Summer - Fall 2023 Class Schedule available. Build a Pennsylvania Spice Box with Steve Latta
Spice boxes, or chests, were popular among the Quakers of the Delaware Valley during the late seventeenth and throughout the eighteenth centuries, remaining fashionable in Pennsylvania long after falling out of style elsewhere. The boxes, whose interiors were fitted with banks of small drawers, were often displayed in the public rooms of homes, functioning as both a repository for small valuables, such as spices and silver items, and as a symbol of the family's prosperity. The cases were most often made of walnut, with inlays consisting of combinations of maple, boxwood, holly, cherry, walnut burl, locust, and red cedar set into the surface for contrast.
We are pleased to welcome back nationally known furniture maker, author and instructor, Steve Latta, whose Pennsylvania Spice Box article was published in Fine Woodworking magazine (issue # 196). In this unique seven day class, we will cover all of the necessary steps to complete a box similar to the one pictured here. It may be small in size, a mere 21 inches in height, but it has all the complexity of a full chest-of-drawers, complete with a dovetailed case and drawers, partitions, molding and bracket feet. We will devote a portion of the class to exploring the techniques Steve uses to accomplish the intricate inlay work that is so characteristic of these great American treasures. The project’s level of detail lends itself to careful work at home in your own shop- at your own pace, therefore; you should not expect to finish the whole project during your time in class. Rest assured you will finish all the machine work and at least most of the assembly. This is a great project with one of the best teachers in the country. You will learn new skills and techniques that you can use in any number of larger and more challenging projects.
Sign up today as space is limited. Tuition: $995.00 plus materials
Section 061822A: Saturday- Friday, June 18 - 24, 9:00am – 5:00pm
(Note: This class was replaces the previously scheduled “Build a Classic Wall Cabinet with Steve Latta)
General tool list (will open in a new window)
