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2008 Woodworking Classes

Tune-Up Your Hand Tools

Designed to launch you into Joinery at its Best with tools that work.

Making sure your tools are well tuned and set up correctly will pay great dividends in the quality and efficiency of your work, and will help you avoid frustration during a week long joinery course and in your own shop.

Unlike their siblings with power cords, very few hand tools (yes, even the really expensive ones) will work properly right out of the box or off the shelf of your local flea market or antique dealer. In this course you will get to tune-up, sharpen, and set-up your hand planes, chisels, hand saws, back saws, scrapers, and marking gauges (yes, all of these need sharpening!). We will guide you through the use of our JetWet Sharpening or Tormek Supergrind systems or your own sharpening system that you bring from home.**

**If you will be using your own set of stones or a surface plate and sand paper in your shop, it would be a good idea to bring them with you to the class so that you will leave with the knowledge and confidence to sharpen your tools on the equipment you have available. Tool list for this course is the one for Joinery at its Best. View Tool List for Joinery at its Best.

Enroll in Tune-Up Your Hand Tools Now!

Joinery at its Best

Using power tools where it saves time and hand tools where it counts

Ernie Conover believes a thorough grounding in handtools pays a lot of dividends, but not everybody has the time, patience, or necessary physical strength to gain these skills—they just want to build some furniture. This course strives to help you to find the right balance between hand and machine methods in the building of a wall cupboard. While hand cutting dovetails makes perfect sense, for it is fun, easy and gets splendid results, hand cutting mortise and tenon joints is problematic. Mortise and tenons are much better done with machines for machines do the job quickly and efficiently and once assembled no one will ever know (or care) how they were made.

Likewise hand planes leave superlative finishes that make a tremendous difference in the look and feel of a fine piece of furniture. All surfaces, inside and out, should be planed to smoothness. The outside is then further sanded to create a superlative finish that the public expects in art furniture today.

In this joinery class Ernie will be show you the historical handtool methods for cutting all types of dovetails, mortise and tenons, grooves, dados and moldings. The demonstrations will give you highly valuable layout techniques. What is more a knowledge of the history of our craft that will make you a better machine woodworker. While you will hand cut the dovetails in your cupboard, machinery (using newly gained layout skills) will be employed to do the rest of the joinery.

In constructing your project you will learn to safely operate the table saw, jointer, planer, disc/belt sander, router table and shaper. Hand planes will be used for initial finishing but orbital sanders on the downdraft table aid in getting that super smoothness necessary for a gallery level finish. All this will be taught in the building of a wall cupboard which has one panel door and one drawer. At 31” high by 14” wide by 6” deep it is a bit larger than the cupboard traditionally built in our Handtool Joinery workshop. Interspersed throughout all of this week will be a host of repair techniques that save the day when difficulties are encountered.

A bit of serendipity is a chance to veneer your door panel. Co-instructor John DeGirolamo will show you simple veneering techniques than can be applied to other furniture after the course. You will have the option of doing a book match panel or inlaying a simple design of contrasting veneer into your panel. View Tool List for this class.

 Hand Skills Covered

• Layout
• General
• Dovetails
• Mortise and tenons
• Hand Cutting Dovetails
• Hand Planing for Superlative Finish
• Using Handtools to Obtain a Superior Fit When Machines Come Up Short
• Correct and SAFE use of Chisels, Handsaws, Planes of all Descriptions, etc.

Machine Skills Covered

• Layout (Hand skills really pay dividends in setting up machines fast!)
• SAFE and Correct Use of Table Saw, Jointer, Planer, Router, Router Table and Shaper.

The Skills Learned In This Class Will Allow You To Build

• Tables
• Beds
• Case Pieces
• Chests of Drawers
• Cupboards
• Cabinets
• Doors

Enroll in Joinery at its Best Now!

This is a hands-on course which emphasizes turning furniture parts with speed and confidence. You will actually turn a variety of common furniture parts under the tutelage of Ernie Conover, who is author of the book and companion video entitled Turning for Furniture. The course will begin with a primer on spindle turning with special attention on how to duplicate parts quickly and easily. You will learn furniture turning skills by actually turning two different chair stretchers, some Windsor chair legs (dry and green), table legs and grain matching knobs that will really set your furniture off from the pack. Ernie gives frequent demonstrations of advanced techniques such as converging axis cabriole legs, hollow forms and chatter work. Mixed with all this will be a plethora of tricks, such as how to make form scrapers, how to use both a commercial and home made steady rest for long turning, power and hand sanding techniques, how to finish in the lathe and a host of nifty chucks. A complete set of turning tools is available for rent at a fee of $45. View Tool List for this class course.

Bowl turning is fun and easy and they make great gifts. This class is a based on Ernie Conover’s book Turn a Bowl with Ernie Conover—Getting great results the first time around. Like the book the class covers all aspects of bowl turning from tools, equipment and wood gathering, to the actual turning. Instructors Ernie Conover and King Heiple share years of knowledge and experience.

You will learn how to turn dry and green wood as well as how to glue small blocks of wood together (often of contrasting colors) in a process called tiling. A variety of turning methods will be taught with both home made and commercial chucks. You will learn how to correctly sharpen your tools and how to keep them sharp once home. King and Ernie will also share many home made tools that they have devised such as how to build a bowl scraper for $20 that is better than commercial examples, how to build your own grinding jig for pennies, how to make a tool that judges wall thickness for no money at all and how to build you own depth gage from scrap wood.

Sanding to a mirror surface and application of a variety of finishes will be demystified. The class will explore a variety of interesting advanced techniques such as natural edge bowls, carving and texturing. Finally there will be a demonstration of pewter spinning by Ernie Conover. A complete set of turning tools is available for rental at a fee of $45 per course. View Tool List for this course.

Enroll in Bowls from A to Z Now!

Spindle Turning Primer

Get a head start on your Shaker Rocker

This one-day class is intended for chair makers with minimal turning experience. It gives you a chance to get your tools sharpened correctly and get a good many spindles turned for the coming week of Shaker Rocker workshop. Highly recommended. Tool list available at time of registration or may be viewed on our website. No prerequisites. This class is limited to Shaker Chair Students. View Tool list for this course is the Shaker Rocker Tool List.
                   
Enroll in Spindle Turning Primer Now! 

 Shaker chairs have long been known for their style and beauty. Although most woodworkers are intimidated by chairs, they are actually quite easy to build. What is more, making them is fun and profitable. In this five day class you will turn all of the parts for a classic Shaker rocking chair, steam bend the back posts and slats, bandsaw and route the arms and rockers, assemble all of the parts and weave the seat. You leave with an elegant chair and the ability to make more. In the process you learn production spindle turning, steam bending and how to build all of the jigs necessary to make a chair.

On day one you will be introduced to basic spindle turning by turning the 11 stretchers for this classic Shaker chair. Then, with the aid of the steady rest we will tackle the 42” long back posts for the chair, steam bending them once they are off the lathe. While each participant takes his or her turn at the bending forms, the rest of the class will craft the arms and rockers. The remainder of the time will be taken up with assembling the chair and weaving the seat. No previous experience is necessary but it is suggested to attend Spindle Turning Primer the day before the class if you have not taken Turning for Furniture Makers or Woodturning Tools and Techniques. A complete set of turning tools is available for rent at a fee of $45 per course. View Tool List for this course.

Enroll in Shaker Rocker Now! 

Handplane Basics

A properly tuned plane is a thing of joy

Have you ever tried to use a hand plane and just become frustrated at the lack of results? This short course will put you on the road to glass smooth surfaces, for it is designed to teach you to be comfortable with handplanes. What is more you will learn about a host of other useful planes, such as the plow, rabbet, compass and molding.

A properly working plane is more than just having it sharp; it needs proper alignment and everything in good working condition. Great emphasis will be placed on how to sharpen and tune a plane for optimum performance. You may bring your own plane with you and you will leave with a plane that works perfectly and the knowledge to make any plane work properly.

This course is a must for anyone taking any of our hand or machine joinery courses. View Tool List for this class.

Enroll in Hand Plane Basics Now!
 

Hand cut dovetails are considered the epitome of craftsmanship because they can take forms and spacing impossible with a router.  Many fear tackling dovetails, but they are really fun (even relaxing) to cut. After taking this one day class, the ease at which you will be able to layout and cut dovetails will amaze you.

In this hands-on one-day workshop, Ernie Conover will lead you through the pitfalls and details in hand cutting through and half-blind dovetails. This will allow you to make carcasses, drawers and jewelry boxes that invite close inspection. Ernie believes that layout and technique are the keys to speed and efficiency and gives you fool proof methods for both.

Most important, you will actually cut multiple dovetails not just watch someone else do it. Get off to a good start by taking this important skill building class. View Tool List for this class.

 Enroll in Hand Cutting Dovetails Now!

Handtool Joinery

The equivalent of an old style European apprenticeship in one week

In this course you will learn authentic joinery from the time when furniture was built to last. The good news is that this joinery is just just as applicable today as it was in the 18th century. In Handtool Joinery participants receive a thorough grounding in hand tools by making a small cupboard out of walnut (measuring 12” wide x 31” high x 6” deep). The cupboard has one drawer below the panel door. In the building process you will learn to hand cut dovetails, mortise and tenons, grooves and dadoes.

The proper use of hand planes will be demystified and these indispensable tools will be stalwart old friends by the time you leave for home. Carcass construction (the main body and drawer) is taught employing two types of dovetail joints, through and half-blind. Mortise and tenon joints will be employed in the face frame and haunched tenons in the panel door. The two shelves for the cabinet are adjustable via a time honored, all wood set of notched racks.

These construction details will give you complete familiarity and confidence in the back saw, bevel chisels and mortise chisels. This foundation course is a must for any aspiring woodworker. No prior experience is necessary but it is strongly recommended that participants attend the "Handplane Basics" and "Hand Cutting Dovetails" seminars being offered the weekend prior to the course. View Tool List for this class.

Enroll in  Handtool Joinery Now!

Hollow Forms and Lidded Boxes

A five day course to expand your turning skills into these intriguing and fun areas.

Every turner with some turning proficiency, particularly in bowls, has ogled the many extraordinary closed forms and lidded boxes that are pictured regularly in woodturning magazines.  Have you asked yourself, ‘how difficult are they?  Could I actually learn to do some of these techniques?” If you have, we have the course for you!   

Indeed, these techniques are not essentially more difficult than any other area of woodturning, just different.  They do require a few specialized tools and learning to do some interior work "blind" by feel and touch.  However, all are within everyone's ability. In fact, with a bit of practice lovely and striking pieces can be made. No lasers or expensive hollow form guides are required or used in this course. It emphasizes simple procedures and home made tools that get results.

Likewise boxes are as much proper procedure as skill. Boxes delight young and old alike and are perfect for storing treasures—be they a set of diamond earrings or a child’s Cracker Jack’s Surprise. You will have a chance to turn a wide variety of boxes and learn how to make boxes in such forms that conceal their purpose such as acorns and balls.

If you have a special piece of wood you were saving for something like this bring it along.  It will be your "graduation exercise". The following are some of the techniques you will learn and projects that you will finish to take home with you:

 Hollow forms:

• Appropriate wood selection for closed forms.
• Design considerations.
• Where standard lathe tools start to fail and special tools take over.
• Chucking and pre-hollowing.
• Making your own basic hollow forming tools.  Everyone will make both a medium and small size set of these with handles to take home with you.  Included in the course]
• The step sequence for developing a hollow form.
• Creating a 3" hollow form through a 1" aperture.
• Making a 5" hollow form similarly.
• Making a modest 7" tall vase form through a similar aperture.
• Can you really sand interiors?!  How and when.
• Decorating and texturing hollow forms.
• Adding lids with finials as design features of hollow forms. A step back to your spindle turning!

Lidded Boxes:

• Wood selection.
• Design considerations.  
• Chucking considerations.
• Basic rules or ABC's of box turning.
• Chatter work, inlays and carving.
• Your own box hollowing scrapers.  (Bring a couple of 1/2" square nose scrapers to modify or just some old files for the same!)
• Specialized box tools: The ring tool, the hook tool, the Berger box tool, very thin cutoff tool, etc.  Gain some experience with ours and find out how much do you need them?
• Create several lidded boxes, 3" to 5" diameter by 4 to 6" tall, developing your skills and confidence.

View Tool List for Hollow Forms and Boxes.

Enroll in Hollow Forms and Boxes Now!

Basic Bowl Turning

Learn Face Plate Turning and come away with some nice bowls

In this two day course you learn the fundamentals of face plate turning through the turning of some green wood bowls and a dry wood platter. The course will explore lathes, tools, techniques and wood. Starting off with an explanation of wood technology and how to select the proper wood for bowls the group goes on to properly sharpen all of the face plate tools. You leave with the knowledge and ability to keep these tools sharp for this is the biggest stumbling block to face plate proficiency. In the process of learning technique you will trn a few open form bowls from nice hardwoods such as cherry and maple. View Tool List for Basic Bowl Turning.

Skills learned

• Wood technology and the selection of proper wood
• Safe and proper chucking with both simple home made and commercial chucks
• Proper sharpening of all face plate tools
• Home made scrapers that out perform expensive commercial models.
• Proper turning techniques that yield fast and pleasing results
• Safety
• Proper sanding techniques 

This Course is Full To be added to a waiting list please email us at info@conoverworkshops.com.

Enroll in Basic Bowl Turning Now

This new course is aimed at those who want to master spindle turning. In five days you get to really explore this medium in depth, leaving with some nice projects and the knowledge to tackle any spindle with speed and confidence.

Ernie Conover and King Heiple believe that complete control of the spindle gouge is the key to mastering spindle turning so this is the starting point. After learning how to sharpen this tool correctly (they never come from the factory correctly sharpened) you go on to gain complete control of this and all the other spindle turning tools. Here are some of the techniques you will learn in this course.

• Sharpening, how to do it quickly and efficiently and the ability to duplicate these results once home.
• Mastery of the spindle gouge.
• Why the roughing out gouge is a necessary tool.
• "Secrets" of the skew, its sharpening and making it your friend.
• The beading and parting tool and why you will reach for it often.
• Proficiency in beads and coves.
• Learning to duplicate with skill.
• Tapers, Ogees and Reveals
• Pommel, square to round with ease and crispness.
• Harmonics in spindle work, causes and control. (learning to manage by hand and tool control, as
  well as with steady rests)
• Hollowing with the spindle gouge
• Spirals both closed and open.
• Sanding, hand and power.
• Handling curly and blistered woods with out chipping out.
• Chatter work

  

• Chucks, homemade and commercial.
  

Learning these skills entails turning a lot of projects

• Windsor chair legs and stretchers. (From dry wood then riven green wood)
• Table legs.

• Rolling pin
• Knob and Pulls that set your furniture apart from the pack.
• Converging axis cabriole leg.
• Stemmed Goblet (Intro to hollowing)
• Candlesticks. (You have the option of doing spirals here)
• Boxes, lidded and un-lidded. (You will further explore hollowing and employ chatter work)
• Miniatures by turning a set of earrings.
  

You do a lot of turning in this week, always under the watchful eyes of Ernie and King. You have time to really practice newly learned skills thereby having them become habit. You leave with some really nice projects to wow the folks at home, but most important you will be able to tackle any spindle. View Tool List for this course.

This multi-disciplined “master class” hones both machine and hand skills in the building of a rather complicated case piece from cherry —an elegant seven-drawer Shaker Sewing Chest. The carcass utilizes panel construction rather than solid construction. It saves much wood (and the resulting weight), but to carry off requires nearly fifty mortise and tenon joints. Some nifty machine techniques are used to cut all these mortise and tenons quickly and efficiently. The lip face drawers require rabbeting of the front so the half-blind dovetails have to be cut in tight quarters. This will hone your hand dovetailing technique to perfection.

The use of drawer slips instead of plowing a groove for the drawer bottom. Drawer slips were invented by the Arts and Crafts artisans around 1900 and brought drawer construction to its panicle. They move the grove for the drawer bottom out of the drawer side by gluing a strip (or slip), with the groove plowed in it, to the bottom inside edges of the drawer.

Much time is spent in this course in grain matching. The posts and drawer fronts are all matched grain. The drawer sides are split from 5/4 stock so that there is a mirror match of the wood grain inside the drawer. Drawer bottoms are from solid wood and book matched with the grain running across the bottoms of multiple drawers. In short, this sewing cabinet is a tour-de-force of solid wood construction.

The real meat of the course is learning to deal with interior details in carcass construction. Interior details are seldom covered in measured drawings for it is assumed the builder knows how to deal with them. In reality a great deal of unseen work goes into interior details, such as web frames and drawer slides. Speaking of drawer slides, in this piece they are a series of web frames (which themselves are mortised and tenoned together). Each frame is housed in the front post but floats in the rear posts to allow for wood movement. In the building of this cabinet much will be learned about wood movement and the highest level of construction. Construction that is so good that no commercial builder could afford to use such methods today.  Only you will ultimately know just how good a job you did, but that is the satisfaction of a job well done.

The information gained in this course will allow you to tackle any chest of drawers or cupboard with confidence. View Tool List for this course.
 

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