Darrell teaches from his experience. In the beginning—before he made it on his own—Darrell worked two jobs: primarily as an employee in various high end custom contract shops, and then in his off hours, he built made-to-order studio furniture in his own shop. His methods and materials used reflect both these experiences.

In one of Darrell’s classes, you might employ traditional joinery machined with a router and a CNC-made jig. His drawers are, by default, hung on waxed wooden runners (shop made), but if the drawer calls for full extension or heavy files, European metal slides will be employed.

Much of his construction is of solid wood, but if a veneer will do the job better, he has no aversion to its use.

Darrell practices what he calls “Precision Woodworking.” This starts with CAD-produced drawings and relies upon precise measurements using dial indicators and Vernier calipers.

Chisels and card scrapers are used, along with a lot of hand shaping and sanding, to achieve the Greene & Greene elements. Hand planes are used infrequently.

Darrell’s class sizes are limited to four students. This makes for a more relaxed atmosphere, but also allows Darrell to spend more time with each student. Time permitting, excursions can be taken to talk about furniture design or the different processes Darrell uses—neither topics takes much coaxing for Darrell to get started.

We hope your experience in one of Darrell’s home shop classes will be unique. You can expect a more relaxed and freer flow of knowledge and more one-on-one attention as well. There is one thing you can expect much less of, though: waiting times on tools and machines.

Hope to see you there!