Woodworking school

[Ray Schafer]

In about 20 months, I turn 50. For my 50th birthday, my wife wants me to do something special ... so I chose going to a week-long woodworking / furniture building school. so here is the question:

If you could go to any woodworking/furniture school, which one would you attend? I am in Denver, and given two equally attractive schools, I would go to the closer.

I have been doing a little bit of woodworking for the past 5 years, and so have gotten many basic skills. That means I would not want a beginners class, but instead, I want something that will push me to the limits of my abilities. I hope/plan to attend some classes at the Red Rocks School of fine Woodworking between now and then. That should help me improve upon my basic skills so that I am ready for a real challenge by the time I have my magic birthday.

[Brodie Brickey]

Ray,

What do you want to build or produce?

As an example, if you wanted to do chairs of a particular type, that would be a better aim than any one particular school. I think that there are a number of good schools for woodworking, but choosing the right class is as much about your desires as anything else like a skill set.

I think those Chippendale cabinets are awesome, but I have no really interest in producing one, and my house wouldn't be able to hold it...now a Maloof style rocker is another story.

[Larry Browning]

What a great birthday present! I think I might ask for the same thing on my 60th. I have no suggestions, but I will be following this thread to to see what the recommendations are!

[Dick Sylvan]

I have taken two courses from Lonnie Bird (he is in eastern TN near Knoxville) and thoroughly enjoyed them and getting to know Lonnie.

[Dewey Torres]

http://www.djmarks.com/classes.asp

Would be my first pick. I took a class back in Feb and it was hands down the best IMHO.

Dewey

[Ernie Hobbs]

I'm a little biased but, you could always check out my Dad's school:

www.hobbsfurniture.com

Here's a review from a few years ago on Sawmill Creek:

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/articles/3/

[Ray Schafer]

I would like to design and build fine furniture. I know that is very broad, but I don't know how to refine my definition yet. If you look at pictures from woodworking and fine furniture competitions, you will probably see the kinds of things that I would like to be able to create. Maybe one example is "fine" cabinets. I don't mean kitchen cabinets, but things like in the book "The New Best of Fine Woodworking --Designing and Building Cabinets."

[Jay Jolliffe]

I took a 12 week course at the Center For Furniture Craftsmanship in Rockport Maine & it was great. I knew a lot going in & new a lot more before I left.They have a lot of very well know people that do courses there. Web site is www.woodschool.org

[lowell holmes]

Isn't there a ranch in Colorado that offers such a course? Anderson Ranch Art Center is the one. Google it and you may just go for it. Michael Fortune is there this summer.

[Pat Germain]

Here's a link to a list of woodworking schools on the Taunton web site:

http://www.taunton.com/finewoodworking/skillsandtechniques/skillsandtechniquesarticle.aspx?id=28165

There are three listed in Colorado. Although, I agree with Dewey. If at all possible, sign up for David Marks classes at his studio in Northern California.

[Mike Henderson]

Is there a community college that has woodworking near you? If so, that would be the best place to start. If you've never had any instruction, you need to start with the basics, especially power tool safety. Once you've taken all the classes at the community college, take an advanced course with David Marks, or some similar course. Most of those course are for a very short time, and cost a lot of money so you want to be knowlegeable and prepared before you go.

Like many things, getting good is the result of lots of practice and mistakes - and a community college is a good place to get that practice. It takes time - no short course, no matter who's teaching it, will give you what time and practice will give you.

Mike

[Joe Jensen]

Ray,
IMHO you should narrow it down a little. I've been doing this for 30 years and there is still a ton to learn. I think the first question is are you drawn to hand tools or to faster production? If you want hand tools, there are tons of good classes on how to sharpen, and how to use hand tools. The sharpening is a key aspect, as it's my understanding that the tools need to be razor sharp and that takes a fair bit of time.

I'm personally more drawn to power tools. I recently took a Saturday class from Sam Maloof on how he designs and I loved it. I also learned a ton from reading Fine Woodworking Magazine over the years. In my experience they were more geared towards woodworkers who design their own work and need to learn techniques. Woodcraft and others cater more to those who work from plans.

Do you have anyone who's work you really admire? That would be a great place to start...joe

[Martin Shupe]

www.kellymehler.com

Small classes, excellent instruction.

www.marcadams.com

Larger classes, more varied topics than any other school.

Both are excellent choices...given the choice, I like smaller classes.

[Vijay Kumar]

Ray ,if you are interested in hand tools then I would highly recommend the Homestead Heritage school in Waco, TX. Very nice school, small classes and great staff. And they build award winning furniture

Vijay

[Lee Koepke]

for my birthday, I am talking the wife into a trip to British Virgin Islands :D

[Frank Carpenter]

I would most highly recommend Lonnie Bird's Woodworking Essentials class. It is very challenging. Lonnie limits his class to 9 students so there is plently of individual attention. I am going back for my second class in 2 weeks.

[Pat Germain]

Hey, I just remembered the Colorado Springs Woodcraft sometimes features classes taught by Brian Huber. Huber is a local guy who's work resembles that of David Marks. You can see examples on his web site.

http://www.hubelhi.com/

I plan to sign up for some of his classes. Give the Colorado Springs Woodcraft a call. The staff there are way cool. They'll tell about any upcoming Brian Huber classes.

The Springs can be under an hour away from Denver on the weekends, depending how far North you are. And the Woodcraft is right off the I-25 Freeway. It doesn't get much more practical than that!

[Peter Melanson]

Hey Pat,

I have taken a couple of class's at this woodcraft and they are good. I totally agree that brian is a very good instructer. He is very thourough and explains things in an easy to understand manner no matter what your level. He does WW for a living as well.

Peter

[Ellen Benkin]

I'll second the Center for Furniture Craftsmanship in Rockport Maine. Not exactly near Denver, but a great place to spend some time. They have two week workshops in the summer. Check out the web site at www.woodschool.org (http://www.woodschool.org).

[Cliff Rohrabacher]

Ray,

What do you want to build or produce?




What he said.

[Pat Zabrocki]

You can't go wrong with Kelly Mehler's school. I've taken a course there and will go back as soon as I can.

Pat

[Bert Johansen]

Ray,

Another question for you. Do you want to design your own projects, or build something from plans? If you lean toward the design process, you might consider one of the great design schools, such as the Rhode Island School of Design (where Tag Frid taught), College of the Redwoods, Center for Furniture Craftsmanship (Rockport, Maine) or others of equal quality.

The other choice, if it were my choice, would be to work with someone like Michael Fortune, or any of several dozen master craftsmen.

[Ray Schafer]

Live near Franktown, so CS is only about 45 miuntes away.

[Ray Schafer]

Yes, I want to start designing my own stuff. The classes that I plan to take at Red Rocks (community college) School of Fine Woodworking (that I mentioned above) should get me started in that direction. Thanks to everyone for the great ideas. I have been checking out the websites as you have made your suggestions and I see several that look very appealing.

[Doug Shepard]

I was reading this earlier tnen got the WWJ ezine in my inbox with a kisting by state.
http://www.woodworkersjournal.com/wwj/index.cfm/free.schools

[Kevin Davis]

Ray,

I hope to find the time some day to hit Anderson Ranch, lots of experts like Sam Maloof come in for 1 week classes. Enjoy.

http://www.andersonranch.org/workshops/index.php?page=workshops-overview

[Louis Reed]

Ray,
From what you describe as your choice of woodworking. The college of the redwoods in fort bragg california should be checked out. They really get into the design, jointery etc. of fine cabinets. They have short programs in the summer and the price is right. They also have a good network of inexpensive places to stay. The school was started in the 70s by James Krenov and the instructors are Krenov grads. I had the pleasure of attending last summer, enjoyed every minute. By the way the school web site shows alot of the students work.

Your wife is very nice to offer such a great bday present to a woodworker.

Good luck on your final choice,

Louis Reed

[Brad Knabel]

I lived in Denver prior to moving to Pittsburgh four years ago.

I took classes at Red Rocks for about three years and have taken three workshops at Anderson Ranch.

Red Rocks is one of the things I miss most about Denver. It was really nice to spend one or two evenings a week in their well-equipped shop learning from talented instructors that are passionate about what they do. The first couple of classes you take will be mostly introductory and include a little bit of classroom work in addition to the time at the shop. From there you are pretty self-directed and decide what kind of projects you want to build. You'll do the design work and take as much or as little input from the instructors as you want.

The program hired a new director (Rand Richards) about a year before I left Denver. He has taken the program to whole new level. They've expanded their offerings and the projects I see being built on their website are truly amazing. I saw a segment on the program recently on the DIY show "Trade Show" and it made me a little homesick.

Anderson Ranch is great for a variety of reasons - they get top notch instructors, you get exposure to world-class artists in other media in addition to the workshop that you are taking, and the food and lodging are nice. I found that I really enjoyed meeting students and instructors from other workshops during mealtime.

I've taken 1 weekend workshop from Sam Maloof and 2 week-long workshops from Craig Stevens. The Sam Maloof workshop was about what I expected - he's incredibly charismatic in person and has some great stories to tell. We mostly watched him build a chair and did not have any hands-on time.

Craig's workshops blew away all of my expectations. We alternated between demonstrations/talks/q&a sessions and working at our benches under Craig's direction. He is an amazing craftsman and a patient teacher. Craig is offering a two week workshop at Anderson Ranch later this year and if there was any way I could have worked it into my schedule I definitely would have gone.

I can probably ramble all day regarding either Red Rocks or Anderson Ranch. But I wanted to say that after having done both I whole-heartedly recommend both. I'll definitely take another workshop at Anderson Ranch in the next year or two.

Good luck

[Pete Lamberty]

Hi Ray,
I have taken about six or seven classes at the Marc Adams School. It is an excellent school and each classes has far surpassed my expectations. I don't think you could make a mistake going there.

Aside from that, if you are really serious about wanting to get into designing your own furniture I would highly reccomend taking some industrial design or architecture classes at a local college. Art classes would probably be good also.

Good luck and let all of us know what your final decision is.

Pete

[Faust M. Ruggiero]

Ray,
Happy birthday. They start coming quicker now. I like the community college idea. They have all the best equipment and will teach you the safety stuff you asked about a couple weeks ago. Take the rest of the $ committed to your gift and buy a library of reference material about joinery and technique. Search your regular "jungle".com for titles that interest you. Topics should include equipment use, design and proportion, wood movement and the classic joints and why they are classics. Those books will become a source for "design" and "how to". When you have the basics you may find yourself wanting to focus on something: chair making, turning, carving or veneering. Then you can look for a teacher who will take your skills to a higher level.
Since you will be 50, you probably be spending time in your "old guy" rocking chair. You'll always have something to read. :)
Faust
ps. I passed that one long ago - lots of reference books - no rocking chair - just keep on keeping on.