What are some of the better woodworking schools? I'm near retirement and
would like to make furniture in my waning years.

"Evon" wrote in message

What are some of the better woodworking schools? I'm near retirement and
would like to make furniture in my waning years.


Do you want a full time school that lasts for a semester or two, or do you
want to take some classes that meet specific needs? How far are you willing
to travel?

American Sycamore offers some very interesting classes.
http://www.americansycamoreretreat.com/

I've not been to any (yet) but have met Mike and his wife and I've seen that
work they do. You spend the week there and take home a nice piece of
furniture.

Some schools offer adult evening classes. They tend to be more basic and
geared to the new woodworker. Some stores like Woodcraft offer evening or
weekend classes.

On Sat, 04 Dec 2004 12:28:17 GMT, "Evon"
wrote:

What are some of the better woodworking schools? I'm near retirement and
would like to make furniture in my waning years.

Geez, if you are going from a job (no matter what it is - unless it's
QA in a brothel) to woodworking how could you call it 'waning' years.
Independent of what finish you intend to use I would definitely say it
could be your 'waxing' years.

TWS

Sat, Dec 4, 2004, 1:52pm (EST+5) (TWS) says:
snip QA in a brothel) snip

I once applied for a job as test pilot for one. But they weren't
hiring.



JOAT
Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind dont
matter, and those who matter dont mind.
- Dr Seuss

"Evon" wrote in message
nk.net...
What are some of the better woodworking schools? I'm near retirement and
would like to make furniture in my waning years.

I've seen the Marc Adams school talked about here.
http://www.marcadams.com/
I also have a pamplet here from American Sycamore
http://americansycamoreretreat.com and I just received in the mail
information on Kelly Mehler's school http://www.kellymehler.com.

I have not attended any of them, but if I was so inclined, I'd probably
check out the Marc Adams school.

todd

On Sat, 04 Dec 2004 12:28:17 GMT, "Evon"
wrote:

What are some of the better woodworking schools?

Better or more famous ? There's a lot of confusion over that.

How much do you know already ? A course with Krenov isn't going to be
best appreciated if you're still working out which way the dovetail
pins go.

How long have you got ? I'd like to go to North Bennet St (I just
like Boston), but I don't think they do short courses.

What's "woodworking" ? Why assume this is furniture - maybe you've
always fancied building a boat, or a guitar. There's a lot of
variation, and many of the skills don't even overlap.

You can only talk about "woodworking" as a broad topic at either a
pretty low level, or a very high "I want to know _everything_" one.
For the first, then local, cheap and convenient is probably the major
factor in a course, not studying under the greatest teacher ever --
and many of the best craftsman aren't the best teachers, or v.v.

If you don't know the difference between a joiner and a planer, then
find a local course, evening classes or the like, where you can get
hands-on with the machinery. Learn something, learn what the options
are, learn the basics of benchwork so you can learn more quickly in
the future, learn what you're interested in, learn what other makers
are already producing or what historical techniques have been. Only
_then_ take your pot of cash and blow it on the 3-month summer
residence at the shack in Oregon.

A subscription to Fine Woodworking sounds like a good idea too. Read
the small ads in the back for a whole range of courses.

--
Smert' spamionam

"Andy Dingley" wrote in message

If you don't know the difference between a joiner and a planer, then
find a local course, evening classes or the like, where you can get
hands-on with the machinery. Learn something, learn what the options
are, learn the basics of benchwork so you can learn more quickly in
the future, learn what you're interested in, learn what other makers
are already producing or what historical techniques have been.

You bring up a good point here. You can attend the best school with the
best teacher and walk away with nothing to show for it. Everyone learns at
a different pace and getting the information from the brain to the hands can
be difficult for some of us. Unless you have that flow going already take
it slow, doing a step at a time.

On Sat, 04 Dec 2004 15:33:01 GMT, "Edwin Pawlowski"
wrote:

You can attend the best school with the
best teacher and walk away with nothing to show for it.

Last year I did a short blacksmithing course with two of the UK's best
known smiths. It was a great course, I enjoyed it a lot, but I'd have
_learned_ more if I'd been starting from a higher level.

North Bennet offers several workshops which range from 1 day to three
months.

http://www.nbss.org/

Look under workshops for the list of courses. They generally require
that you take a fundamentals of fine woodworking introduction (10 days
long) before taking some of the more advanced course. the three month
intensive course includes this introduction but the next course which
goes from the end of January to April already has a waiting list. The
school has recently expanded its space and will be offering even more
workshops in the future. I have taken several courses (and have signed
up for the three month intensive) and found them to be very
worthwhile. Quite a few fellow retirees have been in the classes.


On Sat, 04 Dec 2004 15:13:29 +0000, Andy Dingley
wrote:

On Sat, 04 Dec 2004 12:28:17 GMT, "Evon"
wrote:

What are some of the better woodworking schools?

Better or more famous ? There's a lot of confusion over that.

How much do you know already ? A course with Krenov isn't going to be
best appreciated if you're still working out which way the dovetail
pins go.

How long have you got ? I'd like to go to North Bennet St (I just
like Boston), but I don't think they do short courses.

What's "woodworking" ? Why assume this is furniture - maybe you've
always fancied building a boat, or a guitar. There's a lot of
variation, and many of the skills don't even overlap.

You can only talk about "woodworking" as a broad topic at either a
pretty low level, or a very high "I want to know _everything_" one.
For the first, then local, cheap and convenient is probably the major
factor in a course, not studying under the greatest teacher ever --
and many of the best craftsman aren't the best teachers, or v.v.

If you don't know the difference between a joiner and a planer, then
find a local course, evening classes or the like, where you can get
hands-on with the machinery. Learn something, learn what the options
are, learn the basics of benchwork so you can learn more quickly in
the future, learn what you're interested in, learn what other makers
are already producing or what historical techniques have been. Only
_then_ take your pot of cash and blow it on the 3-month summer
residence at the shack in Oregon.

A subscription to Fine Woodworking sounds like a good idea too. Read
the small ads in the back for a whole range of courses.

Evon wrote:
What are some of the better woodworking schools? I'm near retirement and
would like to make furniture in my waning years.



For one-on-one personalized instruction, visit
http://www.foursisterswoodworking.com/4s_home.html

Les and Harry are two of the most accomplished woodworkers I know and do
an incredible job teaching you what you want to learn. Check it out.

Ron Hock
www.hocktools.com