Intro to Woodworking: Cheese Knives (Inclusion Series)

Gain confidence in your woodworking knowledge, and leave with a cheese knife in a wood you pick!

In this cheese knife class we will go over some basic woodworking techniques and how to perform them safely. Each student will be able to design, make, and finish their own cheese knife to take home with them. This will be very beginner friendly, and also a lot of fun for everyone!
Please wear close-toed shoes, full length pants, and no loose/dangly garments or jewelry. We will provide PPE like safety glasses, dust masks, etc. but you are welcome to bring your own. Otherwise, just bring yourself and be ready to have a good time!
Age 16+, under 18 MUST be accompanied by a guardian.
This workshop is part of our “Inclusion” series where we invite anyone who may not feel comfortable using these tools to join us in the metal or wood shop (or both!), learn some new skills, and meet other people who are also new to this! All of our instructors for this series are prepared for complete beginners, we hope you will join us!

Donald Shockley has been interested in woodworking since 1977. “I have made a lot of sawdust in my life. The feel of wood in my hand and the sound of saws, rasps, planes, and sandpaper are relaxing to me.
Over the years I have made everything from clipboards to hat racks to cutting boards, bowls, ink pens, rolling pins, and platters. I’ve worked with woods from around the world Ebony, from Africa, Brazilian cherry, Mesquite from the Southwest, as well as any domestic woods you can think of. I’ve used exotic materials such as water Buffalo horn, deer and elk antlers. When you make something out of a block of wood you put your heart and soul into that item; if you try to sell an item you will never earn what you have put into it because a part of you is in every item you make.
I love teaching people the techniques that I have learned over the years because I respect the people that taught me and I want to pass that on to the next generation. Hopefully someone that I teach about woodworking will go on years from now and teach future generations to come! I want to thank the Inventor Center for giving me the opportunity to share my knowledge, it is an honor to be able to teach people that have an interest in woodworking. I do not know everything by any stretch of the imagination but I am more than willing to share what little knowledge I have gathered over the years.”