Woodworking Class Schedule
Call us to reserve your space : 803-791-3823
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WoodZone provides all tools, equipment, and supplies required for all of our classes (unless noted). You are also welcome to bring your own tools if you would like to learn how to use them under our instruction. Click here for directions and more information on our store. 
Quick Links: Class Information.       (Special family, school, scouts & corporate retreat classes also available.)

Class: Pen Making Date: Saturday September 4th Time: 9am-12pm Cost: Only $25 Instructor: Larry Skill Level: Beginner  Description: Learn to make your very own wooden pen in this hands-on class from WoodZone. During the class you will learn the fundamentals of cutting, drilling, turning, finishing, and assembling a wooden pen kit. At the end of the class you will leave with your very own pen as well as the skills to make more on your own. Want to make more pens? Stay after for our special pen making events.	Click Image To Enlarge
Pen Club Meeting Topic: How to customize stock pen kits Date: Saturday September 4th Time: 1:00pm – 3:30pm Cost: First meeting free ($25 annual dues thereafter) Demo Details: During this club meeting, you will learn secrets to creating stunning custom pens. If you'd like to learn to to add, remove, and modify stock pen kits to create custom pens then you can't miss this meeting. During the meeting Jonathan Brooks will demonstrate the techniques you need to know to make your pens stand out in the crowd. Take you pen making to the next level and joint the pen club.	Photos courtesy of:  Jonathan Brooks  Click To Enlarge
Labor Day Schedule Sunday & Monday September 5th & 6th Store Closed - Enjoy the Holiday
Project: Uncle Arthur's Stick - A Community Event Date: Saturday September 11th - Patriot's Day Time: 9am-5pm Cost: Free Experience: Prior Woodturning Experience Required Project Details: Join us on Saturday September 11 in honor of Patriot's day as we turn fifty "Uncle Arthur's Sticks" for the veterans at the Dorn VA Medical Center. These specially designed "sticks" help injured and disabled veterans remove their socks. Both injured and arthritic veterans find the simple task of getting their socks on and off a challenge.  This project is the brainchild of Donald Winburn, an X-Ray technician at the VA Hospital, who is also an avid wood turner. Donald approached us to help him make a collection of these tools for the veterans at the V.A.  After seeing a patient who had made a similar tool from a dowel and a hook, Donald set about to design a better solution. His "Uncle Arthur's Stick" (named after the nickname for Arthritis) are designed to be comfortable to hold and use.  Our goal is to make 50, 16 inch travel size “Uncle Arthur's Sticks” that will be donated to the Physical Therapy Department of the Dorn VA Medical Center, Columbia SC. To do this we are asking for your help. If you'd like to volunteer to turn a stick, please call us at 803-791-3823 or e-mail us at woodmaster@woodzone.com so we can find a time space for you to come and turn. We also need assistants to help volunteers turn the sticks. If you'd like to participate please contact us. Please note: This is not a woodturning class so you need to have prior experience. We will have assistants on duty during the event, but individual instruction will not be available.	Click To Enlarge
Thursday Evening Class: Build a Wooden Jointer Plane Date: Thursday September 16th & Tuesday Sept. 21st Time: 6pm-9pm Cost: Only $95 ($47.50/week) Instructor: Jerry Skill Level: Beginner  Description: Join us as we build a traditional wooden jointer plane. The finished plane will be capable of producing thin shavings and is ideal for leveling table tops, workbenches, and other large flat surfaces. The large plane features a wide 2-5/8" blade and chip breaker that we will teach you to hone to a razor sharp edge. After work, get out of your house for an evening of woodworking with our evening class series.

Cabinet Making Series
Your introduction to woodworking class series.

A professionally made custom kitchen can easily cost you over $15,000-25,000! With the skills taught in this series, you can build a complete base cabinet for $100 ea. including hardware, doors, and finish! Taught by a professional cabinetmaker, these classes teach you tips and trick as well as the fundamentals of solid woodworking, using a minimal investment in tools. Our cabinet making series assumes that you are working in a home garage shop and shows you how to take advantage of the tools you do have.

Learn woodworking with this series! The skills taught in this series will help you with many future projects. With some simple changes to this basic cabinet design, you can build entertainment centers, armoires, router tables, custom closets, shop cabinets, and more. The classes all assume that you have a minimal investment in tools and shows you how to accomplish stunning results in your home shop. The classes are offered in the series listed below. Each class is offered twice a year. You can take all of the classes or only the topics you desire.

September 18th - Raised Panel Doors - 9am-2pm
October 16th – Drawer Making & Installation - 9am-2pm
November 13th – Cabinet Installation and Finishing - 9am-2pm
December 11th – Base Cabinets - 9am-2pm 
January 14th – Upper Cabinets Construction - 9am-2pm 

Description:
Raised panel doors are not only beautiful, they are based on generations of woodworking knowledge. Their design solves the problem of solid door movement. The central panel is actually designed to float inside the door frame allowing it to expand and contract with changes in the seasons. Without this design, the doors would stick in the humid summer and fit loosely in the dry winter air. These same principals apply to larger solid wood entry doors, wainscoting, and ceiling panels.

During this class, you will learn how to make raised panel doors using the router and router table. We'll discuss the principles of panel making covering cutting the stiles and rails all the way through the design of the raised panel door.  Detailed class handouts with instructions, dimensions, and details, are included in the class. During the class, you will learn:

• How to measure and determine the size for your door parts.
• Panel glue up tips and tricks
• How to safely cut the raised panel on the router table
• How, when and why to use a back cutter
• Stile and Rail cutters - how to set them up quickly and accurately.
• Tips for achieving repeatable results.
• Panel spacers - where and when to use.
• Door assembly tips and tricks

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Description:
Learn how to create unique and attractive raised panel doors with ease. This class expands on our Raised Panel Door cabinet making class, showing you how much more you can do with the tools you already have. Learn all of the secrets for creating unique raised panel doors. During the class, professional cabinet maker Jerry Stover, will amaze you with his years of experience creating creative and custom curved, decorative, and glass panel doors. Detailed class handouts with instructions, dimensions, and details, are included in the class.

• Arched, Cathedral, and Curved Raised Panel Doors
•     Laying out designs
•     Creating templates
•     Cutting techniques
• Glass Paneled Doors
• Learn how to use the same set of router bits to cut glass doors.
• Edge Details - Decorative profiles, Finger edge bits
• Converting 3/8" Inset doors to European hinges
• Mitered Raised Panel Doors - Design Considerations
• Discussion on: Creating Inlays & "Carving" with router templates.
• MDF Door Bits
• Discussion: How you can create interior/exterior doors using the same process. (as well as shutters, closet doors, etc.)

Arched Glass Cabinet Door
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Arched Entry Door 

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Arched Bead Board
Cabinet Doors

Class: Wooden Bow Making
Date: Saturday September 25th
Time: 9am-5pm
Cost: Only $95
Instructor: Ted  
Format: Hands On - Leave with a Bow
Skill Level: Beginner 

Interested in learning the techniques for hand-making wooden bows? The construction of a wooden bow involves the proper selection of materials combined with the techniques to shape them into a form that delivers the maximum shooting power.

During this popular class, we will review examples, materials, handles, lamination techniques, finishing, shaping, etc. You will also learn how to condition the wood and shape it so that the bow bends correctly and consistently. Students will leave the class with a bow and a handout/guide to make more bows. The bow blanks have been pre-laminated so you don't have to take the time to wait for things to dry. The class will also cover the basics of hand-building strings. All wood for the bow as well as a finished string will be provided. Students will need to bring in some basic hand tools such as a cabinet/card scraper and some basic hand files.

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Saturday October 2nd
WoodFest 2010
Sales, Special, Demonstration and More
Stay Tuned for Details

Description:
Whether you are new to drawer making or just want to improve your fundamentals, this class from WoodZone covers all aspects of drawer construction. Emphasis is given to drawer design, different methods of construction, drawer hardware, and installation tips and techniques. The class focuses on the use of the Kreg Pocket hole jig for the fast and efficient construction of solid drawers. The drawer will then be installed using our KV full extension 100# drawer slides. 

Also discussed are alternate construction methods such as dovetail joints, drawer lock-miter joints, and more. Students will build and take home a drawer corner model that will later double as a hinge boring jig when you are building your raised panel doors. Drawer construction can range from simple utility drawers to more complicated pantry storage drawers, as seen in the picture to the right. You will learn the fundamentals during this class Detailed class handouts with instructions, dimensions, and details, are included in the class. During the clas,s you will learn:

• Drawer construction techniques & design considerations
• Dados on the router
• Working with undersized plywood
• Use the Kreg Jig for quick professional drawers.
• False front drawers
• Leave with a drawer corner model setup to drill hinges. 
• And More

Dovetailed Drawer
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Raised panel pantry storage drawers.

Tame those terrorizing kitchen and shop cabinets with our handy home-made cabinet organizes and customization tips. Cabinets have a lot of wasted space that, with a little ingenuity, can be utilized. Learn how to:

• Design for maximum space savings
• Layered silverware drawers.
• Organizers you can build or buy
• Shop Project - Under sink pull-out chemical organizer
• False sink fronts – converting wasted space to sponge storage
• Installing professional organizers
• Secret compartment options in cabinets
• And More

Class: Cabinet Installation and Finishing
Learn how to get your new cabinets installed, finished, and looking beautiful.
Date: Saturday November 13th 2010
Time: 9am – 2pm
Cost: Only $55
Instructor: Jerry
Skill Level: Beginner 
Format: Participatory

Description: 
Once you have your cabinets built, you need to learn the tricks for getting everything mounted and hung right. This class will cover mounting the upper and lower cabinets. Finishing options range from stains and polyurethane coatings to lacquers, oils, and milk paint finishes. Learn how to install counter tops, leveling and shimming techniques, mounting drawer slides, and hinges. Detailed class handouts with instructions, dimensions, and details, are included in the class. During the class, you will learn:

• Mounting and Installation tips - working with irregular walls

• Direct mounting vs. French Cleat method

• Screw selection to ensure a secure mounting

• Tools to help make the job easier

• Intro to crown molding installation (see crown class for expanded details)

• Staining and Finishing options for cabinets.

Description:
Learn the secrets for precisely cutting crown moldings. Did you know that crown molding comes with different “spring angles” and one of the biggest secrets is in setting your saw to the proper angles? During this class, we will show you how this is done provide instructions so you can repeat this at how. During the class, you will learn:

• Installation techniques – for furniture or home installation
• How to install crown molding
• How to miter and cope molding – and when to do it.
• Chair Rail – Tips and secrets
• Base Moldings – from basic to layered design options
• Custom Molding – How to make your own.
• Large cove moldings – how to cut them, on a table saw!
• Router bits for moldings

Description: 
Learn how to build cabinets for your home or shop with this introductory cabinetmaking class. In this class, you will learn to design and build a standard base cabinet carcass with face frame. The skills taught in this class will help you with many future projects. With some simple changes to this basic cabinet design, you can build entertainment centers, armoires, router tables, custom closets, shop cabinets, and more.

This class is focused on home shops and we'll show you how to make professional grade cabinets with a minimal investment in tools. We start the class with tips and free jigs you can build to easily and accurately cut large sheets of plywood, by yourself. We combine these techniques with the Kreg Pocket hole jig demonstrating tips and tricks for aligning the parts, assembly, and shortcuts to save you tons of time. Taught by a professional cabinet and furniture maker, this class (along with being a lot of fun) will leave you prepared to begin you next cabinet project. (Participation in previous cabinetmaking series classes in not required.) Detailed class handouts are also provided as part of the tuition. Topics covered include:

• Cabinet design principals
• Industry standards and dimensions
• Working with large sheet goods, in a small shop.
• Jigs for cutting plywood, with a circular saw and good blade
• Tips for working with today's irregular sized plywood
•  Design and construction techniques
• Fixes and repairs for common mistakes
• Edge banding tips to turn scrap plywood into "solid wood"
• Kreg pocket hole tips
• View pictures from our base cabinet class

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Description: 
Google's Free SketchUp software has taken the woodworking community by storm! This powerful software lets you design and change your project in 3D on your computer. You can easily change designs and see how they look while you rotate, pan, and zoom in on details. With Google's SketchUp software you can perfect your design and discover "measurement issues" (mistakes) before you cut into your precious hardwood stock. 

SketchUp allows you to view your project rendered in 3D from any angle. You can even changes wood species with a click of the mouse. This class is designed for woodworkers who have an interest in learning the basics of this powerful software. No need to waste valuable time on the basics as we can show you how to start using and applying this to your woodworking in a few hours. 

This class "dovetails nicely" with our cabinet making series as we have rendered all of the parts from cabinet class in ShetchUp. From the base cabinet, to the raised panel doors, drawers, and even the installation on the wall, you can take our cabinet SketchUp file and make changes that apply to your own cabinet or shop.

The class is taught as a demonstration with the instructors showing you how to use SketchUp projected onto a large screen. Your are encouraged to bring your own computer to follow along and participate in the class. We will provide SketchUp ready files of our cabinets for you to work with. ShetchUp should be downloaded and installed prior to the class.

Download your FREE copy of Google SketchUp - Click Here!

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Description: This class will quickly review some of the tips learned in WoodZone's  Base Cabinet Making class and then proceed into the design and construction of upper cabinets. Upper cabinet construction is even more important than base cabinets as they are required to not only hold their own weight, but also everything that is loaded into them. Special design consideration is  required to transfer these loads into the back of the cabinet where it attaches to the wall. Also, the upper cabinets are the first thing people see in your kitchen so proper design is critical. During this class, you will learn all of the tips for creating professional grade upper cabinets. Detailed class handouts are also provided as part of the tuition. In this class, you will learn:

• Handling large sheets with our simple cutting jig
• Use of the Kreg pocket hole jig.
• Designing and building for weight loads
• Adjustable shelves
• Shelf hole drilling jigs,
• Face frames & Tips
• Making accurate dadoes with the router
• Squaring and reinforcing the cabinet
• And much more

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Description: Are you looking for another alternative to plain old polyurethane? If you're like most woodworkers you feel comfortable building the project, but terrified by the idea of destroying it with a bad finishing job. Do you know what finishes will kill curly maple, and which ones enhance its' beauty? Are you interested in learning how to stop blotchy stain marks on wood? During this class we cover the basics of finishing ranging from simple techniques for achieving a glass smooth tabletop to accentuating your projects through the use of the right finish. During the class, we will cover:

• Traditional Finishes such as shellac & waxes
• Oil Finishes including Tung oil, Danish oil, Linseed oil, Waterlox, and more.
• Modern Polyurethane - Water & Oil Based - when to use and when to avoid
• Lacquers and Varnishes
• Stains - Oil based, Water Based & Gel Stains.
• Dies - Aniline dies, SolarLux, and how to mix them properly
• Application Methods - Brushes, foam brushes, pads, spraying, wiping, and other tips
• When to use one finish or stain over another.
• How to repair mistakes in finishes such as scratches, glue spots, blotches, and more.
• Glazes, Milk Paints, and other finishes.
• Quick tips for reviving a worn out finish (without stripping)