Community Craft: Hand Tool Shop Night

Come on down to the Dovetail Cafe on the Fourth Wednesday of each month from 6p – 8p, and join us for Hand Tool Shop Night!

There’s no charge to attend, but we’ll have a tip bucket out for the leader. If you can pitch a few dollars in, it’ll help keep Shop Night running!

Join us each month for a lively evening of discussion, demonstration, and exploration of hand tools.  Each session has a theme and will be facilitated by a practicing expert in that theme. Bring your own tools for insight on what they are and how they work.  Come with questions or come and share your knowledge. Our hope is to bring people together to discuss and share information around hand tools. Our first round of evenings will revolve around tools for woodworking.  Over time, we’ll expand our repertoire to include more disciplines.

We’ll be meeting in the back half of the main hall at the Dovetail Cafe.

Chisels & Gouges

Cutting flat surfaces or digging into them.  Chisels and gouges are an essential part of many elements of woodworking.  Discover the different types, show off your techniques, or just nerd out on chisels. Instructor, Gerald David

Wednesday, February 26

Hand Saws

Once one of the primary tools for all woodworkers, the hand saw still plays an important role in building with wood.  Explore the difference between a rip saw, a crosscut saw, and a pull saw. Try your hand at technique or give tidbits of advice to others. Instructor, Gerald David

Wednesday, March 25

Levels and Squares

Forms of levels have been around for thousands of years.  We’ll explore some of the options and how you to use them to level objects.  Also, it’s amazing the variations in tools that are used to draw square lines (as well as diagonal lines) onto things. Craftspeople from many different cultures use different tools.  Let’s explore them. Instructor, Clancy Ward

Wednesday, April 22

Hand Planes

Planes can do so many different things to flatten or shape wood.  And, there are so many variations. Bring your antique smoothing plane or your new Japanese pull plane to show off what you have. It’s just plane fun to talk about them! Instructor, Clancy Ward

Wednesday, May 27

Adzes & Axes

Those tools to hack away material quickly or shave it nice and smooth.  Both adze and axe can be used for so many things. And there are so many variations!  Bring your Michigan axe or your shipwright’s adze or nothing at all. Let’s hack through the mire of information and learn more about these useful tools. Instructor, Gerald David

Wednesday, June 24

Join us for Hand Tool Shop Night!