How did you start woodworking?

My uncle had a bunch of woodworking tools in his garage, but when I was younger I never had time to work with him, so my sophomore year when I heard there was a class here, I took it. 

What skills have you acquired through woodworking?

Definitely keeping myself organized in all my projects, and also things like double checking our math. We use math a lot for measurements, so it’s important to get it right, or else you have to start over. It’s really just planning, organizing my materials and work, and being accurate with cutting. 

What are some of your favorite projects? 

My first project was a basic wooden mallet – we got to create our own designs and once we finally had one we began cutting and sanding it down into a real mallet. Then we made spoons, which was fun because we had full range over what ours looked like, so some people experimented with carving the handles or just turning them into really cool shapes. I also really enjoyed creating and customizing our own toolboxes. One (project) I enjoyed was the upcycling project sophomore year. I brought in some wood boards I had lying around, sanded it, painted the stars and stripes, and attached basketball hoops onto it. It took about 2-3 weeks to make, and a lot of work measuring so I was super happy with how it turned out. 

What is your favorite memory?

Definitely making the pizza board. It took super long, and it ended up looking really nice. It feels super smooth because of the coating. I glued all the pieces together and then took it to the laser engraver to make stars, then poured blue epoxy to fill it in. It accents it really well. I actually sanded a bit too much on the handle, but it’s fine, it’s a part of the process. 

How has woodworking creatively impacted you?

I would say for each project we have a lot of creative liberties, whether that’s with design or additional elements like epoxy resin or color. The only other art class I’ve really taken is drawing freshman year. Manufacturing is more engineering since there’s a lot of math, but you get free range most of the time. 

What are you working on right now?

In class we’re 3d modeling simple machines, and also working with laser engraving in wood. For fun I’m working on a game board for a game called “ponies.” It’s an older game where you roll dice and you can earn money. I laser engraved the wood to make the actual game board, and cut pieces to make the borders. 

Have you considered a career in woodworking?

Yes, right now I plan on going to trade school after high school for woodworking or construction.