Woodworking a Bright Future: Here's Why

Palomar College Cabinetmaking and Furniture Technology Program,
San Marcos, CA.
CFT 100 Fundamentals of Woodworking.
Six Classes offered in the fall semester 25 students per class 30 max

Day classes: 8 Am to 4:30 PM
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday

Night Classes: 5 PM to 9 PM
Monday and Wednesday
Tuesday and Thursday

What this means is that about 180 students are taking the CFT 100 class 140 hours of instruction and countless hours outside the classroom and lab In the Spring the classes change to the CFT 105 Fundamentals of Woodworking II. Once students completes the 100, 105 classes they can take any other class offered in the Program.

Is Woodworking coming back with skilled workers and hobbyist?
Woodworking is the fastest growing Division of the College.
The College is expanding with a six million dollar improvement bond.
This is good news for woodworking and for anyone interested learning woodworking.

Palomar offers 55 courses during the calendar year and has over 650 students participating in a least one course or more during the calendar year. When all is said and done it makes me appreciate how lucky I am to live so close to a school offering such a great program.

Here is the Course Outline, I will expand each section as it is covered.

1. Introduction
2. Wood Technology
3. Hand Tools
4. Sharpening
5. Wood Joinery
6. Machine Safety and Demonstrations
7. Squaring Wood
8. Routers
9. Abrasives and Saning Techniques
10. Assembly Techniques
11. Hardware
12. Finishing

Course Requirements:

1. Attendance
2. Assignments and Exams
3. Project
4. Notebook and Final exam

The First Day of School

I don't think I slept the night before the first day of Woodworking School. I had been waiting five years to do this, now it was actually going to happen. Maybe I was worried about going to school again after all these years, or I might just have been excited about the next phase of life. How many of us dream about the day we can do the things we want? My day to do that very thing has finally happened.

To go back a few years five to be exact, I started on this road by buying a table saw at Home Depot just to see if this was something I might want to do for retirement. Of course my wife said to not touch this saw until you take a safely class, a safety class where will I find one of those. Fortunately for me Palomar College in San Marcos offered a Saturday safety class for the table saw. After talking the class I took other Saturday classes, the Band saw class and the Dovetail class and soon after I was hooked and wanted to take the "real woodworking" classes. My job required traveling so I was never able to take the "Fundamental of Woodworking" the 100 class the basis for all future woodworking.

Well now you know what this blog will be about...the basic woodworking class many people want to take or already have taken. I wanted a way to share my excitement and learning experience and to offer insight to those who want to take the class and just can't make it happen. All for good reasons, like time, money and or location. I will be sharing all the things we learn and do in the class. I hope to create interest in woodworking like others have done for me. Like the woodwhisperer and tom's workbench to mention two that have inspired me.

So sharpen your pencils or "chisels" and start the school year with excitement and the same wonder that happen years ago only now it will be fun, I think: do we have to take tests?