2011 Japanese Woodworking Workshops

I’ve received a few emails from different people asking about workshops in Japanese carpentry and joinery this year, and have been giving a little thought to the matter. There are lots of possibilities for the workshops, in terms of dates, duration, and subject matter, and I thought that rather than trying to second-guess what might be of interest to people, that I would put out a RFI (Request For Information). This will also be a good way of gauging interest.

So, if you wanted to take a workshop, what would you want to study? Off the top of my head, here are some possibilities I could offer:

• Japanese joinery
• Japanese sawhorse layout, regular or compound joined
• setting up a Japanese plane/using Japanese tools
• roof carpentry
• Japanese joined stair work
• build a Japanese tool tote box
• learn how to hand-sharpen

Duration: classes could be one evening a week, on-going, or, for those coming from a little further afield, 2~3 day (weekend) classes, or 5~6 day week long workshops. Certain subjects could be covered in a day (like sharpening), others are suited to a weekend (tool tote, making hoppers, etc.) while others will need a full week (roof carpentry, stairs, sawhorses).

Costs: A weekend course might run $400, and a week-long class would be around $750

Dates: At this point, a workshop (or two) could be held as early as July, though August (except for the last week), September, or even October would likely be more ideal.

I’m also quite open to holding an on-going once a week class to thoroughly explore different kinds of projects over longer period of time, like building various advanced carpentry models, roof sections, and so forth. If you’re more or less local, let me know if a ‘Japanese Carpentry Study Group’ would be of appeal to you.

So, for those out there who might be interested in studying Japanese woodwork, I would ask that you to post a comment, or send me an email, to let me know specifically what your heart’s desire might be. Let me know what you would like to study, for how long, and what dates would work for you. If I can put together a critical mass of people wanting to study the same sort of thing, then we can do a workshop. That would be a lot of fun!

Western MA is a great place to visit, and there are options for accommodation near my workshop ranging from camping to nice hotels. Nearby Northampton offers things to do in the evenings as well.

I look forward to hearing from you!

Postscript: while there was some interest in these courses, I decided instead to offer an online study group format, which has had a very good response. Those interested in the online carpentry drawing and joinery study, which costs $20/month, please contact me directly for information on how to get involved.