If you’re wondering what to do for this year’s vacation, start here with this alphabetical rundown of short courses and demonstrations scheduled to be taught by some first-rate woodworkers who also happen to be FWW authors. We’ve included course descriptions and links to the schools and other venues; check with the schools for fees and other requirements. Be aware, too, that courses like these fill up quickly.

Christian Becksvoort
June 21. Introduction to Wood. A woodworker’s guide to identifying, drying, and learning about wood movement as it relates to furniture construction. Sabbathday Lake Shaker Village, New Gloucester, Me.

July 26. Hand Tools I. Learn how to choose and correctly lay out tools, saws, files, and drills. Sabbathday Lake Shaker Village, New Gloucester, Me.

August 16. Hand Tools II. What to look for and how to use and sharpen chisels, planes, and scrapers. Sabbathday Lake Shaker Village, New Gloucester, Me.

Michael Fortune
June 16 to 27. On Chairs. Participants will design and construct their own chair prototype. Demonstrations on how to make accurate scale models, full-sized drawings, mock-ups, and jigs to produce multiple parts will be given throughout. Anderson Ranch Arts Center, Snowmass Village, Colo.

June 21. Tablesaw practices. Presentation of techniques on the tablesaw to achieve flawless results when cutting solid wood and veneer panels. The Furniture Society Conference, Purchase, N.Y.

June 28 and 29. Photographing Your Furniture. Demonstration on how to photograph paintings, sculpture, ceramics, and furniture with inexpensive shopmade light boxes and a point-and-shoot digital camera. Anderson Ranch Arts Center, Snowmass Village, Colo.

August 18 to 29. Apprenticeship with Michael Fortune. An opportunity to advance your technical knowledge by experimenting with forms and woodworking processes that may be new to you. Vacuum forming, strip laminating, hot pipe bending, steam-bending, and jig construction will be demonstrated. Students will construct a piece of furniture with Fortune’s assistance. Marc Adams School of Woodworking, Franklin, Ind.

August 23. Photographing Your Furniture. Basics of photographing your furniture using shopmade light boxes and a point-and-shoot digital camera. Students may bring a piece of furniture to photograph with Fortune’s assistance Marc Adams School of Woodworking, Franklin, Ind.

Garrett Hack
May 30 to June 6. Exquisite Surfaces and Details. This is a class about designing and using many alluring details: inlays of wood and precious materials such as shell and silver, making patterned bandings, flush beads and proud cockbeads used to highlight the edge of a table apron or drawer, bevels, chamfers, other decorative edges, and smoothly polished surfaces right off a plane. West Dean College, West Dean, Chichester, West Sussex, England.

July 16 to 20. Precision with Hand Tools. This class is a series of fun exercises in typical furniture-making techniques: flattening surfaces to a polished smoothness, cutting end-grain and long grain edges, fitting a drawer face, sweeping fair curves, shaping simple moldings, working to patterns, cutting chamfers and bevels (table edges), cutting and fitting several joints and an inlay or two. We’ll discuss tuning and using a wide variety of planes, marking tools, chisels, and saws, and even try a few different kinds of wood to feel the way each responds to the tools. Shelburne Art Center, Shelburne, Vt.

August 4 to 15. Design and Technique. Each student will design a modest piece to build during this 11-day class. The emphasis will be on developing a pleasing and functional design, choosing appropriate materials and an efficient construction strategy, well designed joints, interesting details, using a variety of hand tools, and sound finishing techniques. The goal is to complete a variety of different pieces and share ideas and experiences. Rosewood Studio, Almonte, Ontario, Canada.

Roland Johnson
September 8 to 12.  Furniture Restoration. Learn the necessary skills to turn furniture restoration from an anxiety-laden adventure into a pleasurable activity. Discover ways to assess a piece in need of restoration, whether minimal or a complete knock-it-apart bottom to top job. Learn to disassemble, repair and reassemble wobbly joints, repair drawers and doors, fix cracks, minimize warp damage, replicate missing moldings and repair or replace lifting or bubbling veneer. Determine a finish and discover how to salvage and renew, or remove and replace it. Bring a smaller piece that’s not a prized heirloom for hands-on learning. Also, bring special pieces in for discussion and restoration appraisal so that a concise strategy can be devised for later restoration. Northwest Woodworking Studio, Portland, Ore.

September 15 to 19. Furniture Finishes. Learn how to make choosing and applying finishes another enjoyable woodworking process instead of a stress-filled ordeal. From surface preparation to final waxing we will covers all aspects of creating a fine furniture finish.  The class will explore the use of dyes, stains and paints, learning how to get precise, repeatable color and grain shading. Northwest Woodworking Studio, Portland, Ore.

Teri Masaschi
May 12 to 16. Basic Finishing. By the end of the course you will know how to fill grain, apply dyes, pigments, and chemical stains, and put on hand-rubbed varnish, shellac, and oil finishes. Kelly Mehler School of Woodworking, Berea, Ky.

May 19 to 23. Finishing Techniques. The Doogwood Institute, Alpharetta, Ga.

August 11 to September 12. Restoration and Repair (August 11 to 22) covers most aspects of antique furniture repair, restoration, refinishing, and care. Finishing from A to Z (August 25 to Septebmber 5) covers all aspects of finishing, from hand-applied coatings to professional spray lacquers. Hand-Applied Finishes (September 8 to 12) covers how to fill grain, apply dyes and pigments, and put on hand-rubbed varnish, shellac, and oil finishes. Center for Furniture Craftsmanship, Rockport, Me.

Andy Rae
June 22. Choosing and Using Hand Planes. Find out why pros use this ancient but invaluable tool for speed, accuracy, and refinement in their work, and how you can, too. This in-depth class covers the key aspects that make a plane perform to a higher level, from proper tune-up, setup, and sharpening for specific tasks, to learning the right grip and stance. William Ng School of Fine Woodworking, Anaheim, Calif.

June 23 to 27. Inspired by Nakashima. Rae, who worked with George Nakashima during his heyday in the 80s, reveals some of the techniques and design choices that Nakashima used in his own furniture. Students will build a small coffee table using elements inspired by Nakashima and his craftsmen, such as working with solid wood slabs, cutting dovetails and mortise-and-tenon joinery, the art of the butterfly inlay, and applying a classic, hand-rubbed finish. William Ng School of Fine Woodworking, Anaheim, Calif.

Gary Rogowski
June 16 to 20. Joinery Concentration, Carcases. Learn the range of carcase joinery used to build everything from plywood cabinets to jewelry boxes to fine cabinetry. Learn how to lay out a variety of joints, such as dovetails, finger joints, rabbets and dados. Get practice with hand-cut dovetails, learn how to rout sliding dovetails, and get the tricks for machining accurate finger joints and carcase mortises. Learn about simple cabinet joints and how to cut a variety of rabbet and dado joints on the router table. Northwest Woodworking Studio, Portland, Ore.

June 23 to 27. Joinery Concentration, Frames. Encounter the range of frame joinery, from simple lap joints to mitered frames and mortise-and-tenon work. Practice methods for accurate layout. Learn how to cut simple lap joints, strengthened miters for picture frames, and discover half a dozen ways to cut mortise-and-tenon joints using hand tools, routers, and machines. You’ll get hands on work cutting blind mortises for leg and apron pieces or through wedged tenons for trestle construction. Learn techniques for making raised panels for doors. You will finish this class with a comprehensive knowledge of the wide array of frame joinery. Northwest Woodworking Studio, Portland, Ore.

July 28 to August 1. Shaker-Style Breakfast Table. This small breakfast table is patterned after a graceful Shaker design. The Shaker aesthetic combines simplicity and utility and makes this table both a visual delight and useful in a variety of settings. It also allows us to explore a variety of technical issues including joinery design, through wedged mortises, working with solid wood and making table tops. Northwest Woodworking Studio, Portland, Ore.

September 22 to 26. The Rogowski Stool. This stool project first saw the light of day in 1978. Built entirely with through wedged tenons, it’s a design that is comfortable, timeless, and durable. It is, however, also a complex construction involving several important mortising and shaping jigs that each student will need to build. In this workshop you will learn mortising techniques, power and hand tool techniques for seat and leg shaping, and assembly techniques that will stand your hair on end. But it’s worth it in the end to build and finish this classic design. Northwest Woodworking Studio, Portland, Ore.

-Posted 5/7/2008

-Photo of top page is Garrett Hack teaching an Exquisite Surfaces and Details course in 2007. Taken by Ron Barter, courtesy of Rosewood Studios.