Classes have always sparked some interesting collaborations at the Center for Furniture Craftsmanship. The summer 2018 Furniture Intensive spawned a particularly inspiring one: two students, perfect strangers, destined to collaborate on a chair. Aaron Hoover was an associate professor of mechanical engineering from Massachusetts; Drew Perkins was a retired securities lawyer from Washington, D.C. Despite…
On December 31, 2021, Founding Director Peter Korn retired. We felt it fitting at this time to reflect on the school’s evolution, beginning with the Basic Woodworking classes held in Peter’s barn thirty years ago. Through his commitment to a vision and dedication to craft, today the school brings together world-class instructors and students from…
When CFC moved to its current campus in 1996, Founder Peter Korn designed the first building with a lawn that would make a passable croquet pitch. Twenty five years later, croquet has become enshrined as the official school sport. Every Thursday evening, from the start of the Workshop season in June through mid-September, students, instructors,…
For almost 30 years, the Center for Furniture Craftsmanship has been a crossroads where woodworkers from around the world connect to share skills, forge friendships, and transmit knowledge from one generation to the next. The community to which we belong runs deep and strong, as the following story illustrates. The year was 1976. Tom Hucker…
Sometimes solving a problem leads to benefits you never expected. Last fall, to promote virus safety, we spread student workbenches farther apart by moving some into the adjacent drafting rooms. Teachers and students liked the new set up so well that we looked for ways to make it permanent. The problem with making it permanent?…
July, 2021 – Limond Grindstaff is a fulltime woodworking hobbyist and retired telecommunications executive in McLean, VA. He originally came to CFC in 1999 to build his skills through a two-week Basic Woodworking course, and has followed up with additional courses since. “Each time I attended a class,” Limond writes, “my confidence and skill level…
July, 2021 – Kendrick Anderson is a self-employed furniture maker in Atlanta, GA who works with residential clients, interior designers, and architectural firms. Following graduation from our 12-week Furniture Intensive in 2009, he gained experience in several professional workshops before going into business for himself five years later. Today, Kendrick works out of a 2,200-sq. ft.…
July, 2021 -Leslie Webb is a longtime furniture maker in Georgetown, TX, who recently expanded into retail sales of high-end woodworking tools. When she enrolled in our Nine-month Comprehensive back in 2004, as Leslie recalls, she didn’t have concrete goals, “I just knew with certainty that furniture making was my path in life. I simply…
The Nine-month Comprehensive recently graduated its latest class. Twelve students spent an intense fall, winter, and spring progressing through projects in hand skills, drawer making, machine skills, finishing, drawing for design, solid wood casepiece construction, turning, CNC machining, veneering and marquetry, curvature, carving, product development, and chair making. The students came with a wide range…
