All courses start with a cup of tea, introductions and a chat about health & safety in the workshop. A fire is burning most of the time to ensure a steady supply of tea, heat for drying timber and steam for bending. All the tools and equipment required during the courses will be provided but please feel free to bring along your own tools if you wish. Advice on tools and sharpening is given along with a list of suppliers of tools and a reading list for those students who want to progress with their new interest.
Come and join us on one of our courses and experience working with green wood in a wonderful tranquil location surrounded by birdsong and bathed in dappled sunlight.
The Green Woodwork and Chair Making courses start with a freshly cut log and will teach students how to use the froe, axe, drawknife, shave horse and pole-lathe.
"Ideas for Christmas or a Birthday" Gift Vouchers are available for purchase against full or part payment for any of our courses and are sent to you. The recipient can redeem the voucher at the time of booking the course of interest.
Cotswold Woodland Crafts are running the following courses this year. These courses are appropriate for adult participants of any skill level, novice to expert. Under 16s must be accompanied by a participating adult.
In addition to green wood chair making Paul Hodgson runs courses at Peter Sefton Furniture School in Worcestershire. These five day courses, in March and August, are held in a cabinetmaking workshop where we make a Philip Clissett style armchair.
For further details, availabilty and bookings visit www.peterseftonfurnitureschool.co.uk
British Woodwordking April 2011 - Article on dry timber chairmaking
Private tuition is availible for up to two students by arrangement at £150/day (for 1 student) and £200/day (for 2 students), plus the cost of materials. Normally these sessions will take place in the woods between April and October. The sessions offer students an opportunity to specify what aspects or green woodwork they wish to cover. Call us to discuss your interests/project so we can tailor the workshop to suit your requirements.
Our courses are held at the Monastery Garden Woodland Workshop at Prinknash Abbey, near Painswick, Gloucestershire. Directions will be sent out with the booking confirmation. The workshop is set in woodland by a stream under the canopy of a large sycamore tree. The tree and tarps shade us from direct sun and keep us dry in the rain.
The workshop is equipped for all of the activities we run during the season and includes pole-lathes, shave horses, chopping blocks, benches, cleaving break, equipment for steam bending and drying timber.
There is no camping or accommodation on site but you will receive details of suitable places to stay when your booking is confirmed.
To avoid disappointment, contact us to check on availability prior to booking. Places can be reserved for up to 10 days to allow for booking and payment. If you are unable to book the date you want your name can be put on the reserve list in case of cancellations.
If there is sufficient interest in a specific course we can add dates to the calendar. Contact us and express your interest.
Courses can be booked by downloading, printing and filling in the booking form and posting it with a cheque, payable to Cotswold Woodland Crafts, to Paul Hodgson at Weavers Cottage, Butterrow West, Rodborough, Stroud, GL5 3TZ.
Booking: To secure your place, course fees are to be paid in full at the time of booking.
CWC reserve the right to modify the published programme of courses. In this event we will contact all students to offer refunds or new dates.
CWC reserve the right to cancel any courses. Should this be necessary payments received will be returned in full.
Cancellation of booking: In the event you need to cancel a booking contact us as soon as possible.
Gift Vouchers: If the cost of the course is more than the value of the voucher, a cheque for the balance should be included. If the value of a voucher is greater than that of the course a credit will be held against a future booking.
This 6 day chair making course teaches the art of making post and rung chairs. Apply your green woodworking skills to make yourself either a ladder-back or spindle-back chair. Whether it be a side chair or an armchair we want you to leave the woods at the end of the course with a completed chair.
There will be a choice of chair design and size but it is important to be realistic in terms of your skills, work ethic and the time available. It is suggested that beginners wishing to make a chair spend time learning the basics of green woodwork, especially turning, prior to attending a chair making course. A 20% discount is offered on an introduction course if a novice wishes to book both courses.
There is a lot to learn and a lot of making to do in 6 days, so please consider carefully your choice of chair. Please contact us if you wish to discuss this further.
Course content:
Health & safety in the workshop, design of post & rung chairs, timber selection & evaluation, preparation of stock with a bow saw, froe, axe and drawknife, pole-lathe turning, steam bending, drying timber, slat mortices & drilling sockets, framing and seat weaving. Seagrass is generally used as the material for the seat but alternatives will be available. There may be an additional charge, payable during the course, for the more expensive materials used.
Course outcome: Ladder-back or spindle-back chair & chair making skills.
Course cost includes: Ash timber, seagrass, tea/coffee/biscuits.
Course times: Mon - Sat 09:00 - 17:30
This course covers the basic skills of 'bodging', traditionally used for the making of chair components. All the tools and pieces of equipment will be explained and the techniques of cleaving, trimming, shaving and turning on a pole-lathe practiced. Have a day of fun in the woods learning traditional skills and make yourself a dibber, rolling pin, spurtle, bat, honey drizzle etc.
Course content:
Health & safety in the workshop, timber selection & evaluation, preparation of stock with a bow saw, froe, axe and drawknife and pole-lathe turning.
Course outcome: Skills with edge tools and pole-lathe turning & turned products.
Course cost includes: Timber, tea/coffee/biscuits.
Course times: 09:30 - 16:30
This course covers the basic skills of 'bodging', traditionally used for the making of chair components. The course starts with the basic skills of cleaving, trimming, shaving and turning on a pole-lathe. A variety of useful items such as a dibber, rolling pin, spurtle, bat, honey drizzle etc. will be made on the first day. The course continues with an introduction to angled drilling with a brace and bit and the principles of green wood joinery. You will improve on the basic skills and learn about what happens when wood dries out and experience the effects first hand while making a milking stool, peg rail or boot rack. This structured course is primarily about learning skills and achieving a general knowledge of aspects of green woodwork.
Course content:
Health & safety in the workshop, timber selection & evaluation, preparation of stock with a bow saw, froe, axe and drawknife, pole-lathe turning, angled drilling and joining green timber.
Course outcome: Skills with edge tools, pole-lathe turning and turned products.
Course cost includes: Timber, tea/coffee.
Course times: 09:30 -16:30
For the student with an understanding of the craft this course allows for consolidation and improvement of skills already learned. A less structured course that allows students to be more creative and undertake more advanced projects of their own choice. An additional charge may be made to cover the cost of materials. Make green woodworking equipment and learn how best to use it. The 3 day course allows time for a hands-on tool sharpening session.
Projects suggestions:-
Make a Pole-lathe: Hardwood bed & poppets with softwood legs (additional material cost: £100).
Shave horse: Split ash or poplar seat (additional material cost: £20).
Seagrass seat stool: turned, dried and weaved (additional material cost: £20).
All tools required are provided but feel free to bring our own. Contact us to discuss your project prior to booking.
Course cost includes: Tea/coffee/biscuits.
Course times: 09:30 - 17:00
This course teaches the traditional method of making a 6ft or 4ft gate or sheep hurdle. Rails, styles and braces are split out from a green ash log, trimmed with an axe and drawn with a drawknife. Mortice sockets cut, tenons made on each end of the rails and the hurdle assembled and nailed. Although previous experience is not required this is a physically demanding course.
Course content:
Health & safety in the workshop, timber selection & evaluation, preparation of stock with a bow saw, froe, axe and drawknife, mortice and tenon joints and assembly.
Course outcome: Cleaving skills and a hurdle.
Course cost includes: Timber, tea/coffee/biscuits.
Course times: 09:30 - 16:30
Make a No. 5 Garden Trug using traditional hand tools and techniques. The handle and rim of the basket are made by cleaving sweet chestnut and dressing out using a drawknife and shave horse. They are then steam bent into shape and secured using copper nails. Willow slats are profiled and thicknessed using a drawknife, before being soaked in water and bent into shape. The slats are secured to the chestnut frame using copper tacks.
Course content:
Health & safety in the workshop, timber selection & evaluation, cleaving & dressing out, steam bending and assembly.
Course outcome: Skills with froe & drawknife and take home a No. 5 Trug.
Course cost includes: Timber, tea/coffee/biscuits.
Course times: 09:30 - 16:30
This course is an introduction to craft of stick dressing. Learn how to carve a bird or an animal on the end of a hazel rod making yourself a personalised walking stick. The course covers the sourcing, cutting and storing of the hazel rods, preparation of the stick, aspects of design, carving the animal with a knife and finishing the stick.
Course content:
Health & safety in the workshop, timber selection & evaluation, design, carving and finishing.
Course outcome: Skills with whittling knives and take home your carved walking stick.
Course cost includes: Timber, tea/coffee/biscuits.
Course times: 09:30 - 16:30
An Introduction to Spooncarving with David Knight. Requiring the minimum of tools and a small length of freshly cut tree branch, spooncarving is a deeply satisfying greenwood craft which is easy to start, but also offers up a lifetime of rewarding challenge. Whether for eating or cooking, hand carved spoons can be exquisite mini-sculptures expressing the best meld of form and function. So, armed with an axe, knife and hook tool join David to learn the basics of carving a spoon. Be prepared to be smitten with the whittling bug!
Course content:
Health & safety in the workshop, timber selection & evaluation, design, carving and finishing.
Course outcome: Skills with whittling knives and take home your carved spoons.
Course cost includes: Timber, tea/coffee/biscuits.
Course times: 09:30 - 16:30
