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If you’ve been following my blog about the class at Marc Adams School of Woodworking (MASW), you’re waiting for photos from the last day of class. I will tell you that many of the projects look as they did when the class ended on Thursday. But the progress accomplished on Friday was outstanding.
Most class participants vetoed drawer dovetails in order to gain additional time to shape their drawer fronts. However, a couple took to dovetails and Thomas Older (shown in the photo at left), who is the intern at MASW this year, installed his base mouldings and feet while sculpting only one drawer front. The photos taken Friday certainly don’t look like those I snapped on Sunday evening as I arrived at the school. (You can see those photos by clicking the appropriate link below.)
In the Thursday entry, I mentioned the pranksters in class. During the discussion about drawers someone asked about installing metal drawer slides in this project. Needless to say, he heard a chorus of boos, but we did discuss why I would never attempt such an act and how the drawer building would need to change if someone were to install slides. The Questioner has broad shoulders and sustained the admonishment from the crowd.
Two of the guys in the class took a road trip to the Indianapolis Woodcraft store and I guess the entire drawer-slide episode was still fresh in their minds. They decided to purchase a pair of full-extension slides to add to my case. Upon arrival the next day, the slides were installed with double-stick tape and we all got a good chuckle. That looked very different from what I’m used to seeing.
In addition, I mentioned a use for blue painter’s tape that The Wood Whisperer would never have thought about. Marc Spagnuolo’s first article for Popular Woodworking (in August 2008) was “The Magic of Masking Tape” (issue #170). Marc uses painter’s tape for quick clamps and veneer clamps, just to name a couple.
In class when the time arrived to shape the drawer fronts, one woodworker decided that working without a glove was not going to cut it. However, the file was cutting his hands. To offset the mild abrasions, he covered his hand with blue tape. I must admit this was a first for me, although I have seen use of tape on fingertips when working large jobs of hand sanding. It worked in this case too. Before the class wrapped up, this guy had the drawer fronts shaped and was ready for dovetails. I heard from more than one participant that this was a great class.
If you have a minute, please leave a comment about any school experience that stands out in your mind. I’m not looking to bust any schools, so please don’t mention names. I’m interested in what separates a good experience from a bad experience. And given that experience, would you return?
p.s. Click here to read “Teaching at Marc Adams , Day One,” here for “Day Two,” here for “Day Three“, here for “Day Four” and here for “Day Five.”
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