Mel Hammond
One of cofounder Steven Ricks' goals is to attract a diverse group of makers.
At The Joinery, a new woodworking studio in Middleton, people are building more than bookshelves — they’re building community.
“Tools, space, and community. That’s our whole thing,” says co-founder Steven Ricks, who opened The Joinery, 4319 Twin Valley Road, in October. A lifelong woodworker, Ricks wanted to create a woodworking space with high-quality tools where crafters of all ability levels could learn and create together. The Joinery is equipped with basic woodworking tools like chop saws, jointer-planers, table saws, sanders, and hand tools, plus more advanced tools like laser engravers, CNC routers, and 3D printers. It takes its name from the woodworking term for joining pieces of wood together.
Ricks says that his idea to create a community woodworking space came to him after friends and family approached him about building custom pieces like bookshelves and desks. “Woodworking has always just been my hobby,” Ricks says. “I knew that I never wanted to make furniture and sell it. So I said, ‘No, I won’t build it for you, but come out to my shop, and I’ll show you how to build it.’”
Teaching others about woodworking in his home shop inspired Ricks in ways he didn’t expect. “It freed my creativity up. If I was building a piece for myself, I would plan and struggle, and it would take months and months to do. But a friend could come up, and in a weekend we’d build a whole piece. I’d go, ‘How did we do that?’”
At his full-time job, developing rigging products for theaters, Ricks started talking about opening a community woodworking studio. Finally, coworker Gary Bewick said, “You either need to do it or stop talking about it.” So he and Bewick went in on the business together.
From the beginning, Ricks and Bewick wanted to create a space different from traditional makerspaces, which tend to be nonprofit, volunteer-run spaces that use donated tools. That model is “perfect for getting people interested in building and craft,” Ricks says. “If you have some knowledge you can build something, and other members who might be able to help you. But it’s harder to break over the learning curve.”
Memberships at The Joinery cost $95 per month, plus a $45 orientation class, during which new members learn how to operate equipment safely. The space is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Though that’s more expensive than a traditional makerspace, Ricks says that the cost ensures he can offer high-quality tools that are always sharp and ready to use. Because both he and Bewick have full-time jobs, their goal is to simply keep the facility open — not make a profit. They’re hoping to offer discounted memberships for high school and college students soon.
The Joinery, Ricks says, is a place where people can learn directly from expert craftspeople. Ricks has a master certificate in furniture making from the Marc Adams School of Woodworking and teaches the Intro to Woodworking class, which meets one day a week for five weeks. He has also recruited other experts to teach classes on other crafts, like stained glass, art framing, book making, painting and more. Members and non-members are welcome to sign up for classes.
Ricks especially loves empowering newcomers to start their first project. In his first session, two students shared that they tried to do a project on their own but were too nervous to get started. “That night we were out on the table saw,” Ricks says. “People who had never cut wood on a table saw were pushing wood through the blade. And now, they’re building and cutting joints, and all kinds of fun stuff. That’s the whole reason I wanted to do this — that blossoming of ‘oh, this is something I can do.’”
Tim Nolan, who didn’t have previous woodworking experience, became a member at The Joinery when it opened. “It’s a great setup,” Nolan says. Nolan is using the studio’s CNC router to build a kayak, but his motivations for joining the studio go beyond learning new skills or completing an ambitious project. “I’m 60 years old. I’m starting to think about retirement, and one of the things I’m looking for in retirement is community,” he says. Nolan has already taught other members how to use the CNC router, which he sees as the “first seeds of community.”
Another member, Wendy Russell, has been a woodworker for more than 30 years. “We all bring different ideas and different skill sets to the table with the comradery of a common passion.” Russell is teaching a few Joinery classes in the coming year — one on frame design and the other on knife scales, which are the wooden handles of knives.
Another of Ricks’ goals is to attract a diverse group of craftspeople to the space. “One of my concerns starting was that I didn’t want it to be an ‘old white guy’ thing,” he says. Ricks was pleasantly surprised when the first Intro to Woodworking class included students of all ages and as many women as men.
Ricks says that winter is a great time to try a new creative activity. “Take an art class, take a pottery class. It doesn’t have to be here, but I think you’ll find that if you try something, you may find something that brings you joy.” Ultimately, craftsmanship is about creating something uniquely yours and connecting with other creators along the way. “You get to stand back at the end of it and go, ‘I made that. That didn’t exist before, but it exists now.’”
