Welcome to Connecticut Valley School of Woodworking
We pride ourselves in hosting many of this country’s top instructors to provide a truly superior experience for students at all skill levels.
The majority of our classes are hands on, and whether it is a “skills” class with the school’s director, Bob Van Dyke, a carving class with Mary May or a project class with a nationally known instructor like Steve Latta or Mike Pekovich, you are always assured of a top-notch learning experience.
CVSW stands out from other schools because we intentionally keep our class sizes small, and we strive to provide the highest quality lumber, the highest quality machines and the finest hand tools. We realize that your time in class is limited and that you are here to learn the finer points of woodworking- be it woodturning, carving, furniture making or finishing and our unremitting attention to detail allows you to concentrate on learning the skills at hand and not get bogged down in the basics of sharpening or the milling of lumber- unless that is the focus of the class you are taking. Limiting classes to 8 students allows plenty of one-on-one opportunity with the instructor, and an added benefit is that the sanity of the instructor is maintained!
Classes are conducted in a variety of formats to suit the unique needs of our students. They include one or two-day weekend classes, structured “Series” classes that meet one or two nights per week for 4 to 12 weeks, week-long intensive classes and more.
Our staff of experienced instructors bring with them a wide variety of skills and interests from many disciplines, but an intense passion to share their knowledge with students is common to them all. That passion is contagious, as evidenced by the countless positive comments, and large numbers of students who return year after year.
What are people saying?
Just wanted to thank you again for a wonderful class this week.
You’ve kickstarted my enthusiasm for woodworking even further and look forward to taking many future classes with you!
Thanks again and see you around.
Bob,
Enjoyed the class immensely, looking forward to more of what CVSW has to offer…appreciate your personal dedication to making the experience the best for participants with varying skill levels.
Thank you for teaching such a great class on making and veneering a box last week. Every day I learned more things I’ve never done before, including cutting dovetails on the table saw/bandsaw and router; understanding, selecting and applying veneer; attaching hinges (which I’ve done, but never so easily) and banding. I’ve got a series of boxes for different purposes that I want to make this year and your class totally blew up the way I’m thinking of them (in a good way).
It was exhausting but you were there before us and stayed after every day. Pretty much everything was prepped and pre-set when we got there. I don’t know how you do it, even with a great 2nd like Doug.
I look forward to taking many more classes at your school and will think of you when I use your cutting gauge (and when we eat at Luc’s).