Project for beginner woodworking class

[mr_skittle]

I'd like to thank everyone for the valuable insight. I'm never let down when I ask these types of questions of my fellow WoodNetters.

It sounds to me like a small table is the way to go, although a step stool and a 6 board chest are also a good ideas. And now that I think about it, I realize that my first piece of furniture was a table, with tapered legs and mortise and tenon joinery. I think that I might shot for more of an Arts & Crafts style though. I think it will go over well.

Another common remark I'm reading is to stay away from giving many choices, both in project and wood species. I was thinking of offering pine, oak, and cherry. Maybe I'll limit it to a couple species and keep all tables the same size.

Someone mentioned that seeing how something goes together or is built, will be helpful for students as they are trying to picture the process in their mind. Like any good instructor, or TV personality, I'll have a dry-fit, finished model and some examples of joints in various stages of progress.

I will be providing material. THis is a community woodshop and reclaimed wood will be discouraged for the sake of the blades and knives. You just know someone is going to bring in a pallet or two if you leave materials up to them. I like David D's ideas of having students mill a portion of their material to help learn the skill and the importance. Depending on the size of the project, and amount of lumber, I may opt to mill some up before-hand for the sake of saving some time.

Now more questions...

What about finishing? My guess is that there is no way to make this a one session class. I think the goal would be to have the table glued and clamped by the end of the first session. People will have to come back to do any glue clean up and finish sanding at the least. Then what to do about applying a finish? This is easily enough done at home so I'm thinking of giving the option of taking it home then, or leaving it for a "professional" finish (by me) for an extra charge.

I've also realized that I'll need to built at least one, maybe more, of whatever project I settle on, in the shop where the class will be. I have a fully equipped, small shop at home that I can imagine doing this type of project in a day from start to finish. But that won't offer much insight into the best way to do it in the community woodshop.

I will also be looking around for an assistant. I'm thinking I can wrangle up someone.

[mdhills]

For beginners, you'll need to decide if you want to focus on teaching fundamental techniques or giving a flavor of techniques and getting a sample built.

I took a couple of classes at a local shop.

• have participants already gone through shop safety? (don't forget eye/ear/lung protection)
  
• S4S lumber is provided, but students still needed to joint/plane to dimension
  
• no design variations in the beginner class
  
• the projects had prepared templates for marking out curves and similar items. (students would trace these, then go to bandsaw, then sanders)
  
• some dedicated workstations already set up (e.g., router tables for flush trim, rebate, and profiles)
  
• jig for gluing the project up square (plywood base with cleats and wedges)
  
• I'd recommend providing some written notes ahead of the class. (the shop gave them out at the start)
  
• we did take parts home for hand-sanding between the two shop sessions
  

Also, if this is your first time teaching a given project, I recommend working through the build sequence at least once with someone from the target skill-level. This will help things go more smoothly when you're working with a group.

Here is the shop's beginner project and their list of classes

[Dave Diaman]

For finishing I usually take in some dye to show them how it's applied and then some really simple top coat. I normally take Arm-R-Seal or Waterlox. They are almost fool proof to apply and don't require any special equipment. I just take in a few sample pieces in various states of finish and demonstrate how it is done. That is the point of having something almost fool proof like dye and a wipe on oil. They are finishes they should be able to apply on their own and still have a good looking finish.

[Hoosier25]

A good Resource is "I can Do it" by Popular Woodworking, many first time projects to choose from.

Roger

[Rob Young]

Dave Diaman said:

---

For finishing I usually take in some dye to show them how it's applied and then some really simple top coat. I normally take Arm-R-Seal or Waterlox. They are almost fool proof to apply and don't require any special equipment. I just take in a few sample pieces in various states of finish and demonstrate how it is done. That is the point of having something almost fool proof like dye and a wipe on oil. They are finishes they should be able to apply on their own and still have a good looking finish.

---

I also covered some basic finishing but more time was spent on how to properly PREPARE a surface for the finishing.

Examples:
getting out the mineral-spirits/alcohol/naptha and a good flash light and going on a glue hunt

pre-raising of grain prior to use of any waterborne materials directly on wood

use of pre-stain conditioners (commercial or shellac washcoat)

sealing between color layers

dye stain vs. pigment stain vs. glaze

knocking down dust nibs -- focus was on the use of wipe-on finishes and shellac since most would be finishing at home

finishing (entirely or in part) before assembly

use of test boards

and most importantly, HAVE A FINISHING PLAN READY BEFORE YOUR PROJECT IS READY FOR FINISH


But in general, we covered the pros and cons of the use of shellac, lacquer, poly (water & oil) and various combinations including wax topcoats at home. I brought in sample boards from various projects to show. Seems like a lot but really, this can all be covered in one session with reminders as they progress through a project.

[mr_skittle]

mdhills, that is one solid list of tips. I checked out the website of the Sawdust Shop too. It looks like they really have their ducks in a row. That's the kind of program I'd love to have going in a couple years. I might even give them a call just to pick brains about classes and growing the woodshop.

I'm just not sure what to do about finishing. The whole "drying time" thing isn't conducive to meaningful class time. I'm thinking that a finishing demo might be the way to go and leave it up to the students to do it on their own. At the same time I'm thinking I want to send them home with a piece of furniture that could be put to use right away. How do they handle the finishing at the Sawdust Shop?

[Bibliophile 13]

I agree with Dave and Megan (elinourrumming) especially.

Having them dimension at least some of their own stock would be a good idea, though I think you should provide the lumber yourself so you know what you're working with.

It will also help if you have one completed sample of the project you're building, as well as one in the works (or just spare parts) that you use to demonstrate each step.

[PaulJohnstone]

Shellac is also a very easy finish for beginners. I have had no problem teaching kids how to apply it and it comes out great. They need good lighting and be taught how to look out for puddles. It dries fast too.

If this is a skill building class, you might even want to have them apply poly.. It will not come out perfectly, but better for them to practice on their first project (bird house or whatever) with a low cost and then they get some time in on a piece where a mistake is not tragic.
If you are using oil based poly, it helps begginners to thin it with mineral spirits a little bit. Water based is easier, since the kinds I use have a milky color when wet , so it's pretty easy to spot drips and puddles.

But I know some people hate poly, so please disregard if you don't like it.

[hankgillette]

You didn’t say how long this class would be. That would be a major factor whether you do things like provide prepared wood. Another consideration is that beginners are likely to be (justifiably) wary of machines like jointers and tablesaws.

I took a beginning woodworking class years ago through a Woodcraft store. We made a small sliding bookshelf. No options, not even as to the wood types (we used maple and walnut). All the stock was surfaced, but there was an opportunity to rip some pieces on the tablesaw.

We did a glue-up and ran some pieces through a power planer. We also did some smoothing with hand planes and scrapers. There were mortises in one end of the bookshelf with keys to secure the shelf to one end. We used a mortising machine, but the instructor had it set up with stops so that it was almost impossible to mess it up. In fact, the instructor did all the setups on the power machines, and offered to run the material through for students who were intimidated by them.

Our class was two full days and I still didn’t have time to put a finish on the project. Looking back, I think the class was well done. The instructor introduced a number of concepts and the project gave us a chance to try many of them, yet it was set up so that most of the students (I think there were about eight) were able to successfully make the project.

I think a project that can be completed in the time allotted is important. If the student can’t finish the project, he or she is less likely to want to continue in woodworking.

If you have an assistant, you can have students on more than one machine at a time, so could increase the size of your class.

The project should be fairly simple, attractive, and useful. A small table would probably work, or step-stool, or a small box. I would go with simple joinery, even pocket screws if appropriate, but let the students know that with additional skills there are more advanced and attractive ways to join wood. You are trying to give them just a taste of what is possible. There would be nothing wrong with having an example of exactly what they are going to build, plus a version using dovetails, for example.

[mr_skittle]

Here's a few things I know for sure so far:

Provide lumber and prepare majority of project parts. Have some material for participants to prepare.

Build entire project ahead of time and have it available for class, as well as some pieces to show important aspects of construction.

Keep the options to a minimum. Maybe 2 species and no design variations.

Everyone has to take shop safety class before signing up.

Have all the tools set up and running smoothly and have any templates ready to go.

Make sure its a project that can be reasonably finished in the allotted time. Speaking of allotted time, I have not settled on that yet. It will have to be broken into 2-2.5 hr sessions and I'm starting to think that I might be looking at 3 sessions. Hank G, when you say the class you took was two days, how long were the days? What I have in mind is a little more involved than what you describe so I'm wondering what kind of time frame I need to consider.

Get a plan for finished figured out ahead of time. I do like the idea of shellac. I use it all the time and love its simplicity. Poly is also a good choice because I feel like everyone will know what it is and be more comfortable with it.

One worry that I'm having is how to avoid pile-ups at each machine along the way. An ideas was to start the class in two waves about 30 mins apart. That would mean an assistant would be necessary but I'm thinking I want one anyways. I also considered having set time frames for a step such as mortising and whatever doesn't get finished can be joined with pocket screws.