Ideal Tools Furniture Making Courses

I’m now booked onto a Furniture Making course at Ideal Tools over in Williamstown – the Hall Table course.

Hall Table, Example from Course

I’d have liked to have done the chair course, but I am committed on (most) Saturdays, and I could make good use of a good looking hall table. Given some of the masterpieces that come out of that course, I’m a bit nervous that my woodworking just isn’t at the same standard, but I think it is more a reflection on Terry who runs the course (and has some fine woodworking quals under his belt to boot) that such awesome tables get made on the course. Ideal Tools and Terry also source real quality materials based on the requirements of the course attendees, and you obviously have extra motivation to make something stunning, when working with quality, beautifully featured timbers.

Example of a chair from the course - Terry's Exploded Demo Chair!

The chair making course results in one chair being made, and all the jigs needed so that you then have the necessary knowledge and skills (and jigs) to build additional chairs needed at home. Imagine having guests around for dinner, all seated in your stunning, handmade chairs.  And that you know they have been made to your standard, with superior joints and materials in stark contrast to many commercial chairs out there that look ok, but are made from cleverly stained pine, and have dodgy (simple and cheap) joinery methods.

The other course I am booked onto is the Domino Techniques course – sounds like a lot of fun!

Festool Domino

The Krenov-inspired cabinet course is being developed, but will be late this year/early next year to make sure that it is fully ready, so that is something to look forward to. I’m hoping that a workbench course will get developed at some stage too – I’d queue up for that one!  It would be a pleasure to have a beautiful, yet completely functional workbench in the shed.  Irrespective, I am definitely keen to try the Krenov cabinet course.  Krenov’s furniture style may not suit everyone, (if I build one it will be finding a home, probably in the shed where it would become the home for my HNT Gordon Planes, Colen Clenton square, and Chris Vesper tools), but there is no question that it is fine-furniture, and that many techniques and lessons in furniture design can be gained from creating such a cabinet.  Personally, I think my collection of Australian handcrafted handtools would be ideally displayed (and used of course) in such a cabinet!

Krenov-Style Cabinet by Terry Forgarty

Perhaps most spectacularly, is the courses are run in Ideal Tools stunning Festool showroom/workshop, which I am REALLY looking forward to getting into (and I’m going to hide all their crowbars, as once in they will find it bloody hard to pry me out of there!)