Woodworking & Small Boat Building

Regional Woodworking Hub

BARN’s community woodshop welcomes woodworkers of all skill levels from throughout Puget Sound. With a 1,050-square-foot bench room for hand tool use and a 3,500-square-foot main shop with all major power woodworking tools, there’s no better place to work! Seasoned woodworkers share their knowledge, and all members learn from each other.

The studio offers classes and numerous other ways to get involved. For example, you can grow your skills and support your neighbors by participating in community service projects focused on things like building a park bench, fixing furniture for refugees and building a tiny house for homeless people.

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Woodworking Basics Certificate Program

For individuals looking for a comprehensive introduction to woodworking, BARN offers a Woodworking Basics Certificate. This program includes fourteen classes and a one-on-one mentorship. As a certificate student, you’ll learn how to use hand and power tools and how to plan your projects. If you’re interested in exploring a career in woodworking or construction, the Woodworking Basics Certificate provides a solid foundation.

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Woodworker using drill press in the BARN Woodworking studio

General Woodworking

The main shop is a woodworkers’ delight with great lighting, efficient dust collection and amazing tools. The shop offers open studio time for personal projects five days a week. A safety monitor and a shop manager are always on duty, and other woodworkers are usually happy to support a long board, assist with a complicated glue-up or help with other tasks that need more than two hands.

Three single-session certification classes qualify people to participate in open studio and to use woodworking tools such as bandsaws, table saws, and the CNC router. A Woodworking Basics series gives novices a solid grounding, and classes from cabinet building to furniture design help woodworkers at all skill levels master new techniques. And if you just want to dip in? Try It! classes are for you.

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Woodturning

Many visitors are enchanted as they watch woodturners spin wood on a lathe and use gouges and other tools to create bowls, tool handles, furniture parts and other pieces.

A structured series of classes takes beginners from Introduction to Woodturning through bowl turning as they qualify for lathe time during open studio. Experienced turners may qualify by scheduling a private check-out session. The Woodturning program also offers an array of project- and skill-oriented classes and a great assortment of tools — including six lathes, one of which is accessible by wheelchair users or others who prefer to sit while turning.

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Hand Woodworking & Carving

The bench room features 10 woodworking benches, bright task lights and top-quality hand tools, mostly from Lee Valley and Lie-Nielsen Toolworks, as well as a large assortment of carving tools and carver’s vises, luthier tools and jigs, and Japanese woodworking tools. It’s a mecca for woodworkers who like a quieter environment and appreciate the challenge of building projects with hand tools. Of course, it’s also fine to take wood into the main shop and use power tools for specific cuts.

Classes guide beginners and also challenge seasoned woodworkers. Free sharpening classes cover the protocol for tuning up BARN tools.

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Small Boat Building

BARN’s Woodshop has a specific area devoted to small boatbuilding, with large exterior doors and easy access to a belt sander (perfect for shaping fair curves, making bevels, rudders, and daggerboards) and other specialized tools. Kayaks, canoes, and a nutshell pram are just a few of the small crafts that have been built at BARN, projects initiated by members with experience building and piloting small boats.

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