shop fixtures

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Now with 3 axis adjustment! 

Completely redesigned, Gregory has incorporated a simple height adjustment feature into the very popular slot mortiser.  

The slot mortiser is a shop made joinery tool, which will shave hours off of your mortise and tennon joinery!

A MUST HAVE for any shop!

Course based on Gregory's article which appeared in Fine Woodworking magazine

Now with 3 axis adjustment! 

Completely redesigned, Gregory has incorporated a simple height adjustment feature into the very popular slot mortiser.  

The slot mortiser is a shop made joinery tool, which will shave hours off of your mortise and tennon joinery!

A MUST HAVE for any shop!

Course based on Gregory's article which appeared in Fine Woodworking magazine

finishing courses

Course Length:  1 day

Skill Level:  ALL

Pre-Requisites:  None

Finishing skills make the difference between a nice project and a phenomenal one.  In this full day finishing overview workshop, students will learn about various finishes, their pros and cons, and easy ways to apply those finishes.  We’ll also cover pre-finishing techniques and share pro-shop tips to ensure fantastic results.  A lot of information packed into a full day - Bring a pad and pencil to take lots of notes!     

If you've been struggling with finishing, and are unhappy with your finishing skills, this class is a must for you!

I will Guarantee results!

Course Length: 5 Days

Skill Level: All

Pre-Requisites: None

A very detailed course for anyone looking to apply perfect finishes to their projects.  This five day course contains all of the information presented in our Coloring, Top Coats, Water Based finishes, Surface Prep, Spray Finish,  Comprehensive, and Tips and Tricks courses, making it a great value for the student looking to master the art of finishing.  

Cabinetry Courses

Course Length: 5 days

Skill Level:

Pre-Requisites: Basic woodshop skills and safety protocol.  Please contact us for more info about pre-requisites for this course

This 5 day workshop combines the four cabinetry courses below, and adds so much more!   We’ll introduce material on  various types of hardware,  its installation and adjustment, as well as fool proof ways to finish your cabinets, and install them, ensuring success!

Upon completion, students will leave with a base cabinet and wall cabinet that they build in class, plus the skill and knowledge to tackle any cabinetry job in their home, including an entire set of kitchen cabinets!   Anyone who has priced cabinetry for their home will quickly realize what incredible value lies in this course

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Also known as frameless cabinetry, European cabinetry is known for it's flexibility and efficiency.

In this two day course, we'll cover cabinetry anatomy and project design.  We'll build examples of base and wall cabinets; we'll examine options for banding and supporting the cabinets, and we'll take a peek at alternative design options.  Along the way, we'll build some jigs and shop aids which will speed the process along.

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Today's cabinetry is chock full of drawers, trays, and pull outs, to make the entire project more user friendly and efficient.  In this full day workshop, we'll cover and craft various types  of joints used in drawer construction.  We'll look at several different jigs and fixtures used to complete the joinery, and we'll examine considerations which must be made for drawers to work seamlessly with cabinets.  We'll also look at integrating various slides and runners options for your projects..

Students will leave with a fully dovetailed drawer, and examples of joinery they executed during class.

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Doors and finish panels dress up your cabinetry, turning a basic box into a stellar piece of furniture.  In this full day workshop, we'll build several examples of doors, including flat and raised panel doors, as well as mitered frame doors, using common workshop tools. We'll examine options for integrating glass into our doors, and  we'll cover sizing doors, and altering finish panels for successful application.

Students will leave with several door/panel examples, AND the knowledge & skill to apply them to an entire kitchen.  

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Face frames adorn traditional cabinetry in many homes, and add a level of elegance to an otherwise plain box.  In this full day course, students will learn  various methods to construct face frames, as well as options for attaching them to cabinets.  We'll also cover ways to use modern hardware on face frame cabinetry. Plus we will create and apply bead details to face frames, to bring an extra level of sophistication to any cabinetry project! 

joinery courses