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Our annual Student Alumni and Faculty Exhibition took place just two weeks ago at the Roberts Creek Community Hall. Each of the first seven years had representation. Some students made significant sacrifice to attend this years exhibition, including Kylle and Haley Sebree who traveled all the way from San Diego California. Kyle’s table in Claro walnut, which he harvested, was exceptionally well done, something we have come to expect from this fine young craftsman. Family and friends came from as far off as Israel to join us for this years celebration.

An Alumni brunch took place the following morning at the Gumboot Restaurant adjacent to the school. Yvonne and I would like to thank all who attended and joined us in a weekend of celebration of work and of course the journey.  Photography of student and alumni work took place during the final week which will be posted in the coming weeks when it returns from our photographer.  (more…)

When we began walkarounds this year I asked the students each week to read a chapter from Jim’s books and reflect on what it meant to them in their work. This past week we reflected on Composing – Another Approach to Design from The Impractical Cabinetmaker, which incidentally is one of my personal favorites. I remember reading it for the first time and feeling as though a weight had being lifted from my shoulders, as if I had been given permission to take a sensitive and impractical approach to my work. The following is passage was referenced by more than one of my students.

“As long as it feels right and you enjoy it, you should believe in what you are doing. Don’t let yourself be sidetracked by doubtful onlookers, people who say, “That’s not exciting, you don’t know where you’re going with all those pick and pock details. You’re wasting your time.” At such moments, know yourself, remember you are feeling good working this way. Maybe it’s a nice way to “waste” time…” – James Krenov (more…)

It has been a very busy time at the school. We have had several presentations including Raul’s chair, which he completed last month. He and his classmates have moved onto the passage and opus exercises.

Seven of our students joined Mary Boulding and myself on a two-day backcountry ski trip to Edwards cabin in the Tetrahedron Provincial Park. The journey began with a five-hour ski that took us through the less traveled Gilbert Lake route. We were fortunate to have Mary, Natasha and Reynold from the Tetrahedron Outdoor Club guide us through to the Edwards Cabin approximately seven kilometers from the parking lot. The route was a challenging one, but the reward, pristine wilderness and serinity. Once at the hut, Marty made a snow cave, in which he slept in and we all enjoyed a good meal. As we ate and sat around the fire we talked about the most enjoyable and challenging aspects of the day, something we coincidentally talk about at the school during walkarounds. (more…)

It has been some time since I have had the opportunity to sit down and write. Our Craftsman program students are in the process of completing their Upward Spiral exercise and many have begun the wood selection and breakout for the Passage exercise. Our Resident Craftsman program students are completing their chairs and have begun the mockup and working drawings for the Opus exercise. The school continues to keep me very busy however; I do enjoy my Sundays in my little shop, a time for which I am most grateful.

Teaching Assistant
Inside Passage School of Fine Cabinetmaking is delighted to announce Melissa Moure Evans, shown above during the wrapping of her chair seat, as our new teaching assistant beginning fall 2012. Melissa is a two year graduate of the program. She possesses fine skills as a craftsman and equally fine people skills. Her woodworking education thus far has been entirely Krenovian influenced; (more…)

It has been a very busy fall at the school. Our second year students are nearing the completion of their chairs and first years students have begun the Upward Spiral exercise.

The Resident Craftsman students have been carefully fitting the live compound angle tenons of their back splats to the crest rail and lumbar rails while dialing in the fit between the crest rail and legs at the same time. This coming week they will move onto fitting and shaping the arms, which evolves fitting an angled, mortise and tenon on the curve of the back leg. Then onto finish and wrapping the seat.

Our Craftsman program students have completed their fundamental exercises and have moved onto the Upward Spiral exercise, the reproduction of the Andaman Padauk box that JK made in 1969. While the wood and the fittings will differ from the original, all other details no matter how insignificant will remain unchanged. All materials for this exercise are provided including the wood, hinges and lock.
Each of woods they will be using, have their own properties, and I mean this in the most unscientific way. (more…)

We have just returned from our annual pilgrimage down to the Gilmer Wood Company in Portland Oregon. Recent changes with Canada Customs have made the process of importing wood a difficult proposition. While our student as individuals do not seem to experience the same challenges as the school as a commercial entity; we will be working with Canada Customs and Agriculture Canada in streamlining this process. We will continue to stock our wood from several sources. Having the access to the resources at Gilmer’s is not something I am welling to let go. Jim came in on his day off to share with our new students his knowledge of wood and lumberyard etiquette. He joined us for a late lunch at the local Mexican restaurant.

We also returned Powell’s Books where we bought all remaining copies of JK’s books, new and used for our reference library. A few new additions to our library (more…)

Since my last entry our Craftsman Program students have completed their sawhorse exercise and have begun the Wabi Sabi cabinet exercise. We began with the coopered door; each student beveled and edge jointed the staves for their door, using planes made in the second week of the program. We then selected the material for their top, bottom and sides and edge jointed material as required. Joining material with an imperceptible joint is very gratifying, especially using a tool that you made and tuned yourself. We have doweled our carcasses, flushed the back and ran a rebate to accept the back panel we will be making in the coming weeks. We fit the door to the sides of the cabinet, an exercise in flexible accuracy. We ran the slots for partitions and milled and drilled for the fittings. We have shaped the sides, a subtle curve with a little pinch toward the edges of the concave door. This week we will be making and installing knife hinges, and complete the surface preparation and edge treatment. (more…)

We are entering the fourth week of our Craftsman and Resident Craftsman programs at Inside Passage School of Fine Cabinetmaking.

Last week our Craftsman program students began the sawhorse exercise. The exercise begins with the selection of the material. For each element of the sawhorse, we are looking for straight, rift-sawn grain. Each student is provided with a piece of flat sawn 16/4 eastern hard maple approximately 150mm wide and 300mm long. The end of the billet is layed out and the initial cut is made on the bandsaw with the table tilted and again later as the grain rotates on the curve. Each piece is sawn oversize and allowed to settle. Because we are taking many little pieces out of one large piece it is perhaps even more important, to allow the material to settle at the bench. (more…)

We are beginning the third week of the Craftsman and Resident Craftsman Programs at Inside Passage School of Fine Cabinetmaking. We had a week of making planes, and shavings. We also began preparing our chisels for the fine work we will do with them in the coming weeks. We discussed and observed the setting hoops and tapping out Japanese chisels and the Krenovian chisel modification.

On Friday after class, Gary Kent hosted an Elephant at the Co Housing. A beautiful evening with a beautiful people.

Craftsman Program students have completed their smoothers and are all making lovely shavings and leaving behind beautiful surfaces. They are in the process of completing their jointer and coopering planes, which we will be using next week when we begin the coopered door for our Wabi Sabi exercise. (more…)