Description
Making your own tools out of wood has always been a rite of passage for a woodworker and I find it feels very liberating – especially when you use those tools to make even more things from wood. This class therefore invites you to take care over making a splendid mallet for yourself...and then to immediately enjoy whacking things with it! The mallet you'll make is a well-shaped and considered design that I've used and taught for many years, with a form inspired by Japanese mallets. It's a compact size, and not too unwieldy, used mainly for precise work with the chisel and light assembly jobs. If you've been in the workshop before, you may have spotted them among the tide of tools and jigs and joint samples around the walls. After carefully marking out the joinery to do, we'll use the bandsaw and handsaw to cut a twin mortise-and-tenon that joins the head to the handle for ultimate strength, secured by wedges that we drive into the end (with another mallet, amusingly). I'll then guide you to carve the handle with a knife, plane and spokeshave into a gentle oval shape that feels just right to your grip before sanding and finishing with oil. Sometimes I like to burn the handle and then sand it back again very finely so it feels lovely and smooth before sealing it with oil – the dark colour stops the handle looking grubby after a few years of use, so this is a practical as well as aesthetic choice. The woods we use will be robust hardwoods such as ash, beech, oak and elm; I select the most alluring boards I can find in the timber yard at the time. All the wood you will need is included in the price and all tools are provided. This is a lovely and approachable first project if you're just getting into woodwork, a great reason to come back for some more time in the workshop if you've taken one of my classes before, and an equally enjoyable and esoteric day out for the more experience woodworker. Please note that participants must be 18 years or older. Feel free to contact me for a chat if you're wondering whether this is the right class for you. This class takes place at my workshop in the picturesque market town of Kirkbymoorside, North Yorkshire. It's less than an hour to York in one direction and the same distance to the coast in the other, on the edge of the North York Moors National Park. Lots of people come for a class and then stay to explore over the weekend! Tom Trimmins Woodwork Units 2-3 Manor Vale Lane Kirkbymoorside, North Yorkshire YO62 6EG
What's included in the price?
- One-day class, 10am-4pm. - All tools and materials are provided. - Hot drinks and snacks. You can bring a lunch with you or saunter 5 minutes down the lane and get something in the town.
Duration
1 day
Cancellation policy
Non-refundable - Refunds are not available
Maker
I moved up to Yorkshire in 2023 to be closer to family, after over a decade of making furniture and teaching woodworking classes for adults at my workshop in Islington, North London. My new space has the same feel – it's a real, professional woodworking workshop where I make my own furniture and commissions in an environment full of my own random woodworking curiosities. Ever seen a Japanese grooving plane? 18th Century dovetail saw? What about a homemade belt sander? I look forward to welcoming you with plentiful tea, random anecdotes, and always good cheer.
Suitable for
- Adults
- Seniors
- Intermediate level
- Parking provided
- Suitable for beginners
FAQs
Yes there is, in the yard right outside the workshop and its free.
Nope! I give everyone a toolkit to use while they are in the workshop. It's all good stuff, my characteristic mix of old, new, Western and Japanese tools
