All right grunts! It’s time to get serious! Whether you want a no mercy refresher on the fundamental skills of Japanese woodworking or you are a beginner and want to be prepared for our Timber Framing Workshops, then this is the training block for you!

Drill instructor Jason Fox is gonna transform you from weak, soft clay into mortise cutting machines! In six full, action packed days, we will set up and sharpen a Japanese chisel, learn basic layout, and using hand and power tools drill on cutting mortise and tenon joinery until your face bleeds! Finally we will end with time trials to quickly improve your joinery abilities. Stand by to GET SOME!

All joking aside, this will be an accelerated learning experience that will push you beyond your false limitations. We will start each morning at dawn with stretches, sharpening, and a warm up exercise. The days will be a combination of instruction and practice drills. And the evenings will be available for continued practice and review. You will get out as much as you put in.

“The best way to learn about joinery is to cut joints. Jason’s system of time-boxing and progressive increments proves to you (by a trial of fire) that you can cut the joint, because you must.”

— Morgan Donn, Apprentice

Topics Covered

Japanese chisels aren’t ready to use out-of-the-box: we will cover the step-by-step process of setting up a brand new Japanese chisel and all the little tricks to make it perform.
Learn water stone sharpening process from first principles, how to condition your stones, maintain them, and use them to get hair-popping razor sharp woodworking tools.
Understanding basic layout marks and the principles of cutting joinery
Using a Japanese handsaw to cut wood, understanding your body in relation to the saw, cutting to the line.
Use of the handsaw, power saw, drill and chisel to chop a mortise and cut a tenon.
Joinery time trials, using time to force focus on joinery.
Setting up your first Japanese Hand plane, applying sharpening techniques and adjustment process to unlock the power of the hand-planed surface!

Schedule

Day 1 - Orientation, Chisel Set-up, Sharpening
Day 2 - Sharpening, Chopping a Mortise
Day 3 - Sawing instruction, Cutting a Tenon
Day 4 - Sharpening, Kanna Set-up
Day 5 - Kanna Set-up, Joinery Trials
Day 6 - Final Joinery Trial, Hand planing

Included with Tuition

Meals Included - This workshop includes Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner each day, you’re gonna need fuel because we will be burning hot!

Prerequisites

None, come as you are!

Required Tools

The following tools are required to get the most out of your experience. A loner may be available but not guaranteed. Bringing incorrect, poor quality, or damaged tools will limit your ability to participate in the class. Please contact us for assistance in purchasing tools prior the the workshop.

1000 Grit Water Stone (combo 2 side stones are not recommended)
6000 Grit Water Stone
Diamond Flattening Plate (new, or not previously used for metal sharpening)
240-270mm Ryoba Saw
18 or 24mm Japanese Chisel (Brand new, unused, Tataki/Timber or Chu Tataki/ Medium Timber preferred)
Japanese Hammer (350-500g)
150 or 300mm Sashigane / Square (in Metric)
Small, new Japanese hand plane (48-55mm)