Kitchen_K25 Making Kitchen Utensils with Matt Monaco
Just in time for the gifting season, master turner Matt Monaco returns with this great workshop to make beautiful and functional kitchen tools.
In two fun days, Matt Monaco will teach you how to design, turn, and finish both a pepper mill and a rolling pin, as well as an optional salt cellar. All make delightful objects to use or give to a lucky cook.
A spice mill — whether for pepper, salt, or other seasonings — is a workhorse of the kitchen, and a fantastic design opportunity for the wood turner. Each student will start with a high-quality and adjustable ceramic CrushGrind mechanism appropriate for grinding peppercorns, salt, or dried culinary spices.
By selecting your own wood blank and designing the height, shape, and details, you will be able to produce a truly custom mill perfect for use on your dining table — or for gifting to a lucky cook.
The solid-wood rolling pin is another opportunity to explore design options as you consider how to balance functionality and aesthetics, learning to shape both comfortable handles and a smooth working surface.
Time permitting, you may round out your kitchen collection by making a salt cellar with a lid.
Each piece is turned quite differently, giving you the opportunity to practice a variety of skills and techniques, including utilizing both cross-grain and end-grain orientation.
Matt will introduce you to the nuances of effective cutting, which he has developed through years working as a professional turner and maker. You will learn about the advantages of using both green and dry 
materials, and how to become more efficient at the lathe, as you produce two functional and unique finished pieces.
Under Matt’s guidance, you will learn how tool control, correct body mechanics, and the proper use of a variety of basic turning tools can produce exceptional results. You will also learn how simple tool modifications can greatly improve the cleanliness of your cuts and drastically reduce sanding.
By the end of the class, you will have both greatly improved turning skills and elegant new kitchen wares.
You will learn:
- Proper body mechanics for successful turning
- Basic tool modifications for better results on end grain
- How to properly execute fine hand-turned details
- How to practice for consistency
- Methods to approach cutting centerwork for burnished surfaces
- What makes a well-designed piece for better all-around craftsmanship
- How to develop your own eye for form
- A more advanced understanding of tool usage, theory, and application
- The necessity of properly shaped & sharpened tools
- Finishing options for turned objects
Prerequisites: None. All levels welcome.
Tools required: None. All tools and materials supplied by the school.
Please read and understand our Refund and Cancellation policies. By making payment you acknowledge that you have read and understood these policies.
Please note: If you are paying by cash or check, your registration is not complete until payment is received.
Safety
Eye, hearing and dust protection are required in the machine room or when operating machines in the bench room.
Long sleeves and loose-fitting clothing are not allowed around the power equipment. Long hair must be pulled back and secured.
Closed-toe shoes are required. Open-toed shoes or sandals are not allowed.
COVID Policy: Masks are optional, however, if you are exhibiting symptoms of any contagious illness or if you have had a positive test for COVID or influenza within the past 5 days, please notify the school and do not attend class.
Thank you for your understanding.
Meet your Instructor
Matt Monaco operates a full-time woodturning studio in the Ozark region of Missouri, and is one of the only full-time modern traditional woodturners in America having trained & apprenticed within the handmade trade landscape as a working professional — Working closely within the high-end professional furniture production, Shackleton Thomas Furniture & Pottery as full-time in house wood turner; which preceded a time period of training, and skill development while earning a living as a full-time item producer within both the wholesale tradeshow, and retail circuit. At center of Matt’s work is his understanding & mastery of tool control, sharpening and cutting execution as an expression of traditionally crafted design as fine art — in producing forms & items that are made to be as tactile as they are sublime, and created with intent & purpose. Matt is also a Fine Woodworking Contributor & Ambassador who values both the integrity of traditional woodturning and its mastery as an art, as well as diversity within the handmade and woodworking craft idiom.