My first carpentry class

Tonight I had my first carpentry class (the first since I finished Form 2 Woodwork at DNI at least) I wasn't quite sure what to expect from a 'beginners' class, but Tuesday night suited me a lot better than Wednesday night for the 'moderate/advanced' class.

I was delighted not to be the only woman in the class - quite the contrary actually, only one bloke to begin with (though another joined the class later on, but it seemed to be his son who looked to be about 9 who was technically enrolled in the class). There were 8 of us in the class, plus the boy's father and (possibly?) his grandmother.

The first project we are to tackle didn't exactly make me leap about in fits of rapture, a cooling rack. I had the option of Rimu or Pine - I chose Rimu. We had to make it fancy. I'm not really a fancy kind of girl... However, I obliged and gave it fancy feet - good thing I did really, or I wouldn't have been able to use the bandsaw for the first time! THAT was fun! I found I was quite good at using the bandsaw, and quite fast too, compared to the others in the class :) Upon showing the teacher and asking 'what next' he said that I had done a really good job, and I could just finish it off with hand tools, rather than use the sanding machine. Glowing with pride, I filed and sandpapered my fancy legs for my cooling rack. I found myself smiling a lot too :)

9pm came around all too quickly! I'm looking forward to finishing that next week and moving on to the next project, which may be slightly more use to me - a serving tray. I also have to design some fancy handles for that. Perhaps fancy isn't so bad after all... I may just get to use a router next week!

I didn't think to get a picture of my progress thus far, but I'm sure I will get one next week.



Now, it turns out that the teacher, Robert, used to be a joiner. Joinery is something I have my sights set on. I have designs on building my own bathroom vanity, my new kitchen once the house is extended (ya know, when we have a spare $50k...) among various other things. After the first two projects are done, we can build whatever we like. I am considering building the window seat for the girls room there, though I will need to bring it home each week which may be a bit of a pain. It will be wonderful to have an experienced joiner to guide me!

I'm REALLY looking forward to next Tuesday night and getting covered in more Rimu sawdust and smelling the wood again!