Professional Carpenters Looking for Perfection at ACBA

By: Claudie Benjamin, Guest Writer

Even the most highly skilled professional carpenters know there’s room to learn and perfect skills. There’s always the moment when a long-time carpenter will take a very close look at a staircase, the sheen on a newly finished cabinetry facade or a corner of a 100 year-old window frame and think, “that’s very beautiful, how was it done?” 

About ten years ago, Markus’ wife and three children came up with the idea of living for a while in the United States. “We had visited Charleston on a vacation and fell in love with the city.”  Also, the city – with all its historical buildings – called out to him about a need for proper preservation skills. The family moved to North Charleston, with Markus continuing to live and manage his business in Germany, traveling to Charleston when he could.  After selling his business about two years ago Markus moved to live full-time in Charleston. The job at American College of Building Arts suits him to perfection and he also does consulting jobs for woodwork businesses, especially on technical solutions, workflow and organization.

Shop Setup will be offered March 19/20 and 26/27. Research shows that the average carpenter works at 55 percent efficiency during most regular workdays; 45 percent of time is lost to carrying materials through the shop, searching for tools, not having the right equipment, or symptoms of fatigue because of poor working conditions. This course covers the process of shop setup or improvements with mostly self-made equipment items and shop reorganization.

The last elective of the Spring 2021 semester will be Wood Finishing, offered April 9/10 and 16/17. This course will include different types of coating, safety, preparation of surfaces, and application techniques.

For more information or to register, call 843-577-5245.