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Thread: Tools, sure; lumber, sure; instruction, hey, wait a minute now.

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Mar 2017
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    Tools, sure; lumber, sure; instruction, hey, wait a minute now.

    Wonder how many of us are at the stage where nothing from, say Leevalley, is a 'gotta get', and we have 'enough' cool lumber stuffed in places. So now I contemplate Phil Lowe's, or N. St Bennet, or similar schools, but they all seem to target younger 'wannabe artisan' crowds. FWW seminars don't attract me much, somehow. I'm close to retiring on a decent income, and am quite intrigued by spending a year or so notching up my woodworking skills. Do other folks get this yen? Has anybody followed through on it?

  2. #2
    Josko,

    I thought a lot about going to formal classes but my life circumstances made it too difficult. So, I have been teaching and mentoring myself for 15 years since I retired. There are plenty of media out there. The issue is whether a person can discipline him/herself to emulate the systematic teaching of a formal program.

    That being said, my advice is not to let yourself be put off by the artsy "image". There are many good schools that would welcome you. I don't know where you live, or whether you are willing to travel, so I could not be more specific. Here in the Denver area Red Rock CC has a number of woodworking courses. Most cities have them.

    Doug

  3. #3
    That question leads to so many questions. If you can evaluate where your skill level is and find a school that can benefit you then do it. On the other hand taking classes that are below or too far above your current skill level it may not work to well.

    I belong to a school as a member that gives me shop access. They have private lessons and small group lessons for different techniques. Many take lessons, I just read and utube and don't take the lessons,
    I have made a personal goal to add a new technique to every piece that I build so it reinforces what I know and forces me to struggle through a new technique. soon the struggle is over and a technique is mastered..............repeat.

    So many ways to approach it Josko. I hope you find what works for you.

    P.S. retirement is awesome!
    Last edited by Ron Citerone; 12-04-2018 at 8:47 PM.

  4. #4
    I would not mind taking a course on hollow body guitar building. If the instructor really knows his stuff.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Feb 2008
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    E TN, near Knoxville
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    12,298
    Quote Originally Posted by Josko Catipovic View Post
    Wonder how many of us are at the stage where nothing from, say Leevalley, is a 'gotta get', and we have 'enough' cool lumber stuffed in places. So now I contemplate Phil Lowe's, or N. St Bennet, or similar schools, but they all seem to target younger 'wannabe artisan' crowds. FWW seminars don't attract me much, somehow. I'm close to retiring on a decent income, and am quite intrigued by spending a year or so notching up my woodworking skills. Do other folks get this yen? Has anybody followed through on it?
    As for schools for adults, check out John C Campbell Folk School in Brasstown, North Carolina: https://www.folkschool.org/ Most courses are a week long and excellent. The campus is wonderfully relaxing. I haven't taken any woodworking classes there but I have gone to several woodturning classes and assisted with one. Most of the people in woodturning were older and retired.

    I don't know what's available in the traditional woodworking, but for woodturning there are turning symposiums somewhere in the country all year long. These are great time to meet other woodturners, show off your work, and get inspiration from your pick of the experts who are hired to demonstrate. I've attended three in the last 12 months in three different states.

    As for tools and gizmos, I can usually look at all the woodworking and woodturning catalogs without finding a thing I need or even want. I retired about 12 years ago and a few years ago I built the perfect shop, with space for office and library, woodturning, flatwood, little machine shop, electronics, weld shop, and wood storage. (and a sawmill out back)

    I love being retired and having everything at hand. The only thing I don't have is enough time! If you are an active person now, you will probably be even more active after retiring. For me, with the farm and other interests I sometimes don't even get time to play on the lathe except once a week or so, more when a student is coming or I'm preparing to do a turning demo. Some others I know say they have the same problem - busier after retirement than ever.

    Right after I retired I did seem to have more shop time - and that was when my woodturning was crammed in a garage before I built the new building! That short period after retiring and before you get really busy might well be perfect for quality time with your craft. Perhaps the JCC school I mentioned would be a good fit for you - people come from all over the country and sometimes from other countries to take courses there.

    JKJ

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Jul 2015
    Location
    Fairlawn, OH
    Posts
    36
    I'm in a class at The Woodright's School. This will be my first go at a class in the craft of woodworking. Looking forward to being with like minded folk, and the Woodright's look like a laid back crew. A day here or there on the weekend is all I can manage at this point in time with my work schedule. Looking forward to a class setting versus the internet or magazines (not wanting to sound ungrateful). Don't know that I would put all my school bucks into one setting as there are such a varied bunch of instructors/instruction, I'm looking forward to trying several different venues around the country.

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Mar 2017
    Location
    SE Mass.
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    Thanks for the replies - always good to read there are other folks mulling similar thoughts. I'm in Eastern MA, so N. Bennet and Furniture Inst. of MA are within commute distance. Rockport, ME is a couple hours, so I'd have to get housing.
    I'll likely go visit all three and see how things evolve. Thanks again for he encouraging and supportive replies. Any further thoughts/comments would be very appreciated.

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Jan 2006
    Location
    Central Michigan
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    1,508
    Quote Originally Posted by Josko Catipovic View Post
    Thanks for the replies - always good to read there are other folks mulling similar thoughts. I'm in Eastern MA, so N. Bennet and Furniture Inst. of MA are within commute distance. Rockport, ME is a couple hours, so I'd have to get housing.
    I'll likely go visit all three and see how things evolve. Thanks again for he encouraging and supportive replies. Any further thoughts/comments would be very appreciated.
    One other school that is top of the line is the Mark Adams School of Woodworking. I have been there a few times and really enjoyed it. They offer a lot of different classes with top of the line instructures.
    Richard Poitras
    Central, Michigan....
    01-02-2006


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