All Courses by Craft Focus

Early Bird Pricing in Effect until 90 Days before Class Begins

Multiple Dates
6 Day Workshop, Meals Included

A deep dive into the foundation of Japanese woodworking. Students will learn how to sharpen and set up chisels and kanna planes, use saws, chop clean mortises and cut tenons, and practice basic layout techniques used in both furniture and timber work. This is the class for building strong habits with hand tools—accuracy through repetition, patience through care. Expect to spend as much time at the stone as at the bench.

Early Bird Pricing in Effect until 90 Days before Class Begins

Jun 26, 2026 – Jul 5, 2026
Jun 25, 2027 – July 4, 2027
10 Day Workshop, Meals Included

A full-scale, immersive project course. Students will join a team to cut and raise a small cabin inspired by traditional Japanese minka farmhouses. Learn each stage — layout, joinery, fitting, and final raising — guided by rhythm and teamwork. This is an intensive build for those ready to work long hours and see a complete structure come to life.

Early Bird Pricing in Effect until 90 Days before Class Begins

May 1, 2026 – May 4, 2026
4 Day Workshop, Materials and Meals Included

A hands-on project applying joinery and layout skills to a simple but refined tool box—an essential piece in any Japanese craft shop. Students will plane, chisel, and fit each joint with a close attention to detail, learning how precision and restraint give elegance to utility. You’ll leave with a finished tool box ready to hold your growing kit of Japanese tools.

Early Bird Pricing in Effect until 90 Days before Class Begins

May 5, 2026 – May 7, 2026
3 Day Workshop, Meals Included

Learn to fell trees with confidence and read the grain of the log before you ever pick up a saw. This course covers chainsaw safety and control, traditional hewing with axe and adze, and the process of laying out center lines on irregular timbers, including natural curved beams. You’ll begin to understand how the forest becomes structure—and how much care that transformation deserves.

Early Bird Pricing in Effect until 90 Days before Class Begins

May 8, 2026 – May 10, 2026
3 Day Workshop, Meals Included

An introduction to the vertical layout techniques used in traditional Japanese buildings. Students will learn the art of scribing timbers to irregular stone foundations, transferring reference lines, and marking joinery for upright posts. This is precise, patient work—bridging geometry, gravity, and intuition to make timber meet stone as if it grew there.

Early Bird Pricing in Effect until 90 Days before Class Begins

Jul 27, 2026 – Jul 30, 2026 - Registration Closes July 26
4 Day Workshop, Meals Included

This workshop focuses on two iconic, and critical Japanese joints. Students will learn to layout and cut the kanawa tsugi (interlocking, wedged scarf joint) and the shachi sen tsugi (key wedged tenon joint) using both traditional hand tools and power tools. Precision, control, and understanding of order are emphasized. This is ideal for those already confident in basic timber framing and seeking advanced-level joinery.