Class: Make a Traditional Barn Ladder with Joshua Farnsworth (1 Day)

***This class is not currently being offered. Click here if you want us to consider offering it again in the future. 

Come spend a day with Joshua Farnsworth building a traditional wedged barn ladder. This is a solid ladder! Students will learn to use various layout tools to space out the ladder rungs, according to their preference (and according to safety standards). Mortises will be bored on a drill press (for accuracy), and students will make wooden wedges and learn how to wedge the tenon rungs for a solid ladder that will last for years. Finally, students will spend any remaining time refining the ladder & easing the sharp edges with block planes and rasps. This ladder will look and function perfectly in your barn or your apartment!

About the Instructor:

Joshua Farnsworth is the founder of the Wood And Shop Traditional Woodworking School, and the creator of WoodAndShop.com. He started woodworking as a teenager in his high school vocational wood shop class. He loves building period furniture (and some modern furniture), collecting & rehabbing antique hand tools, and teaching traditional woodworking. In his workshop he uses a mixture of historical hand tools and modern power tools to build his furniture. In addition to woodworking, Joshua loves traveling, sailing, cycling, and spending time with his wife Laura & their four children on their little Virginia farm.

Materials Fee & Required Tools:

The class material fee is $100. It is payable to the instructor before or on the day of the class. This ladder will be made out of either ash or oak, depending on the availability at the time of the class. All tools will be provided for this class, but students are welcome to bring their own block plane, dovetail saw, fine rasp, large try square or combination square, and large dividers.

How to Get Here & Where to Stay:

The address of the school is 5700 Buffalo River Rd. Earlysville, Virginia 22936 (Google Maps here). The school is convenient to quite a few hotels, stores, and restaurants, and is only 8 minutes from the Charlottesville airport. Many more details are listed on the school's main page here.

Class Policies, Liability Waiver, & Cancellations:

A PDF document with the full class policies and a liability waiver will be sent in the order confirmation email. All students are required to sign and return this document prior to attending the class. Anyone can cancel a class up to 2 weeks prior to the class for a full refund (minus a $25 fee that covers credit card processing fees and administrative work). Cancellations under two weeks before a class begins will be given a refund (less $25) if we can find someone else to fill the slot. If we have to cancel a class for an unforeseen emergency, inclement weather, or low number of registrations, a full refund will be given to students.