John Cameron and Israel Martin
July 22 – August 2
Well-tuned, sharp tools are the foundation of good workmanship, while their skilled use is one of life’s great pleasures. When the tool is one you have made, this pleasure only increases. Come learn to get crisp, accurate results from chisels, planes, spokeshaves, and other traditional woodworking tools such as marking gauges and knives.
In this exercise-based workshop, students begin by making a wooden handplane that is then used throughout the class. For the rest of the time, students tackle a small project—a low stool or box—using newly acquired tools and techniques. John provides thorough instruction in selecting and tuning up your tools, hollow-grinding and honing razor-sharp edges, cutting mortise-and-tenon and dovetail joints, planing boards four-square, fairing curves, and more. Whether you work entirely without electricity or seek to combine the quiet satisfactions and adaptability of hand tools with the more rigid efficiencies of machinery, the skills acquired in this course are invaluable.
John Cameron designs and builds fine furniture in Gloucester, MA. He studied with James Krenov at the College of the Redwoods from 1992-94, and is currently a juried member of the New Hampshire Furniture Masters. John has exhibited at the Smithsonian Craft Show, the Currier Museum of Art, and Boston’s Society of Arts and Crafts, among other venues. Publications include With Wakened Hands (Cambium Press, 2000) and Fine Woodworking. John’s website is johncameroncabinetmaker.com.
Israel Martin
Open to novice and intermediate woodworkers.
