William Ng School of Fine Woodworking

G&G Inspired 8 Legged Table (11/12/12 – 11/17/12)

William — Mon, 12 Nov 2012 23:38:38 +0000

This is one of our more popular classes. This beautiful table is well proportioned, with simple elegant lines that will grace any home. It can be used as a hall table, sofa table or an entry table. Imagine what your guest will say when they are welcome into your home and met with this stunning piece of furniture. The table will be constructed using African Mahogany and Ebony. Wood will be prepared and rough milled to speed up the process. This will free up valuable time for learning different skills and techniques. We will cover wood movement, bread board, joinery, wood selection, exposed Ebony spline, Ebony inlay, leg indent detail, square ebony plug, dovetail drawer construction, hand fitting drawers for piston fit, glue up procedure to make sure all 8 legs hit the floor the same time, hand tool techniques such as sharpening and proper use of chisels, card scrapers and hand planes. Come prepared to challenge your skills. There’s a lot of woodworking and learning in these six days.

Blacker House Inspired Chair with William Ng (9/22/12 – 9/29/12)

William — Sun, 23 Sep 2012 06:27:16 +0000

This is perhaps the most difficult class we offer at our school. This class is not for the faint hearted. This chair will challenge every areas of your woodworking skill. We will be dealing with angles, proportion, chair design, choosing wood grain, Sculpting of the crest rail using a 4-1/2″ angle grinder, Inlay technique for the back slat of the chair, Scribing technique for hand fitted joinery, machine joinery, angled mortise & tenons, compound angles, hand skills include (chisel, hand planes, card scrapers, spoke shave, rasps, etc.) Many of the Greene and Greene elements will be covered such as leg indents, angled ebony splines for the arm and crest rail, “Chinese brackets” and tons of ebony plugs. You will also learn many of the work methods, “trick of the trade”, how to think ahead and how to developed Jigs. On top of the wealth of knowledge and skills you’ll received from the class, you get to take home in my opinion one of the most beautifully designed chairs ever.

Sharpening and Hand Tool Tune Up with William Ng (9/15/12 – 9/16/12)

William — Sun, 16 Sep 2012 06:29:13 +0000

There is nothing like the experience of using sharp tools. Where the actual tool does what you want it to do with ease. You should not have to fight with your tools. They should work for you and with you. In this class, we will cover a variety of techniques for sharpening edge tools including the use of Japanese water stones. We will sharpen a bevel-edged chisel, a plane iron and a cabinet scraper. You will learn how to flatten, grind and hone your tools until they are razor-sharp. I will also demonstrate a few simple tricks in adjusting your hand planes that will enable you to take shavings to a thousand of an inch. By the end of this class you will have much confidence with your hand tools and will be reaching for them more often.

Jun. 15 – 16, 2012 / 9:00am – 5:00pm
MaxClass Size 12
$285.00 Tuition $25.00 Material Fee (Includes all materials)

Fundamentals of Fine Woodworking with William Ng (9/10/12 – 9/14/12)

William — Mon, 10 Sep 2012 07:45:13 +0000

The secret to fine woodworking can be found in the pursuit of the fundamentals. With high-tech machines and power tools, these fundamentals can be overshadowed. In this class we will learn the values of design, drawings, mock-ups, sharpening, care and use of hand tools, tuning up a bench plane, layout, measuring tools, wood technology, choosing and preparing lumber, joinery (including hand cut dovetails and the mortise and tenon), safe machine and power tool operation and how to apply a hand-rubbed finish. We will practice these skills by building a beautiful keepsake box. This class is not just for beginners but for all those who want to build a more solid woodworking foundation.

Sep. 10 – 14, 2012 / 9:00am – 5:00pm
MaxClass Size 12
$695.00 Tuition $75.00 Material Fee (Includes all materials)

Inlay Techniques in the Greene & Greene Style with William Ng (9/6/12 – 9/9/12)

William — Fri, 07 Sep 2012 02:48:09 +0000

In this class we will be covering basic inlay techniques from design, cutting, fitting, glue up, materials, tools to finish product, and will proceed with a little more advance techniques use in some of the Greene and Greene furnitures. We will be dealing with materials such as shells, silver, brass, wood, plastic and any material that we can cut which is almost endless. The main tool for the class will be a jeweler fret saw. Proper cutting technique will be emphasized. There will be several projects for the class, with emphasis on shaping and fitting silver, shaping and coloring wood. handling shell and proper glue-up methods. This class will definitely give your woodworking a new dimension.

Maloof Inspired Rocking Chair Class with William Ng (8/19/12 – 8/25/12)

William — Mon, 20 Aug 2012 04:31:04 +0000

The focus of this class will be making a sculpted rocking chair inspired by the works of Sam Maloof. We will explore the joinery, bent lamination, sculpting, balance and comfort that make this chair so special. This is an advanced class and requires the student to have knowledge and experience with basic hand tools like rasps, gouges, spokeshaves and block planes. We will also use a grinder and power-carver to help shape the seat and different parts of the chair. The class will move at a very fast pace. The goals for this class are to have all the joinery done, the seat carved and the chair assembled, including the placement of the rockers. The final shaping and sanding will be left to the individual’s own interpretation and creativity.

Joinery Techniques with William Ng (8/13/12 – 8/17/12)

William — Tue, 14 Aug 2012 06:55:48 +0000

Good joinery is key to making fine furniture that will last for generations. Many of us are intimidated by the complexity of these joints. In this class we hope to de-mystify and simplify the joinery process. We will learn western and eastern joinery and their applications, including dovetails, half-blind dovetails, sliding dovetails, mortise-and-tenons, angled mortise-and-tenons, lap joints, bridle joints, miter joints, scarf joints, splice joints, mitered mortise-and-tenons, bird’s-beak and the Chinese 3 way mitered joint. You will be guided step- by-step through the layout, marking, and the cutting process using hand and power tools. This class is a must for those who want to take their woodworking to the next level.

G&G Inspired Coffee Table with William Ng (8/6/12 – 8/10/12)

William — Tue, 07 Aug 2012 00:54:17 +0000

In this class not only will we build this beautiful coffee table inspired by Greene and Greene, Stickley and a little bit of Krenov, but will learn many table construction techniques. Reading wood grain, Mortise & tenon, shaping wood, bread board ends, drawer construction, fitting the drawer, as well as many of the Greene and Greene details such as square ebony plugs, cloud lifts and exposed ebony splines will be studied in detail.

Sculpted Dining Chair with William Ng (7/30/12 – 8/4/12)

William — Mon, 30 Jul 2012 23:09:27 +0000

Class description coming soon!

Morris Chair with William Ng (7/23/12 – 7/28/12)

William — Tue, 24 Jul 2012 00:44:42 +0000

The Morris Chair is an American classic piece of furniture designed and created by William Morris. This chair has a rich history and will sit well, anywhere in the house. This six-day class will challenge woodworkers of all levels. The main emphasis will be on joinery. We will also cover how to design and use jigs and fixtures to accomplish tasks such as: the angled mortise and tenon, the drop arm, the curved back and how to groove uneven surfaces. This is definitely a technique and skill-building class. Students will gain confidence and a better appreciation for working more efficiently and accurately.