Elbow Grease

people powered

person centered

hand tool woodworking

Without the use of power tools, woodworkers develop an intimate understanding of wood’s anatomy and properties: its strengths, opportunities to exploit weakness, wood’s characteristics when wet (“green”) or dry. Elbow Grease seeks to collaborate with wood fibers, and to develop embodied knowledge, from fingertips to elbows.

building self-confidence and collaborative teamwork, Elbow Grease is an initiative to empower and adapt traditional woodworking techniques to be safer and more accessible to woodworkers with different levels of experience and hand skills.

In physical learning, we build an understanding from trial and error, touch, and direct feedback.

What can one hand learn from the hand of another?

Have an idea about a commission, tool donation, or a collaborative project? Connect with Elbow Grease by reaching out to malcolm@elbowroompdx.org

At Elbow Room, we’ve completed complex building projects, like hand shaved chairs, a sturdy workbench with stout mortise and tenon joinery, dovetailed boxes, whimsical pegboards for coats, and more!