Furniture Design and Wood

Learn woodworking fundamentals through a series of exercises utilizing both hand tools and machines. Develop a habit of sharpening and tuning your tools. Practice a variety of joinery techniques and build your own sample library of construction options. Put your newly honed skills to test by building a final project … Read more

This course exposes students to a variety of specialized woodworking techniques applicable to furniture production. Through a series of modules devoted to select skills, sessions explore the basics of techniques with the objective of giving students enough exposure to begin applying them independently to studio projects. Areas include carving and … Read more

We often think of wood as rigid and hard, but by adding heat, we can bend flexible, sweeping curves. It really feels like magic – suddenly you can tie a knot in a piece of wood or form the ribs of a canoe. Steam bending doesn’t have to be intimidating! We’ll … Read more

Fusing design activities and methodologies, including aesthetic sourcing (visual, literary, emotional, and structural) and drawing and modeling, participants engage in design as a problem-solving process. Projects emphasize the development of conceptual visualization through the exploration of two- and three-dimensional sketch techniques.

Beginners are welcome to join this introduction to machine woodworking and shop safety in MassArt’s well-equipped woodshop. Build confidence with woodworking equipment and gain a deeper understanding of the science of wood as a material. Practice working with technical drawings and build hands-on experience with the chop saw, bandsaw, jointer, … Read more

Delve into the fascinating world of bent lamination. Explore a range of techniques that will bring versatility and creativity to your wood and furniture projects. Through practical demonstrations and hands-on exercises, learn how to bend wood using molds, a vacuum bag, freeform bending methods, and more. This workshop is a module … Read more

In this introductory, course participants will learn how to design and carve wooden utensils. Students will be shown how to safely and efficiently use the bandsaw as well as hand tools such as gouges, rasps, files, scrapers, and a variety of handsaws. Whether it’s spoons, spatulas, forks, knives, or something … Read more

Learn the basics of carving and shaping with hand tools; gouges, rasps, files, spokeshaves, block planes, knives, and more. Through demonstrations and prompts, explore both traditional and contemporary carving techniques and learn how they can be applied to the making of furniture and functional objects. This workshop is a module … Read more

This course is a great start for beginners looking to make a functional wooden object. Course participants will learn how to build a wooden plant stand utilizing machinery such as the table saw, domino joiner, router table and orbital sander. This course will cover how to create a lap joint … Read more