One of the first things first-year students at Chattanooga Woodworking Academy learn to do is sharpen a pocketknife.
It's a seemingly simple, even mundane task for anyone who has worked with wood, but there is a right way and a wrong way, and CWA founder Bill Carney is all about doing things the right way.
It's also a lesson in process. Sharp tools are safer than dull ones, and they produce better finished products.
"There are no shortcuts in working with wood," Carney says.
Another lesson he stresses over and over to the students is "be on time."
"It seems so simple," he says, "but it's shocking how many people don't understand that."
Of course, the students also learn more complicated tasks such as timber framing, drafting and design. By the end of their four years at the academy, graduates are journeyman woodworkers capable of designing and building everything from fine furniture to log or stick-framed houses.
"They are equipped to go anywhere in the world and work with their skills," Carney says.
Three fourth-year students will graduate Saturday in ceremonies at the Mountain City Club. They are Ryan Walker, Jordan Schilleman and Nathan Govig.
Schilleman has a background in construction and building, but says the academy made him a better craftsman.
"Bill pushed me way beyond what I thought I could do," he says.
Carney founded the CWA in 2009 after working as a woodshop teacher, first at Oak Ridge High School and later at Sequoyah High School in Soddy-Daisy. He also has been a shop manager and custom furniture maker for more than 30 years. Like woodworking, teaching got into his blood, so opening such a school combines all of his passions.
Plus, he sees a real need for a school not only for people looking to learn, but because there is a shortage of skilled craftsmen in the building and teaching trades. Schools with woodshops are having a hard time finding qualified teachers, Carney says.
He is regularly contacted now by shops looking for qualified and reliable craftsmen. Because of that, Carney is able to find work for most of his students, usually on one-and-done jobs, even while they are in school.
Schilleman has worked part-time at Richards & Fowkes & Co. pipe organ builders in Ooltewah for the past couple of years. Since classes ended, he also has opened a shop doing window and door repairs and other small jobs. He uses the skills he learned at the academy nearly every day.
"We learned everything from making tables and beds to repairing old chairs without damaging the historic value of the piece," he says.
Tuition is similar to many other trade schools at $6,000 per year. The students who have come to CWA range in age from 18 to 36 and traveled from nine states. About half are college graduates.
Those who hope to own their shop need business and marketing skills, Carney says. That is not what he teaches. He is all about the wood and how to turn what used to be a tree into a piece of furniture - or a house.
Ten students per grade is about the maximum, and Carney says he has about a 40 percent dropout rate. The school year mirrors the Hamilton County calendar and students attend Monday, Wednesday and Friday either from 8 a.m.-noon or 1-5 p.m., depending on their academic year.
Contact Barry Courter@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6354.