Thursday, October 7, 2010

Maloof Inspired School of Woodworking: A Tour

























The Maloof Inspired School of Woodworking is opening in the new studio and school facility October 25th with a Seven Day Build A Maloof Inspired Rocker Class. The studio will provide room for the woodworking publication business ("Build A Maloof Inspired Rocker/ Low Back Dining Chair with Charles Brock") to film more videos for instructional bundles without having to move to another location for filming. The school will have a home for classes without having to move up to Highland Woodworking in Atlanta for a seven day class. My shop, studio and school are now in one location which is a dream come true.

Let me take you on a tour of the facilities. The building is 1,500 square feet located on the edge of town in a new commercial park with plenty of trees and fresh air all around. There are plenty of hotels and and eateries within two miles of the school for student accommodations.

The entire facility has lots of light, high ceilings, air filtering and has split heating and air conditioning systems to provide comfort for every woodworker. The front room of the school is the bench room with five wonderful German Hofmann & Hammer student woodworking benches. Several work stages are also present for showing and working on rockers and chairs without having to get in uncomfortable positions. There is also a hospitality area for cold drinks and coffee. Soon I will have a big screen TV for viewing instructional materials and an occasional ball game while I'm at work. HA!

My workbench, hand tool wall and power tool cabinet dominates the entrance into the machine room. The new Professional SawStop is waiting to safely cut all the various chair joints students will make for their Maloof Inspired rockers, low backs and other "bucket list" projects. A heavy-duty Kreg Router Table with lift is close-by as is a drill press and a lathe. A cutt-off saw is further down the wall and all of these items are supported by dust collection.

The other machine room wall has a 14 inch bandsaw, 8 inch jointer, 20 inch Agazzani band saw and a dust collector cyclone with a muffler providing a safe and clean work environment.

One of my favorites is actually having lumber, project and chair parts storage. This replaces two storage buildings and every corner of my old 24x24 garage shop. We were supposed to have a garage for the first time in the 14 years since we moved to our current house. Immediately my wife moved her stuff into the garage from a storage building. I still can't park my truck in the garage, but neither can she park her car!

I had a Five Day Build A Maloof Inspired Low Back Dining Chair mini-class last week to test things out. A woodworker from Canada and from North Carolina came down and we just had a great and productive time shaking down the new school space.

Yesterday, I journeyed up to Highland Woodworking to pick up a few odds and ends. Some of the odds meaning since we moved I can't find my turner's double stick tape. Some of the ends being some new drill bits, some more "You Can't Ever Have Enough Clamps" clamps and a few items to improve my dust collection systems. I also got a coffee pot to welcome all who have traveled from far and near to take a class, come by to visit or see what in the heck is going on in there! When I returned I was just thrilled to see my new school/ shop and studio.

Come on down and build your Maloof Inspired Rocker with me! Escape the cold of another winter and soak up some southern hospitality (the Taste of Columbus Lunch Tour is a must!) and Maloof Inspired Woodworking at its finest. I have one bench open for the October class and one for the January Class. Call me at 706 366-3152 or email rocknchairman@gmail.com.
To get more information go to the rocker class page at www.charlesbrockchairmaker.com.