The Southwest School of Woodworking, is committed to making your woodworking experience excellent and rewarding.
Featured Classes
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Your woodworking adventure begins here
Master Teachers
Our teachers are among the foremost modern practitioners of the woodworking crafts and they come from Arizona and beyond. Our current faculty includes Michael Fortune, Matt Monaco, Andy Glantz, Doug Forsha, and David Fleming, who designed and built the Krenov-style cabinet seen here.
Dedicated Students
Our students pursue a wide variety of interests and styles including cabinetry, turning, veneering and carving. This stunning cabinet with intricate fretwork was created by student Donna Cohen.
Recent classes
In Fundamentals II, students build on their growing skills to produce this timeless dovetailed bench. The dovetails are hand-cut and the stretcher uses a mortise and tenon joint.
Turning instructor extraordinaire Matt Monaco returned in May for a class in Turned Boxes. Each student learned confidence on the lathe, refined their turning skills, and produced beautiful containers.
Upcoming Classes
Charcuterie Board with Matching Coasters: Aug. 21–22
Join Master Craftsman Raúl Ramírez for this great weekend workshop making a beautiful Charcuterie/cheese board with four matching coasters, all with decorative inlays on a field of either cherry or walnut. All five pieces feature customizable stripes in a combination of maple, bloodwood, padauk, and walnut, and the larger board is further set off with a curving ribbon of maple weaving through the stripes. The effect looks complex, but is actually very simple to achieve — once you know how.
Each student will make a complete matching set with a serving board and four coasters, plus a magnetic block to store four serving utensils, which are included.
Cabinet on a Stand Master Class with David Fleming: Sept. 6–24
An elegant and functional Cabinet-on-a-Stand became the hallmark of master woodworker James Krenov (1920-2009), who developed and taught techniques that transformed modern woodworking.
The cabinet we will build in this class honors the Krenov style, using the same methods and details for which his work is famous, and was designed by class instructor and master craftsman David Fleming, who studied with Krenov in the 1980’s.
Made entirely of solid wood, the cabinet carcass is doweled and the stand is built using both through and blind mortise and tenon joinery. The doors are hung on brass knife hinges with hand-carved closures and pulls. Inside the cabinet, a small drawer invites the user to open it. The finish is hand-applied using shellac on the inside and an oil/varnish mixture over shellac on the outside. The entire class will provide even an experienced woodworker with opportunities to develop and refine their skills.
Michael Returns!
After a long year full of travel restrictions, Michael Fortune is returning to the Southwest School of Woodworking, so mark your calendars!
