Sign up using the email links in the class postings. There is no deposit, payment is first day of class, cash, check or Venmo. Please notify me A.S.A.P if you need to cancel.

Please arrive at least 15 minutes early on the first day to take care of payment and sign waiver. Shop opens at 8:30, classes run 9:00 to 5:00, I provide lunch at noon. 

I allow youth over 14 with a parent

Where: MN National Guard Armory 3050 Highway 316. Hastings, MN 55033 . 

You must be a member. You can join at the door I believe ($25). There are three meets a year. Typically two in Hastings and one in Medina. LOTS of old tools.

Description: Midwest Tool Collectors meets are a great place to look for tools and visit with like minded people. Bring a few tools to sell, buy tools, view tool displays. Registration starts at 7:30, Trading starts at 8:30. Registration includes coffee, donuts, beverages and lunch.

I will be demonstrating.

On day one we will turn spindles. Day two bowls. This a very basic intro to wood turning.
Get your feet wet! Bring the tools you have. I have some I can loan you.

email mike@schoolofwood.com to enroll

Sharpening is probably the chief skill to learn, everything goes better with sharp tools! On day one we will sharpen chisels, plane irons, and scrapers and tune up a plane. Bring your tools for assessment, a # 4 size plane is a nice size to tune up but bring what you have. I also have some planes for sale if you need one. On day two we will learn how to use planes and try out many different types of specialty planes. 

email mike@schoolofwood.com to enroll

We will be making a traditional Moxon double screw vise, a mallet, a marking gauge, and a marking knife. You will use hand tools to make these four very useful items for your shop and gain the ability to make more of them as needed. Hand chopped mortises, boring with a brace and bit, threading with a screwbox and tap are all covered. We will do a bit of metal work on the marking knife, grinding and filing the blade to shape then hardening and tempering the steel. The tools alone are worth the cost of the class! Bring the tools you have. I have some I can loan you.

email mike@schoolofwood.com to enroll

Sharpening your own saws keeps them in top shape, no sending them out to be sharpened! It also enables you to restore old saws. We start out on your 8 point crosscut saw, then you do your 5 1/2 point ripsaw. Bring your saws for assessment and to sharpen. I have a few saws for sale or to practice on if you don't have any. 

On day two we learn how to properly use our saws to rip and crosscut while making an essential sawing aid,a sawhorse.

email mike@schoolofwood.com to enroll

Use hand tools to create a small „Sea Chest“ with angled sides. The finished chest will be about 12×12×24 with dovetailed corners. You will learn to make angled dovetails as you build this traditional form.  A great place to store thing like tools or yarn or? Bring the tools you have. I have some I can loan you.

email mike@schoolofwood.com to enroll

On the first day we will learn to lay out and cut several basic woodworking joints. Learning to layout joints, saw straight, cut to the line and chop and pare with a chisel to your mark. Working our way up to dovetails on day two. We will also cover wood movement and why joints are made the way they are.

Whether for drawers or case work dovetails are actually pretty basic woodworking. At first it can be a bit difficult to keep it all straight. Pins first? Tails first? What’s a pin or tail? Which piece is the waste? What’s a half pin? How do you keep the pieces organized? It will all become clear as you learn to layout, saw and chop this signature woodworking joint. We will do through and half-blind joints, then make a box! Bring the tools you have. I have some I can loan you.

email mike@schoolofwood.com to enroll

This is a great place to get your feet wet in woodworking and make a useful and attractive piece of furniture. The handcut joinery is strong and simple and easy to repeat at home. We will plane a taper, use a bow or coping saw, chisel a dado, and auger holes for wooden pegs. Bring the tools you have. I have some I can loan you.

email mike@schoolofwood.com to enroll

Pound for pound and dollar for dollar I believe the Nicholson bench is the best bench you can build. Especially with hand tools! We will use some machines aided by hand tools for this project. Sign up closes March 1st so I can get the materials in. If you want a vise or a bench over 6 feet long let me know. Bring the tools you have. I have some I can loan you.

email mike@schoolofwood.com to enroll