Krenov School (aka College of Redwoods) vs. Inside Passage vs. North Bennett
I’m six years out from retiring from my day job that I have enjoyed. Retirement will include teaching one college chemistry class per semester (I’ve been doing adjunct teaching for a decade for fun and love it) and woodworking. I want to greatly push my woodworking skills and have been fortunate in that I can afford to go to woodworking school. My wife is open to living elsewhere for a while and my kid will be in college near the time I retire (have saved for her college so I don’t need to worry about that expense). I’ve been researching schools and like the three in the title. I will definitely visit the three above. Even took a class this summer from Laura Mays (wonderful instructor). Do you have any thoughts or knowledge about these three schools? Many thanks for your feedback.
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I've taken a class at North Bennett, and have visited many times. It's a fantastic place, and is right in the middle of Boston's historic North End. And, there are many museums and collections of great furniture in the region. Highly recommended.
I only know the others by reputation, and I doubt you could choose wrong. Heck, taking a vacation and getting to see them all in person would be fantastic.
If your wife is open to living elsewhere you're already ON vacation. When does she leave and for how long??
I wasn't very clear MJ, my wife is open to coming with me to wherever I go rather than traveling elsewhere without me (despite how much we joke about it). It would be fun. She is an artist and would probably enjoy the change of scenery for a year or two with me. Empty nesters at that point on our own adventure.
MJ, my compliment on your quick thinking and wit!
You've done your research on the best fits as far as instruction. I don't think many will have a strong opinion on where you should go without knowing more about your personality and preferred style.
Go where you'd like to live for the duration of the program. You're retired. Even though most of your waking hours will be learning and making, you still have to experience the weather, buy groceries, commute, explore locally and interact with the locals.
Are there other woodworking schools that offer 9-12 month programs? Of the schools I've found they either offer a week long program on one topic or it's a 4 year bachelor's degree which I don't need.
I've attended both NBSS and CFC and they each have their own pros and cons.
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Is cost significant to your decision? From their websites:
CA resident tuition at the Krenov school is $845 per semester/$1,690 for the 9 month program.
NBSS tuition is $25,000 per year. It appears financial assistance is available, and there is a financial aid estimator on the website.
Perhaps I didn’t look carefully, but it does not appear that tuition information is available on the Inside Passage website.
NBSS has a three month intensive. Full time 5 days each week.
It’s on my plan in about two to three years when I’ll have had my fill of the career.
Pointing it out as rent in metro Boston can be shockingly high so maybe 12 weeks would be enough.
I’m recommending the session beginning in September so you can enjoy the fall weather in Boston. Best time to be here.
Mike
Thanks all for the feedback so far. I don't think I can go wrong with any of these options and it's a good problem to have. Cost isn't the biggest driver. Not sure which would suit me best. Maybe when I visit them it will be obvious. Living in the SF Bay Area makes me think of everywhere else has more affordable rent though Boston is sure to be on the high side. The reason I'm starting to think of it now is so that I have time to look into it. If there are any pre-requisites, get them completed.
One way to check out the Krevov School is to attend their summer session three week course, "Tools and Techniques". They have a follow on three week course making a simple Krenov style cabinet. I attended the Tools and Techniques course about nine months prior to retiring. It was a blast. The school isn't near the Bay area. Its in a very remote area along the coast. It's my impression that NBSS gives a very solid foundation by students building classic 18th and 19th Century pieces which is quite different than the Krenov School approach. NBSS is in a city environment and Krenov in a remote small town environment.
It's hard to get into the Krenov school summer classes but I do plan on taking both of their three week sessions over the next few years.
I took NBSS's two week (full days) course in hand tools and weekend classes in bowl turning and shellac use. All of them were great and I learned a lot. We toured the shop of the full-time students in the three month and two year programs and met some of them. It's a great program, but as kpupstate suggests, the program is very much oriented toward learning classic design and build skills. Most of the students build a museum piece replica for their final project. If you're geared more toward modern and exploratory designs, probably not your cup of tea. But the skills they teach and the teachers themselves are great -- it really supercharged my work.
Thanks. Chris Schwarz for the past few months has been running an aske me anything type post on Saturdays. Sometimes he also has guests who run it. It's worth reading. One week I asked him about NBSS, Krenov School, and Center for Furniture Craftmanship. He came to the same conclusion that you did. I just need to sort out what I want. All good problems.
I've taken the 2 week, 8 hours a day class in hand tools at NBSS, and one or two day classes on bowl turning and French polishing. The instructors are great, the facilities, too. You'll generally be working with Powermatic-level power tools (they do use SawStop table saws a lot) and you'll be using a lot of your own hand tools.
During the 2-week class, we toured and met some of the 6- and 24-month students and teachers. One thing I'd say about the longer programs is that they emphasize traditional, 19th century styles and techniques. Federal-style inlays, hand carving claw feet -- that kind of thing. Drawing life-sized blueprints and using them as a reference. If you're interested in modern stuff, I'm not sure if they're offering much in that way (it's been about 10 years since I went). But everything I learned there propelled my skills forward and I still use most of it.
You should check out the Center for Furniture Craftsmanship in Maine. It's also a great school. https://woodschool.org/
Thanks John. I have. It's now on the list. So many good options. I'm excited.
Just to let you know John, I'm now on their mailing list and have been watching some videos about this school. Very impressive. Thanks.
Since your a California resident at a price point the Krenov School is a really good value. Many,many thousands of dollars less than the North Bennett school. Fort Bragg is not a small town. Its more a small city. 8000 or so people not including tourists which at times can be alot . It's a little strange burg, geriatric hippies and quite a few retired Hells Angel's ,possibly more marijuana injested per capita than anywhere in the world! but it's the Mendocino Coast and a lot to do. Bars and restaurants,probably more than they need. There will be places to rent and I think there are some people that specifically rent to Krenov students. Airbnb has sucked up a lot of the available rentals but in Ft.Bragg ,the town, it shouldn't be a problem. The town itself is not a romantic weekend destination! Expect to pay $1000 + for a dumpy one bedroom and beyond that the sky's the limit because it is the California coast after all. Ft. Bragg is not that terribly far from other bigger places including your own house for that matter. In the area in general there is a pretty thriving woodworking community and probably partly because of the school.
Thanks Pantalones and others. I can elaborate a bit. My wife and I are quite familiar with Ft. Bragg. We have stayed there a number of times over the years. Glass beach is one of our favorite spots in the world. In fact, we like the area so much so that it is on the short list of potential areas we would want to retire to (I've been on a relator list for homes for sale since 2009). I even proposed to my wife in Ft. Bragg. The savings as a CA resident is not lost on me. The schools where I grew up in CA were horrible so my parents sent me to private schools to get a good education. It would be nice to tap into CA based public education that I and my family really hasn't utilzied that much. I could rationalize that if I got into the Krenov School, with that savings I could buy an RV (something we've been looking at for a long time and want to get when we retire to go RVing - we've rented them several times and are hooked on it). I took a class from Laura Mays this summer and really liked her teaching style. I do plan on going to both three week summer classes there (one per year as getting three weeks off is tough enough).
As for my style of furniture making I don't know. I've made a lot of shaker stuff and find Federal style very nice. Having said that, I like Krenov's style a lot as well. What I would like to do after I finish is see if I can't get some sort of "internship" with a woodworker and do a completely different style than what I had at the woodworking school. Why you ask? Well, after my Ph.D. in chemistry, it was strongly encouraged that when we Post Doc, we do something different just to open us up to different styles and experiences.
These are all good problems to have. I don't know how hard it is to get in any of these places so maybe I end up applying to all three, only get in one and the universe decides for me.
Mostly, I just know I want to get better at woodworking and spend a good chunk of my free time in retirement making awesome stuff. I would love to spend 2,000 hours working on one piece of furniture that is intricate. All in all, good problems to have.
What is exciting is that when I decided in 1987 I wanted to be an organic chemist, my career path has been somewhat known. Venturing into retirement, I really don't have a clear vision yet. It's full of potential and that is exciting to me.
By the way, Boston is an awesome town. I've been there half a dozen to dozen times in my life and just love it. Said to myself 20 years ago, that I'd like to live there someday so going to NB would be fun. I love the Pacific Northwest and lived in the Seattle WA area for four years and was somewhat sad to leave (lack of a decent sized biotech industry in the area). Going to Inside Passage gets me to the general area again and it being on a smaller island now is appealing.
Mostly, I don't think as others have said, I could make a wrong decision. What is also bouncing around in the back of my mind is when I finish woodworking school, do I want to stay local to the area where I attended school because of the connections I've made there. I don't know. The other two key requirements of where I end up is decent hospitals (I will be getting older and though in good health I know there will be more medical stuff as I age) and some sort of junior college at a minimum. I love love love teaching chemistry and want to teach one class a year or semester. Hoping that I might convince the school I'm at to offer some sort of intro to hand tool woodworking class. Where I teach chemistry one night a week now, they have a lot of activity based classes such as ball room dancing, rock climbing, etc. If I'm willing to teach it I am sure I could convince the to offer it. May have to make the benches, etc but that would be ok.
All in all lots of good problems ahead while I sort this out. I appreciate the feedback.
In actuality if money is not the problem ,I would --- if I were me, I like to say--- the Bennett school is more attractive. It's more of a trade school and they sound like they focus more on the fundamentals. Leave the art out of it. The school in BC seems too intimate ,they were down to 3 students during the plague. Not enough bounce and it's all things Krenov by the sounds of it . That's not bad but it's kind of one dimensional. Also,thinking about your wife it's seems there is nothing else there. I live by a beach, there is only so much beach walking that you can do,although my dog would disagree with that. I don't know if The Krenov School is as dedicated to his legacy or not. I would hope that it's more than trying to make a bunch of Krenov's. It's no longer College of the Redwoods but Mendocino Community College....and Krenov isn't there and that could be a huge difference! No one can know everything that was in his head!
I've heard that MIT has one of the best furniture,furniture design programs going. If they've got one I'm sure it is! I mean if your going to Boston.....and you might have the background to get in the door.
You could make a fortune in Mendocino County teaching how to properly produce CBD oil! Or any other form of Breaking Bad chemistry.....
The other direction you can go is take classes at them all. In the Northeast there is the Center for Furniture Craftsmanship, AL Breed's school, Maine Coast Craft Scool and the Maine Coast Workshop, all in Maine! Then there is the fantastic Connecticut Valley School of Woodworking, week-long classes at North Bennett, and the Rhode Island School of Design. Lonnie Bird has a school, and there's the Woodworking Workshops of the Shenandoah Valley. The Woodcraft in Norfolk VA has some world class courses. There's the Florida School of Woodwork in Tampa. Lost Art Press has some classes now and then.
So, you can pick courses to focus on a project, or to build a skill. If you want to dip your toes in a lot of things, it's an alternative to a 9 or 12 month intensive. And there's lots of things for your wife to see and doing all those places.
I do plan to take a yearly course somewhere each year. Part of that is to visit and try out schools and to build skills. I'm thinking for 2023 to either take a class on ball and claw carving. I want to learn this skill. All good problems to have. This year I took a dovetail class and am spending at least six months working exclusively on dovetail type projects to further hone the skill.
I was just in Ft Bragg for a mini-vacay with my wife. I can second Pantalones's thoughts. Since you're familiar with Ft Bragg, I won't further extol its many virtues, except to pass along a recommendation that next time you're there you take in a dinner at KW Saltwater Grill. Good eats.
As a retiree/woodworker, I'm hoping for a chance to buy a gutted full-size van and use my skills to transform it into an RV. I'd love to make it Krenov-style (though I acknowledge that would be some sort of challenge). Bennet Street would be my second choice.
I'm partial to the Center for Furniture Craftsmanship. Their 12 week program is extraordinary. My script for you--this is fun!--would be to take the 12 week program at CFC (the facilities are great, they mentor to your design interests, not theirs, and the area is beautiful especially if you like coastal Maine, great restaurants, blueberries though also mosquitoes) and then fill in with one and two week topical workshops at other top schools. I've done 12 weeks at CFC and would do it all over again.
Given the industry I am in (biotech in small start up companies), it's not that uncommon (every 3 to 5 years) to be between jobs for a few weeks to few months. The next time that happens, I very much plan to take a 12 week program somewhere.
Given that you say your wife is an artist as well, I believe there is only one choice - North Bennet Street. The proximity to Providence's art culture and the Rhode Island School of Design are a definite plus. Happy wife, happy life.
Happy wife, happy life is definitely a motto I live by. Given there isn't a rush to sort this out, I will visit the various key schools and bring her along as well. If she hates one area, it's probably off the list. If she absolutely loves one area, good chance that's where we go. If I only get into one school, well, then the universe has selected for me. I really have no idea how hard it is to get into any of these schools. Probably hard to make a bad decision if I get my wife's feedback.
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Joe, I am retired and spending my money on woodworking or traveling. I attended the Krenov two summer programs and found the training well worth the time invested. They have a complete machine room with all the equipment in tip-top shape. There is a heavy emphasis on hand tools. The first class project is to make two Krenov-style hand planes that perform splendidly and that you will use for the rest of your life.
I found the instructors and staff to be top-notch.
I was the oldest guy in the class, but that did not seem to create any problems for myself or my fellow students.
Getting into the school can be somewhat of a challenge because they are part of the Mendocino Community College system. Their website is set up for 18-year-olds, not for someone like me who wants to take a summer course. If you are a Vet, you will go to the top of the list. If you are not on the list, you must complete all your paperwork and entrance tests before registration opens. Once registration opens, there seems to be an 8-hour window to get into a class of about 18 students. In my class, there were people from all over the United States and one person from Sweden.
You know Fort Bragg and the housing situation. I stayed in my motorhome and still paid $1,000 a month.
I highly recommend this school and its six-week summer program.
Thanks for the feedback. Very much hoping to get into the 3 week summer classes at Krenov school. Ideally take the 1st one this year and the second one next summer.
I have taken a two week class at The Center for Furniture Craftsmanship. The instructors I had were great, thoughtful and addressed what I needed. They definitely adapt to the style you want to work in as long as it is within the subject matter. The area is wonderful and every Wednesday is lobster time at the school and a good game of croquet. I assume that is still going on. My only issue at the time I took the class was getting into the machine rooms to work with the tool I needed at the time. Perhaps they have expanded the number of some often used tools. So you may want to check that out. I stayed in a above the garage bonus room with all items I needed. It was great and the school can be helpful in finding what you need. Hope this helps. Taking a class is a great idea and will propel you forward.
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North Bennett. Don't waste your time elsewhere. If Krenov were still alive my answer wouldn't necessarily be so blunt.
I don't mind a blunt answer but would appreciate a bit more detail.
For those wanting to attend the North Bennet school as a hobbyist: there is a section devoted to full scale drawings and everything that goes with that. Are there references available to the public demonstrating these techniques? It would be helpful for the older applicant.
Aren't schools "third party services for training?"
And it's not hard to find really good schools for woodworking. There are a lot of great schools out there.
I've been digging a bit based on feedback from here as well as other stuff I've been finding. There are a lot of good schools. Almost too many choices. I will land somewhere.
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