Spring Woodworking & Boatbuilding Courses Offered at the Hudson River Maritime Museum

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
​Contact: Becky Sellinger, Wooden Boat School Manager & Instructor, [email protected]

Kumiko Trivet

Kingston, N.Y. - The Wooden Boat School at the Hudson River Maritime Museum, is excited to offer an array of woodworking and boat building classes this Spring. Come join us to begin your adventure in woodworking or enhance your current skills.
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In just one day you can build your own working cigar box guitar. Join luthier Bill Sterling on Saturday, February 18, 2023 10:00AM to 5:00PM. This small historic instrument is made with a wooden cigar box as the resonator. 

On February 25,  students will make one of the more useful tools in a woodworker's toolbox: a mallet; a tool that is bound to save your chisels from that steel hammer! Starting with blocks of hardwood, we will cut, assemble, and finish pieces to fashion a traditional woodworker's mallet. If you are doing a lot of chiseling you'll certainly need a bench hook as well to pair!

On the first weekend of March, we  will hold a two-day course that will introduce you to the art and craft of fly tying, which has a long and illustrious history in the Catskill Mountain region.  This course is designed for people who have never tied before or have just started out.  You will learn the basic techniques for tying a wide range of flies, including dry flies, wet flies, nymphs, and streamers, and you will tie patterns especially adapted for our local waters.  We will discuss entomology and examine the way that certain flies imitate different insects. You will learn about material selection (how to identify the right feathers, fur, and hair for the right fly), tool use, and a wide range of techniques, including dubbing, wrapping hackle, and doing pinch wraps and whip finishing.

Charcuterie Board and Cheese Slicer

Starting Friday March 17, Captain Ken Roberts will host a Six Pack through 100 Ton Master Captain’s License course. This class takes place over the 11 days and will provide the training and testing requirements to apply for a US Coast Guard License. The license issued will be determined by the sea service submitted to the USCG and may range from OUPV (Six Pack) up to 100 ton vessels. Captain Ken Roberts is a USCG Licensed Captain (100 ton) and has been a USCG-certified instructor since 2014. He has instructed over 400 students. Captain Roberts has extensive experience with large and small vessels and served as a delivery captain for vessels from 30' to 130'.

On March 17, 18 & 19, Bill Sterling will teach a class where students will build their own stratocaster, telecaster, or p bass so that when the class is over you will have a playable guitar. We will cover a range of topics including assembly, wiring & soldering components, fretwork and general setup. 

On April 14 and 15, Instructor Allan Bishop will be giving a workshop on the art of Kumiko. During this workshop, students will build a Kumiko trivet and learn to make the asanoha pattern, also termed the hemp leaf pattern. Kumiko is a Japanese technique of assembling wooden pieces without the use of nails. Thinly slit wooden pieces are grooved, punched and mortised, and then fitted individually using a plane, saw, chisel and other tools to make fine adjustments.

For Earth Day, April 22,  we will be holding two special 3 hour classes (9a-12n; 1p-4p) where students will build their own bat house and learn about the importance of bats to our ecosystem. The first half hour will be a fun educational information session all about bats! Following the presentation, students will assemble their bat house with the assistance of our woodworking instructor, and have a special homemade bat house to bring home. This program is great for all ages and family friendly. There are two sessions available at different times.

Join us May 6 & 7 to carve your own canoe paddle! From the shape of the blade, to its length, to the shape of the handle, the paddle you create will be made for you, by you. Choose either Otter Tail or Beaver Tail shaped blade for your paddle. Each participant in the class will be provided with a paddle blank laminated of carefully selected woods. Using hand tools you will carve your paddle blade to the desired shape. Once the blade is shaped, you will custom fit your paddle, by carving the shape of the grip area to fit your hands and cutting the paddle shaft to the perfect length for you. Students leave with a completed paddle. Beginners are welcome!

Back by popular demand, students will have the opportunity to create their own charcuterie board and cheese slicer on May 12 & 13. This will be a two day workshop in which the first day will be picking out your wood, designing your pattern, squaring up the pieces and gluing them overnight. The next day will be trimming, sanding, finishing and adding hardware.

Our 2-day Timber Framing course is designed for students who seek experience in building timber frame structures. Held on May 19 & 20, participants will learn and assist in the construction of a square rule, post-and-beam timber frame structure on the HRMM campus. The group will construct mortise and tenon joints and join the structural frames.
Our live edge table class will be held multiple times this Spring. Each student will get to pick a flitch of locally harvested and kiln dried hardwood, then use draw knives, sanders, and other hand tools to remove any bark and smooth the live edge. This class is offered March 12, April 16, and May 20.

Woodworker Annie Raso will teach students how to cut, assemble and finish wooden frames with corner spline joinery. In addition, students will be able to cut their own mats and professionally mount their work. These frames are intended to be wall-mounted, and will include turnbuttons that allow the media to be changed or adjusted, thereby making these great gifts for people to add their own photos or art. This class is scheduled for May 26 & 27.

We look forward to serving the community with all of these exciting classes. For additional information, visit the Hudson River Maritime Museum’s website or call (845) 338 - 0071.

The Hudson River Maritime Museum is located along the historic Rondout Creek in downtown Kingston, N.Y. HRMM is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization dedicated to the preservation and interpretation of the maritime history of the Hudson River, its tributaries, and related industries.​

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