William Ng woodworking?

[Eduard Nemirovsky]

Hi I want to do some woodworking classes and signed for one of William Ng' class. I did it well in advance ( like 5-6 months). Paid by CC and thats it.
I did not get any info from the school, not the e-mail newsletter I did signed to received.
Few weeks back I sent an e-mail with questions regarding my registration and requesting any additional info.
No response at all.
Is anybody has an additional information about this school?
Obviously I will call Monday morning, but my working day starting very early, I am on east coast and time difference 3 hours.Thank you for any info.
Ed.

[glenn bradley]

I have no experience but have considered classes in my area. Please post your findings and further experiences. I hope all turns out well.

[Eduard Nemirovsky]

Glen, this school offering class which I am interested plus, my son lives in 5 miles from the school. I am trying to "catch two birds with one hand" - visiting my son and study some woodworking.
I know this school has very good reputation among WWs, but I still did not get any answers from them on my e-mails.

[John Harden]

I know William. I took his Blacker House chair class last July. Great guy and extremely talented at figuring out how to take complicated designs and break them down in to maneagable steps for a class.

Very large, well equipped shop with large benches for the students.

William spent most of his time in the shop with us as you might expect and not much time in his office, whch is next door to the shop in another suite. That might explain why you've not gotten a response yet.

If you call, the phone rings in the shop and they always answer, so that is how I always reached him.

Some of the students in the class were taking their 3rd or even 4th class with him.

When you attend, make sure to go visit his gallery next door to the shop. Amazing work, much of which is from others and of various styles.

Regards,

John

[Andy Gilbert]

Two years ago I took an art glass claas put on by William Ng using a visiting instructor. He still holds the same class today but with a different visiting instructor. I met William - he's definitely a nice guy - brings donuts into the shop every morning. The shop is nice too - divided into two large rooms - power tool room and bench room.
I too signed up for my class months in advance - about 6-7 months in advance and paid for it. Now mind you this is a class that he had held in the past so he should have known exactly how to administer it. After sign up there was NO communication from him at all. NO list of tools or supplies to bring posted on his website. Virtually no comments on the class or what would be covered. I signed up on the strength of the instructor only - John Hamm - a very well known glass artisan. Then a couple of days before the class William sends an em giving a list mandatory tools required and recommendations for brands (good and better - no bests given). He stated if you don't have time to buy them (and who would - he gave us less than 2 days - after I had been signed up for over 6 months!) that he would have sets for us to purchase in class - cost was over $125. Now I wouldn't have minded so much but that should have been disclosed up front. And, we should have been given the list and recommendations up front. Those tools could be purchased for less than that with a little shopping - and, I could have purchased better quality tools at that.
I walked into class about 30 minutes early and met the other students. There were only 4 of us. You would think that William would have no problem setting up work areas for only 4 students. Well nothing was set up. He didn't even have all the tools that the instructor recommended. He had to send someone out to try to buy them and then came back with lessor tools because the stores were out of the recommended tools. We wasted 1-2 hours the first day alone. Mind you this was a two day class.

On the second day, more donuts and more confusion. We were suppose to do the glass grinding on the second day. We arrive and the grinders are not set up and he didn't provide enough so even though we were only 4 students everyone had to wait to use one of the two grinders. About 90 minutes wasted while he/we set up the grinders and plastic shields to prevent damage from the water spray.

I don't know about you, but when I pay someone else $250 - $125/day to teach me. I expect them to be prepared, organized and not waste what should be instruction time.

I could go on with other comments - suffice it to say that one of the other students who had spent the prior week with William Ng as the instructor for the Greene and Greene style lamp building class that was a precursor for the art glass class said William was just as disorganized when he was the instructor. Classes ran very late - because William was constantly spending time with other other students/apprentices on other projects rather than focusing on the actual class he was suppose to be teaching.

William Ng might be a nice guy, might be knowledgeable, might be a good teacher but organized, he is not. Efficient, he is not. Clear communicator, he is not. Respectful of your time, he is not.

[Eduard Nemirovsky]

Thank you guys for info. I will definitely call during weekday for some info. I am looking forward for this class.
Ed.

[jason steele]

Eduard, I've taken several classes at William Ng's school. A couple with guest instructors, but mostly with William. William is the hardest working and organize instructor I know. I was in a class of 16 students building a rocking chair. The way he orchestrated the class was perfect. He communicates well. He assigned different task for us and kept us down the same path with no bottle necking or delay. There was a couple of what I call "high maintenance" students that should not have been in the class. He stayed, and worked late into the night with them. Not because he's disorganize. He has the patience of a saint. On the last day around lunch time, we all finished our chairs ahead of schedule. It was amazing, not because we finish, but what we learned and walk away with. That class was worth every single penny. If you’re taking a class from William, you’re in good hands. His guest instructors are very high caliber woodworkers and teachers. Knowing William, they won’t be around if they’re not up to par. As you have mention, William Has a very good reputation among ww’s. There’s a reason why. Here’s what others are saying.

Blacker arm chair - William Ng class
Posted by: "Warren Pelz" warren@warrenpelz.com wdpelz
Tue Sep 2, 2008 9:22 pm (PDT)
As long as you're on the subject of chairs, I just finished a week long
class with William Ng building the Blacker arm chair. What a great
experience! William is a great teacher, his shop is well designed and
equipped and his assistants are genuinely kind and helpful. The students
were all really nice too, people whom I would like for friends. We couldn't
finish that chair in week, as expected but we took home something you can
sit in. There are a lotttt of plugs yet to be inlaid. As a self trained
furniture builder I know there are holes in my education. I chose this as my
first woodworking class and couldn't be happier about the experience. I look
forward to an inlay class in the future.
I learned of the class on this site when Kelly wrote that the "front office
/wife" had approved his request for taking the class. Thanks Kelly. Thank
you William and clan. I highly recommend the school.

Warren Pelz


Re: Blacker arm chair - William Ng class
Posted by: "kelbyvp" kvp@paynefears.com kelbyvp
Tue Sep 2, 2008 11:10 pm (PDT)
Warren, it was good to meet you at William's class.

I agree with Warren's comments about the school. William is a first-
rate instructor, and his facilities and people are top-notch. Just
the shop tips and techniques that we learned were worth the price of
tuition; learning how to make a Blacker arm chair was a bonus.

The Blacker arm chair is an extremely ambitious project. For several
years it has been on my list of things to try someday; thank goodness
I didn't try it without taking this class. I wouldn't have come
close to the quality of the product produced with William's design
and approach. William has put a great deal of thought into how to
put this chair together, and if anyone is considering building this
chair, William's class is a must. Highly recommended.

This was my second class at William's school (the first was Darrel's
class on the Aurora nightstand). I'm anxious to get "front office
approval" for the next one!

Re: Blacker arm chair - William Ng class
Posted by: "Joe Johnston" joe6602@yahoo.com joe6602
Wed Sep 3, 2008 8:10 am (PDT)
I would like to add my comments to the mix as well.

I heartily agree with Warren and Kelby on the quality of the class.
William Ng is a first rate instructor and his shop is first rate as
well.

It was obvious that William has put a great deal of thought into the
construction of the Blacker Chair. I came away with an almost-
completed chair & a great deal of new tips/tricks/shortcuts. The
chair is an ambitious project & no one expected to be fully complete
at the end of 7 days.

One thing I was not prepared for was the wonderful group of
students. I got to know & work with some great people, all of whom
were willing to help or answer any question that came up.

Thanks William, and thanks to everyone in the class for making this a
wonderful experience.

I will be making and installing plugs for a while!

Joe

[Brian Ross]

I signed up for a sharpening class I am taking next week. Signed up a couple of months ago. The communication so far has been excellent . Always prompt and informative. Looking forward to next weekend.

Brian