The Crucible

Fundamentals of Woodworking
Entry-level class
This two-day introduction to tools and techniques is a great class to begin your woodworking experience. You’ll learn the basics of wood technology, what tools to use, how to use them, and how to care for them. Bring a notebook and comfortable shoes, as this will be a fast paced, hands-on overview.

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Beginning Woodworking
Entry-level class
In this class, you will learn how to use traditional and modern hand tools and power tools safely and effectively. Class assignments will introduce basic concepts and techniques, and you’ll learn the skills needed for many woodworking projects, such as how to mill boards to make them perfectly straight and flat, how to create strong and attractive joints to connect two pieces of wood, and how to glue boards together to make a panel. All tools for learning are provided, and you’ll leave with an excellent foundation for more advanced wood classes.

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One Sheet of Plywood: Design/Build
Entry-level class
This class is designed for woodworkers who want to begin expanding their design skills, and for designers who want to learn woodworking skills. In this class you will be challenged to design and build anything you can imagine out of a 4x8 sheet of high quality laminated birch plywood. You will go through a rigorous design process as you explore the versatility and unmatched structural integrity of plywood and learn skills to produce a one of a kind piece of furniture, sculpture or invention.

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Wood + Metal
Entry-level class
Wood + Metal is a class for those who are interested in learning about and applying the fundamentals of these two titans of materials. During this class, we will work on a coffee table that each student will bring home which incorporates both materials and highlights the ways in which each compliments the other.

Skills covered will be MIG welding, cutting, grinding, bending and finishing metal as well as milling wood, gluing wood, joinery demo, sanding and finish work. Students will work closely with the core woodshop tools: tablesaw, jointer, planer, and bandsaw and router.

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Continuing Techniques in Woodworking
Previous experience required.
Prerequisite: Introduction to woodworking
Are you comfortable in the woodshop and itching to learn more woodworking techniques? This course explores advanced woodworking methods as you apply newly learned skills to furniture making and other projects. You’ll use hand-cut dovetails or a variety of machine-cut joinery, and learn about veneering techniques and the use of jig and fixtures to speed your workflow. Skills taught include joinery, advanced milling and tapering, shaping, finishing techniques, and design. Students must provide their own materials.

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Woodcarving
Entry-level class
In this class, you will learn to design a carving and transform your design into a three-dimensional object. You’ll receive expert guidance throughout the execution of your projects and leave the class knowing the fundamentals of three-dimensional carving, skills that also apply to carving other materials.

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Also check out this class in our Youth Department.

Continuing Techniques in Woodcarving
Previous experience required.
Prerequisite: Woodcarving experience
Improve your woodcarving skills with this advanced intensive class taught by a professional with over forty years in this trade, exhibiting in major museums and galleries on four continents. Whatever your style or genre of woodcarving, from in the round to relief, portraiture to abstraction, you will gain new insight and confidence in working your projects. You must bring your own wood to carve.

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Woodturning
Entry-level class
Using a lathe, you can turn a rough piece of wood into a beautifully shaped spindle or bowl. In a jam-packed, two-day class, you will learn the basics of the turning process as you explore small bowl turning and spindle turning. The class will cover tool usage and sharpening, as well as wood selection, preparation, and finishing.

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Also check out this class in our Youth Department and as part of a Family Fun Weekend!

Continuing Techniques in Woodturning
Prerequisite: Woodturning
After becoming comfortable using the lathe and understanding basic tool usage, it is time to explore more advanced projects, and take on more adventurous pieces! This class is intended to give students more time on the machines with the guidance of the instructor. Demonstrations in hollow turning, and additive sculpture will be emphasized. Students are encouraged to bring in their own materials and project ideas.

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Build a Mandolin or a Ukulele in Just Four Days!
with Rick Turner
Entry-level class
In just four days, you’ll build a complete ukulele or mandolin in the traditional Spanish style, using instrument-grade woods, modern glues, and space-age graphite neck reinforcement. Our mandolin is based on the style made for our troops overseas during World War I, and the ukulele is the pineapple uke, a Hawaiian Islands favorite. As you build your instrument, you’ll learn many techniques used in other stringed instruments and gain a better appreciation of what goes into them. By the end of the last day, you’ll be picking and grinning like you just won the lottery!

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