Most woodworkers are mystified by carving. In this two day course, you’ll learn the basic techniques common to nearly all woodcarving. You’ll learn how to sharpen and care for your carving tools. You’ll learn how to layout and carve simple concave and convex shells and fans.

Students will need to supply their own safety glasses, hearing protection and dust mask or respirator. Students will also need to supply their own bench chisels as well as a #15 v-parting tool (6mm or smaller) and two #8 gouges (one 7mm and one 10mm). If you have more carving tools, bring them along as they will most likely be helpful.

Dates for this class:

• January 15 & 16, 2012 This weekend is sold out, please register for the May April or September weekend or contact us to be placed on the wait list.

• May 5 & 6, 2012  April 28 & 29, 2012 Due to a change in the Lie-Nielsen hand tool even schedule, we have moved this class to the weekend prior.
  

• September 22 & 23, 2012

The class size is limited to 6 students.

The shop opens at 8:30 am. Class begins at 9:00 am. A coldcut lunch and soft drinks are provided. Class ends at 4:30 pm. The shop remains open until 5:30 pm.

If this course fills, please call or email to be placed on the waiting list.

All materials are supplied by us for this course.

Use drop down list to choose desired date.

This three day workshop offers woodworkers of all levels the chance to hone their door making skills. You’ll learn about wood movements and how frame and panel construction compensates for it. Learn how to make flat, raised and tombstone paneled doors, as well as mullioned glass door, using several joinery techniques.

Dates for this class are:

• February 18 – 20, 2012 (Only 1 bench space remaining)

The class size is limited to 6 students.

The shop opens at 8:30 am. Class begins at 9 am. A coldcut lunch and soft drinks are provided. Class ends at 4:30 pm. The shop remains open until 5:30 pm.

All materials are supplied by us for this course.

If this course fills, please call or email to be placed on the waiting list.

Stop making compromises with your router. Stop getting “close enough”. Learn how to use some of the most abundant moulding planes of the past to get the exact edge you are after. Hollows and rounds do not make specific profiles. They make specific arcs. Learn to transform these few arcs into scores of various profiles. From layout to execution, this weekend class will focus on creating various mouldings with these extraordinarily versatile planes.

The class will start off with maintaining the cutting edge, then move to laying out and ultimately sticking (planing) several mouldings that will range from simple coves and ovolos through ogees, cymas and various combinations. The class will focus on hollows and rounds sized 6 and 10 along with an unfenced rabbet plane. Students will have the opportunity to bring their own performing planes or they can use newly made planes by M. S. Bickford, planemaker. Students will also have the opportunity to use a larger range of planes.

Each student will leave with a picture frame (or several) and the ability to transfer mouldings he or she sees in person or print into wood and onto their project. Students will also have the option to bring in a complex profile and stock for a piece on which they are currently working but cannot yet execute.

A third, optional day is now offered in which the class will delve further into these seemingly mysterious planes, execute even more profiles or, with the instruction of Master Cabinetmaker and Carver Charles Bender, learn to carve complex embellishments such as egg and dart upon the mouldings they have already created.

The third day is strictly optional for those who wish to expand on the learning of the first two days of the class. The third day may only be purchased in addition to the two day class. All other registrations for the third day will be cancelled.

Sign up today – this is a great opportunity to learn the use of these extremely versatile planes- and learn a little about how they are made. At the end of the weekend Matt will make available for sale some of the actual planes you will be using.

Course dates:

·       March 24 & 25, 2012 with the optional day of March 26, 2012 (Only 2 bench spaces remain!)

·       September 15 & 16, 2012 with the optional day of September 17, 2012

The class size is limited to 6 students.

The shop opens at 8:30 am. Class begins at 9 am. A coldcut lunch and soft drinks are provided. Class ends at 4:30 pm. The shop remains open until 5:30 pm.

All materials are supplied by us for this course.

If this course fills, please call or email to be placed on the waiting list.

Use the first drop down list to choose desired class session. If you’d like to stay for the third day, please use the additional drop down list to choose the appropriate third day.

Special Tour of the

Furniture at The Winterthur Museum in Wilmington Delaware.

We have two date for this special tour. You may choose from:

May 12, 2012

or

October 14, 2012

Spend the day with The Acanthus Workshop for a Special Tour of the Furniture at The Winterthur Museum in Wilmington Delaware. This guided tour will introduce you, or maybe reintroduce you, to the outstanding American Decorative Arts Collection of H.F. DuPont. Mr. DuPont was a collector of American period furnishings and accessories over many years. His collection can be viewed in room settings throughout the museum, just as the house appeared when the DuPont family resided on the estate.

Come see some of the 80,000 objects in over 200 rooms at America’s premier decorative arts museum.

The group will meet at the at the Visitor’s Center at 9:45 am.

The 2 hour guided museum tour will begin promptly at 10:30am.

Following the tour, you will have an hour for lunch. You can purchase lunch at the museum cafeteria.

Charles Bender will conduct a 2 hour guided tour through the Open Galleries after lunch.

Registration for this class will close at the end of the business day 14 days prior to the class date.

Your registration, and payment, are due by that time if you wish to attend.

This two day workshop offers woodworkers of all levels the chance to hone their drawer making skills. You’ll learn about different drawer construction methods. Fitting drawers, for most woodworkers, poses a big challenge. In this class you’ll learn several ways to fit a drawer and make it function perfectly.

The class size is limited to 6 students.

Course dates:

• May 19 & 20, 2012

The shop opens at 8:30 am. Class begins at 9 am. A coldcut lunch and soft drinks are provided. Class ends at 4:30 pm. The shop remains open until 5:30 pm.

All materials are supplied by us for this course.

If this course fills, please call or email to be placed on the waiting list.

For years I’ve been contemplating this class and 2012 is the year it will happen. Since starting the school, I’ve had lots of students who ask where, and how, I’ve learned so much about period furniture and woodworking in general. This class will give the students insight into the decades of research that has gone into my career.

In this class we will visit many of the unique places that exist within a reasonable drive of the school that have provided so much information and education over the years.

If you are interested in learning about furniture construction, design and regional variation of 18^th Century furniture, this is the class for you. You will also learn about the supportive crafts that go into making masterpieces a reality today.

We will visit blacksmiths and local furniture hardware production facilities. Additionally we will visit antique dealers shops, local collections and local and regional museums.

The dates for this class are:

• June 11 – 15, 2012

Essentially this class is a five – day whirlwind tour of some of the greatest treasure troves of information available (or in most cases unavailable) to a woodworker.

Some of the places we will visit during the week include:

·      Winterthur Museum and Gardens

·      The Landis Valley Museum

·      The Chester County Historical Society

·      Ball and Ball Hardware

·      The Wright’s Ferry Mansion

·      The Philadelphia Museum of Art

·      The Maryland Historical Society

·      Hearne Hardwoods

·      H.L. Chalfant Antiques

·      And many more

Students will get an insider’s look at furniture, and the peripheral trades that support furniture makers today.

This course is more than just your standard guided tour of any museum.

Due to the special nature of this course, we are increasing our regular limit of six students to eight. This will help contain costs while maintaining the ability to insure each student still gets plenty of personal attention.

Transportation and tour admissions are included in class fee. Students are responsible for their own lunch expense.

If this course fills, please call or email to be placed on the waiting list.

To register for this class by paying in full, click this button.

To register for this class by paying a deposit (you will be billed the balance 60 days prior to the class,  net due 30 days) use this button.

This two day class, on “everything hand tools”, is for woodworkers of all levels. We will cover everything from basic sharpening, how to tune up that yard sale find and milling boards flat, straight and square with only a hand plane.

Each student must supply his, or her, own: safety glasses and hearing protection; combination or machinist square; bevel gauge; bench chisels; carvers mallet; dovetail saw; marking gauge; smooth plane or jack plane; block plane; and tape measure or folding rule.

Course dates:

• June 30 & July 1, 2012

The shop opens at 8:30 am. Class begins at 9:00 am. A coldcut lunch and soft drinks are provided. Class ends at 4:30 pm. The shop remains open until 5:30 pm.

Some of the skills you will learn in this class:

·      How a plane works

·      How to quickly and easily sharpen chisels

·      How to true a board

·      How to make a variety of joints using only hand tools

This course is limited to 6 students.

If this course fills, please call or email to be placed on the waiting list.

This stands to be one of the most fun classes of the year. You’ve probably heard about the Noden Inlay Razor (if not, you just haven’t been paying attention) which is revolutionizing inlay. Here’s your chance to try one out, or learn how to use yours if you’ve already got one, directly from the master himself. Geoffrey is not only a master with this innovative tool, he invented it.

Each student will turn at least one bowl, platter or object to be inlaid using the Noden Inlay Razor. If you’ve already got one, bring it along and learn how to use it to its fullest potential. If you don’t have one, Geoffrey will be bringing Razors for everyone to try.

Materials for this class are included in the class fee. You may use your own lumber but it must be shipped to our shop at least four weeks prior to the class.

Each student must supply his, or her, own: safety glasses and hearing protection; combination or machinist square; bevel gauge; bench chisels; carvers mallet; dovetail saw; marking gauge; smooth plane or jack plane; block plane; and tape measure or folding rule.

Course dates:

·       November 17 & 18, 2012

(just in time to make a beautiful gift for someone special for the holidays)

The shop opens at 8:30 am. Class begins at 9:00 am. A coldcut lunch and soft drinks are provided. Class ends at 4:30 pm. The shop remains open until 5:30 pm.

Some of the skills you will learn in this class:

·      Simple faceplate and spindle turning

·      How to work accurately on the lathe

·      How to create a nearly endless variety of inlay using the Noden Inlay Razor

This course is limited to 6 students.

If this course fills, please call or email to be placed on the waiting list.