The Workbench

This place is fantastic! I’ve been obsessed with reading about woodworking of all sorts whether it be magazines, books, you tube videos, etc. I have had a harder time time actually committing any of this newfound book knowledge to use because of the lack of tools. Unfortunately woodworking is one of those hobbies that by and large require a large assortment of tools to do various projects. While many of these tools can be useful for even the regular homeowner into DIY (router, band saw, table saw, palm sander, various hand tools) several other tools are needed depending on the project. While I own most of the tools mentioned above one I don’t have is the lathe. It’s also one of those tools that I couldn’t justify buying without trying because a) Wood spinning at 1000rpm is a little scary b) I would prefer to have some instruction prior to purchase c) Why spend the money on a machine for it to collect dust because I’m just not that into it. Enter Easthampton School of Woodworking/​The Workbench. Aside from offering an intensive 6 month cabinet building program they also offer several weeknight and weekend classes that cover various topics. I perused through their list of available classes and saw an introductory lathe class for $ 80 which accounted for the material for the mallet you would make and also the 6 hours of instruction. Not too shabby.
Location/​Amenities: This place is pretty flipping stellar Its housed in an old factory building with several different rooms setup with various workbenches for use with hand tools, large woodworking power machinery, and in the back is a room with their lathes available for classes and open shop time.
Instructor: Our class was taught by Brian who attended the North Bennet Street School of Woodworking (pretty esteemed school). He did a great job of giving our class of 5 individual instruction when necessary and also partitioning out the group instruction in manageable pieces so as not to inundate us with information.
Open Shop Time: While I haven’t used this resource I can see where it would be amazing. Aside from having the wood necessary for the project, the amount of machines necessary to dimension rough cut lumber can be quite expensive and take up a lot of space in your workshop area. Many people can’t justify the space or the expense to own these machines, or perhaps they’re reluctant to buy any of the big power tools because of cost or safety hazards of the machines. The great thing about this place is on Thursdays from 6:30 — 9:30PM they have open shop where once you demonstrate you can safely use their machines you can log in to a computer that tracks your hours (~$ 10/​hr), and use their machinery. Not only do you have access to their machines but you also can use the staff that is overseeing open shop to ask for help if you run into an issue. I personally don’t own a jointer/​planer (needed for dimensioning lumber), but I would certainly use theirs and save quite a bit of money buying the wood rough cut vice s4s (smooth on all sides) and finishing it myself.
Overall: It was an awesome experience and I’m currently searching Craigslist and auctions for a quality vintage lathe (I’m a sucker for anything old). It’s pretty amazing turning a straight piece of wood into a useable tool in the course of an hour. Highly recommended if you have an interest for woodworking, or would like access to larger tools that you may not own. This would also be a good gift for a spouse, sign them up for a class, who doesn’t like a guy/​girl that can create something with their own two hands.