Shrink Pots: Carving Wooden Canisters and Small Boxes – November 23 and 24, 2024

Shrink pots are a blast to make! It’s a classic green woodworking project that mixes wet living wood and dry seasoned wood. Essentially you hollow a piece of green wood, and insert a dry disk into the bottom in which the green wood will shrink around the disk as it dries creating an air-tight container. They can be made in various shapes in sizes. My favorite shrink pots are lidded pots that are decorated with chip carvings and hold various dry goods on the kitchen counter – coffee, sugar, and salt.

The goal of the workshop is to build a relationship with each of the tools we will be using while gaining an understanding of how they work in relation to the timber itself.

This is a great course aimed at both beginners and more experienced wood carvers. 

We will be swinging axes and adzes, and using specialty gouges, hook tools, and the humble, but versatile, sloyd knife. This is a very unique opportunity because you will be learning to safely use such a large array of tools while developing techniques that bridge the gap between spoon and bowl carving. 

The course will also cover just about all you need to know, including sourcing wood, designing various kitchen tools, learning various knife and tool grips, innovative ways to use tools, decorative carving, painting, and learning Alex’s unique and advanced wood carving techniques. We will even discuss tool maintenance.

Alex will be bringing his collection of what he has created as design examples and will have items for sale.

Your instructor will provide:

• Adze
• Hook knives
• Sloyd Knives
• Axes

Students will have access to the instructor’s tools if needed.

 Students are asked to bring:

• Hook knife or gouge
• Sloyd Knife (Mora 106)
• Pruning Saw
• Pencil
• Ruler
• Compass or Dividers
• Carving gloves or work gloves 

Students can find these items online. 

Age Requirement
Students ages 18 and older are welcome to attend this class.

Skill Level 
No experience needed

Location Details
Marine Mills Folk School
550 Pine Street, Marine on St. Croix, MN

Cost Details
Tuition: $225.00
Material Fee: $40
Total Cost: $265

NOTE: Be aware we may cancel the class if a minimum number of registrations is not reached. We work to balance a teacher’s need to plan for a class with students’ busy schedules — not an easy task. Please register as early as possible!

If interested, you can find our cancellation policy here.