Among the classes on sale at 10 a.m. is Chris Williams’ Welsh Stick Chair Class – we’ll have to dig out our Y Ddraig Goch.
The following Covington Mechanicals classes go on sale today at 10 a.m. Eastern. They will likely sell out quickly – some in seconds – so be ready to register. (But before you do, please check your calendar to make sure you can attend the class for which you want to register).
If you don’t get into your desired class, do sign up for the waitlist – because I can’t remember a class in which we didn’t have to fill at least one slot.
Just a reminder that registration is now open on our ticketing site for classes at the Lost Art Press storefront for the first half of 2024. (We’ll post classes for the second half of 2024 in February).
– Fitz
p.s. If you have questions about the classes, please read our FAQs. If, after reading those, you still have a question, email covingtonmechanicals@lostartpress.com (not the LAP help desk).
Paul Murrett, working on a seven-stick stick chair during an early 2023 class.
Next Monday, Sept. 25, 2023, at 10 a.m. Eastern, bench spaces go on sale for January-June 2024 Covington Mechanicals classes at the Lost Art Press storefront. (And we’re excited to announce that both Roy Underhill and Matt Cianci we be once again make the trek to Kentucky to teach!)
We have only eight benches, so classes are – with rare exceptions – limited to six students (which leaves the not-teaching editors here at LAP one bench on which to work). Thanks in part to the small class size, most classes sell out in nanoseconds – for which we are grateful; thank you. But it does mean that it’s best to be ready to hit “register” the split second classes go live on the Covington Mechanicals Ticket Tailor page (and it helps to have a pinch of luck). If a class is sold out, I recommend registering for the waitlist; we end up filling a slot or two from the waitlists for almost every class.
Dovetailed Shaker Tray class, February 2018 (I wish my knees still bent like that, sans pain).
Upcoming classes are: • Build a Comb-back Stick Chair with Christopher Schwarz, Jan. 15-19, 2024 • Make a Dovetailed Shaker Tray with Megan Fitzpatrick, March 9-10, 2024 • Window Joinery with Roy Underhill, March 23-24, 2024 • Build & Engrave a Shepherd’s Coffer with Christopher Schwarz, April 5-7, 2024 • Build a Traditional Sawbench with Megan Fitzpatrick, April 20-21, 2024 • Saw Sharpening 101 with Matt Cianci, May 18-19, 2024 • Build & Engrave a Shepherd’s Coffer with Christopher Schwarz, June 7-9, 2024
Classes for the second half of 2024 will be posted in February.
Click here to go to our registration site. From there, you can click on each class for more details about it. NOTE: There will be a button on each class page that says “Register Now.” You can click that, but you won’t actually be able to register until 10 a.m. Eastern on Sept. 25.
Check out FAQs about classes here. If, after reading the FAQs you still have questions, please post a comment here, or email covingtonmechanicals@gmail.com. (These classes are independent of Lost Art Press/Crucible Tool, so please do not email the LAP help desk.)
– Fitz
p.s. There are still 2 spots available in my Shaker Tray class in beautiful Berea, Ky., Oct. 14-15, 2023. Come cut some dovetails with me; I promise to pay more attention to my students than to Woodsy, the new Pine Croft shop cat.(Or I at least promise to try.)
Spend a weekend in October cutting dovetails with me (Megan Fitzpatrick) in gorgeous central Kentucky at the Woodworking School at Pine Croft (with luck, the trees surrounding the school will be a riot of fall color by then!).
It’s a two-day class – Oct. 14 & 15 – in making a classic Shaker silverware tray, with gently arced ends, handholds and, of course, dovetails. And speaking of Shakers – if you’re in the area, why not also plan a day at Shaker Village at Pleasant Hill.
In the class, you’ll learn:
Dovetail layout with dividers
How to cut the joints, aiming to “fit off the saw”
How to wield a coping or fret saw
How to pare and chop to a line with a chisel
Strategies for transferring the tails to the pin board
Techniques for fitting the joint
How to lay out then cut and fair the handles (both the hand holds and the curved top edge)
How to smooth-plane your surfaces
How to use cut nails (to secure the bottom board…if you wish – but there’s an argument for leaving it loose)
And of course, how to put it all together (and why I recommend liquid hide glue).
– Fitz
These make great handmade gifts – above is a stack of last-minute gifts I made in 2022 from pieces in our scrap bin.
At the request of readers, we have created a way for you to donate to help fund the two scholarship classes we are holding at Lost Art Press this fall.
In September, we are holding our second Chairmakers Toolbox class with six students. All students are from populations that are underrepresented in woodworking, including women, people of color and those who are gay, bi, trans or otherwise outsiders.
In November, Jerome Bias will lead a class of six African-American woodworkers as they build a blanket chest using hand tools.
I am picking up the tab for the wood and all the lunches during the classes. If you would like to donate to help with the wood or meals, simply click on this link, where you can make a donation with a credit card or with your PayPal account.
You will be able to designate which class the money goes to support, if that’s important to you.
I know that some of you have also mentioned donating tools for Jerome’s class. I’ll talk to Jerome about it and see if we can come up with a mechanism.
Thank you for your understanding and your generosity.
