Production Masterclass

Our Production Masterclass is Dunstone Design’s way to share some of our specialist knowledge with the wider woodworking community. Using our multi-award-winning Waterfall Stool as a teaching aid, you’ll learn how to design for production, how to configure and employ a wide range of jigs, how to work as a team and how to safely and efficiently use key traditional woodworking equipment, from the humble bandsaw through to the versatile spindle moulder. Using three timbers with distinctly different working characteristics (blackwood, jarrah and rock maple) you’ll learn how different species react to the same processes. You’ll experience the capacity of professional grade machinery, learn pace-of-work and use the actual jigs and methods developed over 23 years of continuous production. (read here for more information)

Our Production Masterclass is supported by the Woodworkers Association of NSW, The Gottstein Trust and Britton Timbers.

The Woodworkers Association of NSW will sponsor one resident of NSW between the age of 18 and 32 to attend the Production Masterclass. Click here for the Application Form.

The Gottstein Trust will sponsor one maker from outside NSW between the age of 18 and 32 to attend the Production Masterclass. Click here for the Application Form.

Britton Timbers Sydney is proudly sponsoring all the timber used in the 2024 Production Masterclass.

We take nine students on the Production Masterclass. Two places are reserved for the sponsored students and seven places are open to the general public. If you are a woodworking enthusiast, an aspiring professional or a practicing maker, this course will teach you how to get the best performance out of your equipment. You will be taught by Evan Dunstone, Alex MacFarlane and William Bayliss, with a teacher/student ratio of 1 to 3.

The course fee of $2,650 Incl. GST includes all the materials for one Waterfall stool in the timber of your choice. An additional stool is available for $300+GST per stool (total limit of 2 stools per person). A deposit of $550 incl. GST is payable at the time of booking. You will be invoiced for the remaining $2,100 incl. GST two weeks out from the course start date. A refund of $350 incl. GST will be issued for any booking cancelled prior to Friday 13th September. A cancellation after Friday 13th September will forfeit any refund.

This course is suitable for intermediate and advanced woodworkers. Email evan@dunstonedesign.com.au for more information.

Morning tea and lunch is provided. The class runs 8:30am to 4pm, Monday14th October to Friday 18th October, 2024.

What to wear.

You must wear enclosed stout footwear. Boots are ideal, but steel caps are not mandatory. It could be quite cool during the week, so please dress accordingly.

What to bring;

Please bring your own PPE (Personal Protective Equipment) of dusk mask, hearing protection and eye protection. We can supply you with all these, but you will be most comfortable in equipment that you are familiar with. You will not need to bring any tools. 

Location

Dunstone Design Global, 3/5 Aurora Pl, Queanbeyan, NSW.

Dear Evan,

It’s a little over a year since I attended your Production Masterclass, and I thought I would write and offer my thoughts on the course after having had time to reflect on it and apply
it to my own woodworking.

My immediate impression after the course was that I learnt a lot and really enjoyed the experience. 12 months later I am still drawing upon what I learned and applying it in my
own workshop.

For me the most valuable aspect of the course was gaining knowledge and insights which have really helped me develop my thinking from that of a maker of one-off creations
towards managing my own small-scale production run environment. I’ve also found that this mindset shift has had a positive effect on my work practices when working on one-off
pieces. I also came away from the course with some new woodworking skills.

Whilst we used a production run of about 20 stools as the teaching medium I found most of the knowledge and skills I acquired were not specific to chair making but could be
effectively applied to making multiples of almost any woodworking project. I thought the stools were a good choice for the course given they have a mix of unique, duplicated, and
mirror image components and involve so many processes during their construction. I also liked that we used four different timbers and saw how their individual characteristics
impacted on some of the production processes.

Having yourself, Alex, and William all playing an active part in teaching us during the week really added to the experience. I found it reassuring that you each had different
approaches to the same task on occasion and took the time to explain why. No ‘one true way’ preaching at Dunstone Design! I was also very impressed with the approach to safety
within your workshop and the emphasis on the why as well as the how when it came to talking about safe work practices.

I appreciated the chance to work with and discuss the pros and cons of so many different woodworking machines over the week. I had no prior experience with machinery such as
the spindle moulder and had only used much smaller versions of others like Goliath the bandsaw. The knowledge and hands-on experience I gained has already influenced my
own machinery purchasing decisions.

I would absolutely recommend the course to anyone wanting to expand their woodworking beyond a hobby making the occasional one-off project.

Thank you again, Paul (NSW)