Visited St. Roy's New School - With Pictures!

Status
Not open for further replies.

AAAndrew

New User
Andrew
I'm cross posting this with the Old Tools list as I think that for y'all it's a little closer to home.

I played hookey from work today for a long lunch in the sunshine and
drove the 30 minutes down the road to Pittsboro, NC where Roy
Underhill is opening up a school for Galoot woodworking classes. I've
been hearing rumors and when I ran into him at the Woodworking in
America conference we spoke briefly about it. He was still waiting for
the benches and insurance to begin classes.

Well, he definitely has the benches! It looks all ready to go. It also
looks like a little slice of galoot heaven.

Now, you'll have to forgive the poor quality of photos, but I was
standing outside the windows looking in and taking pictures with my
iPhone on a sunny day.

That said...

Here's a view of the shop from the door.
IMG_0392.jpg

There are ten benches, a spring pole lathe, a tredal wheel jigsaw and
a bunch of other stuff. Each bench has a carpenter's square lined up
along the corner, a small clamp, a bench hook and an assortment of
galootish tools underneath.

On the left side (facing in) is a saw sharpening bench with a backsaw
in the saw vise. (that giant plane is made of wood, including the
"iron")
IMG_0393.jpg


Here's the left side again along with a bit of my finger. You can also
see the lathe on the right, and behind it the dark-colored pedal
jigsaw. Behind that is his little Roubo-ette bench.
IMG_0394.jpg

Not sure what this is, but the window has plenty of odd bits and
pieces of things he's done on this show along with some whats-its and
a big old post drill.

IMG_0395.jpg

IMG_0396.jpg

IMG_0399.jpg



On the right side is a station with some sharpening things as well as
a couple of microscopes. Notice the picture of FDR up on the wall and
a poster from the WPA advising you to "Wear Your Goggles". You can
also see the reflection of another WPA poster that's in the front
window like they used to do.
IMG_0398.jpg


Here's a picture of the benches on the right where you can see that
some have wooden planes as the tools you use.
IMG_0401.jpg


On the left benches I saw some metal planes. It didn't seem like there
was a "wooden" side and the "metal" side, just that the front benches
reflected the diversity of viewpoints available. (nothing with tails)
IMG_0402.jpg


The school in on the corner, and just around it is an essential
element for any woodworking school, the pub.
IMG_0403.jpg


For more info this sign is on the door
IMG_0397.jpg


It was a lot of fun peering into the windows. I can't imagine what it
will be like to actually take classes there. I'm psyched. :)

AAAndrew
(now in Durham, NC, and glad of it)
 
Last edited:

DaveO

New User
DaveO
Wow, that's very cool and quite exciting. It's a great thing to have his school right here at home. I wish it the best of success.

Dave:)
 

nelsone

New User
Ed
Great post! Thanks for the update! BTW that big wooden plane was seen walking away from the MWTCA meet at Ed Hobbs last summer with Roy.
 

ptt49er

Phillip
Corporate Member
That's some of the coolest window shopping I've ever seen!!

Thanks for the pics!
 

adowden

Amy
Corporate Member
Thanks for all the great pictures. I drive by there once a week and hadn't checked it out yet.

I did want to mention for anyone that may check out the school, you may also want to go into Pittsboro Toys. The owner has a great deal of wooden toys. I have some hardwood blocks there. She has cedar stools, wooden pull toys, wooden trains, etc.

Amy
 

froglips

New User
Jim Campbell
Did you leave nose prints on the window??

I can't wait either. I recognized a lot of those projects from the show.

Do you suppose he'll swing an axe in the way teachers used to swing rulers?

My minor St. Roy trivia. While he was a student at UNC, he used to haunt Dual Hardware in Hillsborough. Wesley mentioned he used to walk the isles looking at all the tools.

Jim
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Premier Sponsor

Our Sponsors

LATEST FOR SALE LISTINGS

Top