Mike Hill
05-03-2007, 8:46 AM
I recently attended a six day class at the Homestead Heritage Center in Waco Texas. The course was called "The Foundational Course" and is designed to educate the student in the use of hand tools. It includes sharpening, chisels, planes, scrapers and marking instruments. You start by cutting dovetails and constructing a Shaker Candle box, then move to a Shaker shelf with a through mortise and tenon along with dado's. The last three days are spent building a small table from walnut utilizing all of the skills you have picked up in the class.
For those of us using primarily power tools, this is a real eye opener and one I highly recommend. I thought I was getting to be a "fair" woodworker until I had to cut dovetails by hand :-) If you have not done this before, leave your ego at home :-)
This community of approximately 1,700 people is entirely self sustained. They grow their own organic food and have a blacksmith shop, grist mill, pottery shop and many other facilities. You can read about their classes and the community by going to: http://www.cfeeschool.com/
I highly recommend this school and their additional classes for those interested in improving you skills. Attached are a few pictures of the area.
Mike
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For those of us using primarily power tools, this is a real eye opener and one I highly recommend. I thought I was getting to be a "fair" woodworker until I had to cut dovetails by hand :-) If you have not done this before, leave your ego at home :-)
This community of approximately 1,700 people is entirely self sustained. They grow their own organic food and have a blacksmith shop, grist mill, pottery shop and many other facilities. You can read about their classes and the community by going to: http://www.cfeeschool.com/
I highly recommend this school and their additional classes for those interested in improving you skills. Attached are a few pictures of the area.
Mike
63840
63841
63842
63843
63844