On this course you will make two or three Oval shaker boxes of different sizes and along the way you will learn about steam-bending, carving and how to use a neat selection of hand-tools and machinery. We will use black walnut or maple for the box sides and red cedar for the top and bottom. Maple was one of the most commonly used woods by the shakers but walnut bends just as well and I think it looks great. One of the boxes will be in traditional style whilst the other will be my modified design which has an inset rebated lid rather than an overlapping one.

WHAT WILL I LEARN?

You’ll learn how to carve the distinctive swallow-tail joint with just a knife and how to cut the tapered other end of the joint using my special jig. This course is a great way to be introduced to steam-bending, steam works as a heat-transfer medium to temporarily plasticise the wood-its an age old and fiendishly clever method. You need to be quick but careful to bend the wood without it breaking, the cells on the inside of the curve all have to compress, and those on the outside elongate and if you do it too fast there is no time for that to happen. It’s an interesting balancing act!

The joint is tacked together with special copper nails that are cinched over on the inside of the box. The nails are made on vintage machines in America-as far as I know there is only one source of them in the world, as they are a very specific shape. The machines you'll get to use include: Belt/disc sanders, table saw, router, bandsaw, pillar drill and a whole slew of hand tools such as knives, awls, chisels, planes, drills.

WHO IS THIS SUITABLE FOR?

If you would like to make something that is a bit unusual and will introduce a variety of new skills as well as improving your general level of accuracy then this course is for you. It’s suitable for beginners and more advanced woodworkers.