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A message UPDATE from BARN’s Executive Director:
Dear BARN community:
In response to updated guidance from the CDC and the Washington State Department of Health, BARN will continue to be closed through the end of April.
However, the real story is how our volunteers are stepping up with creativity and care to make a difference in our community. BARN is working with Bainbridge Prepares and COBI's Emergency Operations Center to organize volunteers who are making face masks for health care providers. Several studios have donated N95 masks and nitrile gloves that they had in stock. We are keeping our commercial kitchen available for organizations like Arms Around Bainbridge to continue to provide healthful meals to families in need. This past weekend, the Woodworking Studio designed and built outdoor food cabinets for Helpline House, so they can continue to provide food to those who need it.
In addition, we are making connections through Internet channels. BARN staff and volunteers are developing ideas for online learning and sharing. Certificate of Craft students and faculty are learning through technology: doing design work and home jewelry projects.
If you want to learn more about how you can contribute to the COVID-19 response, please contact https://www.bainbridgewa.gov/CivicAlerts.aspx?AID=638
Listen to the latest BCB/BARN media arts podcast with Loren Bast of Bainbridge Prepares:https://www.bestofbcb.org/were-all-in-this-together/
Thank you for your understanding and support. I continue to welcome your questions, ideas, or concerns. Please contact me at denised@bainbridgebarn.org.
May we all remain healthy and be happily reconnecting in person, soon,
Denise M. Dumouchel, PhD Executive Director
No experience necessary. We will be on hand to help as needed.
Start a project, finish a project, or just play with wood and see what happens. We will have some extra wood available or bring in your own.
Details:
* This class has prerequisites. Please see below.
In this culminating segment of BARN's Beginning Woodworking series, you will build a small, Shaker-style table suitable as a lamp stand or night stand that incorporates some of your own design elements.
This class is designed for students who know the basics of using hand and power tools but want to develop those skills more and learn to take a project through all of the steps from initial idea through finished project. This class includes:
Learn how to make paper plans evolve into a sailable boat as you help build a Port Madison Pram, a classic sailboat designed in the 1950s specifically for the Port Madison Yacht Club.
Befitting that history, the boat you build will eventually go to the club's dock on Port Madison Bay, where you and others can sail it provided you join the club, which has membership rates far below those of most yacht clubs. A group of club members is paying for the materials as a way to increase sailing opportunities for the public.
The boat is made of marine plywood and was designed by Bill Garden for use in classes and races. According to a club history, the criteria were clear: "It had to be small enough for women and children to rig and handle, stable enough for novices – young and old, easy to maintain, reasonably priced, and to meet the final test, it had to be an unbeatable performer."
Building a sailboat takes time, so this class consists of sessions where students will have exclusive use of the woodworking shop as well as ones where the class will share the shop during Open Studio times. A schedule will be worked out early in the class to allow participants to rotate in and out, allowing for summer trips or other commitments. Teens ages 14-18 are invited to sign up for Session 1 and/or Session 2 of the Teen Apprentice program. (Ages 14+ are welcome to sign up for the full project but that's probably impractical because the work begins before the school summer recess.)
This is the basic plan, assuming work progresses as expected: (For a more detailed list of the techniques you will learn and the tools you will master, click here.)
Instructor: Mike Gearheard. Mike heads the boatbuilding program at BARN and is a shop manager in the Woodworking Studio.
Join the BARN woodworkers in this free event as Jameson Hawn presents a look into the inner workings of Grizzly Industrial, a Bellingham-based company that has grown into offering what is probably the largest selection of woodworking and metalworking machinery under one brand in the world.
Hawn, who has worked at Grizzly for five years, will explain what it takes to get so many different kinds of tools made, what’s hot in woodworking and metalworking tools today (such as the CNC router shown in the picture below) and what new tools are likely to show up next. He'll discuss how his company decides which manufacturing options to choose choose — or reject — to keep prices down and yet make durable tools that customers will be happy to own. The talk should help you, when you're the customer, figure out which tool to buy if the specs from several brands all look the same.
Hawn has a unique perspective on the company’s tools: He produces and often stars in dozens of videos on the company’s website, www.grizzly.com. He shows how the tools work, explains their features, and gives tips on troubleshooting, replacing bearings and making adjustments to keep tools tuned up. Sometimes he even tackles whole projects. Want to turn pens? He shows how, using — of course — the perfect Grizzly tool for each step. Even Norm could be jealous.
The monthly meetings of BARN woodworkers are held the second Saturday of every month except July and December. The program offers an informative presentation on some aspect of this craft, plus a short business meeting. It's a good opportunity to meet other woodworkers of all skill levels, learn what's new in the shop, and share your thoughts on class offerings and shop operations.
These presentations are free and open to all, with no need to register in advance. We'll have coffee ready!
Get checked out on the Woodworking Studio’s major power tools not covered in the Tools 1 safety class. This Tools 2 safety class may be taken without first having taken the Tools 1 safety class. Provided you have also attended our free Orientation to the Woodshop class, completing Woodshop Tool Safety 2 will qualify you to use the following tools during Open Studio time or in classes that have this as a prerequisite:
Instructor: TBD
To use the shop, you will also need to attend our free one-hour Orientation to the Woodshop class.
Woodshop Tool Safety 1 will qualify you to use the following tools during Open Studio time and in classes that require certification in these tools:
Designed as a user's guide to BARN's Woodworking & Small Boatbuilding Studio, this free orientation session is required for all who wish to work in the Woodworking Studio. It will cover everything from shop etiquette to specifics of how to use the shop's dust collection and compressed air systems. Overall BARN policies, as well as shop-specific ones, will also be covered.
Participants will also learn about the leadership structure within the shop and about opportunities to participate in helping everything run smoothly. Volunteer jobs range from serving as safety monitors to helping on Maintenance Mondays.
This class is free, but please register so we know how many to expect.
Instructor: Jeff Williams
This class has a prerequisite. Please see below.
Spend the Memorial Day weekend making an intriguing three-stringed instrument called a Strumstick.
It's tuned as a dulcimer, but whether you already know how to play that instrument or not doesn't really matter. A Strumstick is easy to play by placing the finger of one hand on a string while your other hand strums the strings. Plus, in this class, you're sure to have fun simply creating a beautiful wooden instrument using basic bandbox technology.
You will complete a playable instrument in the class, but there won't be time for final finishing. The instructor will discuss finishes and embellishments, and there will be examples of different approaches. But you will need to decorate your instrument as you desire after the class is finished.
Tools used will be the bandsaw, a variety of sanders, and the router table.
Tuition assistance is available. Click here to apply.
Instructor: Ted Newman. Ted is a BARN safety monitor and instructor. He studied woodworking and assisted in classes at the Center for Furniture Craftsmanship in Rockport, Maine. Ted is spending much of the summer of 2020 assisting at workshops led by the Strumstick's inventor, Beth Ireland, at three of the country's top craft schools: Penland School of Craft in North Carolina, Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts in Tennessee and Haystack Mountain School of Crafts in Maine. Beth gave him permission to teach Strumstick-making at BARN. He made the instruments in the picture above.
Gain confidence in using a wide array of power tools safely in this three-week component of BARN's Intro to Woodworking series.
You will build a sturdy, two-step stepstool of solid wood and plywood. The project was specifically designed to give you experience with the most common stationary and portable tools in the woodshop:
Paper birch or white birch has a long history of use as a strong and useful material to create many types of containers. Join us to learn more about this amazing material and the secrets of using it.
While using traditional stitching techniques students will create this beautiful and functional knife sheath to carry a classic Swedish carving knife. An optional neck or belt lanyard can be added as a useful carry strap.
Students should bring:
Bring a bag lunch. We have a refrigerator and microwave located on the lower level.
Instructor Bio:Karen Sherwood began her basket weaving journey creating vessels useful for wilderness survival and woven with materials gathered from nature. Over the last 25 years, her understanding of weaving and the preparation of traditional materials has become much more refined while her interest in creating “working” baskets remains strong.
Karen carries a passion for exploring historic basketry techniques and styles and brings this to her work by harvesting and preparing her own basketry materials. She shares her connections to the plants and their remarkable uses when teaching each project. With these connections, each project becomes a unique blend of past and present. “It is with this vision we hope to honor the plants and the traditions they have grown from to give insight to, not only the past but how it can illuminate our future”. Karen teaches ethnobotany programs with the Washington State Department of Ecology.
She leads basketry classes throughout the county and as well as other earth- centered programs through Earthwalk Northwest, a wilderness school she and her husband founded in 1996. More info at: www.earthwalknorthwest.com.
You will learn about woodturning safety, gouge techniques and how to use the tools with good body mechanics — all important to building a foundation to launch your turning skills.
You will begin with spindle-turning, where the wood spins between supports on both ends. You'll learn how to secure the wood and how to use a spindle roughing gouge, a spindle gouge and a parting tool. As your skills build, you will increase the precision of your turning technique by making a small project such as a honey dipper, finial, spinning top or goblet, with your own design elements. Then, assuming you're doing well on spindle turning, you'll learn the basics of bowl-turning by making one about 5 inches in diameter.
Instructor: Jamie Straw has been turning wood for several years, working on both spindle and bowl projects, and has taught woodturning at BARN since July 2017. She also serves as coordinator of BARN’s woodturning classes. She is past Vice President for Education and Training for the local chapter of the American Association of Woodturners. Her focus is on helping students build skills progressively as they design and create their woodturning projects.
Learn to use woodworking tools safely, efficiently and with precision while you build one or more projects of your own design. Possibilities range from cell phone amplifiers and garden totes to desk or shoe organizers and jewelry holders. Or you might want to make a toy that you can give to a child. If you don't have an idea for a project you want to build, don't worry: We'll provide examples to get your creative juices going.
This class will focus on hand tools, which take more craftsmanship to master than power tools. You will learn how to "read" a board to choose the best places to cut specific parts, how to use measuring and marking tools, how to choose and use the appropriate saw to cut out parts, how to smooth the parts with hand planes, how to assemble pieces, and more.
Instructors: Jeanne Huber and David Grant, both longtime members of the Woodworking Studio at BARN, will team-teach this class.
Learn how to use hand tools skillfully in this three-week component of BARN's Beginning Woodworking series.
You will build a two-compartment tote, handy for storing or carrying silverware, garden tools or other items. The project was specifically designed to give you experience with the most common hand tools. You will learn to use:
Build a classic Fender-style electric guitar in this six-session class held partly in BARN's Woodworkiing Studio and partly in the Electronic & Technical Arts Studio.
You will learn how traditional luthiers make their design choices and discuss tone wood and pickup choices. Then you will learn how modern electric guitars are made using computer-aided design and manufacturing tools. The instructors will demonstrate modern guitar design and manufacturing techniques, using CAD software and BARN's CNC router.
To ensure you go home with a working guitar, you will start with a precision-cut body and pre-cut neck. You will have the opportunity to customize your instrument, including designing and cutting your own headstock shape. You will use the drill press, router table, and Festool random-orbit sander as you complete your guitar. You will also assemble and solder the electronics.
The materials fee includes all the parts, including tuners, pickups, bridge, strings, and other hardware required to build a complete electric guitar.
Instructor: Mo Ellis, assisted by Doug Salot.
Mo has played guitar off and on for a loooong time and is still trying to figure it out. He built his first instrument, a mountain dulcimer, about 40 years ago, then went on to make a hammered dulcimer and lots of experimental stringed instruments. Some were playable. All were fun to build.
Doug started playing the guitar about 10 years ago and occasionally tries to distract himself by building guitars and ukuleles. He studied instrument building with local luthier Alan Simcoe.
Learn boatbuilding skills as you help build a classic Port Madison Pram, a sleek sailboat designed in the 1950s by Bill Garden specifically for the Port Madison Yacht Club.
Befitting that history, the boat you build will eventually go to the club's dock on Port Madison Bay, where you and others can sail it provided you join the club, which has especially low membership rates for junior members (ages 10-21). A group of club members is paying for the materials as a way to increase sailing opportunities for the public.
The boat is made of marine plywood and was designed for use in classes and races. According to a club history, the criteria were clear: "It had to be small enough for women and children to rig and handle, stable enough for novices – young and old, easy to maintain, reasonably priced, and to meet the final test, it had to be an unbeatable performer."
Building a sailboat takes time. This session will focus on two key steps:
You may also wish to sign up for Session 2, which involves building the mast and boom.
Final finishing, including painting and completing the sailing rig, will take place after the boat leaves BARN. Participants will be invited to a launch party once the work is done.
Building a sailboat takes time. This session will focus on building the mast and boom. This involves milling rough spruce lumber and gluing up pieces with epoxy, as well as shaping the mast and spar using a band saw, power plane and hand plane. This class will also use the table saw, jointer and sanding tools.
You may also wish to sign up for Session 1, which involves building and installing the rub rails, rudder, tiller and centerboard.
Learn to give plane blades and chisels a razor-sharp edge so you can experience the joy of doing fine woodworking by hand. Having sharp tools, whether they’re BARN’s or your own, is not only safer, it’s also key to dramatically improving the quality of your work. In this single-session class, you will learn:
How to flatten and polish the back of the blades (and why that's important). How to shape the lower front edge to the required angle, using BARN's WorkSharp tool. How to polish the bevel using water stones. How to hone a polished edge to razor sharpness. How to flatten a waterstone using a diamond pad.
Bring one or two plane or chisel blades that need sharpening, if you have them. If they are in really bad shape, you might not have time to get them fully tuned up during the class. If you don’t have tools to bring, no problem. You can learn on BARN’s tools. BARN’s tools must be sharpened according to specifications that the studio has adopted. You can use other angles or processes for your own tools. The sharpening systems are also available for use during Open Studio times, provided you have first taken our free, one-hour Orientation to the Woodshop class. Open Studio is free for members and $20 for guests.
Instructor: Todd Butler
This class is for beginners and people who want to revisit their drawing skills. This class will be useful to you whatever your discipline.
Instructor: Michael Gunderson moved to Bainbridge after a thirty-plus year career in California Public education. His degree is in the arts and has taught classes in art, jewelry, ceramics and the trades, as well as serving as an activities and athletic director. He has always found a great pleasure in communicating with young people.
He thinks of himself as a person who solves visual problems. He proposes a situation and looks to openly create a visual answer, whether it be paint, wood or combinations of media. He is not political in his work - not even angry. He's looking for the fun and the whacky.
