A day at the bench with traditional hand tools, making something beautiful and useful to take home at the end of it.
You'll be shown how to use the tools we work with every day, and how to read the grain of a piece of oak so you're working with it rather than against it. Everything is sharpened and laid out ready for you. Most people arrive having never picked up a woodworking tool before. That's rather the point.
What you take home is the thing you've made. There's a part
...
A day at the bench with traditional hand tools, making something beautiful and useful to take home at the end of it.
You'll be shown how to use the tools we work with every day, and how to read the grain of a piece of oak so you're working with it rather than against it. Everything is sharpened and laid out ready for you. Most people arrive having never picked up a woodworking tool before. That's rather the point.
What you take home is the thing you've made. There's a particular satisfaction in a raw board becoming something you'll use in your kitchen for years, and in being asked where you got it.
Choose your project when you book (or the week before you arrive), so we can have everything ready for you:
- Carve and make a doorstop (learn letter carving)
- Carve and make a chopping board (learn letter carving)
- Make a chopping board and kitchen utensils (no letter carving, but more tool skills)
- Make a small swing, which can be engraved in advance (no letter carving, but rope skills)
Six people maximum, so you're never waiting your turn. All tools and materials are provided, with refreshments through the day, at our workshop 10 minutes outside Canterbury.
Our studio is set in an area of outstanding natural beauty. You can purchase honey from our bees and apple juice from our orchard to take home too. There will be coffee, tea and home made cake through the day, but pack a light lunch if you think you might be hungry.
No experience needed.
We run from 10am to 2pm. Four hours is enough to make a proper job of it, and if you're enjoying yourself and want to stay on another hour, you're welcome to. Nobody gets hurried out of the door.
Ask us for recommendations for accommodation if you need somewhere to stay.
Proceeds go to The Quercus Conservation Trust.