Dates: Saturday, March 21st & Sunday, March 22nd (2 meetings)

Hours: 8:30 am - 4:30 pm

Instructor: Rachel Prentki CF '18

Hone your chisel skills while making a stately dovetailed tray. In this class, students will learn how to lay out and cut dovetails accurately by hand. We will cover how to use marking gauges, chisels, saws, and mallets to create strong and beautiful joinery while also covering how to avoid or fix common mistakes. 

Tools & Supplies: All tools and supplies are provided for this class.

Attire: This is a general list of how to dress for the shop environment, please contact ce@nbss.edu if you have any questions.

• Closed-toe, comfortable, and protective footwear (sneakers or boots)
• No loose clothing
• Long pants suggested
• No loose jewelry
• Long hair must be tied back

Prerequisite: Experience with dovetails or other hand-cut joinery preferred. Students should feel comfortable using chisels, saws, and combination squares. If you have questions about your experience, please contact ce@nbss.edu.

Age Requirement: Students must be 18+ to attend adult CE classes. No one under 18 years old is permitted to register for an adult class, even if accompanied by a parent or guardian. 

Dates: Saturday, March 28th & Sunday, March 29th (2 meetings)

Hours: 8:30 am - 4:30 pm

Instructor: Kolin Schmidt CF '21

In this class, students will learn to make oval bent-band boxes using basic hand tools and steam bending. These boxes are of a traditional style often called "shaker" boxes. * Working with prepared box bands, students learn to bevel, steam, and bend bands; then fit and tack them to lids and bottoms. Students will make 3 different-sized nested boxes, and some techniques for finishing them will be covered as well. All skill levels are welcome!

*The term "Shakers" refers to the people of The United Society of Believers in Christ's Second Appearing, a religious group that separated from the Religious Society of Friends (also known as "Quakers") during the 18th Century. While the group itself is no longer active, their aesthetics of simplicity and utility were highly influential to the history of American furniture making in what has come to be known as the "Shaker style." They were also known for their communal culture, pacifism, abstinence, and equality of the sexes at a time when this was well outside of the mainstream. Both "Shaker" and "Quaker" are terms, originally pejorative in nature, that were given to these groups by outsiders.

Tools & Supplies: All tools and supplies are provided for this class.

Attire: This is a general list of how to dress for the shop environment, please contact ce@nbss.edu if you have any questions.

• Closed-toe, comfortable, and protective footwear (sneakers or boots)
• No loose clothing
• Long pants suggested
• No loose jewelry
• Long hair must be tied back

Prerequisite: None.

Age Requirement: Students must be 18+ to attend adult CE classes. No one under 18 years old is permitted to register for an adult class, even if accompanied by a parent or guardian. 

Dates: Saturday, March 28th & Sunday, March 29th (2 meetings)

Hours: 8:30 am - 4:30 pm

Instructor: Eric Goodson

Spoon carving is a wonderful introduction to the world of Slöjd, or Scandinavian handicraft.  Using fresh wood and just a few hand tools, students will learn to carve convex and concave shapes and address changing grain direction.  Special attention is paid to teaching safe and efficient ax technique, along with about a dozen different knife “grasps” commonly used in all sorts of carving projects. We will also explore topics like wood selection, grain orientation, the subtleties of spoon design, finishing oils and paints, and decorative techniques like chip carving and kolrosing.  No experience is required, and so long as you can open a jar of spaghetti sauce, you have sufficient hand strength.

Tools & Supplies: All tools and supplies are provided for this class.

Attire: This is a general list of how to dress for the shop environment, please contact ce@nbss.edu if you have any questions. 

• Closed-toe, comfortable, and protective footwear (sneakers or boots)
• No loose clothing
• Long pants suggested
• No loose jewelry
• Long hair must be tied back

Prerequisite: None

Age Requirement: Students must be 18+ to attend adult CE classes. No one under 18 years old is permitted to register for an adult class, even if accompanied by a parent or guardian. 

Dates: Tuesdays & Thursdays, April 7-16 (4 meetings)

Hours: 6:00 pm - 9:30 pm

Instructor: Rachel Prentki CF '18

Teaching Assistant: TBA

Interested in woodworking and looking for a way to get started? This introductory course is designed to give beginner students an overview of shop safety as well as some of the most common machines and hand tools used in woodworking. We work towards the completion of a small project while building basic skills and getting comfortable with machinery and working at the bench. This class is geared toward beginners looking to get a peek into woodworking. For more in-depth skill-building, check out our Fundamentals of Fine Woodworking and Fundamentals of Machine Woodworking classes. Many students choose to take Woodworking 101 before a Fundamentals class, but it is not required. 

Tools & Supplies: All tools and supplies are provided for this class.

Attire: This is a general list of how to dress for the shop environment, please contact ce@nbss.edu if you have any questions.

• Closed-toe, comfortable, and protective footwear (sneakers or boots)
• No loose clothing
• Long pants suggested
• No loose jewelry
• Long hair must be tied back

Prerequisite: None

Age Requirement: Students must be 18+ to attend adult CE classes. No one under 18 years old is permitted to register for an adult class, even if accompanied by a parent or guardian. 

Dates: Saturdays, April 11 - June 13 (10 meetings)

Hours: 9:00 am - 4:00 pm

Instructor: Kevin Hopkins CF'18

This comprehensive course builds foundational hand skills that are essential to completing many fine woodworking projects. The class is suitable for both beginners looking to jump-start a hobby in woodworking and intermediate/advanced students looking to refresh their skills. Topics include sharpening, tuning, and the use of basic hand tools, including paring chisels, hand planes, dovetail saws, card scrapers, and marking gauges; characteristics of wood and wood movement in furniture making; and cutting dovetails and mortise and tenon joinery using flat and square reference surfaces. Demonstrations and exercises develop skills such as chopping and paring with a chisel and hand planning. Traditional cabinet-making practices are explained throughout the course, and instructors emphasize how these methods can be used systematically in any woodworking project. Each student will complete a box with a sliding lid. This course focuses on handwork at the bench. Check out our Fundamentals of Machine Woodworking class if you are looking to learn more about machines. Many students take both classes. If you are just looking to get your feet wet in the shop, check out our Woodworking 101 class.

Tools & Supplies: Please bring the items on this supply list to the first day of class.​ Need an item? Our NBSS Store/Gallery carries dozens of tools and supplies in addition to NBSS branded items and handmade goods. You may make purchases online, in person (Monday-Thursday 7:30 am - 2:00 pm), or via email at store@nbss.edu. Tool orders must be made via email or over the phone.

Attire: This is a general list of how to dress for the shop environment, please contact ce@nbss.edu if you have any questions. 

• Closed-toe, comfortable, and protective footwear (sneakers or boots)
• No loose clothing
• Long pants suggested
• No loose jewelry
• Long hair must be tied back

Prerequisite: None

Dates: Sunday, April 12th

Hours: 8:30 am - 4:30 pm

Instructor: Brad Wolcott CF'12

This one-day seminar presents the theory and practice of hollow grinding and honing flat-edge tools. Students will work on chisels and card scrapers. Hand planes will be covered as time permits. The techniques covered in class apply to other tools as well. Students can expect to sharpen two or three chisels/tools during this session.

Tools & Supplies: Please bring your own chisels, card scraper, and hand plane. We suggest a 1" and 3/4" chisel as good sizes to start with. All other tools and supplies are provided for this class.

Attire: This is a general list of how to dress for the shop environment, please contact ce@nbss.edu if you have any questions.

• Closed-toe, comfortable, and protective footwear (sneakers or boots)
• No loose clothing
• Long pants suggested
• No loose jewelry
• Long hair must be tied back

Prerequisite: None

Age Requirement: Students must be 18+ to attend adult CE classes. No one under 18 years old is permitted to register for an adult class, even if accompanied by a parent or guardian. 

Dates: Saturday, April 25th & Sunday, April 26th (2 meetings)

Hours: 8:30 am - 4:30 pm

Instructor: Rick Angus

In this class, students will focus on making a deeper bowl. We review fundamental gouge and scraper cutting techniques, leaving a smooth, accurate surface in their work. You rely on using the bevel gracefully to guide the knife edge along a smooth curve and are reminded why this technique allows such smooth tool control. Any surface imperfections are smoothed with a scraper. Two kinds of wood will be used: a 3” thick piece of kiln-dried lumber and a recently cut (wet) piece of local timber 4 to 6” thick. Both pieces will be turned between centers, and each of us will mount and remount our blanks to make the best use of the grain pattern in the finished bowl. Using a scroll chuck, we remount the blank and turn the rim and inside of the bowl. Lastly, we grip the bowl by the rim in a jamchuck and finish the foot. Since the wet blank will distort to an oval when drying, we will choose a style that works well in this shape. 

Tools & Supplies: *There is an additional $50.00 material fee due to the instructor on the first day of class. The instructor accepts cash or checks. All other tools and supplies will be provided for this class.

Attire: This is a general list of how to dress for the shop environment, please contact ce@nbss.edu if you have any questions.

• Closed-toe, comfortable, and protective footwear (sneakers or boots)
• No loose clothing
• Long pants suggested
• No loose jewelry
• Long hair must be tied back

Prerequisite: Fundamental Techniques in Bowl Turning or equivalent experience (at instructor's discretion). If you have questions about prerequisite requirements, please email ce@nbss.edu.

Age Requirement: Students must be 18+ to attend adult CE classes. No one under 18 years old is permitted to register for an adult class, even if accompanied by a parent or guardian. 

Dates: Saturday, April 25th & Sunday, April 26th (2 meetings)

Hours: 9:00 am - 4:00 pm

Instructor: Jeff Fleisher

Chip carving is a decorative form of carving used to enhance a piece of furniture or a small object like a jewelry box, by incising a pattern or design directly into the surface of the wood.  The two-day workshop covers a brief history of chip carving, the chip carving knife and how to sharpen it, layout and design, along with carving and finishing techniques.

Tools & Supplies: Please bring items from this supply list to the first day of class.

Attire: This is a general list of how to dress for the shop environment, please contact ce@nbss.edu if you have any questions. 

• Closed-toe, comfortable, and protective footwear (sneakers or boots)
• No loose clothing
• Long pants suggested
• No loose jewelry
• Long hair must be tied back

Prerequisite: None

Age Requirement: Students must be 18+ to attend adult CE classes. No one under 18 years old is permitted to register for an adult class, even if accompanied by a parent or guardian.