Please scroll down for all course descriptions
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above: building the Curtis Buchanan Shaved Windsor chair
2023 schedule of craft classes
April 14 - 16, 2023 Classic Bentwood Firewood Carrier/Holdall; fundamental skills of green woodworking
- long weekend/3 days, level 1, + $ 25 materials fee
April 24 - 28, 2023 Tool-making for Woodworkers with Blacksmith Lucian Avery
- 5 days, level ?, + $ 40 materials fee
May 4 - 7, 2023 - Hand Hewn Greenwood Bowls - 4 days, level 2+, $ 25 materials fee
June 5 - 11, 2023 - Make a Chair From a Tree - 7 days, level 2+ or 3, + $ 50 materials fee (1 spot open)
June 17 & 18, 2023 - Small Greenwood Projects weekend; fundamental skills of green woodworking
- 2 days, level 1, no materials fee (this class is FULL)
June 22 to 25, 2023 - Woods Wheelbarrow Construction - 4 days, level 1, + $ 75 materials fee (1 spot open)
July 2 - 8, 2023 - Welsh Windsor Stick Chairs - 7 days, level 2+ or 3, + $ 120 materials fee (this class is FULL)
July 13 - 16, 2023 - Broom & Dustpan Making - 4 days, level 1, + $ 40 materials fee (1 spot open)
July 22 to 29, 2023 - Curtis Buchanan Shaved Windsor Side Chair - 8 days, level 3, + $ 160 materials fee (this class is FULL)
August 7 to 12, 2023 - Spoon Carving Intensive - 6 days, level 1, no materials fee (this class is FULL)
August 31 to Sept 5, 2023 - Small Coopered Wooden Buckets - 6 days, level 2, $ 35 materials fee (this class is FULL)
September 10 - 15, 2023 - Maine Gum Boxes & Decorative Chip Carving with Kenneth Kortemeier & Daniel Clay
- 5 days, level 1, + $ 25 materials fee (this class is FULL)
Please get in touch with us via email if you are planning to register for a class!
- class descriptions for 2023 -
1. Classic Bentwood Firewood Carrier & Holdall; fundamentals of hand-tool use and green woodworking
April 14, 15 & 16th, 2023 - 3 days
exertion level - 1
materials fee - $ 25.00
$ 435 + $ 25 = $ 460.00 total
This three day/long weekend class is an excellent introduction to hand-tools and green woodworking. Students will learn how to use essential hand-tools and what it’s like to work directly with a tree to make an elegant, useful carrier and holdall.
We generally use these carriers for firewood at our house, but one can also hold items such as newspapers, towels, magazines, kindling, etc.
This project is based on an ancient Chinese firewood carrier pictured in the 1937 book “China at Work”. Several US green woodworkers that we know of have added to and been inspired by this design. For example, Drew Langsner included it as a project in his 1987 book, “Green Woodworking" and Peter Galbert produced a video with Lie-Nielsen Toolworks in 2017 called “Making a Firewood Carrier”.
A tremendously useful project on several fronts, most especially in terms of the range of foundational skills that can be learned in making it.
Skills learned:
- boring holes at predetermined angels with a hand bit and brace
- making mortise & tenon joinery by hand
- riving with a froe
- squaring wood to a required dimension with an axe and drawknife
- steam bending green red oak
2. Tool-making for Woodworkers with Vermont blacksmith Lucian Avery (& Kenneth Kortemeier)
April 24th - 28th, 2023 - 5 days
exertion level - 2
materials fee - $ 40.00
$ 725 + $ 40 materials fee = $ 765.00 total
We will explore low tech tool making for green woodworkers, focusing on accessible propane forging techniques including tempering tool steel by eye. The theory and processes of metalworking to make edge tools will be discussed. The projects will be a slöjd knife and a small draw knife with a 4 inch long blade. Students will be able to customize their blades and handles to suit their needs and preferences within the parameters of the class projects. With the skills and techniques learned, students will have a basic understanding of tool steel selection, tool making, attaching the wooden handles and sharpening. Some simple sheath making and safe knife skills training will also be included. During the class, Kenneth will be assisting Lucian and teaching sharpening, knife skills and sheath making.
3. Hand Hewn Greenwood Bowl Carving
May 4th - 7th, 2023 - 4 days
exertion level 2+, materials fee: $25
$580 + $25 = $605 total
We’ll delve into the reductive process in our Greenwood Bowl Carving class and learn how satisfying the process of carving out a bowl from a rough section of a newly felled tree can be. Unlike lathe-turning, hewing a bowl by hand offers wider variation in terms of shapes and symmetry. We’ll use a froe to split the log, then an axe, adze, gouges, spoke shaves and slöjd knives to gradually refine the size and shapes of our wooden vessels. During this thorough four day class we will explore proper tree selection, layout and design, tool selection, various holding devices, decorative carving, wood finishing, and also edge tool use, care and sharpening.
Students will come away with a hand hewn bowl plus instructions on how best to dry them, as well as thorough information about the process and materials of oil finishing once their bowls have dried.
May 4th - 7th, 2023 - 4 days
exertion level 2+, materials fee: $25
$580 + $25 = $605 total
We’ll delve into the reductive process in our Greenwood Bowl Carving class and learn how satisfying the process of carving out a bowl from a rough section of a newly felled tree can be. Unlike lathe-turning, hewing a bowl by hand offers wider variation in terms of shapes and symmetry. We’ll use a froe to split the log, then an axe, adze, gouges, spoke shaves and slöjd knives to gradually refine the size and shapes of our wooden vessels. During this thorough four day class we will explore proper tree selection, layout and design, tool selection, various holding devices, decorative carving, wood finishing, and also edge tool use, care and sharpening.
Students will come away with a hand hewn bowl plus instructions on how best to dry them, as well as thorough information about the process and materials of oil finishing once their bowls have dried.
4. MACFAT/Make a Chair from a Tree (Post and Rung ladder back chair making)
June 5th - 11th, 2023 - 7 days
exertion level 2+ or 3 - materials fee: $50
$ 1,015 + $ 50 = $ 1,065.00 total
Using a minimal assortment of hand tools, students will learn how to craft and assemble this
elegant, lightweight, durable, and very comfortable chair. This is the chair and the class that Jennie Alexander is known for. Kenneth learned this chair from Drew Langsner, who learned from Jennie during classes she taught at Country Workshops over the years. Kenneth in turn has been teaching this style of green wood post and rung chair making to beginning woodworkers since 2004.
This project is a wonderful introduction to a straightforward and simple form of chair making,
it teaches foundational techniques and skills that are used in making more advanced chairs and furniture. We recommend that students start with this class before they build the Welsh Windsor chair.
The post and rung chair design is called a ladder-back because the back slats resemble the rungs of a ladder. It has also been called a mule ear because the tips of the back posts are reminiscent of ears. Chairs of this design were an inspiration to the Shakers who appreciated their utilitarian simplicity and lack of ornamentation.
The workshop begins with students learning how to select green logs and then to rive (or split) chair parts with a froe and club. Because we will be working with a freshly felled tree, this type of green woodworking offers a direct connection to the materials used and to an older, more sculptural way of working wood.
The riven posts (chair legs) and rungs are shaped with a draw knife and a spoke shave on a shave horse. Rear posts are steam bent onto a form to create the proper curve for the chair back. Rectangular mortises are chopped into the air dried posts with a mortising chisel, and cylindrical mortises are drilled by hand. Tenons are sized and cut on the rungs by hand. We take advantage of dissimilar moisture content between the air dried posts and the kiln dried rungs to help guarantee a tightening of the joinery from natural shrinkage of the wood as it dries. To complete the chair, the seat is woven with colorful cotton webbing called “Shaker Tape”. Finally, the back slats are shaped, fitted and eventually pinned in place with small wooden dowels. Tool use, safety and sharpening will be thoroughly demonstrated and wood finishing will be addressed.
Students will have their red oak chairs assembled and the seats woven by the end of our class time. Oiling or finishing the wood and pinning the back slats will need to be completed after the end of the workshop, once the chair has thoroughly dried.
June 5th - 11th, 2023 - 7 days
exertion level 2+ or 3 - materials fee: $50
$ 1,015 + $ 50 = $ 1,065.00 total
Using a minimal assortment of hand tools, students will learn how to craft and assemble this
elegant, lightweight, durable, and very comfortable chair. This is the chair and the class that Jennie Alexander is known for. Kenneth learned this chair from Drew Langsner, who learned from Jennie during classes she taught at Country Workshops over the years. Kenneth in turn has been teaching this style of green wood post and rung chair making to beginning woodworkers since 2004.
This project is a wonderful introduction to a straightforward and simple form of chair making,
it teaches foundational techniques and skills that are used in making more advanced chairs and furniture. We recommend that students start with this class before they build the Welsh Windsor chair.
The post and rung chair design is called a ladder-back because the back slats resemble the rungs of a ladder. It has also been called a mule ear because the tips of the back posts are reminiscent of ears. Chairs of this design were an inspiration to the Shakers who appreciated their utilitarian simplicity and lack of ornamentation.
The workshop begins with students learning how to select green logs and then to rive (or split) chair parts with a froe and club. Because we will be working with a freshly felled tree, this type of green woodworking offers a direct connection to the materials used and to an older, more sculptural way of working wood.
The riven posts (chair legs) and rungs are shaped with a draw knife and a spoke shave on a shave horse. Rear posts are steam bent onto a form to create the proper curve for the chair back. Rectangular mortises are chopped into the air dried posts with a mortising chisel, and cylindrical mortises are drilled by hand. Tenons are sized and cut on the rungs by hand. We take advantage of dissimilar moisture content between the air dried posts and the kiln dried rungs to help guarantee a tightening of the joinery from natural shrinkage of the wood as it dries. To complete the chair, the seat is woven with colorful cotton webbing called “Shaker Tape”. Finally, the back slats are shaped, fitted and eventually pinned in place with small wooden dowels. Tool use, safety and sharpening will be thoroughly demonstrated and wood finishing will be addressed.
Students will have their red oak chairs assembled and the seats woven by the end of our class time. Oiling or finishing the wood and pinning the back slats will need to be completed after the end of the workshop, once the chair has thoroughly dried.
5. Small Greenwood Projects Weekend - fundamental greenwood skills
June 17 & 18, 2023 - 2 days
exertion level - 1
materials fee - none
$ 290.00 total
This course encompasses the heart of coursework here at the Maine Coast Craft School. It’s our most foundational and introductory class where Kenneth teaches essential handwork skills, the bedrock of green woodworking.
This class could also be called Green Woodworking 101, although the unique projects can be enjoyed and useful to highly skilled carvers or educators looking to teach others as well.
We’ll be using two core hand tools, the sloyd knife (‘sloyd’ is Swedish for handcraft) & also a carving axe. We will develop hand and knife skills while carving projects such as butter spreaders, wall-mounted coat hooks made from limb crooks, Shinto inspired foxes and pine whorl whisks. All on a convenient weekend schedule.
skills learned:
- understanding wood fiber/grain
- understanding theory of sharpness in broad terms
- intro to sharpening edge tools - specifically essential/primary edge tools (sloyd knife & carving axe)
- safety: proper technique to keep oneself safe while using sharp tools
- hands-on projects to apply & understand basic concepts in an experiential way
June 17 & 18, 2023 - 2 days
exertion level - 1
materials fee - none
$ 290.00 total
This course encompasses the heart of coursework here at the Maine Coast Craft School. It’s our most foundational and introductory class where Kenneth teaches essential handwork skills, the bedrock of green woodworking.
This class could also be called Green Woodworking 101, although the unique projects can be enjoyed and useful to highly skilled carvers or educators looking to teach others as well.
We’ll be using two core hand tools, the sloyd knife (‘sloyd’ is Swedish for handcraft) & also a carving axe. We will develop hand and knife skills while carving projects such as butter spreaders, wall-mounted coat hooks made from limb crooks, Shinto inspired foxes and pine whorl whisks. All on a convenient weekend schedule.
skills learned:
- understanding wood fiber/grain
- understanding theory of sharpness in broad terms
- intro to sharpening edge tools - specifically essential/primary edge tools (sloyd knife & carving axe)
- safety: proper technique to keep oneself safe while using sharp tools
- hands-on projects to apply & understand basic concepts in an experiential way
6. Woods Wheelbarrow Construction
June 22 - 25, 2023 - 4 days
materials fee - $ 75.00
exertion level - 1
$ 580 + $ 75 = $655.00 total
The original design for this wheelbarrow was inspired by our friends Bill Coperthwaite and Harry Bryan. The ergonomics are lightyears ahead of normal hardware store variety wheelbarrows in large part thanks to the big wheel. There’s also a shoulder strap and belly band which help in making the barrow more effective up and down hills, both inspired by Chinese wheelbarrow engineering.
Here at our school and homestead in the dense woods of midcoast Maine, we find this type of wheelbarrow to be essential for the human-powered moving of heavy things we end up moving around a lot — things like big chunks of freshly harvested green wood, firewood, multiple 5 gallon containers of water, etc. This barrow can navigate narrow paths through the woods thanks to the large diameter repurposed bicycle wheel that allows it to roll more easily over roots and rocks around our property.
The all wooden-body design is another big benefit as it’s able to withstand being left outdoors without rusting out. Plus the bicycle wheel is simple and inexpensive to repair.
People have told us that using a woods wheelbarrow brings joy and satisfaction to what had previously been mundane domestic tasks.
During the class we will discuss a variety of wheelbarrow designs, look at current and historical examples and also consider other human-powered cart designs.
No previous woodworking experience is necessary for this class.
skills learned:
- measuring and cutting dimensional lumber with handsaws
- basic woodworking skills such as half-lap joinery & working board edges with a drawknife & spokeshave
- work with some basic homemade hardware to attach the bicycle wheel
June 22 - 25, 2023 - 4 days
materials fee - $ 75.00
exertion level - 1
$ 580 + $ 75 = $655.00 total
The original design for this wheelbarrow was inspired by our friends Bill Coperthwaite and Harry Bryan. The ergonomics are lightyears ahead of normal hardware store variety wheelbarrows in large part thanks to the big wheel. There’s also a shoulder strap and belly band which help in making the barrow more effective up and down hills, both inspired by Chinese wheelbarrow engineering.
Here at our school and homestead in the dense woods of midcoast Maine, we find this type of wheelbarrow to be essential for the human-powered moving of heavy things we end up moving around a lot — things like big chunks of freshly harvested green wood, firewood, multiple 5 gallon containers of water, etc. This barrow can navigate narrow paths through the woods thanks to the large diameter repurposed bicycle wheel that allows it to roll more easily over roots and rocks around our property.
The all wooden-body design is another big benefit as it’s able to withstand being left outdoors without rusting out. Plus the bicycle wheel is simple and inexpensive to repair.
People have told us that using a woods wheelbarrow brings joy and satisfaction to what had previously been mundane domestic tasks.
During the class we will discuss a variety of wheelbarrow designs, look at current and historical examples and also consider other human-powered cart designs.
No previous woodworking experience is necessary for this class.
skills learned:
- measuring and cutting dimensional lumber with handsaws
- basic woodworking skills such as half-lap joinery & working board edges with a drawknife & spokeshave
- work with some basic homemade hardware to attach the bicycle wheel
7. Making a John Brown style vernacular Windsor chair
July 2nd - 8th, 2023 - 7 days
exertion level 2+ or 3 - materials fee: $ 120
$ 1,015 + $ 120 = $ 1,135.00 total
We will learn to make and assemble a Welsh style vernacular Windsor in this seven day workshop. The chairs which Kenneth builds (and the way he teaches students to to build them) are based on the unique design and techniques he learned while he was an apprentice with the late John Brown, the self-taught Welsh chair maker.
A pre-requisite for this class is the MACFAT/ Post and Rung Ladder Back Chair class.
Using hand tools, we’ll shape and assemble chair parts, working with both green and air-dried hardwoods. Some parts will be roughed out ahead of time (although this is not a kit) in order to allow for time constraints and various student skill levels.
All necessary specialized chair-making tools will be available for use and materials are all provided.
This is a very full learning experience and students will need to oil or otherwise finish their chairs after the conclusion of the class.
Students will need to be able to transport their chairs home after class.
(finished chairs measure 28” wide, 43” tall, 23” deep.)
July 2nd - 8th, 2023 - 7 days
exertion level 2+ or 3 - materials fee: $ 120
$ 1,015 + $ 120 = $ 1,135.00 total
We will learn to make and assemble a Welsh style vernacular Windsor in this seven day workshop. The chairs which Kenneth builds (and the way he teaches students to to build them) are based on the unique design and techniques he learned while he was an apprentice with the late John Brown, the self-taught Welsh chair maker.
A pre-requisite for this class is the MACFAT/ Post and Rung Ladder Back Chair class.
Using hand tools, we’ll shape and assemble chair parts, working with both green and air-dried hardwoods. Some parts will be roughed out ahead of time (although this is not a kit) in order to allow for time constraints and various student skill levels.
All necessary specialized chair-making tools will be available for use and materials are all provided.
This is a very full learning experience and students will need to oil or otherwise finish their chairs after the conclusion of the class.
Students will need to be able to transport their chairs home after class.
(finished chairs measure 28” wide, 43” tall, 23” deep.)
8. Broom Making + Dustpans
July 13th to 16th, 2023 - 4 days
exertion level 1 - materials fee: $ 40
$ 580 + $ 40 = $ 620.00 total
It is very satisfying to use a broom that is handmade. It can turn a mundane task into a satisfying ritual - sweeping begins to feel like a dance between the maker, the sweeper and the broom.
We are excited to share this handcraft which our friend Fritz taught us, he learned it while he was an intern at Tillers International in Michigan.
Students in this 4 day class will make two different styles of handmade brooms; a classic floor broom and a whisk broom. Materials we’ll use include broom corn, special tarred cordage, broom sewing needles and (for the larger floor broom) a custom carved broom handle. We will discuss dust pan design and broom handle decoration.
Making brooms requires very minimal infrastructure and tools, so this accessible craft is definitely something that students can continue at home.
We'll investigate several designs for handmade dustpans once the brooms are made, so that students have a highly utilitarian set of tools.
Our classes are human-scaled and quiet in a pleasant, productive way with 5 or 6 students at most, a perfect atmosphere to learn and pursue handcrafts together.
July 13th to 16th, 2023 - 4 days
exertion level 1 - materials fee: $ 40
$ 580 + $ 40 = $ 620.00 total
It is very satisfying to use a broom that is handmade. It can turn a mundane task into a satisfying ritual - sweeping begins to feel like a dance between the maker, the sweeper and the broom.
We are excited to share this handcraft which our friend Fritz taught us, he learned it while he was an intern at Tillers International in Michigan.
Students in this 4 day class will make two different styles of handmade brooms; a classic floor broom and a whisk broom. Materials we’ll use include broom corn, special tarred cordage, broom sewing needles and (for the larger floor broom) a custom carved broom handle. We will discuss dust pan design and broom handle decoration.
Making brooms requires very minimal infrastructure and tools, so this accessible craft is definitely something that students can continue at home.
We'll investigate several designs for handmade dustpans once the brooms are made, so that students have a highly utilitarian set of tools.
Our classes are human-scaled and quiet in a pleasant, productive way with 5 or 6 students at most, a perfect atmosphere to learn and pursue handcrafts together.
9. Curtis Buchanan's Shaved Windsor Side chair
July 22nd - 29th, 2022 - 8 days
exertion level 3 - materials fee: $ 160
$ 1,160 + $ 160 = $ 1,320.00 total
This chair is called a “democratic” Windsor by its designer, Curtis Buchanan, due to his conscious plan to use a very limited selection of hand tools for building it. This keeps it more accessible to makers who don’t have a power lathe or a large collection of tools at their disposal, and it also highlights and encourages hand tool woodworking skill building.
The graceful side chair has an air-dried white pine seat with riven, red oak spindles, posts & legs. Students will split, rive and carve some of their chair parts from start to finish beginning with a green log during the class, in order to demonstrate and learn the entire process. This course is our longest one though, totaling eight days, but the chair would take at least two weeks to build if some of the preparation were not done for students. Most of the parts will be roughly shaped and air dried ahead of time. It’s a very full and nicely challenging eight days even so.
This class demands a high level of drawknife skill as we shape complex concave curves by eye - this means that it’s our most skill intensive class and demands a lot of attention and focus.
- chair legs and undercarriage are shaped with a drawknife
- the seat is sculpted/shaped with an adze, inshave and drawknife
- leg & post mortises shaped with a tapered reamer
- steam bend the crest from a piece of green riven red oak, then shape it and fit it to the chair
- posts, spindles and steam-bent crest all shaped with a drawknife
- bore the mortises for the upper part of the chair and finally, assembly of the chair
Students leave with an assembled/completed chair that’s ready for milk paint and oil finish at home.
We’re grateful that Curtis invited Kenneth to Tennessee in 2019 to learn how to make this chair and we acknowledge his support as we’ve added this Windsor to our offerings here at the craft school.
We appreciate this chair because it fits well into the vernacular chairmaking tradition. We carve, shave or whittle all of the parts of this chair with hand tools, and these skills are a wonderful alternative to the predominant lathe-turned chair.
This supports our vision and philosophy of offering hand tool oriented classes which all rely on the same core set of edge tools and skills. Thus these classes and skills offer more accessibility to craft for people with a limited selection tools and working space.
July 22nd - 29th, 2022 - 8 days
exertion level 3 - materials fee: $ 160
$ 1,160 + $ 160 = $ 1,320.00 total
This chair is called a “democratic” Windsor by its designer, Curtis Buchanan, due to his conscious plan to use a very limited selection of hand tools for building it. This keeps it more accessible to makers who don’t have a power lathe or a large collection of tools at their disposal, and it also highlights and encourages hand tool woodworking skill building.
The graceful side chair has an air-dried white pine seat with riven, red oak spindles, posts & legs. Students will split, rive and carve some of their chair parts from start to finish beginning with a green log during the class, in order to demonstrate and learn the entire process. This course is our longest one though, totaling eight days, but the chair would take at least two weeks to build if some of the preparation were not done for students. Most of the parts will be roughly shaped and air dried ahead of time. It’s a very full and nicely challenging eight days even so.
This class demands a high level of drawknife skill as we shape complex concave curves by eye - this means that it’s our most skill intensive class and demands a lot of attention and focus.
- chair legs and undercarriage are shaped with a drawknife
- the seat is sculpted/shaped with an adze, inshave and drawknife
- leg & post mortises shaped with a tapered reamer
- steam bend the crest from a piece of green riven red oak, then shape it and fit it to the chair
- posts, spindles and steam-bent crest all shaped with a drawknife
- bore the mortises for the upper part of the chair and finally, assembly of the chair
Students leave with an assembled/completed chair that’s ready for milk paint and oil finish at home.
We’re grateful that Curtis invited Kenneth to Tennessee in 2019 to learn how to make this chair and we acknowledge his support as we’ve added this Windsor to our offerings here at the craft school.
We appreciate this chair because it fits well into the vernacular chairmaking tradition. We carve, shave or whittle all of the parts of this chair with hand tools, and these skills are a wonderful alternative to the predominant lathe-turned chair.
This supports our vision and philosophy of offering hand tool oriented classes which all rely on the same core set of edge tools and skills. Thus these classes and skills offer more accessibility to craft for people with a limited selection tools and working space.
10. Spoon Carving Intensive
August 7th - 12th, 2023 - 6 days
exertion level 1 - materials fee: none
$ 780 total
A wonderful and full week of carving spoons together, for all levels of skill and experience.
We will start by taking a walk in our surrounding woods to look at trees and natural crooks from which to make curved wooden spoons. Larger serving spoons will allow more room for practicing knife and axe skills, but students can experiment and play with many sorts and sizes of spoons and utensils. Participants can experiment with our collection of carving axes to rough out spoon blanks and get a feel for different weights and styles of axes. We've also got block knives for the roughing-out process. We’ll discuss layout and design choices before we dive in with straight and curved knives to refine and shape our spoons. Kenneth will introduce a variety of techniques and tool choices, such as bent and dog leg gouges as alternatives or additions to the standard slöjd knives for carving. Emphasis is placed on using natural crooks and following the wood fibers to design for curvaceous, flowing lines. Much attention will be paid to proportions and resolving facets in a pleasing way.
Sharpening (grinding, honing and stropping), safe and effective knife grips, work-holding options, understanding wood species and selection, and design feedback/discussion will all be covered.
Because of our small class size (limit of five) Kenneth is able to work with each student to improve and deepen their sense of carving wherever they are in terms of familiarity with design choices, tool skills and previous hand work experience.
August 7th - 12th, 2023 - 6 days
exertion level 1 - materials fee: none
$ 780 total
A wonderful and full week of carving spoons together, for all levels of skill and experience.
We will start by taking a walk in our surrounding woods to look at trees and natural crooks from which to make curved wooden spoons. Larger serving spoons will allow more room for practicing knife and axe skills, but students can experiment and play with many sorts and sizes of spoons and utensils. Participants can experiment with our collection of carving axes to rough out spoon blanks and get a feel for different weights and styles of axes. We've also got block knives for the roughing-out process. We’ll discuss layout and design choices before we dive in with straight and curved knives to refine and shape our spoons. Kenneth will introduce a variety of techniques and tool choices, such as bent and dog leg gouges as alternatives or additions to the standard slöjd knives for carving. Emphasis is placed on using natural crooks and following the wood fibers to design for curvaceous, flowing lines. Much attention will be paid to proportions and resolving facets in a pleasing way.
Sharpening (grinding, honing and stropping), safe and effective knife grips, work-holding options, understanding wood species and selection, and design feedback/discussion will all be covered.
Because of our small class size (limit of five) Kenneth is able to work with each student to improve and deepen their sense of carving wherever they are in terms of familiarity with design choices, tool skills and previous hand work experience.
11. Coopering Small Wooden Buckets
August 31st - September 5th, 2023 - 6 days
exertion level 1, materials fee: $ 35
$ 870 + $ 35 = $ 905.00 total
Explore the art of coopering by making a classic wooden bucket in this six day class. Finished buckets will be about 10” diameter by 12” tall. This is one of the few projects at our school where we use wood that is air or kiln dried.
Starting with roughed-out, air dried stock, we’ll carefully lay out the bevels and taper of the upright wall pieces, called staves, shaping the bevels with a large wooden jointers plane.
The staves will be made of clear, vertical grain pine or cedar.
We’ll use temporary metal hoops and a coopers draw-shave to roughly shape the inside of the staves into a curve.
We’ll spend time refining the bevels until we achieve water-tight joints between all the staves.
Small wooden pins are used for alignment once the bevels are completed.
The inside of the joined staves will be finished into a smooth-walled, tapered cylinder using a curved sole compass plane.
Next, a specialized tool called a croze is used to cut a dado which captures and houses the edge of the carved, kiln dried pine bottom.
The final steps involve making and fitting hoops for the outside of the coopered bucket.
August 31st - September 5th, 2023 - 6 days
exertion level 1, materials fee: $ 35
$ 870 + $ 35 = $ 905.00 total
Explore the art of coopering by making a classic wooden bucket in this six day class. Finished buckets will be about 10” diameter by 12” tall. This is one of the few projects at our school where we use wood that is air or kiln dried.
Starting with roughed-out, air dried stock, we’ll carefully lay out the bevels and taper of the upright wall pieces, called staves, shaping the bevels with a large wooden jointers plane.
The staves will be made of clear, vertical grain pine or cedar.
We’ll use temporary metal hoops and a coopers draw-shave to roughly shape the inside of the staves into a curve.
We’ll spend time refining the bevels until we achieve water-tight joints between all the staves.
Small wooden pins are used for alignment once the bevels are completed.
The inside of the joined staves will be finished into a smooth-walled, tapered cylinder using a curved sole compass plane.
Next, a specialized tool called a croze is used to cut a dado which captures and houses the edge of the carved, kiln dried pine bottom.
The final steps involve making and fitting hoops for the outside of the coopered bucket.
12. Maine Gum Boxes & Decorative Chip Carving with Kenneth Kortemeier & Daniel Clay
Sept 10 to 15, 2023 - 6 days
materials fee - $ 25.00
exertion level - 1
$ 870 + $ 25 = $ 895.00
Book boxes, gum boxes, or gum books — by any name these are lovely, handmade objects for holding precious things, about the size and shape of a book, and often made to be given as gifts. Gum boxes are a Maine Northwoods tradition with historical examples dating anywhere from the mid 1800s until about 1920. Craftsman Jögge Sundqvist showed us how these boxes were often made to hold the family bible or other precious books in Sweden. The Maine State museum and also the Patten Lumberman’s Museum have wonderful collections of spruce gum boxes from the 1800s, all made in the same fashion as the ones from Scandinavia. We are offering this class to highlight and celebrate Maine’s regional handcraft traditions.
Here’s a link to a nice article about the history of these boxes and spruce gum in America:
https://northernwoodlands.org/knots_and_bolts/remembering-spruce-gum
The boxes we will make are a regional variation on the Northern European tradition. Guest instructor Daniel Clay will be teaching the decorative carving skills portion of this class alongside Kenneth, who will be leading the box construction work.
Daniel recently published his first book, available here.
It's called “Chip Carving, Techniques For Carving Beautiful Patterns By Hand”.
It's a great read and would be good preparation for this class.
This is more of a carving project than a typical box-making workshop, as these classic boxes are made by boring and carving out the interior of a wide length of wood, resulting in no joinery in the four sides of the box. The top and bottom are separate pieces, let into the interior walls at the top and bottom using sliding dovetail joints. The outside walls of the box are planed and smoothed by hand once the inside has been hollowed, giving the walls a consistent thickness throughout. The outsides of many historical examples have been shaped to resemble books and students can go that route too if they choose.
In keeping with traditional materials and techniques, we’ll create our book boxes of pine or linden wood during the first part of this six day course. We’ll occasionally break from the work of building boxes in order to practice decorative carving techniques with Daniel. Once the boxes are completed and after students have had enough chip carving instruction and practice, we will design and carve a decorative pattern into our gum boxes. We’ll be using only hand-tools throughout the process, the same hand-tools that were historically used for these popular, regionally produced boxes well over a hundred years ago.
skills learned:
- boring holes by hand with a bit & brace
- using various edge tools such as a drawknife, sloyd knife, spoke shave, block plane & gouges to remove stock
- hand carving a housed dado or groove to fit top and bottom of the box
- using detail knives for decorative chip carving
Sept 10 to 15, 2023 - 6 days
materials fee - $ 25.00
exertion level - 1
$ 870 + $ 25 = $ 895.00
Book boxes, gum boxes, or gum books — by any name these are lovely, handmade objects for holding precious things, about the size and shape of a book, and often made to be given as gifts. Gum boxes are a Maine Northwoods tradition with historical examples dating anywhere from the mid 1800s until about 1920. Craftsman Jögge Sundqvist showed us how these boxes were often made to hold the family bible or other precious books in Sweden. The Maine State museum and also the Patten Lumberman’s Museum have wonderful collections of spruce gum boxes from the 1800s, all made in the same fashion as the ones from Scandinavia. We are offering this class to highlight and celebrate Maine’s regional handcraft traditions.
Here’s a link to a nice article about the history of these boxes and spruce gum in America:
https://northernwoodlands.org/knots_and_bolts/remembering-spruce-gum
The boxes we will make are a regional variation on the Northern European tradition. Guest instructor Daniel Clay will be teaching the decorative carving skills portion of this class alongside Kenneth, who will be leading the box construction work.
Daniel recently published his first book, available here.
It's called “Chip Carving, Techniques For Carving Beautiful Patterns By Hand”.
It's a great read and would be good preparation for this class.
This is more of a carving project than a typical box-making workshop, as these classic boxes are made by boring and carving out the interior of a wide length of wood, resulting in no joinery in the four sides of the box. The top and bottom are separate pieces, let into the interior walls at the top and bottom using sliding dovetail joints. The outside walls of the box are planed and smoothed by hand once the inside has been hollowed, giving the walls a consistent thickness throughout. The outsides of many historical examples have been shaped to resemble books and students can go that route too if they choose.
In keeping with traditional materials and techniques, we’ll create our book boxes of pine or linden wood during the first part of this six day course. We’ll occasionally break from the work of building boxes in order to practice decorative carving techniques with Daniel. Once the boxes are completed and after students have had enough chip carving instruction and practice, we will design and carve a decorative pattern into our gum boxes. We’ll be using only hand-tools throughout the process, the same hand-tools that were historically used for these popular, regionally produced boxes well over a hundred years ago.
skills learned:
- boring holes by hand with a bit & brace
- using various edge tools such as a drawknife, sloyd knife, spoke shave, block plane & gouges to remove stock
- hand carving a housed dado or groove to fit top and bottom of the box
- using detail knives for decorative chip carving
"Power machines are unfriendly for they are very noisy and make a lot of unpleasant dust.
Craft woodworking should be a creative activity, with the practitioners as artists.
Surrounded by ugly, noisy, dusty machines the woodworker does not have the environment in which to do good work."
- John Brown, chair maker