There are few things in the shop as satisfying as making your own tools.
This high angle block plane class will show you how to heat treat and temper your plane iron from O1 tool steel flat stock. We will also work through the steps to make a wooden body plane.
It’s a high angle tool so it will occupy a special place in your hand plane rack. Cutting at 60̊ it moves through curly grain and knotty wood with superb results.
Good fun and so great to have in your kit.
This small bookcase is a great project for those who want to increase their building and design skills. It can serve different needs while teaching a variety of techniques. A case this size can hold books or magazines, glassware, or art. It also provides an excellent opportunity for careful joinery, shaping, and inlay work.
Students will learn several methods for carcase construction that are both solid and decorative. Discover how to make a mortising template to rout through and stopped mortise and tenon joints, as well as hand tool mortising.
Students will use wedged tenons to help lock these joints in place. Once the joinery is complete, and before glue-up, students will shape the end boards using a band saw, spokeshave, and rasp.
Spokeshave and chisel texturing will also be demonstrated. Before glue-up, Gary will show how to carve and shape through tenon joints using careful chisel work.
Details make the difference. After the case is glued up, students will cut and fit a tapered sliding dovetail joint for the shelf using a simple technique with the router, router table, and a thin shim.
From there, students will learn inlay techniques that are beautiful, striking, and endlessly variable. Straight-line and curved inlay patterns will be demonstrated, as well as inlaying square plugs.
Boxworks is a series of classes on designing and making wooden boxes. Starting Saturday Oct. 10, 2026 10am – 12pm Pacific Time, we will run class on six consecutive Saturdays to build three different box designs. Each box will have different joinery, details, shapes, or carvings. Each Build Along Session is taught online and requires a Zoom account.
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The Craftmanship Initative Podcast – Craft and the Art of Change with Gary Rogowski
In today’s automated world, why bother toiling with hand tools and sawdust? In his new book, Gary Rogowski—a master furniture maker in Portland, Oregon—ruminates about lessons he’s learned “at the bench,” and the quest for mastery and creative focus, no matter what your calling.
Andrew Teitelbaum Hall Table
What if you joined the Online Mastery Program?
Furniture making is a craft and a skill and an antidote to the insanity of the world. What if you took the time to learn how to design and build great furniture? It would be something done for you but also for the others in your life. Learning a craft is life changing.
The OMP is a two year program that teaches woodworking and design skills. We do this by building nine Design pieces over this time as well as six Bench projects. We start with a focus on hand tools in Year One. We even make some hand tools as we learn to tune and use them. We continue in Year Two with challenging techniques like coopering, steam bending, chair making, and drawer systems.
Do you have the time and drive for this program but don’t have the money? Here’s a thought: get investors. Contact Gary at Studio@NorthwestWoodworking.com for information about the innovative Investors Program.
What would happen if you gathered 5 or 10 of your friends/ family and asked them to invest in your future? It has already worked for others. Find out more. Drop Gary a note before class starts again in October 2026.
Christian Reed Moonshadow Cabinet
Questions can be about tools, wood movement issues, milling lumber, wood finishing, joinery or other relevant topics.
BUILD ALONG SESSION: BOXWORKS Boxworks is a series of classes on designing and making wooden boxes. Starting Saturday Oct. 10, 2026 10am – 12pm Pacific Time, we will run class on six consecutive Saturdays to build three different box designs. Each box will have different joinery, details, shapes, or carvings. Each Build Along Session is taught online and requires a Zoom account. It may seem contrary to the spirit of hands on woodworking but in this time, education has changed. It now can allow folks access to information in ways no one dreamed possible. There will be a free class preview Sept. 26 at 12am, PT. Contact the Studio for one of the 100 Zoom spots available. studio@Northwestwoodworking.com. Tuition for the full 12 hours of class and 3 sets of box plans is $395. The Setting Up Shop lecture series will run again this Winter. Stay tuned for more
Each month get information, anecdotes, and stories about life at the bench.
