Woodworking Masterclasses – From Tool Carriers to Arts & Crafts Coffee Tables

I have been excited to present the various woodworking series with woodworkingmasterclasses.com over the past year. Already the range of projects has become fundamental to the various training sessions members and subscribers on that website undertake. The resulting projects we have made in just six or so months of online broadcast is phenomenal and the YouTube freebies have been expansive too. Judging by the overwhelming response to my personal and increased emails I get, I feel that this past year was a major breakthrough in our efforts to train the new-genre woodworker.

More filming this week – Arts & Crafts Coffee Table

This week the filming concluded the latest sections in the Arts and Crafts Coffee Table series and I am sure that the technical creativity it takes by film editors means many days of edit to get them ready for the remaining weekly presentations they offer. Meanwhile I got to situate the finished coffee table in the living room in White Cottage, Llandygai where my wife happily greeted  the new arrival.

Making housing dado joints by hand

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DSC_0012 - Version 2 When we started the training we made a tool carrier from pine. This covered wood preparation, tool choices, accurate layout and many practical techniques most woodworkers had never seen before. We used through-housing dado joints to make the carrier and it proved a very practical course for everyone to get started with. Beyond that, as part of our free film offering for subscribers to woodworking masterclasses, we came up with projects and techniques that prepare the way for the future projects we would build.

The clock-making series

Reinforcing the first of the three joints, ten hand tool message we’ve taught for over two decades, we created the hanging wall clock and introduced the stopped housing dado joint, which everyone enjoyed greatly. I went on to create some other examples to inspire members with and also encourage people on my blog with too.

DSC_0007_1 Dovetailing by hand – no more intimidation

New enthusiasm is in one sense the emotion that ensures success to new woodworkers facing a seemingly awkward and often intimidating task. The different projects created a success we knew could work but could only be proven by the results that came from those who actually completed the first box-making course. This has prepared us for the larger dovetailed project which is making the upcoming tool chest. This too will be a major project of substance so I will post soon on the materials so you can start getting the wood together.

Innovation still evolves

Woodworking masterclasses started producing in-depth video instruction to update everyone on just what it takes the get the edge you need in becoming a true artisan in wood. Our micro-bevel saw sharpening  (sign in for the free subscription) proved innovative for western sharpening and highly effective in strengthening the tooth and providing a keener, longer-lasting edge to the teeth of western-style rip-cut saws. It did create great a stir for those interested in what many have a made a complex issue. The method I use means anyone anywhere can sharpen a saw for both cross- and rip-cut saws in just a few minutes and so, now what I have learned, developed, invented and mastered through many years of working, research and development is now being used on each of five continents.

Drawings prepare the script for films

DSC_0001 All of the projects I’ve designed and made are our advancing strategy for teaching and training began with a drawing of some kind. Line drawings, sketches, orthographic projections. These drawings became our script  as it were. We planned and made exactly what we presented to camera a few weeks ago. It is made completely using the hand tool methods we have shown throughout our filming.

DSC_0086 As this course continued expanding, so too the woodworkingmasterclasses forum has become increasingly more valuable to its members and the interactive exchanges have resulted in a wealth of informative contribution beyond the expectations of everyone.

 

4 Comments

  1. The only thing that amazes me anymore is that you are amazed at the impact your efforts have had on us – your unassuming nature combined with your subtle humor has permanently engraved you in our hearts and minds 🙂

    1. Wow! This is always a two-way street for me. We impact one another in v positive ways and rarely is there any conflict because we always want to help one another. Instead of climbing over one another, we are pushing someone else up.

  2. Paul. I would like to take the time to say thank you. I am beginning woodworking at age 43. I have always wanted to be a woodworker but never had anyone to apprentice with here in the states. I am beginning the journey through your videos on the internet as well as the woodworking community on YouTube. I have minimal tools and a very low budget but this has helped me to work on my skills as a woodworker and not depend on machines. I now work at a lumber company which gives me access to any wood species. My kids are asking for more gifts that are handmade by me rather than bought at a big box store. they appreciate them more that something off the store shelf. Your instruction and expert tips, I have helped me to search for older, well made tools and refurbish them. My daughter now wants to go into architecture and design because of my woodworking. Through your teaching, you have inspired me to reinvent myself and even have helped me to inspire my children to strive to do amazing things. Thank you again and I look forward to each new video with eager anticipation.

  3. I am highly enamored with your skill level Granted the fifty years are a mile stone, but an error not corrected grows over the years of experience. One case in point is my planing problem of having a bevel where an edge square to the face of a board should be. Try as I may, it still happens after thirty years as a hobbyist. Five years in someone told me a good way to have shoulder, arm, wrist and hand in one plane when sawing–what an improvement that made!
    This being said, I think your willingness to talk about techniques on each application is a terrific way to provide repetition for the student. Making a knife wall is an example that is paramount in sawing a kerf where it needs to be, not off in the dell where the cattle are moored. Much of the skill is certainly second nature to yourself, we would enjoy knowing more about how this vast knowledge developed.
    Thank you for your tutelage and devotion to conveying concepts to others.

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