Cutting Class: The Saratoga Joinery
SLAH's Natalie Moore—who never cut class a day in her life—relearns how to use a table saw. PLUS: A Gossip Girl Brunch, the 2025 racing season and more.
Growing up, I thought woodworking was a fact of life—like, just something you did when you needed a new bookshelf or birdhouse. My dad had a wood shop in our basement, and when we weren’t doing crafts at Michael’s, my mom would bring me to The Home Depot’s in-store kids workshops. Until I left for college, I slept in a bed my dad had built, in a house he also built.
Since then, I haven’t thought much about woodworking. (I guess I haven’t needed any new birdhouses recently.) But if I did, I wouldn’t have had access to any of the machines needed to build anything. Until now.
This past March, the Spa City welcomed the Saratoga Joinery, a community woodworking studio, to the former home of the Children’s Museum at Saratoga on Caroline Street. The studio is open to members Tuesday-Sunday, and hosts woodworking classes for members and nonmembers alike. Last month, I snuck my way into a wood shop basics class (the classes fill up quickly!) in which retired teacher and Saratoga Joinery volunteer Dave Floyd walked us through the process of making a cutting board.
When I arrived for the first of two classes on a Wednesday at noon, Dave showed us how to operate all the machines we’d be using—from the sliding compound thingamajig to the random orbital something or other. (Anything technical flies over my head quicker than you can say SawStop table saw, though I did pay attention when Dave told us about the time the inventor of that particular machine stuck his finger into the blade to prove that it will stop when it comes in contact with human flesh.) When Dave handed us an at-home cheat sheet entitled “How did it go today, Dear?” with a step-by-step explanation of everything we were going to do so that we could properly relay it to our significant others, I was relieved. “This is something you can review at McDonald’s on the way home and sound very intelligent,” Dave said.
In the first-floor machine room, Dave walked us through how to use the (*refers to cheat sheet*) miter, planer and table saw before letting us try for ourselves. Together, we cut pieces of maple, cherry and black walnut into 18 by 1.5-inch strips and carried them upstairs to the bench room, where we could decide how to arrange them into a cutting board. “I’m making mine symmetrical, because I have the artistic ability of a flea,” one of the more experienced woodworkers in the class said. We then glued our pieces together, and used clamps to secure them for the next 24 hours.
The next Wednesday, I walked into the Joinery and found Dave in the lobby. “You came back!” he said. “That’s a good sign.” Over the next two-and-a-half hours, we used the jointer and planer to smooth both sides of our cutting boards before getting into sanding. “Woodworking is 20 percent fun and 80 percent sanding,” Dave said. “So if you don’t like sanding, you can leave.” We sanded, sawed, routed (if that’s a word) and sanded some more before heading upstairs to seal our boards in Odie’s Oil, which protects it from water damage.
When I gave my cutting board as a birthday present to my mom—who, let me tell you, was in dire need of a new cutting board—she hugged it to herself, trying to find a place to display it in her kitchen. “I think I like it too much to actually use it,” she said.
Fine by me. Now that I know how to make them—and now that the Joinery’s just down the road—I’ll make her a second cutting board she can actually use next year.
—Natalie
On Track
Even before the 2024 Saratoga racing season wrapped up, NYRA was considering making changes to the 2025 season. This week, NYRA CEO David O’Rourke told the Daily Racing Form that he and his team are considering not only adding a day to the Belmont meet at Saratoga (racing would begin on Wednesday, instead of Thursday), but also bringing the last week of Belmont at the Big A (Aqueduct) to Saratoga July 3-6. The regular Saratoga season would start a few days later on July 10. Nothing is set in stone, and O’Rourke said plans will be finalized in the coming months.
Save the Date
This week, the Friends of the Saratoga Library announced the lineup for its annual Saratoga Book Festival, and you’re not going to want to miss out. Coming to the Spa City October 4-7, the festival will feature 33 sessions and special events with more than 50 local and nationally recognized authors. New this year? “Beyond the Book” events, including an October 6 Gossip Girl Brunch at Universal Preservation Hall that the Saratoga Living team is cohosting! Channel your inner Blair Waldorf and come out to meet Cecily von Ziegesar, the author of the series that inspired the hit show Gossip Girl. Attendees will get brunch, signature cocktails by DeCrescente Distributing Co., pop-up shopping at Caroline + Main, a signed copy of Cecily’s book and plenty to gossip about. Tickets for the brunch are on sale now, and prices go up Monday, so get yours now!
Alley Rally
On Monday, Kindred is hosting a one-of-a-kind event in the alley next to the Henry Street restaurant. Art in the Alley is open to the public (but suited for restaurant industry employees who typically have Mondays off) and will feature local artists selling their art, tattoo artists offering new ink right on the spot, a drink special you can’t beat ($8 for a shot and a beer) and music. Swing by anytime after 5pm.
ICYMI
What’s the Deal With Quarters?
14 Bars Offering Weeknight Trivia
Dessert Bar Bibulous Coming to Henry Street
John Gray: The Power of Believing
This Bold Home Is the Perfect Blend of Sophisticated and Fun
I love your mom's response, so sweet!
Love it nat, fun fact, I won the burnt hills wood technology award. Only scholarly award I ever received….