Lessons learned

Last Saturday was the sixth and final session of my five session Hand Tool Woodworker class.

Lessons Learned:

1. You can not plan a class that includes homework if you are going to not give the students time to do the homework. By running the class for nine hours on Saturday and bringing them back on Sunday morning you are forced to try to get all of the work done during class hours. That doesn't work.
2. Its not a problem to have vast differences in skill level between students. In fact, it appears to be an advantage. I never encouraged students to help one another with new skills but it helped me to allow students to plow ahead if they already possessed the skill being taught at any given moment while I gave more attention to the less experienced students. Everyone ended up getting their fair share of my time but in different ways. Some needed help with the mechanics of a skill others needed help polishing that skill to a higher level.
3. Don't sell the example pieces until the class is completed. It would have been helpful to have a table to examine closely or even disassemble but your humble instructor was unable to say no to a sale...or several. It was originally decided that I'd build one as a marketing piece. I don't see that was a failure since I personally sold every seat in the class.

How I'll do it next time:

1. I will not compromise on the schedule. A class with a major project requires either tons of shop time or time for the students to work between sessions. The next class will run on Saturdays only.
2. There are some very basic hand tools that are not available through the store (i.e a router plane). I will still demonstrate alternative methods where appropriate. I will still make tools available to students during class sessions. If its not available through the store then I will not feel guilty offering an alternative source, I will continue to encourage students to purchase tools from the store whenever an appropriate tool available.
3. I will keep at least the prototype piece for every class that I teach in the future.

What we'll build next time:
I haven't decided. All hand tools again obviously. The choices I have narrowed it to are:

1. Do the Shaker side table with drawer again.
2. A Blanket Chest, the dovetailed carcase will really lock in your dovetailing.
3. A hanging cabinet, a dovetailed carcase plus frame and panel door construction plus door fitting.
4. A bookcase, a dovetailed carcase plus stopped dadoes.

Clearly, I like hand cut dovetails but each project adds an additional skill to a hand tool person's bag 'o tricks. Please let me know in the comments what you'd be interested in building.

Bill