Fort Worden State Park

Laying the Foundation for a Preservation Field School

The Washington Trust for Historic Preservation, Fort Worden Collaborative, the Port Townsend School of Woodworking, and the Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission are working to establish an historic preservation field school at Fort Worden State Park, Port Townsend.

These groups will hold a community workshop focused on potential partnerships and programming for this school on Friday, April 17 from 2:30pm to 5:00pm.  A pre-workshop walking tour of Fort Worden featuring hands-on wood restoration techniques and a discussion of cultural landscape preservation will be offered from 1:00 to 2:15pm.   A reception sponsored by the Washington Trust for Historic Preservation Board of Directors will follow the workshop.  We invite you to participate in all scheduled events.  

1:00 – 2:15 pm      
Fort Worden Walking Tour: Meet in Lobby of Fort Worden Commons
Tim Lawson, Port Townsend School of Woodworking, Thatcher Bailey, Fort Worden Collaborative, and Kate Burke, Washington State Parks & Recreation Commission will lead a walking tour emphasizing the need for skilled wood-workers and craftsmen to engage in rehabilitation of the fine wood-framed structures at Fort Worden and a discussion of cultural landscape preservation.

2:30-5:00 pm
Public Workshop: Fort Worden Commons

2:30 – 2:45 pm 
Jennifer Meisner and Chris Moore, Washington Trust for Historic Preservation will provide an overview of Preservation Field School concept. Tim Lawson, Port Townsend School of Woodworking, will explain his schools current historic preservation curriculum.

2:45 – 3:30pm  
Representatives from the Pacific Northwest Field School will be on hand to discuss their experience in providing hands-on technical training over the years.

3:45 – 4:15pm  
Introduction of National Trust for Historic Preservation’s Sustainability Initiative—Preservation Green Lab .

4:15 – 4:45pm  
Representatives from the newly established Center for Construction Excellence at Renton Technical College will provide a summary of their activities to date and a vision for the future.  

4:45 – 5:00pm  
Jennifer Meisner, Kate Burke, and Thatcher Bailey will lead a conversation about next steps.

5:30 – 7:00pm  
Reception

Restoring and Preserving Old Buildings

Free lecture  on Thursday February 19th at 6:30pm

We're proud to present this Lecture by Kevin Palo in our "The Art and Craft of Working with Wood Lecture Series" on Thursday February 19th at 6:30pm.

This is an important subject for Port Townsend and Fort Worden. There is a proposal from the Planning Department that many of the older buildings (even such your ones as a '50's rambler) could be subject to a historic preservation review. That is the stick.

The carrot is that you can get a property tax break on building improvements that are historically sensitive and retain original features. We hope to have members of the Historic Preservation Commision at the lecture

We're not planning to get embroiled in what will be a vigorous discussion around town.

Doing a good historic preservation job on an old home or building can be daunting. But when an old home is viewed through the eyes of a preservationist you begin to see that some of the problems are easily solved when you understand the construction methods used to build the house. Similarly the historic value of a house can be preserved by not indulging in wholesale demolition and replacement with modern windows or doors. Old windows with storm windows can have a similar, if not better, insulating value than modern replacement windows.

Kevin has joined our faculty to lead the Historic Preservation Program. Kevin has more than 30 years of experience in restoring Old Buildings. This lecture is a teaser for our Introduction to Historic Preservation course in March.

Port Townsend School of Woodworking
Building 315, Fort Worden State Park,
Port Townsend, WA 98368
(360) 344-4455

Woodworking School Open House December 11

Join the fine folk at the Port Townsend School of Woodworking on December 11th for a celebration of their First Full Year.

Tim Lawson of the School says:

"We've had a lot of fun getting the School up and running. More importantly we've really enjoyed working with our students and getting to know them. Plus when we stand back and scratch our heads (not a pretty sight) we are kind of gobsmacked (a fine old British expression) at the great reception we have received.

We've had a whirlwind first year. Starting from a raw building filled with paint cans we have a functioning class / bench room and machine room.

We've had around 200 students attending a mixture of 1-5 day classes in 2008. Our lecture series has drawn up to 50 people on a Thursday evening. We've even had folks staying at the park for some of the longer courses. We've drawn students from the East Coast, Arizona, Kansas, Florida, California, Switzerland and Canada.

Our current course schedule for 2009 has us running classes for about 40 weeks next year - which if fully enrolled would have more than 450 students attend the school.

We're expanding our faculty to include nationally renowned woodworkers from around Puget Sound, and from California and New Hampshire."

They will open their doors at 5:00pm. Please come and join them--refreshments provided!

Greg Kossow:Windsor Chairs - October 23rd 2008 6:30pm

Greg is the next presenter in our "Art & Craft of Working with Wood" series. By day Greg is a Master Trim Carpenter (he wrote the Fine Homebuilding Book on Trim Carpentry) by night and holidays he is a passionate maker of Windsor Chairs. Greg has travelled to East Coast numerous times to study with the masters. Greg will be teaching our Windsor Chair program in Spring 2009.

This free series is hosted in the School and starts at 6:30pm
No reservation needed - just turn up.

Port Townsend School of Woodworking
Building 315, Fort Worden
Port Townsend
WA 98368
360.344.4455
info@ptwoodschool.com
www.ptwoodschool.com

Art Port Townsend 2008 - Studio Tour

The Port Townsend School of Woodworking is proud to be part of the annual Art Port Townsend Studio Tour on October 11 and 12, 2008. The school will be open from 10am - 4pm both days.

The school will have a display of faculty work, hand joinery and traditional coopering techniques.

Finding the school:

Enter Fort Worden by the main gate. At the four way stop continue straight, bear to left behind the Copper Canyon Press Building. We’re located in Building 315 - the old power plant (concrete building) against the hillside.

Port Townsend School of Woodworking
Building 315
Fort Worden State Park
Port Townsend
WA 98368
(360) 344-4455
info@ptwoodschool.com
www.ptwoodschool.com

August 14th - Miniature Woodworking Tools: John Maki

            

"I'm retired and live on Washington's Olympic Peninsula. I've been creating miniature tools for 10 years, learning the basics of table-top machining in the process. Each of the miniature tools that I have produced are part of that education and are part of my personal collection."

Come see John's exquisite work and a presentation of his on his methods and technniques.

August 14th at 6:30pm

Free Admission

Port Townsend School of Woodworking,
Building 315, Fort Worden
(360) 344-4455
info@ptwoodschool.com
www.ptwoodschool.com

July 24th - Introduction to Handtools: Jim Tolpin

Or putting the Woo! Woo! back into Woodworking.

Working wood with hand-powered tools is, in many cases, not only more appropriate but they are quiet, do not make dust and are a whole lot more fun to use. Come watch Jim Tolpin demonstrate smoothing boards, paring joints and making moldings with hand planes and cutting dovetails and other complex joints quickly with a hand saw.

Jim Tolpin is a founder of the Port Townsend School of Woodworking and a nationally known woodworking author.

Free Admission

6:30pm July 24th

Port Townsend School of Woodworking
Building 315, Fort Worden
Port Townsend, WA 98368
www.ptwoodschool.com
info@ptwoodschool.com
(360) 344-4455

Free Lecture: Timberframe Construction July 10th at 6:30pm

"Timber framing is a simple but elegant building system consisting of large wood posts and beams fit together with interlocking joinery and secured with wooden pegs. As in any post and beam structure the timber framework supports its roof by transferring roof loads to principal posts and onto the foundation of the building eliminating the need for load bearing interior partition walls. The result is a strong, self supporting timber structure in which heavy timbers frame large, open living spaces.             

This talk will place the modern craft of timber framing in the context of its historic development and describe some of the unique features of the contemporary timber-frame building system. Examples of recently constructed timber frame residences and public buildings will demonstrate the flexibility and energy efficiency of modern timber frame structures. It is my hope that the strength and beauty of the buildings you see, will persuade you that the future of timber framing promises to be as rich as its past and that if you choose to work in this field you will be inspired to design and build buildings that stretch the existing aesthetic and structural boundaries of timber frame construction."

                         

Charles Landau founded Timbercraft Homes (based in Port Townsend). Charles sold the business several years ago, now in retirement (and no less busy), Charles will share his love of Timberframing in this presentation.


Port Townsend School of Woodworking
Building 315, Fort Worden
Port Townsend, WA 98368
www.ptwoodschool.com
info@ptwoodschool.com
(360) 344-4455

            

Coopering - The Traditional Art of Making Buckets and Barrels

Steve Habersetzer is the everyman woodworker. One of Steve's first jobs was making traditional coopered buckets. Coopering is making  barrels, buckets, washtubs from tapered and beveled straight bits of wood (staves).  No  glue or fastenings are used!          

In this course we'll take you through the whole process of   making a bucket using staves, iron bands and solid base.            

You'll get to practice making staves using a traditional cooper's plane and measuring gauges. We'll compare using split wood and sawn wood for the staves.            

We'll show you how to assemble the staves inside the metal bands and how to size and fit the bottom of the bucket.            

The course is not long enough for everybody to make a bucket but we should be able to make a couple of buckets.

Saturday May 31st 9:00am - 4:00pm. Port Townsend School of Woodworking in Building 315, Fort Worden.

Class fee is $60   Register on-line at  www.ptwoodschool.com

New Partners at Fort Worden

If you've been to Fort Worden lately you might have noticed some increased activity near the gym and the old power plant. Two new partners have been hard at work setting up shop, providing a rich mix of new activities to visitors at the Fort.

Madrona MindBody Institute

MMI is located in the old 'gym' building at the Fort, and offers movement classes including Nia, Gentle Nia, New to Nia, Pilates, Tribal Fusion Belly Dancing, Yoga, Soul Motion-inspired dance called SoulFull Sundays and Moving Meditation. Visit their website to learn more and to get your whole body and mind into shape.

The Port Townsend School of Woodworking

The Port Townsend School of Woodworking is housed in the old power house at the Fort, and offers courses on cabinet making, furniture making, historic preservation and traditional woodcrafts. Their main website is their formal course catalog and information site. Their companion blog site The Wood Stooges offers commentary on woodworking as well as updates on the event calendar.