A variety of classes are offered at the Duluth Folk School, with many of them lead by the same individuals. This event was led by one of the instructors and his story of how he joined the Folk School.

Devan Burnett is an on-staff instructor at the Duluth Folk School in West Duluth. His expertise ranges from hand woodworking and sewing to electronics and softgood design, allowing him to teach traditional techniques with a delightful modern twist. And one of his most recent courses was reviving household blades.

Devan first started off by buying a house that had been vacant for about 20 years. So, him and his fiancé have been doing a ton of work on it over the last few years. He picked up a lot of old house restoration stuff and decided to share those skills with other people. Which began the Duluth Makerspace.

In the past, he was teaching classes at the Duluth Makerspace just nearby and has been involved with the Makerspace for probably nearly 10 years. Down there he built a lot of skills from other people and got interested in things he never thought he would be. With the most recent one being sharpening blades.

Using a file, some water, and a diamond stone he has learned how to restore kitchen blades, scissors, even lawnmower blades. He hosted a class where he taught others the same skill and helped them learn the skill.

Devan hosts alternating classes with other instructors as also helps out with the folk school’s free Saturday evening event. On March 8th, the school is hosting a free drop in knitting and fiber arts group at 8:30am with the evening free folk school event starting at 5pm-7pm. More info can be found on their website.