Tommy Washbush
Jared Walther and Melinda Walther at Members Workshop.
Power couple: Jared Walther and his wife, Melinda, an attorney. Melinda learned woodworking skills from her carpenter dad and she takes advantage of the shop’s equipment to make brooms. ‘Having access to all the shop tools, and having the space to finish [the brooms], is really helpful versus trying to do it in your garage,’ she says.
Jared Walther comes from a family of makers. His mom was an art teacher, one grandfather was an electronics and ham radio buff, and the other a woodworker. His father helped Walther build his first workshop. Walther drew from that background to create Members Workshop, a woodworking-focused makerspace that opened in November.
Located at 2128 City View Drive in a new warehouse building on Madison’s far east side, near Sun Prairie, Members Workshop serves a community where there are few similar makerspaces, and its hilltop location and large windows make it more inviting than the typical woodworking shop.
“Makerspaces are often located in industrial parks and that intimidates some people away, especially women. I wanted a workshop that feels safe and welcoming, day and night, to everyone. This location excels at that,” Walther says.
The base membership costs $100 a month, with the possibility for add-ons like storage or designated studio spaces for additional fees. Students and teachers get a discounted rate.
The shop currently has about three dozen members. Walther thinks he can manage about 200 to 250 members.
“Once it starts to feel full in here, I’m gonna cap it. This is where I’m making stuff too, so I don’t have an interest in cramming it full of people and turning it into chaos.”
Walther uses Facebook, Craigslist and Reddit to find both members and affordable second-hand equipment. A lot of people appreciate that the old tools they are selling will continue to be used.
“Both of the table saws came from people who had to get out of woodworking, not by choice, but for health reasons. I told them what I was up to, and they’re like, ‘that’s awesome.’”
One of Walther’s goals was to create accessibility for members to do larger-scale projects with equipment that would be impossible to fit in home workshops. “I tried to really gravitate towards tools that were wildly impractical,” he says.
“I’ve got two big SawStop table saws, a 20-inch helical planer, and an 8-inch helical joiner. The amount of shavings that they produce, you can’t deal with that [in a garage workshop]. These are all on central dust collection, so that members don’t really have to do anything with it. They just get the fun part of walking up to the machine and getting to work.”
While about 80% of makers at Members Workshop are involved in woodworking, the space is also set up for people who want to construct electronics, do laser engraving, or work on more general art projects.
Walther would love to expand and open more studios, but that might require relocation. He also hopes to offer more workshops. He hosted a laser engraving tutorial in June and plans to offer cutting board classes and a lathe class this fall.
One of the benefits of owning a woodworking shop is that every tool he adds increases his ability to keep evolving the shop itself. “I’ve got visions of doing some facades on the walls, make this area look like an apartment, and do a clock tower over here…. Left to my own devices, I’d just spend every minute of every day down here.”
To learn more about Members Workshop or sign up for a membership, visit membersworkshop.com or call 608-535-9303.
Tommy Washbush
A rocking horse made by Joel of Members Workshop.
Quirky work: Member Joel has been working on a rocking horse for his son over the last few months. Another member is making xylophones from scratch. ‘This is part of what makes it fun. When you’re down here, you sort of get to live vicariously through what everyone else is making,’ Walther says.
Tommy Washbush
A wood lathe at Members Workshop.
Deal hunter: The vast majority of the tools at Members Workshop, like this wood lathe, were bought secondhand online. ‘I purchased most of this used so that I could afford to do this thing. And you find people who are thrilled for it to go into a place where people are really gonna get to appreciate it,’ Walther says.
