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/Summer 2009

Furniture Workshops

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 is necessary.
Tuition.......... $1025.00; includes materials Chair Making Workshop: Monday - Friday, July 13 - 17, 2009, 9:00 am to 5:00 pm

Skill Workshops

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.
Tuition.......... $100.00 Mortise and Tenon Workshop: Saturday, May 16, 2009, 12:00 - 5:00 PM

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.
Tuition.......... $100.00 Dovetail Workshop: Saturday, August 1, 2009, 12:00 - 5:00 PM also offered: Sunday, August 2, 2009, 12:00 - 5:00 PM

Inlay Workshop Inlay can be the perfect, virtuostic touch on a project. This class will cover cutting the grooves both with a router and by hand with a shop-made scratch stock or a special inlay groove cutter, cutting and sizing stringing, inlaying irregular shapes, hot sand shading and more. Taught by Buck Johnson, our inlay expert.
Tuition.......... $100.00 Inlay Workshop: Saturday, June 6, 2009, 12 - 5 PM

Hand Tools 1 Workshop If the mere thought of using hand tools to do fine work makes you nervous, you should take this class. Hand tools offer incredibly precise control, can speed up your work, and are a delight to use. We'll look at a variety of planes and chisels, and work on sharpening, tuning, and the basic skills for hand tool use
Tuition.......... $100.00 Hand Tools 1 Workshop: Saturday, June 13, 2009, 12:00 - 5:00 PM

Hand Tools 2 Workshop A follow-up class to our Hand Tools Workshop, which will concentrate on a variety of more advanced chisel and hand plane 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.
Tuition.......... $100.00 Hand Tools 2 Workshop: Sunday, June 14, 2009, 12:00 - 5:00 PM

Essentials of Cabinetmaking With so many types of cabinets and so many methods for building them it can get very confusing. This class will help you to sort through all of the possibilities, and help you to choose the best and the fastest methods for building case pieces, and then fitting them with doors and drawers. Taught by Chris Bach
Tuition.......... $100 Essentials of Cabinetmaking Master Class: Saturday, June 20, 2009, 12 - 5 pm

Doors and Drawers The follow-up to the Essentials of Cabinetmaking Class covers a variety of methods for making and installing doors and drawers. Essentials of Cabinetmaking is not a requirement for this class, although it will be helpful. Taught by Chris Bach
Tuition.......... $100 Doors and Drawers Master Class: Sunday, June 21, 12 - 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.
Tuition.......... $100.00 Furniture Design Fundamentals Workshop: Saturday, July 11, 2009, 12 - 5 PM

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.
Tuition.......... $100.00 Shaping and Bending Curves: Saturday, July 25, 2009, 12 - 5 PM