Welcoming Stewart Furini to the School in 2027

I'm glad to say that Stewart Furini RPT will be joining us at the school in 2027. He's bringing two days that take us somewhere new: decoration, texture and colour.

Who is Stewart?

Stewart has taught woodturning and decorative techniques for nearly ten years, and he demonstrates regularly at clubs and events in the UK, Europe and the USA. Before that, he spent thirty years teaching in a comprehensive school, which is better preparation for a workshop than you might expect. It gave him patience, a talent for encouragement, and the ability to give confidence to someone who arrives sure they can't.

What I like most is how he sees the job. He treats it as his responsibility that you enjoy the day and leave having learned something. His favourite moment is when a student begins a question with "What if…", because that is what these days are really about. Exploration, with room to follow your own ideas.

Two days, two ways to add character to your work

Stewart is bringing two courses. You can take one or both, and neither asks much of you beforehand. If you can turn a simple shallow bowl with a little support, you have everything you need to start.

Woodturning and Airbrushing, An Introduction

This class is running on Friday 19th March and Saturday 12th June 2027.

Enjoy a full day spent learning to use an airbrush to add colour and decoration to a wide-rimmed shallow bowl, which you turn on the day.

The morning starts with the safety essentials, then moves to the airbrush itself: the basic strokes, the controls, and how to clean it. After that you'll work with stencils, templates and masking, and you'll see how quickly simple methods build into detailed, intricate patterns. One word of warning, though: Don't grow too attached to your morning's work, because it goes on the back of a blank you'll be turning away later!

Over lunch, you can think through your ideas for the afternoon. Then you'll shape the back of the blank, prepare the rim, and commit to your design. Stewart will show you how to finish with sealer and lacquer before you hollow out the centre.

By the end of the day you'll know how an airbrush works, how to strip it down to clean it, and how to change colours without a mess. You'll have airbrushed geometric patterns, three-dimensional effects and graduated colour, and you'll understand what masking makes possible. Any doubts about not being artistic should be a good deal quieter by then.

Get Started with Power Carving

If you'd rather add texture than colour, this is your day. It's a full-day introduction running on Saturday 20th March and Friday 11th June 2027 and will introduce you to the power tools that bring carving into your turning, and if you want to add colour to those textures too, Stewart covers that as well.

You'll spend the morning trying things out: rotary tools, angle grinders, die grinders. You'll feel the difference between a surface cut with a carbide rasp and one cut with carbide tips, find the finer textures that come from end mills and dental burrs, and work big, sweeping ripples and curves with the larger rasp blades before stepping in with finer tools for the detail. After lunch comes the project. You take everything from the morning and make a textured piece to bring home.

It follows on well from the airbrushing day, though there's no need to do them in any order. And if you've ever wanted to try these tools before spending money on your own, this is an easy way to learn what suits you.

By the end you'll have handled a good range of power tools and learned a set of textures for wide-rimmed shallow bowls. You'll have seen how different cutters behave in the wood, and how careful sanding refines the surface afterwards. If you've added colour, you'll have tried several ways of doing it. Most of all, I hope you'll have seen how much power carving opens up.

A few practical notes

Everything you need is provided on both days: wood, carving and turning tools, all the finishing materials, and the safety kit, which includes a face shield, gloves, ear protection and a mask. Bring your own tools if you have favourites. Bring a smock if you own one, or just wear clothes you don't mind getting dusty and catching a spot or two of paint. No open-toed footwear, please.

When?

Both days run in 2027 as per the details on the pages and above and are bookable with a 30% non-refundable deposit up to nine months in advance. Join our mailing list below to be kept informed of when classes become available and rare cancellations.