Registration is now open for Fine Woodworking’s HANDS ON San Diego. This exciting event, taking place Oct. 4–6, 2019 at Palomar College in San Marcos, features a series of intensive hands-on workshops focused on building woodworking skills through personalized instruction by top experts in in the field. HANDS ON is all about making and doing, with small classes that encourage one-on-one instruction and interaction. Pick one class from the list here and sign up soon. Space is limited.

Turn Your Bandsaw into a Box-Making Wonder with Michael Cullen
This class is a wonderful opportunity to explore the art of box making in a very creative way. This highly inspirational workshop will focus on exploring ideas that fall outside the box. Emphasis will be on using the bandsaw to shape and sculpt boxes with pleasing curves, but it’s also a chance to explore unusual, fun, or even zany shapes. The workshop will also show how to add patterns, texture, and colors to the surfaces of the boxes.

Developing Your Designs with Michael Fortune
This class is for woodworkers who want to move beyond working from plans or copying other woodworker’s designs.  Michael will illustrate the series of simple design steps he uses to explore ideas and how he converts them into practical pieces of furniture. You’ll see the inspiration for several of his ideas and how they progressed to finished pieces using a small collection of simple tools: Scissors, a glue gun, tracing paper, and a cell phone camera.  This class will change your perception of what furniture making can be.  In it you will learn how to: find inspiration in the world around you; sketch and make models to develop your own design sequence; critique your own work; and assemble an idea bank that will be useful for years to come.

Hand Tool Essentials with Chris Gochnour
Few aspects of woodworking match the pleasure and efficiencies of working skillfully with hand tools. In this two-day workshop Chris will help you explore hand tool essentials. You’ll discover the secrets to cutting dovetails successfully, learn to cut and fit mortise and tenons, and get a primer on setting up your handplanes for to get perfect shavings every time. Students will use coping and back saws, bench planes and smoothing planes, marking gauges and knives, and chisels and mallets to gain hand tool proficiency. Join this class and take your work to a whole new level of craftsmanship.

The Finer Points of Bowl Making with Mike Mahoney
Spend two days with Mike learning how to make beautiful bowls, from the basics and beyond. You’ll learn the fundamentals of sharpening, the basics of push cuts and pull cuts, and how to use a jamb chuck. You’ll also learn how to sand and finish on the lathe. If you want to create handmade bowls that are useful and will last for generations, this workshop is for you.

Build a Mitered Box with a Kumiko Top with Michael Pekovich
With this little tea box you’ll learn the basics of box making and discover the wonder of kumiko, a traditional Japanese joinery technique that’s a fun way to spice up any project. Mike will cover smart tablesaw techniques that make quick work of mitered joinery for the box. After that, the hand tools take over, and you’ll learn the fundamentals of kumiko by making the decorative panel for the lid of the box. You’ll leave this two-day class with a beautiful piece that showcases your newly found skills.

Make a Japanese Toolbox with Vic Tesolin
As in most cultures, the Japanese have a specific looking toolbox that they use for their woodworking tools. These simple chests lack ornamentation or flair, but are highly functional and the design can be used to store all matter of things. Join Vic as he takes you through the layout and joinery for putting together a solid toolbox. You will also learn how to use your toolbox as a work-holding solution for using hand tools. If you come prepared with a list of tools and sizes of those tools, you can even customize the box for your specific needs. As time allows, Vic will also show you how to add tool wells, dividers or sliding tills to make your box even more useful.