To make furniture, you need a workshop. I watch online videos in the “Workshop tour” genre intently, enviously. It’s like the feeling of inspiration you get watching the those home makeover shows, but with the nerd factor turned up to 11. As an aspiring furniture maker, I plan of having a kickass workshop someday, but until that day I’m making good use of a makerspace. The Bodgery‘s wood shop is the best around. It’s where I got started in woodworking thanks to the help of some very kind and generous members.
What’s a makerspace?
Way back in 2017, I searched the web for “community wood shop” and I found not one, but two makerspaces in town. Until then, I didn’t know what a makerspace was. A propane tank explosion at the nearest one prevented me from joining, and as fate would have it, I ended up at the one with the better wood shop. Makerspaces come in different shapes and sizes, but at its core a makerspace is a community workshop. You pay a monthly fee and have access to all the tools and machines, provided you’ve had the proper training on them. Now I’m one of the people giving lessons on how to use the machines at “The Bodge”. Except the lathe. I need more experience with that one.
The Bodgery has about 150 members and has been growing steadily. Some die-hards drive an hour or more to get there. All cleanup, maintenance, and governance is done by volunteers and we decide as a community which tools to purchase next. Many of the machines are donated by members, including the bandsaw, router table, lathe, laser cutter, and countless hand tools. I purchased a Jet 22-44 drum sander and I’m loaning it to the group until I find my own space.
The future of woodworking
Woodworking is dying as a hobby. Woodworking is making a comeback. I’ve heard both said. People don’t want to make things with their hands anymore, the doomsayers tell you. They’d rather do it with a keyboard, stylus, direct brain-computer interface. Shop class is being eliminated in high schools. Wait!, say the optimists. There’s a shortage of builders and shop class is back. The internet allows anyone to learn how to do anything, woodworking included. I don’t know what the truth is, but today makerspaces allow the curious to try woodworking (among other things) who otherwise wouldn’t have the chance. And the number of makerspaces is growing. The Reddit woodworking channel has 958,000 readers. That’s encouraging.
Making a fuss
My makerspace has everything I need, so why would I want my own workshop? Makerspaces have many benefits. They’re a great value and offer many ways to make and learn. But there are challenges. Nothing is guaranteed to be where it was when you were there last. Things move, get broken, disappear, and wear out pretty reliably. Is the table saw blade at 90 degrees? What about that bandsaw table? You better check. Every time. I have projects that ended up just a little bit smaller than they were supposed to be because of that time I wasn’t vigilant.
Many sufferers of TAS (Tool Acquisition Syndrome) know that you don’t need to have a workshop to be at risk. My storage space is a growing collection of planes, chisels, wood, hardware, sharpening stones, jigs, glue, finishing materials, saws, sandpaper, and drill bits, all organized for maximum space efficiency. In a sense, I’ve already started building my own workshop. The Bodgery is moving to a bigger space soon, and I’ll have my own studio there where my storage will grow by a factor of 20 or more, but eventually I’ll outgrow that, too.
Making the most of it
To say The Bodgery has everything I need isn’t quite true. My dream workshop has a modern 17 inch bandsaw and a 12 inch jointer with a helical head. It has lots of windows and plenty of overhead light. The fact that it will be just a few paces from my house will shorten the commute considerably. But until then, I’m going to take advantage of what my makerspace has to offer. Here I can get a hands-on demonstration of how to change planer blades. I can talk about the latest issue of Fine Woodworking. I can get inspiration from other members building incredible things. I can share in the sense of community and give back to the community that helped get me started. Also there’s snacks. Oh, how I’ll miss the snacks.