Having acquired new skills with hand tools and machines, the Nine-month Comprehensive students have moved to their next project: to create a solid-wood case piece with drawers and doors. Currently they are going through an in-depth design process involving drawings, models, and full-scale mock-ups, as well as pertinent lectures on the necessary mechanics and strategies. Check back soon to see their progress.

I love my tools. As an assistant I lent a student my beloved Starrett four-inch square so he could accurately check his dovetails. Throughout the afternoon, I caught myself staring across the room, as if I expected him to toss my square on the floor when he was finished.
The Nine-month Comprehensive students will no doubt develop this same attachment, and what better way to cherish their tools than give them a beautiful home in a custom tool cabinet? This second project in the Nine-month Comprehensive is designed to give students familiarity with machine joinery and shaping skills for casework.

One of my objectives for this blog is to give readers the opportunity to meet the students. Since coming to the Center two years ago as a student myself, I’ve continually been impressed by the spectrum of the student body. People of all ages and experience come from all over; and, although they are participating in the same program, their goals are often quite different.

I looked at the clock and was appalled. How could something so small and simple be so arduously time-consuming? And how is it that a paper-thin gap could look so cavernous? An entire day dedicated to two tails and three pins.