Note: 9/1/2011 This is an initial description. We'll add some more details and pictures soon.

Using wood directly from the tree is one of the most fun ways of working with wood.

Steve Habersetzer (Steve teaches our Gypsy Wagon Class) and Greg Kossow (teaches Windsor Chairmaking) are joining together to teach Green Woodworking. Here's a link to a UK website that gives a great definition and  overview of Green Woodworking.

A walk in the woods or forest will naver be the same again. Green woodworking uses freshly felled or cut material with a mix of some older air dried material to make useful and beautiful furniture.

You'll learn the traditional methods of working with green wood. Machines are conspicuously absent (except, briefly, the chainsaw and maybe bandsaw). You split and rive the wood from logs using froes, axes and wedges. You'll build a shaving horse so that you can shape branches and crooks using draknives and spokeshaves.

Greg and Steve will have pre-selected the material for the class, but this will provide you with a guide to selecting wood when you're in the woods (Please ensure that you have the landowner's permission to harvest wood for your projects). The slabs you'll use to make the table have been collected from around Port Townsend - we milled them out of logs using Steve's Alaskan Mill and they've been drying for 4-5 years

The Toolset:

Between Steve, Greg and the School we have enough tools for everybody to work with during the class. However if you have any of the tools feel free to bring them along and we'll teach you how to tune them up. Plus it's always fun to see what old tools turn up.

• Splitting tools: Froe, hatchet, wedges and mallet
• Cutting tools: Handsaws, bowsaws
• Shaping / smoothing tools: Drawknives, adzes, spokeshaves and hand planes
• Boring tools: Augers and hand drills
• Tenoning Tools: Round tenon cutters

The Projects:

In this class you'll make a series of pieces of furniture that will develop you skills plus you'll have some garden or indoor furniture at the end of the class.

• Shaving Horse
• Three legged stool
• Slab / live edge table (Approx 40" x 18")
• Three legged stool with stretchers (with steambent back if time permits)

Safety:

Using green woodworking tools (axes, adzes etc) raises risk of injury for the beginner. We encourage you to wear sturdy leather boots (steel toecaps are great) and sturdy workclothes. 

Class size:               10    
Cost:                        $650
Materials Charge:   $100