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This year is my twentieth year of woodworking. I have been enjoying wood and creating things from it for quite a while. I have been around and picked up a few things, read a lot of books, tried a lot of techniques and projects - and failed in more than one, but I have never had an experience like this.
You look at books and watch videos and television, and you always see woodworkers and projects that make you think, "if only I could make something like that", or, "how did he do that?" I can tell you now, from experience, that I have a pretty good idea, and I have accomplished in one week what I have attempted to do for years without having ever reached the goal for which I was shooting.
Conover Workshops is located in Parkman, Ohio - a picturesque rural setting where tree-lined roads replete with Amish buggies string together small town America in the great Midwest. It is the type of place you see in insurance commercials where the county fair is still a big event and little town squares fly their flags and banners on the Fourth of July while regular, hard working folk share barbecue and potato salad on a picnic table covered in a red and white checkered table cloth. Notwithstanding the anticipation of learning something you have longed to know, you can't help but feel as though you have disembarked from the subway of life and you are watching from the station as the train speeds away leaving you behind.
You are greeted at the door by Susan Conover, president of Conover Workshops and very definitely the force behind the scenes, and Ernie's latest apprentice - in this case Brent Berglund. Ernie Conover, the renowned wood turner and woodworker, is at center stage. With literally hundreds of articles in scads of magazines, and seven books to his credit, Ernie is a true authority and a woodworker's woodworker. His humor and easy manner, and the 18th Century garb, draw you in as you embark on a five day journey into muscle strain, sweat, and enlightenment.
The Conovers are seasoned veterans at this as they have been running the school for over twenty years. The class today is "Handtool Joinery: Building a Wall Cupboard" and is designed to teach you how to build a cabinet using only hand tools and traditional methods of woodworking, such as the mysterious hand cut dovetail and the mortise and tenon. At first glance the project seems too small to spend this many days on but soon you realize that the time is spent on the details, and careful attention to them will result in a feeling of accomplishment like you have never experienced.
The curriculum is well laid out through Susan's thoughtfully constructed, well organized handout and Ernie balances out periods of instruction with time for assisted practice. With Brent, the apprentice, available to assist, the small class size and individual attention ensures that even the greenest novice will be able to enjoy the same level of satisfaction and feeling of accomplishment as those of us who thought we already knew some of this stuff. Boy, was I wrong.
After years of researching and attempting dovetails and mortise and tenon joints by a variety of methods, Ernie showed me how, with a few decent tools and proper layout, I could achieve the results I had been striving for all these years. I didn’t think it would be that easy to do! Don't misunderstand me though. The course is rigorous and you will be completely drained at week's end. I don’t know how I am ever going to remember all of things I learned, except to repeat the process again, in my own shop.
The truly interesting and useful thing about this class is that all of the skills you learn are applicable to the use of power tools. If you use the same layout techniques, you will surprised at how much easier it is to get accurate results using machinery without a bunch of jigs and tool setup. Knowing the tricks of the trade will allow you to hone your skills as a craftsman, regardless of what tools you decide to use for the actual work.
I am a different woodworker than I was when I first walked through the door at Conover Workshops. I look at wood differently. I look at hand tools differently. More important, I have a greater sense of confidence in my abilities. If you take Handtool Joinery, I would recommend that you spend the weekend beforehand taking Ernie's two single day classes on Handplane Basics and Hand Cut Dovetails. The extra knowledge and practice will help you greatly during the week. I cannot recommend Conover Workshops highly enough. Catered lunches, seasoned instruction, beautiful facility, retreat-like atmosphere, and proven curriculum all add up to an experience of a lifetime for a woodworker. Try it. You won't be sorry.
Conover Workshops' schedule can be found online at http://www.conoverworkshops.com. Ernie Conover writes a monthly newsletter and also has an online store where you can buy the classic, The Lathe Book, amongst other items. If you are bringing your pre-owned planes to class, try his video on Reclaiming Flea Market Planes. It will put you a step ahead.
For more information on my wall cabinet completed at Conover Workshops, please visit my Projects Page.
Photos of Susan Conover and the Conover Workshops Barn are (c)2002, Ernie Conover.
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