Port Townsend School of Woodworking
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Weekend Essentials

The Weekend Essentials Series was developed and designed by Jim Tolpin and with continued development by PTSW faculty. They are designed to either introduce complete beginners to a subject matter, to help more seasoned woodworkers develop a new skill, or for those wishing to refine an existing skill. Weekend Essentials courses are taught exclusively by local PTSW faculty.

Each of the Weekend Essentials courses may be taken separately; however, they are designed so that they can be taken in order. These courses also help prepare you for our more advanced courses. All weekend classes offered at PTSW are listed at the bottom of this page.

The Port Townsend School of Woodworking Weekend Essentials Series

The Weekend Essentials Series was developed and designed by Jim Tolpin, with continued development by PTSW staff. These two-day crash courses are designed to introduce complete beginners to a subject matter and to help more seasoned woodworkers develop a new skill or refine an existing skill. Weekend Essentials courses are taught exclusively by local woodworkers. All tools are provided by the school, but you are welcome to bring your own.

Each of the Weekend Essentials courses may be taken separately, but the entire series is helpful to anyone wanting a survey of foundational woodworking techniques. These courses can help prepare you for many of our more advanced courses and even our 6-month intensive.

Featured
Sharpening
Apr 4
Sharpening

Raphael Berrios
Weekend, For Beginners

In this weekend class, we’ll be focusing on how to sharpen chisels and plane blades and introduce you to techniques to sharpen a wide variety of hand tools.
Details & Registration

Weekend Essentials: Handsaws
Apr 25
Weekend Essentials: Handsaws

John Edwards
Weekend, For Beginners

You’ll learn how to effectively tune and sharpen saws, and how to efficiently use western-style and Japanese-style handsaws.
Details & Registration

Weekend Essentials: Hand Planes
May 2
Weekend Essentials: Hand Planes

John Edwards
Weekend, For Beginners

This weekend course teaches you to sharpen, tune, and use hand planes.
Details & Registration

Weekend Essentials: Hand Cut Dovetails
May 9
Weekend Essentials: Hand Cut Dovetails

John Edwards
Weekend, For Beginners

In this two-day class, we'll introduce you to the techniques and steps to cut dovetails by hand using a handsaw and chisels.
Details & Registration

Weekend Essentials: Hand Cut Mortise and Tenons
May 16
Weekend Essentials: Hand Cut Mortise and Tenons

John Edwards
Weekend, For Beginners

In this weekend class, you’ll learn how to quickly and efficiently layout, cut and fit mortise and tenon joinery using only hand tools.
Details & Registration

Finishing from Scratch
May 23
Finishing from Scratch

Tim Lawson
Weekend Class, Open to All

In this two-day course, you will learn the basics of skillfully applying traditional finishes and how to bring out the beauty of the grain to enhance and protect a piece of furniture.
Details & Registration

Weekend Essentials: Shop Machines
Jul 25
Weekend Essentials: Shop Machines

Faculty
Weekend Class, For Beginners

You’ll be walked through the basics of common shop machines such as the table saw, band saw, thickness planer, and jointer.
Details & Registration