Handmade Floor Brooms

In this 6 hour workshop, participants will learn how to make a functional floor broom from start to finish. Participants will leave with at least one completed broom and hopefully, the ability to make more. The workshop will begin with an introduction to broom-making, its history, an overview of the shakers and the instructor’s connection to the shaker community in Maine.

Participants will then have time to select their broom fibers and put them into buckets to soak/soften. While the fibers are soaking, participants will use hand tools to shape wooden broom handles from blanks provided by the instructor. Broom wrapping cords will be chosen while the instructor demonstrates broom starting and finishing techniques. Afterwards, participants will start the process of making their own brooms, using dried sorghum to make the "shoulders" of the broom and then finishing with pre-soaked sorghum. Participants will also learn how to stitch, clamp and flatten a finished broom. There will be an ending discussion on insights gained from the broom-making process, alternate techniques, various broom sizes and their uses.

Dan was born in Maine and has worked as an architect & carpenter in China, Denmark, England, and the United States. He makes maps, utensils, furniture, buildings, and stories.

His recent work has explored and documented lobster fishing territory in the Gulf of Maine, the practice and tradition of "bodging", or working with green wood, in southern England, and the history of broom-making in the United States.

In 2021, he moved to Portland, OR, where he started Bad Dogs Studio with his sister, Rachel. Bad Dogs make functional objects from wood, clay, and plant materials. Their work explores rituals and habits within the home, as well as the craft traditions and techniques associated with those rituals. They are constantly designing, making, and dreaming up the next creative side project.

A knife to whittle with, not essential, but would be great.

If participants don't want to shape their wooden handle, they could bring a foraged branch instead (optional)

Dried sorghum

Hemp cord

Wooden handle "blank"

Broom clamps

Handsaws

Whittling/shaping tools

Drill

Scissors