The Centre for Fine Woodworking
New Zealand's premier furniture making, woodworking & design school
Student Blog : Mia Trew details her experiences
at the Centre for Fine Woodworking.
Newsletters
CENTRE FOR FINE WOODWORKING NEWSLETTER - JULY 2011
A warm welcome from us all here at the Centre for Fine Woodworking.
We have been busily planning, scheming and plotting new courses, new ideas and making some improvements to the workshop and the website - all in the name of fine woodworking and to give our students the best possible experience whilst they are here with us in Nelson. So, with that boastful start to the latest newsletter, we will share some of this with you now......
BEGINNING CABINET MAKING COURSES
The latest Beginning Cabinet Making 1 course has just finished where the students were the first to use the latest additions to our toolkits - we were thrilled to make some nice purchases recently with some funding gratefully received from the Dick Roberts Trust. We have added into our student toolkits a new set of European chisels so that students now have the opportunity to handle both these and Japanese chisels. We also have added rip and cross cut saws to each toolkit and a useful little marking gauge. We thought you might enjoy some feedback from the students from May Beginning Cabinet Making about the new hand tools...
"Good to see new Veritas saws (most mere mortals never get to touch one)"
"Everything we needed, including some brilliant tools we were fortunate to be given the opportunity to use .....and are probably unlikely ever to see them again (unless we return for another course)"
"Seen a large variety and were given a chance to use all - I appreciate this"
Recent courses have filled up in record time, with people waiting in the wings in case students couldn't make it. So bearing this in mind we have set dates for the rest of 2011 as well as 2012 - these are as follows:-
29th August - 9th September 2011 - FULL
5-16 December 2011
6th -17th February 2012
4th -15th June 2012
10th - 21st September 2012
Beginning Cabinet Making is our most popular course, and over the years we have increased the number of times we offer it each year, as already mentioned the places seem to fill up very quickly. The course has evolved over a period of four years to now provide the best possible introduction to fine woodworking. The extensive experience of our tutors who have developed and refined this course, gives you the best possible introduction to fine woodworking, making sure that you learn all the skills in the right order they should be learnt in. The small table project students construct embodies all of the basic techniques and expresses clearly the ethos of fine craftsmanship. If this is your first opportunity to work this way, you will find the chance to discover the deep satisfaction that comes from making something as well as you possibly can - and it's infectious. Students leave with a completed project of which they can be proud, as well as the enthusiasm to carry on woodworking. More details are on the website
Sometimes people react to the $1640 course fee with a sharp intake of breath, but do remember there is a maximum of eight students in the course, the use of your own top class tool kit whilst you are here (no you can't take it home), and often people have said at the end of the course "it felt like a lot of money, but now I've done the course it's been worth it - and is really good value for the skills you gain and take away with you in such a short period of time".
We are looking at formally organising through the website the option to purchase a course in the form of a gift voucher, but in the meantime if you are thinking about booking a course as a present for someone just get in touch with Helen at cfwoodwork@gmail.com who will organise it for you. Also we now can offer the option for you to pay fees by credit card, as well as by cheque or direct payment.
We sometimes have had small groups of people come to Nelson together for Beginning Cabinet Making, so if you are thinking of a few of you enrolling then get in touch first as we will give you a discount for small group bookings. We also have a good contact for decent accommodation for small groups at a good price.
It's also been really pleasing to see that those who have come and spent two weeks with us on Beginning Cabinet Making 1 are returning now to take their skills to the next level in our Beginning Cabinet Making 2 - this is where you create an elegant wall cabinet with a coopered door. Unlike in Beginning Cabinet Making 1 where much of the timber has been prepared for you beforehand, in Beginning Cabinet Making 2 you get to learn about timber selection; to dress, rough saw, and use the planer and thicknesser to get your timber ready to create the cabinet. These are great skills to take away with you, giving you the ability to select a wider range of timbers and to tackle some more interesting projects. Beginning Cabinet 2 course dates are 12th - 23rd September and 7-18 November - at this stage November is just about full, and September needs a few more to go ahead so do get in touch if you are considering coming back for more. There are some nice images of the cabinet on the website
We are also contemplating moving the September course back to October if this better suits people - so if you are vaguely interested then let us know cfwoodwork@gmail.com
We are delighted to announce two new courses following a chance get together with our new tutor Robert Bentley who has just relocated to Nelson - hear more about him....
Robert Bentley has always had an interest in fine woodworking, making woodstrip canoes, sea kayaks and rowboats. He was motivated to build his first guitar about 12 years ago, spurred on by the challenge and satisfaction of bringing together diverse elements such as tone wood selection, acoustic performance and aesthetics to produce a finely crafted instrument that can be used for musical self expression. This was a nylon strung classical guitar, but since then, he has made numerous guitars of various types (nylon strung, steel strung acoustics and electric). More recently he has incorporated innovative building techniques such as carbon/balsa lattice soundboard bracing systems to improve the acoustic performance of the instrument, particularly for the classical guitar. He has also made a number of steel strung acoustic instruments, generally smaller bodied (OM and parlour size), fingerstyle instruments as this is his favoured sound and playing technique. He has worked alongside two respected Christchurch luthiers and has also been involved in making mandolins, bazoukis, harps and other instruments. His instruments are played in various countries (Perth, Australia – Flamenco Fire; UK - Eschar; Rough Cut - NZ) and one of his classical guitars has featured on Tony Hillyard’s album Every Step of the Way (NZ).
ACOUSTIC GUITAR COURSE
20th February – 9th March 2012
Course Fee: $2995 including materials for a standard guitar
There will be other timber selections available at an additional cost:
Students will learn how to make a high quality acoustic guitar, including topics and skills such as timber selection, tap tones, thicknessing, side bending, bracing patterns, neck shaping, fretting and setting up for comfortable playing.
To inspire your more - further down in this newsletter is an update from John Shaw who went to visit the Martin Guitar workshop in Pennslyvania...
CREATE YOUR OWN UKULELE
24th October – 4 November 2011
Course Fee: $1800 including materials for a standard ukulele
Students will learn how to make a high quality ukulele, including topics and skills such as timber selection, tap tones, thicknessing, side bending, bracing patterns, neck shaping, fretting and setting up for comfortable playing.
SILAS KOPF WORKSHOP - CENTRE FOR FINE WOODWORKING - MARCH 2012
We are absolutely thrilled to be able to announce that one of America's best known practicioners of the art of marquetry, Silas Kopf is going to be touring Hawai, Australia and New Zealand early next year, and with the wonderful negotiating of resident tutor David Haig, he is coming to the Centre for Fine Woodworking in March 2012 to hold a three day workshop.
Silas has been the leader in his field for over forty years and has taught and exhibited extensively throughout the USA. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity to see one of the great masters of their art. Take a look at Silas's website and you will get a taste of his amazing craftsmanship. At this stage we are still sorting out exact dates but we can tell you that he will run a three day workshop here at the school mid-end March. If you are keen to be part of this wonderful opportunity it would be good to hear from you - contact Helen at cfwoodwork@gmail.com and then we can keep you up to date with developments.
UPDATE FROM OUR INTREPID TRAVELLING FURNITURE MAKER....JOHN SHAW
It’s been a wonderfully hectic few months since we arrived in Oxford, Pennsylvania, Brian and Mollie as well as Rick and Pat Hearne putting aside a great deal of their free time to show us what’s around these parts. Such wonderful hosts, we are very thankful.
We are right in the midst of the Amish region here and the particular choices about how they organize their lives and communities are very obvious and influential in the landscape and greater community. They choose not to use electricity and a visit we made to a nearby Amish workshop where they specialize in making windows was accompanied by the constant sound of a large diesel motor being used to produce hydraulic power. When we went inside all the usual medium size Powermatic and Rockwell saws and spindle moulders had been converted to hydraulics in order to run. Fascinating.
Brian has recently sold some salvaged Belizian mahogany to Martin Guitar Co. This timber is known as sinker mahogany as it comes from logs which sank to the bottom of rivers while being floated to mills during the original cutting of the virgin rainforests when Belize was a British protectorate. The logs are being raised now and the sawing organized by Brian in Belize. The wood is proving to be very similar to the finest Honduras mahogany so is naturally proving of great interest to luthiers, especially guitar makers. Hearne Hardwoods also provides Martin with Koa from Hawaii, Tasmanian Blackwood and high quality Black Walnut. It’s interesting to note that the Martin works directly with outside experts to ensure that the all timbers it uses are all Forest Stewardship Council Certified or ‘legit’ to use the jargon. They have a reputation as a responsible manufacturer to protect. Hearne Hardwoods has an unparalleled reputation in supplying rare but legit timbers hence the close relationship and an invitation to visit Martin in Nazareth, Pennsylvania to see how they went about producing 90,000 high quality guitars a year. This is one very serious operation, with up to 500 people employed in an essentially piece work structure with each individual doing a small part of the overall process repeatedly. This facilitates high accuracy to a particular pattern (Martin are renowned for their classic model D28) and high production rates. They also have a small group of guitar makers working on the hand building of exclusive guitars that are specifically commissioned and the repair of damaged old models. An inspirational place.
Yesterday we paid a visit to Bill Kerfoot, a machinery dealer who lives just around the corner. We have been looking for a fine table saw with sliding table designed for cutting wood rather than mdf and ply. Essentially this means we are looking at old rather than new machinery and Bill was the perfect man to talk to. He's a cast iron fetishist! His workshop is overladen to the point of creaking beams with beautiful machinery from the golden era of American heavy engineering and production. Names like Yates American, Whitney, Northfield and Oliver were all around us. We were particularly interested in an Oliver ‘dual arbor’ table saw with a fantastic sliding table and micrometer fence to die for. The clinching detail of this wonderful machine though was a rarity of profound significance. The saw has two motors and two arbors, one carries a 16” (we’re in America now) cross cut blade and the other a 16” rip blade. A smooth spinning handle allows you to rotate one down and the other up in to place in a matter of seconds. Way quicker than changing blades. Oh Joy! Bill had restored this machine to pristine condition and just stood by offering the occasional illustrative comment about the machines capabilities as we completely fell in love with it. Anyway as you can no doubt imagine - and to everyone’s satisfaction - the Oliver 260d dual arbor table saw with sliding table is being delivered this morning! “Heaven, I’m in heaven and my heart beats so that I can hardly speak!” Incidentally, Bill is also the absolute expert on Emmert and Oliver patternmakers vises. The bees knees of cast iron woodworkers vises. Check them out on the net. I’ll write more about them next time.
Other opportunities to gallivant and avoid woodworking have included:-
A visit to the Wharton Esherick Museum. The oft cited inspiration for the first generation of American woodworkers A road trip to Virginia and West Virginia, most especially guitarmaker and brilliant musician Wayne Henderson’s workshop. A visit to the Smithsonian Museum of American Craft at The Renwick Gallery in Washington. A brilliant collection of American studio furniture. We have incidentally been offered the chance to arrange online discussions and tutorials with their experts and our students on any piece of work in the collection.
And much more, I’ll fill you in on these next time.
Cheers from Pennsylvania - Enjoy your woodworking
John
Previous Newsletters
April 2011 Newsletter web page
January 2011 Newsletter web page
October 2010 Newsletter web page
July 2010 Newsletter web page
April 2010 Newsletter web page
November 2009 Newsletter web page
September 2009 Newsletter web page
July 2009 Newsletter web page
April 2009 Newsletter web page
January 2009 Newsletter 8.6kb .html document
November 2008 Newsletter 1.4Mb .pdf document
September 2008 Newsletter 272kb .pdf document
August 2008 Newsletter 220kb .pdf document
June 2008 Newsletter 118kb .pdf document
May 2008 Newsletter 260kb .pdf document
March 2008 Newsletter 1.24Mb .pdf document
January 2008 Newsletter 93Kb .pdf document
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