Upcoming Classes
The Port Townsend School of Woodworking offers weekend, one week, and three 12 week intensives. Classes range from woodturning, traditional carving, furniture design and construction, and Built Environment. Learn fine woodworking at Fort Worden State Park, overlooking the Salish Sea.
Upcoming Classes
Spring 2024
Elizabeth Weber
5 Days, Open to All
In this one-week course, students will spend time turning various bowl shapes, using turning tools and mini, benchtop lathes to achieve their desired shape.
Details & Registration
John Edwards
Weekend, For Beginners
In this two-day class we'll introduce you to the techniques and steps to cut dovetails by hand using a handsaw and chisels.
Details & Registration
Mike Pekovich
5 Days, Some Skills Required
Learn to use a combination of hand tools and power tools to build a wall cabinet with a traditional Japanese kumiko panel.
Details & Registration
John Edwards
Weekend, For Beginners
In this weekend class, you’ll learn how to quickly and efficiently layout, cut and fit mortise and tenon joinery using only hand tools.
Details & Registration
Mary May
5 Days, For Beginners
This five-day class starts from the beginning of woodcarving fundamentals and covers getting your tools razor sharp, safe use of gouges, securing your work to the bench, and carving in the correct grain direction.
Details & Registration
Tim Lawson
Weekend, For Beginners
This weekend course is perfect for complete beginners to turning, or folks whose skills have gotten rusty and need refreshing.
Details & Registration
Cody Wayland
Weekend, Open to All
Each student in this course will have a hands-on experience maneuvering a log onto the mill carriage and then sawing this log into lumber.
Details & Registration
Megan Fitzpatrick
5 Days, Open to All
In this five-day class you’ll build the shell of your own traditional tool chest using hand tools and techniques. This is an excellent first project for a new hand-tool woodworker – especially if you want to get good at dovetails!
Details & Registration
Tom Henscheid
Weekend Class, Open to All
In this two-day course, students will create their own path in spoon carving by learning various spoon carving designs and techniques that they can replicate and practice on their own.
Details & Registration
Gina Bonneau
5 Days, For Beginners - Women and LGBTQ+ Students
This weeklong introductory course is intended to build confidence in your use of hand tools, and get students excited to work with wood on their own. This class welcomes cis women, trans women and trans men, nonbinary, gender nonconforming, genderqueer and any woman-identifying people.
Details & Registration
Pavel McGlave
Weekend, For Beginners
In this weekend workshop in the woods, we’ll cover all the steps, safe practices, and professional tips that will help you feel confident in managing your own woodlot, back forty or small yard with a safe and sharp chainsaw.
Details & Registration
Tom Fenollosa and Paul Denison
6 Days, Open to All
This six-day course covers the fundamentals of timber frame construction using the square rule method developed in New England in the early 1800s.
Details & Registration
Summer 2024
Gina Bonneau
5 Days, For Beginners
This weeklong introductory course is intended to build confidence, demystify woodworking through the use of hand tools, and get students excited to work with wood on their own.
Details & Registration
James Johnson
5 Days, Open to All
This one-week class will cover the basics of formline design and technique through carving a unique panel for each student.
Details & Registration
Martin Nerbovig
Weekend, Open to All
This weekend course is designed to give folks a start on understanding and operating CNC machines. This course is being offered in partnership with local manufacturer Camp N’ Car at their facility in Port Townsend.
Details & Registration
Kelly Harris
6 Days, Open to all skill levels, LGBTQAI+ Students
This six-day class is an introduction to the art of post and rung chairmaking under the direction of New York-based woodworker and educator Kelly Harris. This class is open to LGBTQAI+ students.
Details & Registration
Raphael Berrios
5 Days, Open to All
Build a table using pre-industrial artisan techniques in this five-day workshop. Get ready to break a sweat, learn to hand chop mortises, dimension stock with hand planes, and practice precision layout with minimal reference surfaces. This class is inspired by a class we ran with Joshua Klein in 2018.
Details & Registration
Julian Watts
5 Days, Open to All
In this five-day class we will use both traditional and experimental carving techniques to create handheld sculptures that blur the line between functional objects and abstract works of art. By integrating the processes of spoon carving, expressive drawing, and power carving, students will leave the class not only with a robust carving skillset, but also an expanded view of what is possible at the intersection of traditional craft, art, and design.
Details & Registration
Dale Brotherton
Weekend, For Beginners
This weekend class will be a hands-on workshop focused primarily on sharpening and setting up chisels and hand planes. These are the foundational skills in the world of Japanese woodworking. The tools and methods taught will all be traditional. The course will be packed with details that usually require a lengthy apprenticeship to learn.
Details & Registration
Taeho Kwon
5 Days, Open to All
This five-day class will teach the making of a sitting bench rooted in traditional eastern timber frame joinery used to construct Buddhist temples.
Details & Registration
John Edwards
5 Days, Open to All
In this five-day class, students will learn the craft of building a tool tote with groove joints, dovetail joints, and through mortise & tenon joints.
Details & Registration
Tom Henscheid
Weekend, For Beginners
This weekend class is designed to introduce you to the wonderful self-sufficient world of tool forging.
Details & Registration
Annalise Rubida
5 Days, Open to All
In this five-day course, we will explore the fundamentals of Windsor chair construction and joinery by building a stool of your own design. Students will be guided through the basics of stool design considerations including strength, wood movement, and traditional/modern aesthetics.
Details & Registration
Taeho Kwon
5 Days, Open to All
Kumiko is a delicate and sophisticated technique of assembling wooden pieces without using nails. In this five-day workshop, students will be introduced to making a Kumiko using traditional methods.
Details & Registration
Tom Henscheid
Weekend Class, Open to All
In this two-day course, students will create their own path in spoon carving by learning various spoon carving designs and techniques that they can replicate and practice on their own.
Details & Registration
Xwalacktun (Rick Harry)
5 Days, Open to All
In this weeklong course, students will be guided by Squamish and Kwakwak’wakw master carver Xwalacktun (Rick Harry) in the creation of their own relief carving inspired by Coast Salish traditions.
Details & Registration
Chris Landingin, Ginsy Stone
6 Days, Open to All
This six-day course for women and LGBTQ+ students covers the fundamentals of a New England style of timber frame construction using the square rule method.
Details & Registration
Pavel McGlave
Weekend, For Beginners
In this weekend workshop in the woods, we’ll cover all the steps, safe practices, and professional tips that will help you feel confident in managing your own woodlot, back forty or small yard with a safe and sharp chainsaw.
Details & Registration
Kari Morgan
5 Days, Open to All
In this weeklong course, learn to carve a totem pole-style bear sculpture out of yellow cedar while also learning about its cultural significance and history.
Details & Registration
Sabiha Mujtaba
5 Days, Open to All
Finding inspiration for furniture design can be creatively exciting when we interpret it from other art forms: music, poetry, painting, and even from symbols and glyphs. In this five-day class, students will learn to design and build a stool or side table from start to finish using inspiration from calligraphy. Sabiha will take you from inspiration and design concepts through model making, planning, joinery, shaping, and carving to bring your idea to life.
Details & Registration
Steve Habersetzer and Annalise Rubida
6 Days, Open to All
In this five-day course, instructors Steve Habersetzer and Annalise Rubida will guide you through building a serviceable, classic, West Coast take on the traditional Windsor chair.
Details & Registration
Matthew Straughn-Morse
5 Days, Open to All
In this weeklong course you will learn machine and hand tool methods to cut joinery, shape, and smooth elements of a simple frame stool with a Danish cord woven seat.
Details & Registration
Michael Puryear
5 Days, Some Skills Required
This five-day course will give you all the skills you need to confidently create bent laminated curved parts for your own projects.
Details & Registration
Gina Bonneau
5 Days, For Beginners
This weeklong introductory course is intended to build confidence, demystify woodworking through the use of hand tools, and get students excited to work with wood on their own.
Details & Registration
Steve Habersetzer
Weekend, Some Skills Required
In this two-day class you'll make a bucket from Douglas Fir or other old growth wood salvaged from old buildings or some other high quality softwood.
Details & Registration
Cody Wayland
Weekend, Open to All
Each student in this course will have a hands-on experience maneuvering a log onto the mill carriage and then sawing this log into lumber.
Details & Registration
Tim DeMuth
5 Days, Open to All
Join us for an exciting and rewarding five-day journey into the world of woodworking! Have you taken a beginning woodworking class but still need help refining how to apply those skills to complete projects? This class is for those students who already have some hands-on experience but want guidance and help realizing a project. Whether you are a beginner or an experienced woodworker looking to learn new skills, this course is ideal for anyone interested in tackling a woodworking project from a set of plans.
Details & Registration
Fall 2024
Philip Shelton
12-Week Intensive for Beginners
Approved for VA Funding, Scholarships Available
Through a series of progressively challenging projects, this intensive course puts you well on your way to becoming a fine woodworker. All tools provided.
Details & Registration
Paige Dotsy
5 Days, For Beginners
In this weeklong course, students will gain proficiency in foundational furniture making by crafting a side table from scratch.
Details & Registration
Raphael Berrios
Weekend, Open to All
In this weekend class, we’ll be focusing on how to sharpen chisels and plane blades and introduce you to techniques to sharpen a wide variety of hand tools.
Details & Registration
Gina Bonneau and Lacey Carnahan
5 Days, For Beginners - Women & LGBTQ+ Students
The goal of this weeklong class is to learn and practice the safe and effective use of machine tools, and basic machine tool maintenance and adjustments. This class welcomes cis women, trans women and trans men, nonbinary, gender nonconforming, genderqueer and any woman-identifying people.
Details & Registration
Tim Lawson
Weekend, For Beginners
This weekend course is perfect for complete beginners to turning, or folks whose skills have gotten rusty and need refreshing.
Details & Registration
Aspen Golann
6 Days, Open to All
In this six-day class we will cover the essential techniques required to build a classic Windsor side chair.
Details & Registration
Chelsea Witt
5 Days, Open to All
Leave flat behind with a deep dive into the ancient art of coopering. Coopering is joining angled pieces together to create curved forms; the term is synonymous with barrel and cask making. In this five-day design and build course, students will flex their design muscles and explore the intersection of function and sculpture.
Details & Registration
Dale Brotherton
6 Days, For Beginners
This six-day class will be a hands-on workshop focused primarily on the sharpening and setting up of traditional Japanese chisels and hand planes.
Details & Registration
Hideta Kitazawa
5 Days, Open to All
In this six-day course, each student will carve their own Okina Noh Theater mask from a block of wood to finish under the tutelage of master carver Hideta Kitazawa-san.
Details & Registration
Hideta Kitazawa
5 Days, Open to All
In this six-day course, each student will carve their own Okina Noh Theater mask from a block of wood to finish under the tutelage of master carver Hideta Kitazawa-san.
Details & Registration
Dale Brotherton
6 Days, Some Skills Required
This course will offer details of the fundamentals of Japanese woodworking, putting to use the tools that were set up in the beginner Japanese Tools class.
Details & Registration
Yuri Kobayashi
5 Days, Open to All
Experiment with the art and science of bending wood to create a vase, a tray, a basket, a lampshade, a component of furniture, or an absolute sculpture.
Details & Registration
James Johnson
5 Days, Open To All
Scholarships Available
Learn history, culture and technical skills of carving and formline design with Tlingit artist James Johnson of Ch’áak’ Dakl’aweidi (Eagle Killer Whale) Clan while carving a paddle using yellow cedar.
Details & Registration
Gina Bonneau
Weekend Class, For Beginners
You’ll be walked through the basics of common shop machines such as the table saw, band saw, thickness planer, and jointer.
Details & Registration
Tim Lawson
5 Days, Open to All
This weeklong course is perfect for complete beginners or folks whose woodturning skills have gotten rusty and need refreshing.
Details & Registration
Tom Henscheid
2 Days, Open to All
In this weekend class we will learn the basics of selecting and sourcing materials, how to prepare substrates, and various methods of applying veneers in a fast-paced, fun environment. Each student will make a small, square veneered tabletop, which can be later attached to a leg structure of your choosing.
Details & Registration
Gina Bonneau and Lacey Carnahan
5 Days, For Beginners
The goal of this weeklong class is to learn and practice the safe and effective use of machine tools, and basic machine tool maintenance and adjustments.
Details & Registration
Winter 2025
Gina Bonneau, Lacey Carnahan
12-Week Intensive for Beginners
Approved for VA Funding, Scholarships Available
Through a series of progressively challenging projects, this intensive course puts you well on your way to becoming a fine woodworker. All tools provided.
Details & Registration
Phillip Shelton
12-Week Intensive, Some Skills Required
Approved for VA Funding, Scholarships Available
This course is designed as a follow-up to Foundations of Woodworking I. Deepen your understanding of design and expand your range of joinery and decorative techniques to build beautiful, robust furniture.
Details & Registration
Spring 2025
Gina Bonneau, Lacey Carnahan
12-Week Intensive, Some Skills Required
Approved for VA Funding, Scholarships Available
This course is designed as a follow-up to Foundations of Woodworking I. Deepen your understanding of design and expand your range of joinery and decorative techniques to build beautiful, robust furniture.
Details & Registration