Bob Van Dyke

After 18 years as an award-winning chef Bob left the business to begin a career in woodworking and teaching. Furniture making had provided an outlet to the pressures of the restaurant business until 1993 when Van Dyke started the Harris Enterprise School of Fine Woodworking. In seven years of operation the school gained national exposure and recognition.

In 2000 he formed a business partnership to open the Manchester, Conn. Woodcraft store and the Connecticut Valley School of Woodworking. In addition to teaching, Van Dyke continues to build commission furniture pieces and new projects for upcoming classes.

Bob’s approach to teaching centers on the belief that people learn “by doing rather than by watching.” Successful contemporary furniture making also depends on utilizing a sensible combination of machine woodworking and handwork. Bob’s classes feature hands-on woodworking projects that require mastery of a combination of handtools and machines.