Making a joiner's mallet, this four-week, abridged course focusses on hand tool fundamentals - planing, chiselling, sawing and work holding. Students will start with rough sawn lumber, square it up with hand planes for lamination and cut to final size. We will fit the head on the handle using chisels, and shape the handle using spokeshaves.

This is a great introduction to hand tool use for new students, but also a good opportunity to hone existing skills.

This course will be moderately strenuous, requiring some forearm strength and endurance to be successful. 

Materials will be supplied ($30 materials cost). Safety Card not required for this course. Those students with a safety card will receive a sticker granting them access to hand tools during drop-in times.

Once a utilitarian joint, the dovetail is now thought to be the mark of the true craftsman. Praised for its beauty and exactness, the dovetail still remains one of the strongest structural joints in woodworking. This course will use the most straightforward woodworking project (a box) to teach the exacting skill of hand cutting through dovetails. We will cover marking out, hand-sawing, chiselling and fitting. We will discuss the controversy of the pins first vs. tails first crowd and pin sizing. We will also cover some power tool methods of working dovetails.
Students should wear workshop appropriate clothing and shoes and may bring their own PPE. Materials will be supplied ($40 materials cost). Safety card not required.