Big Step Training - Continuing Education
Instructors
John Olson
WOOD MAGAZINE
Don’t let his baby face fool you: John Olson cut his teeth in woodworking 25 years ago when he started hanging around his grandfather’s shop after school to begin what would become an informal but intense 11-year apprenticeship. After college he worked for nine years in the 1875-era blacksmith and cabinetmaker shops at Living History Farms in Urbandale, Iowa, before joining the WOOD magazine staff as Design Editor. His educational background has taught him the value of using both hand and power tools in his work. And John has a passion for tool making and forestry; in his free time he can often be found making planes, laminated chisels, and back saws, or milling his own lumber for woodworking projects.
Bob Behnke
FRANKLIN INTERNATIONAL
Bob is Franklin International’s Technical Service Manager for the Construction Division, handling all technical aspects of the Titebond-branded line of wood glues, construction adhesives, wood flooring adhesives, and sealants. At Franklin, Bob manages the team that answers customer questions, as well as the technicians tasked with testing of competitive products and new substrates. Bob has worked for more than 30 years in the adhesives and sealants industry with experience in the development of emulsion polymers, adhesive technologies, and development of breathable technology for organic and inorganic fabrics.
Sponsored by Franklin International
Kevin Boyle
WOOD MAGAZINE
With more than 30 years of experience, Kevin’s passion for woodworking ignited in a 4-H woodworking class with his dad. Even through college, he helped pay bills by building furniture for clients. After college he spent a few years in the home-building industry before landing in publishing. As Senior Design Editor at WOOD magazine, Kevin is largely responsible for the project selection, project designs, and ultimately the construction of those projects, making sure they are not only timely and stylish but also incorporate techniques and processes that will enhance and increase the skills of our readers. In his spare time, he is in his shop designing and building furniture for his home and others.
Chris Carlson
CASTLE USA
Chris knows woodworking and woodworking tools inside and out. Literally. For 30+ years, he developed tools and accessories—including routers, sanders, planers, jigsaws, and more—for the biggest names in the business. (In fact, he personally earned 9 patents for that work.) In his retirement, Chris enjoys building Craftsman- and Mission-style furniture in his Illinois shop.
Sponsored by Castle USA
Guy Dunlap
Guy has been a woodworker for long as he can remember, falling in love with the craft in junior high school, and has been building furniture since, even professionally. He makes long-format instructional videos on YouTube (and on his own website, guyswoodshop.com) to help woodworkers take their craft to the next level, and he gives veneering classes in his own shop. Between all that, Guy builds custom furniture and cabinetry on commission and co-hosts the Against The Grain woodworking podcast. His days are very full.
Scott Grove
A master craftsman specializing in veneer, inlay, and resin casting, Scott brings an unconventional approach to all he does, and constantly pushes boundaries to develop new and unique methods of creating functional art. He’s a woodworker, artist, sculptor, teacher, author, tool designer, and YouTube personality. You’ll find Scott’s work in museums, galleries, and private collections, and he maintains an educational site for craftspeople (imaginegrove.com) that features woodworking skills, projects, quick tips, and business and marketing advice.
Sam Hamory
WAGNER SPRAYTECH/EARLEX
Sam got his start in woodworking through his father-in-law, John, a custom furnituremaker. Sam’s love for the craft grew and after working a few carpentry jobs (mostly as a trim carpenter), he decided to open his own professional furniture shop, often taking commissions for which he lacked experience. With occasional advice from John, Sam gained the experience to be able to build virtually any project. After hurricane Andrew hit Florida in 1992, Sam realized that cabinetmakers would be in greater demand than furniture makers so he retooled his shop to the more production-oriented methods necessary to build kitchens. As technical service advisor for Wagner Spraytech and Earlex, Sam travels the country demonstrating HVLP systems and teaching spray finishing.
Jim Heavey
WOOD MAGAZINE
Jim Heavey has been a woodworker for more than 40 years and a contributing craftsman and educator for WOOD magazine since 1997, where he has had his projects featured and teaches a technique in every issue. Jim has also hosted a popular series of woodworking how-to videos, and for more than a dozen years has presented educational programs nationally at The Woodworking Shows on behalf of WOOD. In his role as educator, Jim strives to make woodworking fun for both novice and seasoned woodworkers by teaching techniques and providing information that will help them to produce a quality project at any level of expertise.
Bob Hunter
WOOD MAGAZINE
WOOD magazine Tools Editor Bob Hunter learned his woodworking skills from an early age on an Indiana farm. One of three sons of a farmer/carpenter, Bob helped build houses—even designing two of them—and later began to build small furniture pieces. After getting a degree in journalism, Bob worked as a newspaper sports editor and farmer before joining WOOD, all the while remodeling two old homes and further developing his woodworking skills. Bob’s primary responsibilities at WOOD include producing tool-related articles and videos for the magazine and website.
Randy Johnson
AUTHOR, CNC TRAINER
Randy began woodworking in his dad’s shop and expanded his skills at Appalachian State University, where he focused on furniture design and construction techniques. His involvement with CNC started in the 90’s when he helped select CNC tooling for a start-up cabinet parts factory in Minnesota, and continued at American Woodworker magazine, where he published a series of articles on CNC woodworking techniques. In 2018, Randy co-authored CNC Router Essentials that guides readers through the learning curve of getting started in CNC. But he still enjoys swinging a mallet and pushing a hand plane, because he believes success as a woodworker (hand or machine) is strongly related to a knowledge and practice of the fundamentals – both design and technical.
Sponsored by Grizzly Industrial
Russ Mason
JET/POWERMATIC
With three generations of woodworkers in his family, you might say Russ has sawdust in his blood. But not in his lungs. Because for the past nine years, as the dust-collection expert for Jet and Powermatic, he has assisted countless woodworkers work through every imaginable dust-collection configuration, answering customers’ questions and busting dust-collection myths and misunderstandings.
Sponsored by Jet/Powermatic
Randy Maxey
MINIMAX WORKSHOP
Randy Maxey is a lifelong woodworker who contributes to WOOD, Woodsmith, and Furniture & Cabinetmaking magazines. He worked for ten years as Senior Editor for ShopNotes and Woodsmith magazines. He has authored several books and is an instructor at the Florida School of Woodwork. Randy founded MiniMax Workshop to encourage do-it-yourselfers and woodworkers to build great projects in small spaces. He and his wife reside in the Tampa Bay area.
Don Roden
MCFEELY’S
At the age of 4, Don would dig through the screws, nuts, and bolts in his dad’s woodworking shop to find just the right fasteners for a project, because his dad never threw anything away. Later, when Don served as an aircraft mechanic in the U. S. Air Force, he confirmed that using the right fastener for the situation was always critical to mission accomplishment. These days, Don is a professional woodturner and Marketing Director at McFeely’s, where he teaches via educational events and product write-ups at mcfeelys.com.
Sponsored by McFeely’s
Craig Ruegsegger
WOOD MAGAZINE
A woodworker for more than 30 years, Craig has been writing and producing woodworking content for print, online, and video since 1999. As Deputy Editor, he writes and edits how-to articles while overseeing the production of WOOD videos and WOOD magazine. His teaching experience includes presenting numerous live how-to seminars, and developing and producing a nationally aired woodworking show on public television.
Brian Simmons
Brian Simmons is a nationally known teacher, writer, and turner noted for his versatile use of the bowl gouge and proficient use of the skew chisel. He grew up woodworking with his father and, after seeing a magazine article on turning, became interested in that. Shortly, he began an informal yet cherished apprenticeship with internationally renowned turner Nick Cook. Since then he has studied with David Ellsworth, Willard Baxter, Dave Barriger, and Johannes Rieber, among others. Although he makes reproduction and architectural turnings, gift items, and one-of-a-kind pieces regularly, his real passion lies in teaching, giving his first formal demonstration at age 15. Brian has written for the American Woodturner and is also the Woodturning Consultant for WOOD magazine, where he tests products, designs projects, and produces turning how-to videos.
David Thiel
AUTHOR
David has been a professional woodworker for more than forty years. A long-time writer and editor for Popular Woodworking magazine, he also produced, filmed, and edited woodworking videos for that brand. He has edited countless woodworking books and written several of his own, including: Arts & Crafts Furniture Anyone Can Make and Power Tool Maintenance: Peak Performance and Safety for Life. You may also recognize his face from Tools & Techniques, a series he hosted on the DIY Network.
George Vondriska
VONDRISKA WOODWORKS
George Vondriska was in the sixth grade when he had his first shop class. He decided he wanted to be a shop teacher, so George went on to take every shop class he could, earn his teaching degree in Industrial Education, and teach junior and senior high school. George has found his niche in teaching adults, which he has done for more than 30 years. In addition to classes at Vondriska Woodworks, George teaches at woodworking shows and guilds across the country, and you may also recognize his name and face from more than 60 full-length woodworking videos he has hosted for the Woodworkers Guild of America website. George has had numerous magazine articles published, from projects to techniques and tool reviews.
April Wilkerson
A self-taught maker/woodworker, April picked up her first tool in 2013 when she began building the things she couldn’t afford to buy. It very quickly turned into a passion. She’s still building anything she needs, but these days she shoots photos and videos of every project she makes and shares those with her large social media following, making her one of the most prominent and inspirational influencers in the maker space. Check out her work on Instagram @wilker_dos.
(c) WOOD. Meredith Operations Corporation. All rights reserved.
