My three brothers, dad and I just finished up a week long timber framing course here at Heartwood. It was a pretty good experience. Pros: Michelle - She manages the business end and handles meals. She was incredibly helpful and always very pleasant. Dave - He's one of two instructors and most of what I got out of the course came from working with him one-on-one. He's super talented and all of my encounters with him were positive. I (along with most other people in the course) sought Dave out for any questions and help. The food - Michelle put together a great lunch every day. The skill set - I walked away from this week confident that I could handle basic layouts and build a structure using the skills I learned here (which is the whole point of the course). The safety - The instructors take safety very seriously and quickly react to any questionable behaviors. Cons: Class size - There were 26 people enrolled in the course including four "apprentices" which left two instructors who knew what they were doing to teach all of us. Organization - The first half day was spent sitting in a classroom watching minimally helpful overhead sheets and the second half watching demos. It would have been very easy to integrate hands on exercises on scrap wood and mix this information in over time. Barn raising - Friday was dedicated to assembling the frame we built Tuesday through Thursday. There were too many hands for too little work. Dave said you need a max of fourteen people to raise a structure like the one we built. You had to actively fight to participate. The "apprentices" - Really two of the four were actually pretty good and cared about learning. The other two seemed to cause more problems than they fixed. Ultimately I learned a lot from Dave while I was here (and Brad, another instructor who was there for one day was also great). Will was pretty impatient and not particularly helpful. The mix of people who were taking the course was about 50% carpenters (some with timber framing experience and some without) and 50% from random backgrounds (some teachers, a cobbler, some IT folk, a student, etc). Everyone was able to keep up and a carpentry background really isn't necessary. The group instruction wasn't that helpful but if you take the time to seek out knowledgable staff (or peers who have already done a piece you're working on) you can learn a lot here. It's really what you make of it. If you're looking to get a basic crash course in timber framing this is a good place to get it (despite class size and some other kinks). You can make as many mistakes as you need to (and should, this is a great way to learn) and someone will be able to show you how to correct it before you try this on your own. read more

Heartwood School - Our week's labor - Specialty Schools Near Me - Alstead, New Hampshire