This May I will be teaching for the first time at the Marc Adams School of Woodworking for the first time. The school is 12 miles south of Indianapolis and is the “Largest Woodworking School in North America”. The great number of classes offered, the size of the shops and facilities, and Marc and his staff’s work over the years in creating a successful and admired woodworking school is nothing short of astonishing to me and I took him up on the offer to participate to experience it firsthand. A week long class running from May 9 to the 13th is skewed towards architectural carving though all skills being taught have applications for all types of carving. Here is the link: Architectural Carving
Key points from the brochure are:
- Beauty, skill, tradition
- Achieving control
- Working with the wood and against the grain
- Find the fun in fighting the material
- Holding the work
- Back-cutting and under-cutting
- The appearance of a finished surface
- Sharpening tools for optimum results
- Skill is the outcome of practice
A weekend class is scheduled for May 14 – 15. From the brochure: “This class will introduce students to the world of historic woodcarving, allowing them to acquire a wide-ranging understanding of historic objects through slide presentations and observation of modern reproductions and casts of original work. It will combine carving instruction that is broad in scope based on Chris’ extensive career of working with historic objects, with woodcarving exercises that reinforce the discussion.” Here is the link: Carving the Invisible.
Key points are:
- Pursue your interests, sharpen your skills
- Skill stimulates creativity
- Woodcarving with a single gouge or a hundred
- Where do I start? When am I finished?
- Carving in perspective
- A feeling for the material
- Tool marks and texture
- Slicing versus abrading
In my carving career there was a long learning curve. I would have benefited from the type of immersive study I hope to provide during these classes. My ulterior motive is I get to think of and do nothing but woodcarving for a solid week.
In Proportion to the Trouble 
gentelmen, i have recently recieved from my father in law a large set of C. MAIERS AND CO. carving tools.
The set war ‘LIBERATED” by him during WW2.
Do you wave any idea how i might go about selling them (and any ideas on value) i can forward pictures.
Thank you,
Many carving tools are sold on ebay. The value would depend on condition. Most older carving gouges generally sell for less that a modern version of the same tool.