Return to main site
Sorry, but this event is now sold out. You can join the waitlist and we will send you an email when additional spaces become available.
The BARN Woodworkers Studio is proud to offer this 13-week series for anyone wishing to gain a comprehensive grounding in woodworking, using both hand and power tools. Limited to 10 students, the course covers:
The series will be offered at various times throughout the year, sometimes on weekdays, other times on weekends or week nights, to meet the needs of people with different schedules. A student who must miss a session will be able to attend the comparable session at a later time.
All users of the woodshop are required to take a free, one-hour class on Orientation to the Woodshop. Multiple sessions are scheduled before the first class in this series.
Instructors: Several instructors will teach individual sections or groups of sessions each time this course is offered.
Learn to make a 16-foot, strip-built cedar kayak from start to its fiberglass finish with guidance from Joe Greenley, designer of the beautiful boats sold by Redfish Kayaks in Port Townsend.
There is no materials fee for students who want to work on the main class project, which will be sold at auction to benefit the BARN Woodworking & Small Boat Building Shop. There will also be space for a limited number of students to build kayaks to take home, but these students must purchase the necessary materials. The kits, from Redfish Kayaks, cost $1,695 or $1,295, depending on the model.
The class is ideal for beginning woodworkers, as well as more seasoned woodworkers who want to enhance their skills in hand tools and experience the comaraderie of working on wooden boats as a team. With minimum power tool use, students will focus on using planes, spoke shaves and various measuring tools to achieve a high degree of craftsmanship.
The class will provide a strong base for anyone who wants to build a kayak on their own or with friends or family. Open studio time in the boatbuilding area within the BARN woodshop will be dedicated to strip kayak building in the fall.
Questions about the class should be directed to Michael Gunderson at gunderhatch@yahoo.com.
Instructors: Joe Greenley, founder of Redfish Kayaks, and Michael Gunderson, head of the boatbuilding programs at BARN.
Get a good foundation in carving techniques, including push, stop and draw cuts, in this three-session class. You will learn the basics of safe handling and use of carving knives the first night, then go on to learn how to deal with changes in wood grain, hollowing techniques, and other concepts as you make a spoon and carve a figure during second and third sessions.
Details:
Instructor: As a third-generation woodworker, Jeff Iller learned about woodworking tools and knives early on. By high school, he was winning ribbons with his wood carvings at his hometown fair. Around 1996 Jeff found room for a shop and he has carved ever since. He’ll carve most anything, but prefers to innovate with the working tools to carve multiple parts inside one piece of wood and to make physically detailed and accurate carvings of women's faces.
He was taught early on that he could make anything from wood and he is still trying to prove that statement wrong.
Learn the basics of wood turning in this three-part class, during which you will make a series of progressively more challenging items.
In Session 1, you will make a bottle stopper as you learning about a wood lathe, safety in turning, and how to use the tools with good body mechanics — all important to building a foundation to launch your turning skills. Tools you will use: spindle roughing gouge, spindle gouge, parting tool, Jacobs chuck, scroll chuck.
Session 2 will focus on spindle turning as you make a goblet or a candlestick. You will learn about design elements and balance, and how to use a template or story stick and calipers. In preparation for bowl turning, you will also begin learning how to hollow wood on the lathe. Tools: same as class #1, adding skew chisel, negative rake scraper, template, calipers.
In the final session, you will turn a bowl. This will begin with a short explanation about selecting wood and cutting a bowl blank on a bandsaw. You will receive a pre-cut blank, which you will mount on a lathe, rough turn the outside and tenon, then mount in scroll chuck and hollow the interior. You will learn how different bevel angles work in different parts of the bowl and experience how grain (face- and end-grain) react differently to the cutting tools. Tools: bowl gouges (three types, usually), spindle gouge, parting tool, negative rake scraper.
Make cooper scoop with turned wooden handle that you can use to measure out sugar or flour or even just to decorate a wall.It's that beautiful.
You will have your choice of three sizes, based on either a 4- or 5-inch round shape. In the sheet metal shop, you will learn the basics of layout, which will control the size. In the wooodworking shop, you will turn the handle and shape the back, which gives strength to the scoop and allows you to attach the handle.
When you finish the class, you will feel comfortable in reproducing the scoop, in whatever size you want, during open studio time.
Materials cost: $25, payable at the first class.
Instructors: Jack Archer and Linda Sohlberg
Please note: The time for this class has changed. It will be from 3-5 pm on Wednesday, July 26 -- not the original date of July 27.
Learn to give hand woodworking tools such as plane blades and chisels a razor-sharp edge.
This class will cover three sharpening systems available in the BARN woodshop:
Instructor: Dick Culp. A hand tool devotee, he has taken many classes at the Port Townsend School of Woodworking and been involved with BARN's woodworking group since the beginning.
Come join the Hand Tool Interest Group Gathering. We will talk hand tools and practice using hand tools. Bring in your planes, drills, chisels, and saws and make a little something. Chisels and plane blades need sharpening? Learn how and learn how to make dovetail joints.
No experience is necessary. But all users of the shop must first attend our free, one-hour Orientation to the Woodshop class. Multiple sessions are listed on the Woodshop calendar.
Please call Matt at (206) 849-6584 with any questions.
Explore the world of wood finishes, from traditional to contemporary, and go home with a sample board to use as a reference for future projects.
This two-session class will cover commonly used finishes, application techniques, compatibility of finishes and how to identify and repair damage on existing pieces. Students will have a chance to experiment with a variety of materials as they create their sample board .
Participants will also learn about the leadership structure within the shop and about opportunities to participate in helping everything run smoothly. Volunteer jobs range range from serving as safety monitors to helping with tool maintenance and Cleanup Mondays.
This class is free but please register so we know how many to expect.
Please dress in the same way you will be expected to do when you use the shop for open studio time. That means:
Instructor: Joe Dunstan
Instructor: Matt Jabloner, a member of the BARN woodworkers’ steering committee, is a professional engineer by trade. He has been a woodworker from before he can remember. He likes to incorporate end grain and rivets as design elements in his work.
This class will cover how to convert three-dimensional shapes into a series of two-dimensional pieces that can be cut on the laser cutter.
The class will cover finger joints and intricate variations, as well as a "live hinge" design that allows a piece of wood to bend (for example, as the hinge on a box lid).
Materials fee is to be determined.
Instructor: Adam Carroll owns Six Elements Design, a company in Suquamish that operates a large-format laser printer and makes a variety of items.
No experience necessary. We will be on hand to help as needed.
Start a project, finish a project, or just play with wood and see what happens. We will have some extra wood available or bring in your own.
Your child must 8 or older.
Instructor: Matt Jabloner, a member of the BARN woodworkers’ steering committee, is a professional engineer by trade. He has been a woodworker from before he can remember. He likes to incorporate end grain and rivets as design elements in his work. He has an unhealthy affection for vintage (but functional) hand tools. Rob Rusher will assist.
This is a full week immersion experience at BARN, you will be here all day, learn basic skills in the Woodshop and Metal Arts studios, cook your own lunch with the Kitchen Arts and become a BARN teen!
There is an Additional materials fee for this course: $150.00 (includes cedar for chairs, glass and metals). Please bring check to the first day of class. Scholarships are available, please contact Tammie@BainbridgeBARN.org.
In the Woodworking Studio, you will be introduced to the chop saw, table saw and drill press and then cut out and assemble the birdhouses.
In the Metal Arts studio, you will learn how to use basic sheet metal equipment and be guided through making and attaching the copper roof to your birdhouse.
Instructors: David Grant, a BARN woodworker and board member, and Jack Archer, who heads BARN's sheet metal programs, will team-teach this class.
As always at our monthly meetings, there will also be a short business meeting. It's a good opportunity to meet other woodworkers of all skill levels, learn what's new in the shop, and share your thoughts on class offerings and shop operations.
The designs are somewhat random, but can be influenced by grain structure, moisture, and electrode placement. We will cover basic theory and safety, and then devote most of the time to experimentation.
Some wood scraps will be available, but students are encouraged to bring their own wooden objects to decorate.
To see examples of the designs possible with the technique we will be using, click on this link: https://imgur.com/gallery/PSmcr
Build a cypress wood pie box with punched metal top, make a pie to fill it, and carry them both home. And in the process, gain experience on tools in three BARN studios: Woodworking, Metal Arts and Kitchen Arts.
In this two-evening class, you will use a table saw, chop saw and other tools to build the basic box, which will have a pull-out shelf to hold the pie. In the sheet metal shop, you will create a decorative punched-metal top, which will allow steam to escape as your pie cools. You have a choice of copper or tin. And, in BARN's commercial kitchen, you will bake a seasonal crusted fruit pie from scratch to carry home and enjoy on a summer evening.
Instructors: Carol Fiedler Kawaguchi will guide the woodworking phase, Jack Archer the sheet metal work, and Kate McDill, the baking component. Carol is a professional furniture restorer. Jack is the retired owner of a sheet metal business and heads BARN's sheet metal programs. Kate is a member of BARN's Kitchen Arts group, and baking is her passion.
In the initial class, the instructor will discuss the basic concepts of turning, using the modern pen as a model. Students will use the drill press to prepare their turning blanks.
Then, depending on the experience level of students in the class, the instructor will work out a schedule so that each student gets sufficient lathe time and one-on-one attention to complete a pen. Some students will continue working that afternoon, after a one-hour break for lunch, while others will come back the next day for their turning time.
No experience necessary. But, like all users of the Woodshop, you must first attend our free, one-hour Orientation to the Woodshop class. Multiple sessions are listed on the Woodshop calendar.
Learn to cut tightly fitting joints with hand tools in this all-day class.
You will lay out and cut the joints on practice pieces of wood and get tips on how to fine-tune the fit so the pieces mate together nicely. Joinery to be covered includes:
Rabbet, dado and lap joints, used in simple boxes and bookcases as well as elaborate furniture.
Mortise and tenon joints, among the strongest; common in chairs, tables and other furniture projects.
Dovetail joints, often seen as a hallmark of fine craftsmanship, especially when they are cut by hand and fit perfectly.
INSTRUCTOR: A hand tool devotee, Dick Culp has taken many classes at the Port Townsend School of Woodworking and will be sharing what he's learned. He serves on the school's Board of Directors and was a director of Bainbridge Island Community Woodshop until it merged with BARN at the end of 2013.
No experience necessary. But, like all other users of the woodshop, you must first attend our free, one-hour Orientation to the Woodshop class. Multiple sessions are listed on the Woodshop calendar.
Kids will learn basic woodworking skills while building a rubber-band powered paddle boat.
Starting with a rectangular blank, the kids will cut it into the shape of a boat and drill holes to insert dowels. They will use a hand plane to smooth the edges and bevel the hull. If time permits, we will assemble the paddles and try out the boats.
The class is open to kids 8 and older. Parents are welcome to join their children, but it is not required. Parents will be asked to sign a permission form.
There is a $5 materials fee, payable at the class, to cover purchase of the wood.
Come join the Hand Tool Interest Group Gathering. No experience necessary. We will talk hand tools and practice using hand tools.
Bring in your planes, drills, chisels, and saws and make a little something.
Chisels and plane blades need sharpening? Learn how and learn how to make dovetail joints.
The basic design includes a long post to help you steady yourself as you reach for a high shelf or cupboard. The post has a hole so you can store the step stool on a peg on a wall, if you wish.
In this class, you will learn to hand-cut mortise and tenon joints, as well as dovetail joints. The class also covers elements of design, such as ratios that lead to pleasing proportions, and how to “measure” without using a ruler. You'll learn what a story stick is and how to use it, and why a mock-up is useful when you are fine-tuning a design.
In this hands-on class, you will learn how to assess a piece of furniture and learn the steps needed to get it back in shape.
Students can bring a piece of furniture or a part, such as a drawer, that needs help, but it is not necessary to arrive with a piece. The instructor will discuss the repair issues of each piece. Students who have a project too challenging to complete within the three sessions of this class can continue to work on it during open studio time or at a future furniture repair class.
INSTRUCTOR: Carol Fiedler Kawaguchi is a professional woodworker who specializes in restoration of antique furniture through her business, C-Saw, on Bainbridge Island. After earning a fine arts degree from Western Washington University, she worked in New Mexico as an apprentice ceramicist and then as an apprentice violin maker, which taught her a lot about fine woodworking and traditional finishes. She began designing and building custom furniture in the mid 1980s. Her interest in European, Early American and Asian antiques led her to focus on their restoration and repair.
No experience necessary. But all users of the woodshop are first required to attend our free, one-hour Orientation to the Woodshop class. Check the Woodshop calendar for dates.
The instructor, a furniture-repair expert, will discuss chair structure and evaluate the types of repairs needed for the chairs students bring with them. Then she will help students through the steps needed to correctly repair their chairs. Some chairs may need to be disassembled, scraped free of old glue, and re glued. Others may need new bracing or other first aid. By the end of the class students will learn not only how to fix their own chair but how to approach a variety of treatments on other chair repairs as well.
Get a guided tour of the custom-built benches in the woodworking studio's new hand tool room at the monthly general membership meeting for August.
Tim Celeski, the Indianola furniture maker who designed the benches and led the construction team, will explain features of the benches and share tips on how to use them to best advantage.
The monthly general membership meetings are a good place to meet other woodworkers of all skill levels, learn what's new in the shop, and share your thoughts on class offerings and shop operations.
