Carve Your Path: Wood Working Basics from Forest to Finish

Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday
May 20th - 22nd, 2025
5:00 PM - 7:00 PM on Tuesday, 5:00 PM - 8:00 PM on Wednesday and Thursday
Tuition: $104, Materials: $15 (sliding scale pricing available)

Join us for this three day class that explores the basics of wood carving and sets students up to continue the lifelong skill of creating their own practical and beautiful daily use tools.

Day One: Students will gather outside in a stand of woods, walk through the forest, and talk about wood selection. The class will select wood and start by splitting and carving chopsticks and tools for future use like strops. The focus will be on basic tool use and keeping. 

Day Two: Review knife maintenance strop tools before diving in to carving techniques and styles to make butter knives introduce big stock tools.

Day Three: Start spoons, introduce hook knives today, and use past skills on bulk removal tools and tool use. The class will finish by discussing further carving goals and opportunities!

Students should plan to leave with a leather strop for straight and curved tools, a set of chopsticks, a butter knife, spoon, and information packet with links for future knowledge.

About your instructor: Amos Kolodji has been a canoe and winter guide in Northern Minnesota for the past couple years. From these trips a love for making tools was born. Those tools have included paddles bowls knives and yes spoons. Anything that could be used in the woods. Also since these trips were primarily youth trips he has enjoyed sharing the skills he has learned with others. He has previously taught spoon carving and paddle making classes for the UMD Outdoor Program.