Courses

Cranks wind, gears turn, dragons chomp, and birds fly. Welcome to the whimsical world of automata: simple wooden machines that delight and amaze. Join Cecilia Schiller for a five-day exploration of the art of making wooden machines and the mechanisms that make things move. Starting with the design process in…

One interpretation of folk craft is simple and straightforward: the things people make using the materials they have readily available. In the twenty-first century, lumber yards and home improvement retailers always have a supply of dimensional lumber for relatively cheap; learn how to turn it into functional custom furniture for…

Pick up your hammer! This course is designed for students with little or no building experience who want to build a tiny home, small cabin, or workshop. The techniques for building a small frame building are not only for the skilled carpenter; nearly anyone can come away from this course…

As the days get shorter, make vessels for your own light with custom candelabras and candlestick holders! This introductory course will help you shed a little light on the woodshop and get comfy with power tools and hand tools while making the perfect centerpiece for any table. Learn how to…

Create beautiful and useful things for your kitchen using simple hand tools and native woods. Participants in this course will be introduced to the Swedish traditions of ‘köksredskap,’ or the process of carving functional utensils, including butter knives, small spoons or bread boards. Students will start by splitting a green…

Designing a chair is an intense mash-up of engineering, function, style, and sculpture. Chairs are a free standing, three-dimensional piece of furniture and the average person can exert up to 500lbs of force when sitting. There are so many considerations to designing a functional and aesthetically pleasing chair. In this…

Discover the secrets of the old Sámi school of ski construction by crafting a custom pair of birch skis to meet your needs. In this course you’ll learn about the origin of ski design, function, and construction. We’ll also cover topics such as wood grain, bending wood, types of bindings,…

In order for a piece of furniture to become a treasured family heirloom, someone has to build it. And who better to build your family’s next prized possession than you? Using materials like cherry and white pine and design inspiration from early American furniture, students will build a windsor comb…

The axe is perhaps the most indispensable of all tools in the North Woods. A sharp axe, skillfully wielded, makes tasks from splitting kindling to carving spoons and canoe paddles a pleasure. In this course, students will begin with a pre-made hand-­forged axe head, then make a hardwood handle and…

Green Woodworking is a style of working wood from freshly felled trees. It has a particularly rich tradition in Scandinavia. In rural areas where peasant farmers made things for their daily life it was the predominant style of woodworking. Spoons, bowls, cutting boards, and even larger projects like chairs, boats,…

You can find almost anything you need while wandering through a certain Swedish big box furniture store...almost. But sometimes generic designs just don’t fit the unique needs of a space. Designing and building custom furniture for your own home can be a unique and rewarding experience. From bookcases to dressers,…

Create the traditional paddle used by Northwoods travelers for hundreds of years. In this course, a North House classic, students will learn about wood selection and wood grain considerations as well as paddle sizing and the theory of shape as applied to handles, shafts and blades. Choose from a variety…

This course is meant as an introduction for young people to the various tools and simple skills involved in working with wood. We will start with an introduction to common tools, stressing safety for both the child and the tools. We'll practice some common skills like sawing, drilling, and carving.…

Learn to turn on both power and pole lathes and explore the historical continuum of bowl turning in this unique course offering. Students will move back and forth between the foot-powered pole lathe and modern electric lathe to delve deeply into a study of old world Norwegian ale bowls. This…

We all spend a lot of time sitting so how can we do a better job of it? The key ergonomic feature of a perching stool is the forward sloping seat which rotates your pelvis keeping your back aligned in its natural s-shape. It makes for a comfortable rest at…