Class: Making 18th Century Wooden Bench Planes with Bill Anderson (3 Days)

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

Over three days students will learn to make a traditional single iron bench plane, styled previous to the year 1795. We will start from a block of QS beech and use all traditional methods of work to create a hand plane. Students can choose between making a jack plane, coffin block plane, toted coffin smoother, or a long jointer plane. The single irons are sourced from England and are NOS ("New Old Stock", i.e. old, but never used).

About the Instructor:

Bill Anderson is a hand tool expert who lives in Chatham County, North Carolina. In addition to building beautiful period furniture, he teaches woodworking classes at Roy Underhill’s Woodwright’s School and the John C. Campbell Folk School. He is a member of the Society of American Period Furniture Makers, Midwest Tool Collectors Association, and Early American Industries Association. You can see a tour of Bill’s workshop here.

Materials Fee:

The class material fee will be around $120. Bill will email students with an exact amount prior to the class. It is payable to the instructor before or on the day of the class.

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.