Return to Home
**This workshop will be live streamed via Zoom.**
Share your woodworking successes and challenges and learn what others in the BARN woodworker community are doing in a new series of online meetings.
These sessions will usually begin with a small bit of prepared content, such as pictures of projects that members want to show, or interviews with local pro woodworkers, or tours of home shops — whatever content members of the group suggest. After the prepared content, we’ll have a chance to touch base on areas of interest with each other. You can ask technical questions, share lessons you've learned, suggest classes you'd like to take.
If you have pictures to share or a topic to suggest, please email woodclasses@bainbridgebarn.org.
Details:
To turn wood effectively and enjoyably, you need sharp tools that have quality profiles. Learn to sharpen the tools you need to turn spindles, bowls and other projects on the wood lathe.
In this class, you will learn to sharpen gouges according to BARN protocol and gain an understanding of how to sharpen other tools (e.g., skews, parting tools, scrapers). If you would like advice on your own tools, you are welcome to bring them.
This class is strongly recommended for students who have completed Intro to Woodturniing or are enrolled in Intro to Bowl Turning. The class is required for any turners who wish to use BARN turning tools on an ongoing basis.
Instructor bio: 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.
Hand planes are invaluable for smoothing, squaring up and fitting pieces of wood, even for woodworkers who depend on power tools for many tasks.
In this one-morning class, you will learn the basics of these invaluable tools: the different types and their purposes, how to adjust them, how to sharpen them, and how to use them. The focus will be on block planes and jack planes.
This is not a "project" class, but it is hands-on. You'll work on practice boards and make piles of thin, curly shavings.
Tuition assistance is available. Click here to apply.
Instructor: Ted Newman. Ted studied woodworking and has assisted in classes at the Center for Furniture Craftsmanship in Rockport, Maine. He is active in BARN's woodworker group and volunteers as a safety monitor.
Want to make an electric guitar, a wooden sign with engraved letters or a sculpture or toy with interlocking parts? Or do you want to precision-cut wooden parts from expensive wood while minimizing waste? The Woodworking Studio's CNC router is the tool for you — but for many woodworkers, using it can be daunting.
By signing up for a Custom CNC Router Project class, you will get one-on-one help (or two-on-one help if you want to team up with a friend and share the cost) in carrying out your project. The help available will be tailored to what you need. If you have nothing other than a pencil sketch, you'll be matched with a BARN instructor skilled in design and use of the Fusion 360 or VCarvePro design programs. If you already have a design in a digital program and just need help in translating that design into the code that controls the CNC router, securing your work, and running the router, that's the help you will get.
Custom CNC Router Project classes are set up for an initial two-hour session. If you already have a design in Fusion 360, you may be able to complete your project within that time. If you are starting from scratch, the initial session may not be enough but you will get a better idea of the scope of work involved and you will be able to schedule the additional time you need.
Because every project is different, please email woodcnc@bainbridgebarn.org and give an idea of what you want to do. Include a sketch if you have one. Other times are available, so if this scheduled class doesn't work for you, please include in your email several times when you are generally available.
Dovetails started out as a practical solution to keep drawers from coming apart as people tugged and pushed them in and out. Today, they still serve that purpose. But, in an era when there are also machine-assisted ways to join wood at right angles, projects with hand-cut dovetails are also a code for fine craftsmanship.
Learning how to make these joints is a sure way to build your woodworking skills, because the process involves the fundamental steps common to all hand-cut joinery. In this class, you will learn how to design, lay out and mark dovetails, and how to cut them accurately and efficiently using hand saws and chisels. You'll also learn the tricks to getting them to fit perfectly.
There won't be enough time in this class to complete a project, but you will go home with one completed corner, which you can use to refresh your memory later about which parts to cut and which to leave. It's surprisingly easy to get that mixed up if you haven't cut dovetails for a while, so having a reference piece can save you a lot of grief.
Details
**This class will be held at BARN under the canopy in the back.**
Build your own sea kayak, using well-tested plans from Chesapeake Light Craft. This class was originally posted for teens 14-18, but it is now open to adults as well.
In this 10-session class, you will learn from an expert how to build a 14-, 16- or 17-foot kayak, depending on the model you choose. You will use the stitch-and-glue technique with epoxy to assemble the hull and deck, then finish the boat inside and out with fiberglass and epoxy resin, and install hardware and the seat. And finally, you will brush on marine varnish to help protect your boat from damaging ultraviolet rays from the sun. You will use power sanders and a variety of hand tools.
At the completion of the class, you can expect to take home a sea kayak that will give you years of pleasure as you explore the waters around Bainbridge Island and beyond.
Special details:
Instructor bio:
Robert Niclas' passion for artisan woodworking started when he was quite young. His father was an artist, musician and photographer but was employed by an oil company, so the family moved often. That exposed Robert to a great variety of art forms while they were living in the Middle East, visiting the Mediterranean, Scandinavia and other parts of Europe, and the Western States. Robert also traveled around the Far East while he was in the Navy for six years.
Currently Robert operates his own shop at home, where he makes furniture, wood carvings, small craft (canoes, kayaks and row boats), and electric violins and cellos. See his work at robertniclas.com.
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.
Instructor: Jeff Williams
This class has a prerequisite. Please see below.
Learn to use the VCarve Pro software program to design and cut inlays on the Woodworking Studio's CNC router.
Each student will attend three of the five sessions shown as class dates. For the first session, the full class will meet in the Electronics & Technical Arts lab to review VCarve Pro, discuss inlays and start design.
The remaining sessions will be in the Woodworking Studio. The class will be divided into smaller groups to avoid too much waiting in line. The specific schedule will be finalized at the first class session.
At its second session, each group will review/finalize designs, learn safe operation of the CNC router, set up the projects, cut the materials (walnut and maple), and glue them up. At the third session, students will cut off excess inlay material and sand the inlays.
How you start on a woodworking project can make all the difference in how it turns out. Fail to figure out construction details beforehand, and some pieces can wind up too short. Or skip some wood-preparation steps, and all the joinery you later work to create can wind up sloppy.
This three-evening class will help you get started on your woodworking projects in a way that helps ensure good results. You will learn how to:
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:
This class covers the types of mortise and tenon joints, how to design them, and how to create them with hand tools. You will learn to lay out and mark the pieces and how to cut them accurately and efficiently using hand saws and chisels. (To speed up the process, the class will use the drill press to prep the mortise pieces.) You'll also learn the tricks to getting the joints to fit perfectly.
There won't be enough time in this class to complete a project, but you will go home with one or more sample joints.
Instructor: Jeanne Huber
Learn to use woodworking tools safely, efficiently and with precision while you build one or more projects of your own design. The pictures show just a few of the possibilities, which also might range from a cutting board or a cell phone amplifier to a shoe organizer or a jewelry holder. Or you could make a toy to give to a child. If you don't have an idea for your project, don't worry: We'll provide ideas to get your creative juices going.
This class will focus on hand tools and a couple of portable power tools, such as a cordless drill and a jigsaw. 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, how to assemble pieces, and more. This isn't an "assemble-a-kit" class. You will be cutting, planning, gluing and finishing — and, we hope, getting excited about woodworking.
Projects are subject to the instructor's approval.
For the first session, the class will meet in the Electronics & Technical Arts lab to review VCarve Pro, discuss inlays and start design.
The remaining sessions will be in the Woodworking Studio. At the second session, you will review/finalize designs, learn safe operation of the CNC router, set up your project, cut the materials (walnut and maple), and glue them up. At the third session, you will cut off excess inlay material and sand the inlays.
Whether you are a musician who wants to learn woodworking techniques, or a woodworker who would like to learn the elements necessary to create stringed musical instruments, or just someone looking for a fun learning experience, this is the class for you!
Over two weekends and the Friday evening between them, you will make an intriguing three-stringed instrument that's tuned as a dulcimer. But whether you know how to play that instrument doesn't really matter because you will be able to play this instrument simply by placing the finger of one hand on a string while your other hand strums. The strings are tuned so that great music results, which is why the instructor likes to call these "strumsticks."
In the class, you will be guided through the safe use of tools, including the bandsaw, router, drill press and stationary sanders. You will learn to shape with hand tools, lay out scale lengths, and then string and strum the dulcimer guitar you create. And, finally, you will embellish your instrument. Options for the finish include milk paint, clear finishes, stains and designs that you burn into the wood.
* This class has prerequisites. Please see below.
Have a well-loved piece of furniture in need of repair or just wish you knew how to bring one back into usable condition? Or do you want to touch up or even completely renew the finish on a fine piece? In this hands-on class, you will learn how to assess a piece of furniture and how to get it back into shape.
You can bring your own piece of furniture or a part, such as a drawer, that needs help. If you don’t have a piece but would like to learn repair techniques, the instructor will provide a project for you to work on. The instructor will discuss the repair issues of each piece that students bring, so you will learn about a wider array of techniques than just what is needed for your own project.
Instructor: Carol Fiedler Kawaguchi is a professional woodworker who specializes in restoration of antique furniture through her business, C-Saw, on Bainbridge Island. After earning a fine arts degree from Western Washington University, she worked in New Mexico as an apprentice ceramicist and then as an apprentice violin maker, developing her skills in fine woodworking and traditional finishes. She began designing and building custom furniture in the mid-1980s. Her interest in European, Early American and Asian antiques led her to focus on their restoration and repair.
Make two bowls 6 to 7 inches in diameter in this two-session class as you build your woodturning skills and learn some of the special techniques and insights needed for bowl-turning.
The best (and most fun) way to hone your bowl-turning skills is to use green wood for the blanks. In this class you will turn two green-wood bowls, working on smooth and efficient cuts. In the first session, you will learn the best bowl shape for a novice turner, how to safely mount the blank on the lathe, and how to use of a scroll chuck and bowl gouge. You will also learn how to maintain even wall thickness, and how to treat the bowl to prevent cracking while it dries. In the second session, in addition to turning a second bowl, you will learn the basics about balancing grain and which Northwest woods are best for turning.
By successfully completing these two sessions and turning two bowls, you will have a good understanding of the process and techniques, and be qualified to turn bowls of this size independently during Open Studio time in the BARN Woodworking Studio.
While this class is oriented to novice turners, it is also appropriate and useful for experienced turners who have predominantly used scrapers and wish to acquire or improve their gouge skills.
Photograph by Joy McCallister Photography.
Instructor: Bruce Claiborne. He has been actively turning wood since 2007 and has taken lathe workshops from Kirk DeHerr, John Jordan, Richard Raffan, and others since that time. He has been teaching at BARN since 2015.
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.
This class will focus on using water stones to sharpen blades. 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.
Get a good foundation in carving techniques, including push, stop and draw cuts. In this three-session class, you will learn the basics of safe handling and use of carving knives the first night, then go on to learn how to deal with changes in wood grain, hollowing techniques, and other concepts as you make a spoon and carve a figure during the second and third sessions.
This class is open to both beginning carvers and those who already have some carving experience. Each time BARN schedules this class, the carving projects are new.
BARN will supply carving tools to share, but students are also encouraged to bring their own.
Instructor: As a third-generation woodworker, Jeff Iller learned about woodworking tools and knives early on. By high school, he was winning ribbons with his wood carvings at his hometown fair. Around 1996 Jeff found room for a shop and he has carved ever since. He’ll carve most anything, but prefers to innovate with the working tools to carve multiple parts inside one piece of wood and to make physically detailed and accurate carvings of women's faces. Carvings on the entry sign to the BARN Woodworking Studio shows the quality of his work.
Iller says he was taught early on that he could make anything from wood. He is still trying to prove that statement wrong.
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:
Instructor: Paul Kury. Paul studied woodworking at Lonnie Bird’s School of Fine Woodworking in Dandridge, Tennessee, and has been an active woodworker for 40 years. His preference is 18th century furniture. Paul also volunteers as a woodworking safety monitor at BARN.
