2013 Woodworking Classes

The best way to learn more about woodworking, besides the arduous path of hard knocks of which lessons are not soon forgotten, is to take woodworking classes at a dedicated school. I’ve been back at the magazine and posting blogs for more than a month, so I feel I can post about my 2013 teaching gigs.

If you’re looking for great legs (and feet, too for that matter), you have only a couple of weeks to get registered at the Connecticut Valley School of Woodworking (CVSW) for my class, Gorgeous Gams & Foot Fetishes: Its all about the Legs and the Feet- A 3 day weekend of fun and inspiration with Glen Huey. In three full days in the shop, we will cover all things – well, most things – that hold your furniture off of the floors. Cabriole legs, bracket and ogee bracket feet and how to render patterns from furniture photos is a part of what’s coming. Want more information? Visit the school’s site and scroll through the class schedule. (If you cannot attend the class, click here to download my article “Make Your First Cabriole Legs” to get started.)

A couple of weeks after all things legs, I’m at Acanthus Workshops for a week-long class building a Chester County, Pa., inlaid chest. The chest is a copy of a piece originally built in 1747 by Moses Pyle for his sister-in-law. You may recognize this piece. It’s the cover project for the June 2013 issue (#204).

The focus of the class is the inlaid line and berry work on the chest’s front, including three small arched drawers. While we’ll explore how this design can be accomplished using routers, the work itself will be hand-scratched into the box. You can find the power tool technique fully explained in the “Router Joinery & Techniques DVD.”

My last scheduled teaching week is from September 3rd to the 8th when I teach a class at CVSW building a Connecticut Lowboy that Bob Van Dyke (school owner) and I discovered while rummaging through the back room at the Connecticut Historical Society. At the same time, we both suggested this piece would be a great class. While this lowboy is similar to Queen Anne Philadelphia-style dressing table from June 2010 (issue #183) there are significant differences. This Connecticut piece is a transitional design with characteristics from William & Mary designs coupled with Queen Anne influences.

Woodworkers are visual beings. Actually building a project is a great way to learn, and building while not making “hard knocks” mistakes is even better.

— Glen D. Huey

p.s. Another great opportunity to learn about a lot of techniques and tools in three days of classes is Woodworking in America 2013, Oct. 18-20 at the Northern Kentucky Convention Center – registration will be opening soon.