Woodworking Beginner's Course - 18th Century Candle Box

Make a beautiful box with hand cut dovetail joints and sliding lid.


Melbourne Guild of Fine Woodworking
Melbourne Guild of Fine Woodworking
5.0 (5)
53k

10 x 3 hours Class size 1 to 6 guests     $1,100

Melbourne
•
Craft
•
Woodworking
North Bennet Street School – 18th Century Candle Box
North Bennet Street School in Boston is one of America's oldest 'Artisans' colleges. It was established in 1881 and runs a total of seven different programs, one of which is a prestigious two-year Furniture Making Course. It is a 'hand-skilled' based program centred around the designs of the 18th Century.
At some point in the program, students must participate in a proficiency test. This test has been conducted for nearly 50 years now and requires the student to make an 18th Century Candle Box from Mahogany as quickly as they can. There is no score at the end of the test, just a verbal assessment based on time and accuracy.
Alastair Boell – (Founder of the Melbourne Guild of Fine Woodworking) undertook this test in 2004 when he was a student there and still feels that it remains a beautiful and memorable project that proudly sits on his brother's mantle.
In the 1700s, candles were mostly made of animal fat and, as such, often attracted rats and other vermin! Consequently, candles were often kept in boxes. This particular box that you will be making throughout the term is an exact copy of such a 'New England' 18th Century Candle Box. We are lucky enough to have Figured Mahogany for this project. Mahogany is one of the greatest timbers of the world to work with! It hand planes and dovetails beautifully!
There is a very strong emphasis on hand tools with very little machining to be done, if any. You will learn practical tips for laying out and practicing accurate 'half-lap' dovetails. These are distinctly different from 'through' dovetails, which we have covered in our earlier Foot Stool course. You will also be introduced to basic hand planing techniques and how to set up a hand plane accurately. At the end of the course, we will also cover applying a natural oil finish or French Polish.
This Candle Box is a wonderful functional item or a beautiful gift for somebody special!
We look forward to seeing you at this Beginner's Course – Make an 18th Century Candle Box!
Knowledge required
Beginners welcome.
 
What you'll get
A beautiful, handcrafted wooden box.
 
What to bring
Pencils and notepad.
All materials are supplied.
Session repeats

This class series runs over 10 consecutive sessions, at the same time every week.

Location

Melbourne Guild of Fine Woodworking - 14 Cottage Street, Blackburn VIC

Woodworking Beginner's Course - 18th Century Candle Box location
Your teacher

Melbourne Guild of Fine Woodworking
Melbourne Guild of Fine Woodworking

5.0 (5)
53k

The Melbourne Guild of Fine Woodworking (The Guild) was founded by Alastair Boell in 2007. After graduating from the world-renowned North Bennet Street School, Boston, USA, Alastair felt that there was a great need in Australia for an educational facility that focuses on traditional skills.
The Guild is conveniently located in Blackburn and provides three different course formats:
  • Our open courses offer ongoing morning, afternoon and evening woodworking classes for students of any level to undertake a project of their own desire.
  • Our weekly project-based courses are geared towards beginners or anyone interested in a more structured class where everyone works on the same project once a week and where the start and finish dates are set.
  • Our intensive project-based courses are for those who would like to immerse themselves in a project and have it completed in the shortest possible time. These courses range from a one-day course to an eight-day course.
Our student-teacher ratios are very low which enables each student to get some one-on-one instruction time from our highly qualified instructors.
Our facilities include a fully equipped machine room, four classrooms with workbenches, numerous hand tools, hardware, finishing products and a variety of exotic salvaged timbers. We also offer onsite milling with our own mill and an in-house workshop milling service. For those interested in ‘Commission’ work, we have a gifted community of furniture designers/makers on the call.
The Guild is committed to preserving and advancing craft traditions in furniture making. We are also committed to promoting greater awareness and appreciation of craftsmanship. In our classes, we emphasise the skilful use of hand tools and power equipment and informed use of appropriate materials and proportions.
We are passionate about what we do and want to share information, ideas and skills with our extended woodworking community.
We promise to do our very best to provide you with endless opportunities in a stimulating and supportive community. We invite you to take your place at the Melbourne Guild of Fine Woodworking!

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V48I01Z33L 34c052b7f77f35dccea660a6ce51910d production Melbourne VIC AU melbourne