End Table: Glue-Up and the Last Day of Class

May 8, 2025

Last day for our woodworking class, and it looks like it might be the last day for several other classes as well. The shelves all look bare, which means that everyone’s materials may be glued-up and drying, or already done and taken home.

As I was looking out over the main work space, I saw that there were several long lengths of wood, sitting against the wall by the router tables. I started thinking about the space, and the ebb and flow of students and classes and materials.

I also thought about our instructor Shuan, who runs the Chicago School of Woodworking and has been teaching here for over seventeen years.

I wanted to see the time-lapse of this place, in her memory/vision. I imagined that this space had a tangible cadence, not unlike a garden or nursery. Moments of growth and activity, moments of quiet and dormancy.

While I was here as a student and set about producing a specific piece of furniture… I paused here to think about the space. What it looks like when the classes are in full swing, and what it must look and feel like when the classes wind down.

It was an interesting sensation, to imagine me and Liz participating in a small segment of time: an long history of classes before ours, an innumerable number of classes to follow.

Our last day of class had a twist: everyone split into two groups, with all of us working together to glue up everyone’s tables. A brief view of some of the early tables, while Shaun (and Gibbs) look on.

Liz and I were at the tail end of the tables, and ours were the last to get done. Liz, working on screwing in clips to hold the top in place.

For me, mine was the absolute last table of the bunch. I was so far behind, we ended up using a different kind of wood glue (fast-setting), so that my table would come together faster.

Overall this was a stressful class. While we worked together, time felt like it was of the essence… and each table felt like we were trying to diffuse a bomb together.

While everyone else had their finished table done and were out in the main shop area (for a group photo), I was still screwing in my clips to get my tabletop in place. Everyone was waiting on me, and that added a bit of pressure to an already pressure-filled time.

Group photo, all of us with our various tables.

Shuan gave a nice congratulatory note to everyone, and shared the photos she took. And within a short bit of time, she headed back to the classroom because the next class was already in session. Adn they were also working on their final glue-up and were looking to finish their project.

I think many of us wanted to thank Shuan for her guidance over the course of our course. But in my mind, the ebb and flow of the space took over – another class, another project, another group photo.

I didn’t view it as a bad thing. I viewed it as just how things were. This is a busy space, a place full with potential energy.

I was reminded of a favorite line of mine, by the author John Fante:

It was a large house because we were people with big plans.

And so, this was our last class. My only regret: that we didn’t get a chance to pull Gibbs into the class photo.