Where I am Teaching in 2013 –
If my teaching schedule for 2013 doesn’t wreck my marriage or alienate my children, then nothing will.
Here’s a list of where I will be teaching in 2013. Note that I don’t control registration at these schools, and I am never sure when each school will open registration (hint: ask the school). I do know this: If a class is full and you want to take it, sign up for the waiting list. There is a good chance you will get in.
Feb. 1-3
Highland Woodworking, Atlanta, Ga.
I’m demonstrating at a Lie-Nielsen event at Highland that weekend and then teaching a Sunday class in building precision layout tools: a straightedge, winding sticks with inlay and a Roubo try square.
March 10-29
Melbourne Guild of Fine Woodworking, Melbourne, Australia
Yup, I am going below the Equator for the first time to teach in Australia. While I am very excited about seeing the water swirl the opposite way in the toilet, I am more excited about the classes I’ll be offering: The Anarchist’s Tool Chest, Hammer in Hand: The Dovetailed Schoolbox, and a Shaker Wall Cabinet. Plus I’ll be visiting Chris Vesper and French kissing a wallaby.
April 15-21
Rosewood Studios, Perth, Ontario
Another first: Teaching in Canada! I’ve been to Canada many times, but I’ve never taught a class there. At Rosewood, I’ll be teaching The Anarchist’s Tool Chest (renamed to get me through immigration), and a short course on the Shaker Wall Cabinet.
April 27-28
Marc Adams School of Woodworking, Franklin, Ind.
This is the annual class I teach on handplanes with Thomas Lie-Nielsen. It is a surprisingly good introduction to handplanes considering it’s only a two-day class. Many of the students from this class have gone on to great things.
May 6-10
Marc Adams School of Woodworking, Franklin, Ind.
Marc Adams is always willing to indulge me. So this year he is letting me teach a class on designing and building a campaign chest. Every student will design something that suits them and learn the techniques particular to this form of furniture to build one of the stacking cases for a chest. It should be a fun, but crazy, class.
June 3-7
Kelly Mehler School of Woodworking, Berea, Ky.
In this class we will be design and build Roorkhee chairs (and if there’s time we’ll also make a Roubo camp stool). This class promises to be a lot of fun. You can learn to turn (if you like). Learn leatherwork. Shellac finishing. Riveting. And a whole lot of other hand skills.
June 17-22
Dictum GmbH woodworking school, Niederalteich, Germany
This is my fourth year of teaching at the Dictum workshop, and my German language skills continue to molder. This year, I’ll be teaching a class in making a Roorkhee chair (see above) and a very cool bowsaw. This school attracts students from all over Europe (and beyond). If you’ve ever considered a vacation in Bavaria, this is a very nice place to begin (or end) your journey. The school is in a beautiful monastery and we all spend every evening closing down the local gasthaus.
July 8-12
Marc Adams School of Woodworking, Franklin, Ind.
Design and build a trestle table. This is another new class that I am very excited to teach because it relates to my “Furniture of Necessity” book. Students will design their own trestle table in any style they please (with guidance) and then execute it using the awesome equipment at March Adams’s school and their hand tools. You’ll learn about trestle tables from the 14th century to the 21st and be able to build whatever you desire.
July 20-21
Kelly Mehler School of Woodworking, Berea, Ky.
A weekend course on building the three essential wooden layout tools: a straightedge, a pair of winding sticks with inlay and a Roubo try square. THis is a great foundational class in handwork as these three tools are built entirely by hand and have many lessons embedded in them.
Aug. 3-9
Connecticut Valley School of Woodworking, Manchester, Ct.
At this fine school I’ll be teaching The Anarchist’s Tool Chest class and a two-day class in building a six-board chest. The six-board chest class will be a hoot, perhaps a bit like a reality show. You’ll be given two boards and a task. And then we will all find the best path forward.
Aug. 26-30
The Woodwright’s School, Pittsboro, N.C.
By request: The Anarchist’s Tool Chest class with Roy Underhill and me. It’s a fun a nut-tastic week with Roy. You will become a good dovetailer at this class. And a good mortiser. And your liver will be a wreck.
Sept. 2-6
Port Townsend School of Woodworking, Port Townsend, Wash.
OK, so we’ve sold more than 10,000 copies of “The Anarchist’s Tool Chest.” That’s surprising. What’s more surprising is that people are building these chests. I bring the show to the West Coast. This school is in on of the most beautiful hilltops in the world. Even if you hate me and the class, you’ll be soothed by your surroundings.
Oct. 12-14
The Woodwright’s School, Pittsboro, N.C.
Six-board chest deathmatch and quilting bee. By all rights, six-board chests shouldn’t survive the travails of wood movement – yet thousands have. No two six-board chests are exactly alike, yet they all look cut from the same cloth. And how do nails help this humble but noble form of furniture survive the centuries?
You’ll learn all this – and more – as the most hirsute instructor at the Woodwright’s School (me!) leads you on a journey of discovery through the construction of this sometimes inscrutable form. You’ll begin the class with two boards, a handful of tools and a deadline. A steady saw, a hungry chisel and a ferocious hammer will guide you as you construct the chestiest of all the traditional American furniture forms – the six-board chest.
Oct. 15-Dec. 31
Hibernation
— Christopher Schwarz
