The Furnituremaking Workshops @ J. Miller Handcrafted Furniture
offer a wide range of hands-on workshops and classes in the craft
of making furniture. There are three basic types of classes: Furniture Workshops, Skill
Workshops, and 'Essentials' classes
- lecture/demonstrations on mastery of individual tools or on
making certain types of furniture.
In the furniture workshops, everyone in the class works on
a piece of furniture - typically a table or chair - learning skills
in context, but also getting a sense of the complete furnituremaking
process. These workshops are a great introduction to the shop
for beginners, and are also a great way for more experienced woodworkers
to step up to a higher level of craftsmanship. The skill workshops
concentrate on a particular woodworking skill (such as cutting
a specific joint) in depth, for those who want to improve their
work that way. The Essentials classes are lecture/demonstrations,
which focus on mastering the tools used in making furniture, or
on the things you need to know for building certain types of furniture.
Classes are small in size - 6 to 8 in a hands-on workshop,
and up to 12 in a lecture demonstration - and can accommodate
a wide range of skill levels, from novices to professionals looking
to refine their craft or explore a new area of furnituremaking.
Workshops range from a single weekend afternoon to a full forty-hour
week.
For a simple schedule
of workshops offered, click here.
For more general information about
the workshops, the shop itself, and a brief bio of Jeff Miller,
click here.
Private lessons are also available, where you can work
with Jeff one-on-one on the topic or project of your choice. Please
call for more information.
We also offer an apprenticeship program
for the woodworker with a demonstrated commitment to furniture
making.
Spring 2010
Special: Lie-Nielsen Hand Tool Event
April 9th and 10th, 2010: 12 - 6 PM on Friday, 10 AM - 5 PM on Saturday
no reservations needed - plan to stop by to see demonstrations, learn more about hand tools, and to try out the full range of Lie-Nielsen and other specialty toll makers' tools
Furniture Workshops
| Shaker Nightstand Workshop
In this new workshop, you'll build a Shaker–style nightstand (it also works perfectly as a side table or telephone table) with a dovetailed drawer. This is a more advanced version of the table in the Tablemaking Workshop; in addition to the basic table construction, there is the added fun (and challenges) of creating the drawer opening, cutting the front (half blind) and back (through) dovetail joints, and fitting the drawer to the opening. |
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Tuition.......... $750.00; includes material
Friday, April 16, Saturday, April 17, 2010, Saturday, April 24, 9 AM - 5 PM, and Sunday, April 25, 12 - 5 PM |
Designing Chairs, a Systematic Approach
At Marc Adams School of Woodworking, May 10 - 14, 2010
Chair Making Workshop
This workshop will introduce you to the pleasures and rewards of making chairs. You'll build your own slat-back chair; as a start to your own dining room set, or simply as a start in chair making.
This intensive week-long class, will not only cover the necessary skills and techniques, but will de-mystify the process of building a chair. Discussions of chair design, structure, and comfort complement the work on shaping parts, cutting the angled joints, assembling, and preparing the seat for upholstery. Finishing and upholstery will be discussed, but not done in class. Woodworking experience necessary. |
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Tuition.......... $1100.00; includes materials
Chair Making Workshop: Monday-Friday, June 21 - 25, 2010, 9 am to 5 pm |
Registration
Top of page
Skill Workshops
Dovetail Workshop
In our Dovetail Workshop, you'll learn to cut dovetails two ways: by hand, and using the tablesaw and bandsaw (with a simple, terrifically versatile jig that you can easily make at home). A one-day, hands-on workshop devoted to this functional and sometimes frustrating joint. Why settle for the mechanical look of routed dovetails when you can learn to cut beautiful dovetails with these methods? Work on the key skills for hand-cut joints, and see how these skills can be applied elsewhere in your woodworking.
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Tuition.......... $100.00
Dovetail Workshop: Saturday, May 1, 2010, 12 - 5 PM
also offered on Saturday, August 21, 2010, 12 - 5 PM |
Registration
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A Day of Hand Tools
This workshop combines our Hand Tools 1 and Hand Tools 2 Workshops into a single day. We'll start with sharpening and tuning your tools, and then work on the skills and techniques to get the most out of them, and to enable you to use your hand tools to work better and faster in a wide range of situations.
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Tuition.......... $200.00
A Day of Hand Tools Workshop: Saturday, May 22, 2010, 9 AM - 5 PM |
Furniture Design Fundamentals
Moving from the idea of a piece of furniture to an actual piece requires skills and techniques. There are also tools available that can help. This workshop introduces the fundamental skills, techniqes and tools that you need to work up your ideas and turn them into successful designs. We'll also go through a number of exercises that can help explore your design ideas, including creation of a small model.
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Tuition.......... $100.00
Furniture Design Fundamentals: Saturday, June 5 , 2010, 12 - 5 PM |
Registration
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Shaping and Bending Curves
Mastering curves can open up a whole range of projects, and help bring your woodworking to a new level. We'll discuss layout, cutting, smoothing, and refining curves, including three dimensional curves. Then we'll move on to bending curves by laminating thin layers together. A variety of tools and jigs for doing curved work will be covered. We'll also do some hot pipe bending.
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Tuition.......... $100.00
Shaping and Bending Curves: Saturday, June 19, 2010, 12 - 5 PM |
Registration
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Hand Tools 1 Workshop
For many people, the mere thought of using hand tools to do fine work makes them nervous. However, once you get past the initial obstacles, hand tools can be a delight to use, and can offer incredibly precise contol. In this class (which I've subtitled Taming Planes and Chisels), we'll work on sharpening and tuning tools for effective use, and go into the basic skills for hand tool use. I look forward to sharing some of my enthusiasm for hand tools with you.
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Tuition.......... $100.00
Hand Tools 1 Workshop: Saturday, July 10, 2010, 12 - 5 PM |
Hand Tools 2 Workshop - Skill Building
A follow-up class to our Hand Tools Workshop, which will concentrate on a variety of more advanced chisel, plane, and hand saw skills. Through a series of exercises, you'll work on improving your command of these tools. All of these exercises directly apply to actual use of hand tools in common woodworking situations.
You will need to bring tools that are sharp and well-tuned. Our Hand Tools Workshop covers this, and you should either have taken this class, or be certain that your tools are at their best.
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Tuition.......... $100.00
Hand Tool 2 Workshop: Saturday, July 17, 2010, 12 - 5 PM |
Mortise and Tenon Workshop
The most important and widely-used joint in furniture making is one that many people spend much time and effort trying to avoid. In the Mortise and Tenon Workshop, we'll show you a wide range of options for cutting the joints, including some very simple and versatile jigs you can use for accurate results.
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Tuition.......... $100.00
Mortise and Tenon Workshop: Saturday, July 31, 2010, 12 - 5 PM |
Registration
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Making Wooden Hand Planes
We’ll be making Krenov-style wooden smoothing planes: beautiful, highly functional, and customized to your hands and your needs. You’ll not only learn how to make planes on your own, how to tune them up and maintain them, how to customize them to specific tasks, but you’ll come away with a superb hand plane.
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Tuition.......... $450.00 includes plane iron, chipbreaker, and all wood
Making Wooden Hand Planes: Friday, August 13 & Saturday, August 14, 2010, 9 AM - 5 PM |
Essentials
Mastering the Tablesaw
If you're using your table saw just for cutting wood to size, you're not getting all you can out of it. In this class, we'll cover a wide variety of jigs for turning your saw into a safer and more versatile tool. Included will be a wide variety of joints, duplication of parts, panel-raising, and much more. We'll also cover the critical topics of tablesaw safety, basic tune-ups and improvements you can make to your saw.
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Tuition.......... $100.00
Mastering the Tablesaw: Saturday, August 7, 2010, 12 - 4 PM |
