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With Spring easing its way in, many of us are spending more time outside enjoying the sunshine. On walks around the neighborhood, you might stumble across a patch of flowers or your dog might bring you a stick to play catch. In fact, you might find yourself a stick, a broken tree branch now visible because the snow’s melted.

Our inner child comes out when we see an interesting stick. At least mine does. It’s not just a stick but a walking staff for a nomad. A smaller stick would be a magic wand for a wizard. At the very least, they’re fun to throw or take apart. Going back to that stick- it’s really a branch- you found on your walk—it’s in good shape, all things considered, and you’re tempted to bring it home, but…for what?

Well, what if you could use it in your home as decoration? Everything else in the house is made of wood, maybe you could try to make something out of that stick.

woodworking at NextFab

From Sticks into Frames (or Stools!)

Wood is the foundation for a lot of products, even if it’s only the appearance of it (that’s called wood veneer).  Not only is wood an accessible material (depending on its origins and manufacturing process of course) but it’s beautiful to look at. Wood is a versatile material that can be used as anything from cooking utensils in the kitchen to cuff links on a suit.

At NextFab, our woodworking classes are on a larger scale: making wooden photo frames and learning how to use a router. But these skills are applicable no matter what you want to make out of wood.

In our courses, you’ll learn about the varying hardness of wood and which is best for what projects.

Unleash Your Inner Woodworker

Make Your Own Wooden Frame and Photo Workshop

Try your hand at woodworking in some of the shops in the NextFab makerspace by creating a wooden picture frame in the woodshop and printing a fine art print or photo using our large-scale photo printer in this two-day workshop. This workshop will teach you the best practices for printing fine art and photography prints, accompanied by making a matching wooden frame.

All materials are provided in your class cost.

Or if your wall space is all filled, you’ll need a place to sit to admire your personal museum!

Make Your Own Wooden Stool Workshop

This two-day course bridges the traditional craft of upholstery with woodworking and modern CNC technology. You will gain knowledge through the creation of a customizable stool, designed by our in-house CNC master. Through this project, you will learn how to translate ideas into CAD (computer-aided design), learn the basic concepts of CAM (computer-aided manufacturing), and cut the finalized file on our CNC ShopBot in the woodshop. Complete your custom stool with a tufted cushion using the traditional methods and tools of upholstery.

Note: this course requires a decent amount of hand strength to operate relevant tools. Closed-toed shoes will be required for the woodshop portion of the class.

All materials will be provided at your workshop cost.

stool making workshop

Time to show it off!

While most of our woodworking courses do require prerequisites, such as the Virtual New Member Orientation and Wood Shop Orientation, anyone at any skill level is welcome!

Not only will you come away with a picture frame or stool but with firsthand knowledge from expert teachers. You’ll be able to ask questions on the spot and even make new friends on the way! You’ll be joining a community that started as far back as 2.6 million years in the Stone Age where the earliest known woodworking tools were discovered. So that inner child that wants to pick up that stick and bring it home? That instinct is more natural than you think, so go ahead and scratch that itch! In fact, in one of our classes, you’ll make your own back scratcher!

Want to learn more? Explore these links!

 

We look forward to seeing you in class!

In Partnership with FORMATION. Media