Over a decade ago, I asked Blaise Gaston to teach a workshop here at MASW. At the time, he was overwhelmed with work and couldn’t make it happen. But persistence prevailed, and we finally have the good fortune to have him here for a weekend sharing his process and techniques he has developed over the last 50 years. He does really challenging work that requires good design along with technical precision all within the confine of common woodworking tools such as the bandsaw and table saw. However, a large portion of his work is done on a shaper. This weekend workshop will be based on several challenges he had to solve in his furniture making career – mostly based on jigs and fixturing. Blaise is a shaper genius, so a portion of the weekend will be spent on the shaper showing how difficult cuts can be made safely. He will demonstrate how to make jigs and fixtures for the table saw and bandsaw that allow him to make items that are bent, twisted and curved. Students will learn how to build a mold for cylinder cutting of plywood, how to cut spiral shapes on a bandsaw with total repeatability, how to make tapered laminated spirals around a very tight cylinder, and ways to use vacuum technology for both clamping and pressing materials. Blaise also makes a lot of his own hardware, so a portion of the weekend will be spend showing ways to cut, shape and finish metals. This is a unique weekend that will help any woodworker, at any skill level, realize how easy it can be to make very complex parts. This is not a hands-on class, rather an opportunity to watch one of America’s best craftsmen share his working process. Who knows? He might even talk about how he figures prices for his one-of-a-kind pieces of furniture.