Frame and Hall Table Classes
I recently returned from seven awesome (and tiring) days of teaching at the William Ng School of Fine Woodworking. The first five days were dedicated to the Modern Hall Table, and the weekend class was focused on the frame. And believe it or not, the frame was the more challenging project to complete in the given time-frame. But I am glad to say that everyone was able to go home with some semblance of a finished project. I thought it would be fun to share some of the pictures I took during the classes. Obviously, most of the time I was distracted with the actual teaching, but I did manage to remember to pull the camera out once in a while.
The Modern Hall Table began with the construction of the compound curved legs. When I made these on my prototype table five years ago, I had to use two 8/4 boards to get the thickness I was after. But lucky for us, William was able to attain some insanely chubby pieces of 16/4 African mahogany. I had to put a saw blade in the photo for reference, just so you could appreciate the size of these timbers.
And as beautiful as these rough boards were, we were amazed at how much lighter in color the milled material was. Not only was it pale, but it was also much less dense. I talked with William about this and he says for some reason, the thicker cuts are always lighter in both color and weight. Perhaps someone more knowledgeable on this can chime in? But as you can see in one of the initial dry assemblies, the aprons and legs are dramatically different in color. Fortunately, in the case of this table, it works.
The drawer guide system is incredibly simple, consisting of nothing more than a plywood cradle that is sized appropriately for the opening in the apron. For the drawer itself, you can see a few different examples of the joinery reinforcement that was used. One student opted for splines while another used brass dowels. Either way, the reinforced rabbet looks very cool and is more than strong enough for this application.
The top of the table consists of a wenge-wrapped plywood panel in a mitered mahogany frame. The miters were cut on one of the school’s 45 degree miter sleds, which worked remarkably well. The frame miters were reinforced using wenge splines, and the spline slots were cut at the tablesaw using another sled that holds the work vertically.
When it was all said and done, we had four complete table builds. As if it weren’t cool enough just seeing my table being reinvented by four other woodworkers, one of them decided to change the dimensions and take the table in a slightly different direction. Since this is a design that I will probably never revisit, it was incredibly gratifying to watch the table morph into something beyond my original vision.
A complete change of pace from the 5-day table class was the weekend frame class. With 13 people of varying skill levels, it was a little crazy at times. But the sawdust was flying and spirits were high. So the party got started with template tracing, bandsaw cutting, and flush trimming at the router table. With that many people, its inevitable that you’ll have a few bottleneck moments, like the one below at the router table.
Making this frame is a good exercise in “hybrid woodworking”, where the bulk of the material is removed with power tools, but the hand tools do all the fine fitting. In fact, it was hilariously obvious to me when everyone finally hit the hand tool part of the project. The loud noises of excited progress were replaced with the dull thuds of chisels and the grunts of frustration, haha! But that’s all part of the learning process, and I think by the end of the weekend, everyone had an appreciation for the value of a good set of sharp chisels.
Not to single anyone out, but there was one student who really impressed me. Within the first hour, he let me know that he was an absolute beginner with no experience. I appreciated the heads up, but I was a little fearful that this project might not be the ideal for a first-timer. Well, I am happy to say he proved me wrong. He walked out of class on Saturday with a beautiful completed frame. He is planning on taking the 101 level woodworking course at Cerritos College, and I told him he needs to bring his frame to class to show them what a beginner woodworker can do!
It was an inspirational week and I met some very talented woodworkers. I can’t wait to not only teach there again, but to also attend more classes myself. William runs a fine operation and if you are looking to take a hands-on class, you should check out the WIlliam Ng School. Thanks to all the students who took the class and thanks to William for allowing me to teach.
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Hey Marc, I am glad you enjoyed yourself and how it felt to be able to give your students your knowledge, it’s got to be a wonderful feeling. It also looks like they enjoyed the experience as well, and having a good teacher I am sure helped that out significantly.
Did they have to bring their own hand tools or was everything supplied?
It also looked like they had some nice equipment to work on.
Wish you could teach a class somewhere here on the East coast because I would attend. I know how much you and the site has helped me in the past 8 months or so, but I could only imagine what the hands on experience would be.
Cool beans man, cool bean.
Be well!!
Thanks Anthony. They students are encouraged to bring their own small hand tools (chisels, measuring devices, planes, etc…). But William does have his own collection that people can use. And most times, there are at least a few folks who don’t have the tools, so its good to have them on hand at the school.
I would like to teach out there at some point. I never quite know who’s going to call and invite me…..
Man I would’ve given my right arm to attend your classes! If you do make it out to William Ng again in the future, I’ll definitely be attending. I’m glad you had a great experience here!
Thats one big flush trim bit!
Damn, I had to cancel the frame class due to an auto accident. I almost didn’t read this blog post because I just knew all of the fun I’d missed. I hope you do decide to teach another class there soon.
Who’s the nerd in the last photo…oh sorry Marc.:)
Look’s like a blast. Is 28 too young to start a bucket list?
Looks like a lot of fun and what a great sized group for the frame glass! That must have been tough teaching all those people.
Regarding the color of the thicker stuff. I got into a conversation about this with a local sawyer and he says it has to do with the drying process. Most of the thick stuff gets air dried for a while first then very slowly baked in the kiln. As I understand it the working properties are similar to 100% air dried wood too since the lignum is roasted so the whole thing is lighter in color and easier to work too.
Ahhh very interesting! Good to know!
Hey Marc,
Looks like you had a good time and a good turn-out (especially on the weekend class) Wish I was there! Too bad you didn’t video tape some of it.
Honestly, I doubt I will ever get much video from a class. I wouldn’t be a very good instructor if I did, :). Maybe if I get Nicole to do the filming? haha
Wow, Looks like a great class.
That flush trim bit look like it means business!
Hey Marc,
Thank you for sharing information and pictures from you obviously successful classes. I am curious – how many of the students are members of the guild? I learn things from watching you and others every time I’m in front of my computer…just curious if you learned any tricks or ideas from your students?
I hope in the not too distant future, to be attending a class you are teaching. In the short term, I’ll “see you” at the first GUILD BUILD! Thanks Marc,… you’ve taught me a lot!!
No real tricks to speak of. But in general, I do learn a lot from students. Fortunately, woodworking is one of those areas where people are constantly learning, so you’ll find woodworkers of all skill levels taking classes.
Hey Marc! (and everybody else…) Looks like the classes were a success! I’ll have to make sure I catch the next one!
I wish I could learn from someone who has a lot of experience like you. Yesterday I had the need to cut a door from the middle of a board, but obviously I needed to keep both, the wood and the door to keep the grain and the dovetail joint, and I started wondering how did you do that, I think I know how you did it, I actually think I did it like you did it but I’m curious. Hope you can tell us the secret haha.
Walter
Always glad to help Walter, but I would need more information. Not sure what you’re talking about. Feel free to email me and send some pictures.
Hey Marc, I think he’s asking how you would cut a drawer front out of the middle of an apron, like shown in the Modern Hall Table. The goal is to get a nice drawer front with continuous grain.
Nice writeup & pics! Looks like the class was a blast!
Ahhh ok. To sum up, you rip a 1″ strip from the top of the board, a 1″ strip from the bottom of the board, then cross-cut the drawer face out. Next, you glue all those pieces back together, only without the drawer front in place. The opening that is left is now your opening for the drawer.
Hey Marc, it that’s the way to get that result would that be the first thing you do in the process to make the table? Just curious.
You definitely need to do it early, especially if you need to work on some joinery on the front apron.
Hey Marc,
Congrats man! Looks like alot of fun and I can’t to be able to attend. Has anyone seen plans for that “spline sled.”
I need a new one in the shop. Maybe I’ll make a whisper mini out of it.
Marc, looks like it was a great class, wish I could have made it. I feel like a little kid who has just discovered that he likes math, and then goes to school and realizes that there are whole places devoted to teaching it. Okay, maybe that’s a pretty poor analogy, but from my beginnings just a year ago in woodworking to where I am today, with the first six months being a struggle just to learn some basic things, and then discovering things like your website, it’s like “Wait a minute. There are SCHOOLS for this kind of thing?!” “AWESOME!” Anyway, what I’m trying to say is, I think I have just put on my “list of things to do before I die” to take a woodworking class of the sort that you just taught in CA. Maybe one of yours. Keep doing what you do, brother. It’s been a great ride so far.
Hey Frank. I highly recommend taking a class if you can. There is nothing quite like unplugging from the rest of the world for a few days and doing NOTHING but woodworking. Its amazing how much you can get done in that time period. And of course, you learn a ton!
A BIG ENDORSEMENT ,
I was in the weekend frame class and it was a great experience. The school has great equipment and hand tools. Marc’s design incorporated some new techniques that I’ve wanted to try for a long time. We were able to work at our own pace and the class size made it possible to get a lot of one-on-one time.
We got right to work and the whole class was busy the entire time although the experience levels varied. A couple of us made some minor mistakes, but this is when I really learned some valuable techniques. I ended up finishing my frame at home the following Monday and after a couple of coats of shellac, it’s ready to go on the wall.
As an instructor, Marc provides the options and encourages you to be creative (very cool). William is an amazing craftsman as well as really funny guy.
This class really recharged my batteries; I’ve been in the workshop every opportunity since the class. I left the school felling ready to push my skills to the next level.
For anyone thinking about taking a class with Marc at the William Ng School, DO IT!
Now THAT was one heck of an endorsement! Thanks Hector. It was great having you in class. You guys were a fun and creative group. Hopefully I’ll have an opportunity to see you in a class again sometime. Good luck with your woodworking.