Woodworking school

[Alloy Dave]

A few weeks ago I took a week of vacation from work and went to a woodworking school. I had been there two years ago, so this was my 2nd class. It's one of the top 5 woodworking schools in the country, and it just so happens it's in Whiteland, Indiana, only 30 minutes from my house. It's called MASW, or the Marc Adams School of Woodworking.

Marc Adams School Of Wood Working :: Homepage

They offer over 100 different woodworking classes, from bowl turning, to joinery, to finishing, to copper patina, and much more.

Two years ago I took a class on basic cabinetmaking and made the cabinet shown below.


This time I took basic joinery, and it was anything BUT basic.


The goal was to learn how to layout joints and cut them BY HAND. We were not allowed to use power tools until Friday, and then they taught us a few more complex joints. I learned to hand cut many types of dovetails, mortise and tenons, hip joints, 3-way miters, and much more.

In all they showed us over 50 different joints, and we made samples of about 28 of them. I've included a few pictures below. Some show gaps because they are not glued together...this is so I can take them apart to see how they were made. I learned a great deal about being a true craftsman...I still have a lot to learn.

[TOMMY GUN]

That looks like some tricky stuff.


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[Alloy Dave]

Here are a few pictures of the areas within the school. At any one time there are 3 classes going on. They offer mainly weekday classes...prices range, but $700 is typical. That includes basic materials, all your lunches, and any drinks during the day (they have a soda fountain).






The instructors range from Marc himself (he taught my class on joinery) to instructors brought in from around the world to train highly specialized skills. For example, Grit Laskin is an ebony inlay pioneer who inlays on guitar necks and sells them mainly to rock stars. Take a look:
William Laskin - Guitar Maker

David Marks does a class on copper patination, a process where toxic acids are placed on metal in strategic ways to make artistic designs.
Metal Patinations

[Joe G]

When is this class??

[Alloy Dave]

Originally Posted by TOMMY GUN

That looks like some tricky stuff.


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He made us do a "2 pin, 1 tail through dovetail" on Monday. Then we did the exact same joint on Friday. I won't show you the Monday joint.

It's all about practice. My hands were cut up and my shoulders sore on Friday. Days started at 8, went to 6, then they had "after hours" activities such as a 3 hour lecture on adhesives on Wednesday night. I wasn't getting home until 10:30 pm most nights...and after standing on concrete floors all day, sitting on flat metal chairs, and all hunched over with a chisel in my hand.

I'm getting too old for this stuff.

I did enjoy it though, even though I complain.

[Alloy Dave]

Originally Posted by Joe G

When is this class??

I taught that one in November.

[HSURB]

Dave - that's really neat they have courses you can take like that for a hobby you enjoy so much. Although, I will say that looks pretty intensive for a hobby.

HSURB®

[Alloy Dave]

Originally Posted by HSURB

Dave - that's really neat they have courses you can take like that for a hobby you enjoy so much. Although, I will say that looks pretty intensive for a hobby.

HSURB®

It beats the hobbies of most others on this forum:

HSURB - chasing car thieves
Grabber - Videographer of meat loaf episodes
KR - Photochopping sharun's face onto KoolAidMan's body
Tommy Gun - Hot tubs, steering stabilizers on vans, detailing Minis, you name it
Lupara - See HSURB above
Joe G - flotation devices

[TOMMY GUN]

[Super Snake]

Nice Shop

[gr8snkbite]

good class info Dave...i likey. Currently working a secret project of my own. Was wondering the best way to bore a straight 3/4" hole through a 1-1/2" sq block 10" long, and capping the ends. Compression/expansion springs are to be installed in the bore hole (inside a metal sleeve)...unfortunately my woodworking tools are limited.

[Alloy Dave]

Originally Posted by gr8snkbite

good class info Dave...i likey. Currently working a secret project of my own. Was wondering the best way to bore a straight 3/4" hole through a 1-1/2" sq block 10" long, and capping the ends. Compression/expansion springs are to be installed in the bore hole (inside a metal sleeve)...unfortunately my woodworking tools are limited.

Thats easy....cut the 10" piece into shorter pieces, drill the holes, use sleeve to align, glue back together.

[TOMMY GUN]

You are the Wood Guru.



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[Alloy Dave]

Originally Posted by TOMMY GUN

You are the Wood Guru.



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I'm thinking he'll say that won't work for some reason or another...but we'll see. There would be some minor sanding required after re-gluing...but should'nt be too bad.

Another option would be to cut a square hole in the middle and then put the round sleeve in...but I don't know what he's doing so it's hard to say. You might wonder how you cut a square hole? That's easy, cut the 10" piece LENGTHWISE, cut triangles in each side, then glue back together.

[iceman]

Dave, Grabber, anyone else that does a lot of wood work maybe you can help me out here.

It has been a long time goal of mine to be able to buy a cabin and redo things the way i would like. I have searched off an on for over 12 years and because of cost, locaton, or some other timing type of reason I have never been able to afford/justify the purchase.....With the market being what it is I have watched a place that is really an ideal set up for me in MI for over a year now waiting and watching and finally the price dropped to where I felt like I could put in an offer and not insult anyone. I did this over the 4th of July week as my parents house (our lake place that they now live at full time) is about 10 or 12 houses down the street fron this cabin. Since then it has been an interesting and stressful time as I navigate through the new regulations for buying a 2nd home (even a pretty low cost one). The first thing I learned is that the days of 10% down on the 2nd home are gone so I have to spend more out of pocket than I was planning which does 2 things:

1. gives me an out because the contract was written to state I have to get approval for a 10% down mortgage)
2. makes the pament more like a high car payment than a house payment on a 30 fixed loan

So once I wrestle with the idea of emptying more out of pocket than i wanted and decided it was too good of a deal to pass on for me and was worth the risk I gathered all the crap up they need:

pay stubs, tax returns, W2's, brokerage statements, bank statements, signed offer forms, etc. and hand delivered it to the mortgage company. Then for the past few week I have been getting calls every other day asking me for the stuff I already submitted in person so i had to track it all down again as well as a house bill here to show I pay taxes on this residence as part of my payment. Now - I am prety organized with my $ and bills so I can have these together in a matter of minutes with little to no searching but I find it rather irritating that I have had 3-4 people involved all calling and asking me for the same crap i gave the first guy (who spent most of the meeting telling me about how difficult it was to put this all in the right order). I have determined that part of the mortage problem is not just in who is allowed to get a loan but the people running the program and process for getting the loan. There is gross negligence almost every step of the way, overlap on each thing, and no communication. I feel like I am back at the hospital with my dauighter dealin with this group.

OK - sorry - anyway it looks like I will finally get my approval (I hope today) and then I will nly have to get a survey done by my 8/14 target closing date. Once that happens I will have a lot of projects to take on and some are simple while others will require some new and nice power tools (which is the reason for my post here - finally to the point).

I was wondering if you has suggestions on what to look for in a mitre saw, table saw, and nail guns? I'll need a framing nailer and a finish/brad nailer and plan to do a little molding work but a lot of Knotty pine on the walls inside as well as new flooring. I'll likely pay for the roof to get done but if not I will have that and a lot of deck work but likely I will pull the nails and screw the deck together this time to avoid the nail pop issues currently there.

Is there any other tool that is good you suggest I look into? I see these things on TV that cut tile/grout, wood, steel etc. and they sand too (I will likely need a power sander too). I don't need the best in class of everything but I would like something that generally is a good brand and lasts along time and works well.

The first one I likely will get is the Mitre Saw so unless I am convinced other wise this will be the top priority - I need to have some tools to do this right as I built my dexl with just a circular saw and drill but I want better cuts for the interior stuff.

I'll get a thread and some pics up if this actually comes together but your thoughts on what to look for would be greatly appreciated.

[Alloy Dave]

Originally Posted by iceman

Dave, Grabber, anyone else that does a lot of wood work maybe you can help me out here.

I was wondering if you has suggestions on what to look for in a mitre saw, table saw, and nail guns? I'll need a framing nailer and a finish/brad nailer and plan to do a little molding work but a lot of Knotty pine on the walls inside as well as new flooring. I'll likely pay for the roof to get done but if not I will have that and a lot of deck work but likely I will pull the nails and screw the deck together this time to avoid the nail pop issues currently there.

Is there any other tool that is good you suggest I look into? I see these things on TV that cut tile/grout, wood, steel etc. and they sand too (I will likely need a power sander too). I don't need the best in class of everything but I would like something that generally is a good brand and lasts along time and works well.

The first one I likely will get is the Mitre Saw so unless I am convinced other wise this will be the top priority - I need to have some tools to do this right as I built my dexl with just a circular saw and drill but I want better cuts for the interior stuff.

I'll get a thread and some pics up if this actually comes together but your thoughts on what to look for would be greatly appreciated.

Wow, a lot to consider. I don't want to make this too long of an answer, so I'll start short and let you ask more questions.

1) Lots of good brands of tools, but I recommend DeWalt, Porter Cable, or Makita. They are a good balance of quality and cost.

2) In the miter saw, a "compound" miter saw gives you flexibility to do crown moldings and compound cuts, but you can save a bit of money if you don't need this capability.

3) Table saw is quite a lengthy story...so give me some time. I may have some woodworking magazine articles that I could scan and fax, that would be better than me recommending something. Will you be moving it around much? or will it stay in one place? That's a big factor. Will you be cutting large sheets of plywood?

4) As for other tools you may need, pick them up as you need them. If you're doing demolition, you'll want a reciprocating saw.

5) As for sanders, what will you be sanding? If you want a small palm sander, see the brands above...they all make them.

Keep asking questions, I'll do what I can to help. I didn't advise on the nail guns because Grabber will know more about that. I have nail guns, but rarely use them.

P.S. Tell us more about what kind of projects you'll be doing, as it helps determine the tools needed. Will you be doing wainscoting? Large beams? Will you need to "dimension" your wood, or will you buy it S2S? Answers to these questions will help guide answers.

Dave

[Alloy Dave]

P.S. If you want to come down to my house for a more thorough discussion and so I can show you some things, you'd be welcomed.

[Joe G]

Congrats on the new Mafia Lake House purchase Ice!!


I foresee a new Stang Mafia event in 2010... MafiaFest on the Lake!



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[TOMMY GUN]

Just one thought.

You can have all the best tools in the world, but if you don't know how to use them it will do no good.

Get a crash course from Dave if you never used a particular tool before...and be safe.

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[iceman]

Originally Posted by TOMMY GUN

Just one thought.

You can have all the best tools in the world, but if you don't know how to use them it will do no good.

Get a crash course from Dave if you never used a particular tool before...and be safe.

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Agreed - I've used most of the common thngs but if there was any specific tool Dave said i shoulod have and I didn't know what it was i would do that for sure.

I don't think I'll be doing much molding in the cabin but i will need to be able to make some of those cuts as I'll be doing trim with the knotty pine inside as well as all the walls will be redone in knotty pine. If I don't do walls in the bedroom I'll do the ceiling and trim in it.

I will start a thread about the cabin to not take away from your stuff here but I wanted to get your input on some of the tool. I was looking at a DeWalt or Hitachi Miter Saw. Not a top of the line but a decent middle of the road one as my first tool since I'll use it a lot. I have a good circular saw that i have used to build multiple decks and fences but I need to be more accurate with my cuts for the inside stuff.

I'll be doing flooring which will be either hardwood or slate. I'll be doing tile in the bathrooms, many walls (not framing just covering and trim). I think I can do most of what I need to with the Miter saw and what I have but eventually there will be some bigger projects too.


Here's a couple pics of the starting point: