The Woodwright's Shop

Learn how to make a shaving horse – one of the most important hand-tool shop fixtures for working with drawknives and spokeshaves.

Spend time with Roy as he shows you how to build one of his favorite projects: a hickory hay rake that is both strong and lightweight.

Join Roy on a tour of the history and development of human powered machines, including one of his favorites: the lathe.

Learn how to build a classic armless rocking chair using traditional tools and techniques. Then create a woven white oak seat for the rocker. Plus, watch as Roy’s guest Bryant Holsenbeck demonstrates how to weave a traditional basket.

Learn how to build a classic armless rocking chair using traditional tools and techniques. Then create a woven white oak seat for the rocker. Plus, watch as Roy’s guest Bryant Holsenbeck demonstrates how to weave a traditional basket.

Watch as Roy demonstrates the steps and hand-hewn joinery used in building traditional log cabins.

Watch and learn as Roy addresses the details of timber framing, including post-and-beam and mortise-and-tenon construction techniques.

Watch as Roy makes a pitchfork and a dough bowl, each from a single piece of wood.

Spend some time at the forge with Roy to learn basic blacksmithing techniques and discover how to create a spike dog (a tool used in timber framing).

Follow along as Roy discusses frame-and-panel construction for doors, and the basic steps for cutting a dovetailed joint.

Travel with Roy to Colonial Williamsburg to take a look at 18th-century craftsmanship including a visit with a wheelwright, a cooper and a blacksmith, as well as a look inside the Anthony Hay Cabinet Shop.