Courses

Without question, the Adirondack chair is a timeless classic—the high back, large armrests, and contoured seat and back are unmistakable. For many, the Adirondack chair defines the ideal deck or lawn chair for a well-deserved break.  This course is the perfect opportunity for you to learn and expand basic woodworking…

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…

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…

Considering when and where to start on that big cabinet project you want to build and install?  Start here.  Before you jump into a big project, learn the basic techniques, tools and equipment used by both traditional and contemporary cabinet makers.  As a class project, each student builds a pine…

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

Discover the secrets of the old Saami 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,…

There are many designs for sawhorses, as it is one of the most important tools a timber framer or woodworker has in the workshop. Der Zimmererbock is the traditional version of a sawhorse used and taught throughout Germany, where instructor Gerald David did his training in timber framing. It is…

The Windsor chair has graced American homes since the mid-eighteenth century, before there was even a “United States” to speak of. Rich in tradition and lore, and instantly recognizable for its clean lines and simple form, the Windsor chair is a classic project. With a comfortable design as a top…

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…

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,…

North House is excited to welcome Swedish craftsman Anders Lindberg to campus as our featured guest instructor for Unplugged. Anders will teach a classic green woodworking project: this straight-back chair. Students will learn and use a variety of green woodworking skills to create an heirloom piece. With simple tools, students…

North House is excited to welcome Swedish craftsman Anders Lindberg to campus as our featured guest instructor for Unplugged. Anders offers this four day stool building course for anyone who has ever thought they might be interested in building furniture. This relatively simple project teaches a variety of important woodworking…

This course introduces kids age 10 and older to the various hand tools and simple skills involved in working with wood in the shop. The course is co-taught by a father and son team, Paul Linden and Avery Carlson (age 16). Avery has been working with many of these tools…

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…

In this two day course each student will build a post-and-rung stool as we explore aspects of traditional chair making. On day one, students learn about splitting logs for stool pieces and how to shape stool parts using a shaving horse, drawknife, and spokeshave. On the second day, students use…