New This Year at Woodworking in America: Silas Kopf

When we plan the annual Woodworking in America conference, it reminds me of high school. We think of the best woodworkers we know of, get in touch with them, and nervously ask them if they would like to be a part of the conference. We get sweaty palms and wonder if they even know who we are, and after asking we generally have to wait a while for an answer. This year, one of my personal woodworking heroes has agreed to come and teach, Silas Kopf.

Silas studied architecture at Princeton, apprenticed with Wendell Castle, and has been making incredible inlaid furniture since 1973. Along with those impressive credentials, he has a great sense of humor that often appears in his work. If you’re not familiar with his work, take this opportunity to visit the gallery on his web site. You can also find “A Marquetry Odyssey,” a wonderful book about the history of the craft and Kopf’s own work. There is also an instructional DVD available titled “Master the Techniques of Marquetry.”

Here is an excerpt from the video, to give you a brief taste of what you will seen when you go to one of Silas’ classes at this year’s Woodworking in America conference.

Woodworking in America is October 18-20, 2013 at the Northern Kentucky Convention center (across the river from downtown Cincinnati). When you visit the web site, you can see the full list of speakers as well as the list of classes. We’ve added some longer sessions, so you can experience in depth instruction on your favorite topic.

Registration is now open! Click here and you can be one of the first to sign up for the “ultimate woodworking weekend”.

Stay tuned to this blog for more profiles of our conference speakers.

– Robert W. Lang