# Roy Underhill Woodwrigth's school in Pittsboro, NC



## WayneC (Mar 8, 2007)

It sounds like a great school. Thanks for sharing.


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## a1Jim (Aug 9, 2008)

Sounds like fun. I met Roy in Portland a couple years ago when he was teaching a class on making your own spring pole lathe.
He is great guy just like you said, he's the real deal on PBS. I'm sure we all would learn a lot if we all could attend his class.


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## lysdexic (Mar 21, 2011)

I've got to make it a point to get there. It is only a couple of hours away.


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## doordude (Mar 26, 2010)

it sounds like a fun class to take. besides the two day workout; did you get breaks at 10 am and 2 pm?


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## twokidsnosleep (Apr 5, 2010)

That sounds like a cool experience, I bet it was just a blast and time flew by like nothing
Good for you!


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## Bertha (Jan 10, 2011)

That dude's got skills.


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## yrob (May 26, 2008)

Deke, I was taking notes on the board when Roy was explaining. did not have a piece of paper handy…


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## helluvawreck (Jul 21, 2010)

That sure is one place I would love to go to if I ever have time. I love that guy.


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## Smitty_Cabinetshop (Mar 26, 2011)

That's the Mecca for hand toolers, I'm thinking. Would love to go. Great review, thanks!


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## Chipy (Apr 20, 2011)

Not only a gifted craftsman but dam funny sometimes! I swear the guy could have been comedian!


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## rance (Sep 30, 2009)

I want to take his DT class sooooooooooo bad. Can't justify it right now though. Eventually. Thanks for the review.


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## dustyal (Nov 19, 2008)

Didn't know he had a school… thanks for sharing.


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## yrob (May 26, 2008)

He opened it two years ago. The school website is http://www.woodwrightschool.com/ . He is going to post a new schedule for October in the coming days soon.


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## thebigvise (Jun 17, 2010)

One of his obvious strengths is one of my clear weaknesses: he knows how to keep his tools sharp.


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## yrob (May 26, 2008)

Speaking of sharpening, he uses two stones. One medium grit India stone and one finer Arkansas stone. 
Put snake oil on it (well once, we pressed him he did admit it was olive oil.. ) and sharpen freehand.

The grind is established with a hand grinder. A pretty neat little tool. I would love to find one of those at auctions or ebay. He does not know at what angle its ground. His answer as, I do not know, I find whatever is optimal for a given chisel. If the angle is too small for the steel, the edge will chip. If he sees that, he just regrinds with a bigger angle until it works for that chisel. For a chisel that already has a grind, touching it up takes maybe 1-2 minutes on the india stone and then another minute on the arkansas stone. He has a microscope that he uses to look at the edge to check if its ground and then smooth all the way to it.


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## dafus (Aug 26, 2011)

I came to Chapel Hill about 45 years ago, and I remember reading an advertisement in a local paper for a class Roy was going to conduct-I believe it was in chair-making-and even then he was fully committed to the woodworking techniques he uses to this day. I was a new assistant professor with two small kids and in no position to take it, but it has been a pleasure and something of a wonder to see how he has built a career based on his woodworking. His TV course began locally a few years later, and has run every year ever since. He is a treasure!


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