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Brian Lehrer: Brian Lehrer on WNYC. Have you found a hobby yet during this membership drive? All through the drive, we've been ending the show by featuring some of the ways that people spend time learning new stuff and finding common interests with other folks fascinated by activities like knitting. We did knitting on day one, stamp collecting, we did that yesterday, and birding. Today, we're exploring another craft, woodworking, with my guest, Robyn Mierzwa, owner and founder of Makeville Studio in Gowanus, Brooklyn. Hey, Robyn. Thanks for coming on today. Welcome to WNYC.

Robyn Mierzwa: Hi, Brian. It's a total pleasure. Thank you.

Brian Lehrer: How did you get started with woodworking?

Robyn Mierzwa: Well, it's a hobby I've had my whole life. I've had different careers and always done woodworking in the background. About 15 years ago, I just thought, let's take this to the next level and make it a business.

Brian Lehrer: Make it a business. What's your business?

Robyn Mierzwa: Makeville Studio is a community shop. Think of a maker space-type situation. We also teach woodworking classes. It's a place where people can come and have access to a lot of very big, expensive equipment for not very much money.

Brian Lehrer: Was it unusual for a girl to be into woodworking when you started this?

Robyn Mierzwa: I guess so. I never really thought about it, but yes, I guess that was not encouraged. We couldn't do shop class and things like that. I always loved building things, and I grew up with a little shop in our basement because my dad was pretty handy and did a lot of work, like renovating and stuff. I was exposed to it early.

Brian Lehrer: Where was that?

Robyn Mierzwa: I grew up in DC.

Brian Lehrer: Even in DC, you had a basement where you could do woodworking.

Robyn Mierzwa: Exactly. I think that's what's so interesting about New York. I moved here 25 years ago, and I'm just like, "Where do people do this kind of work?" You need a lot of money and a lot of space to do it. That was part of the impetus of starting Makeville, it was just like, "We need this here in New York."

Brian Lehrer: Do you remember your first project?

Robyn Mierzwa: Oh, my gosh. First project ever?

Brian Lehrer: I was thinking about what got you into it as a kid, but if you want to answer it in some other way, you can.

Robyn Mierzwa: No. I think very early on, I just discovered the magic feeling of being able to make something physical in the world. I see this also with kids who learn woodworking, it's just this magical moment of empowerment, almost, where they are just like, "Oh, my gosh, I can control things in the world and make things." I think more and more, especially kids now, that's just such a foreign experience for them. They're living so virtually in a lot of ways. Anyway, I do think that is a feeling that most people are in touch with from their childhoods, but then we unlearn it as we get older.

Brian Lehrer: Nicely said. It seems like it would be unusual for city dwellers, especially given the amount of space you'd need for table saws, all the different tools.

Robyn Mierzwa: Yes, totally. I think that's why Makeville has been successful. It's just such a unique thing to have in a city like New York, where you can become a member, learn how to use the tools, and show up, and just make that weird little coffee table that only fits in your apartment. It's just like that's a lot of what happens there.

Brian Lehrer: What's a good first project for someone wanting to take up woodworking?

Robyn Mierzwa: I think if you have never done it before, something simple, like make a cutting board or something like that, it's a low-stakes project because it doesn't use a lot of wood, doesn't take very long, but you do get some hands-on, and you do get a feeling for what it's like to be in a wood shop.

Brian Lehrer: Are there different kinds of wood? Are there most common kinds of wood that are used for woodworking or different kinds if you're looking for a different finished product?

Robyn Mierzwa: Oh, yes, for sure. I think most people most people making furniture are choosing hardwood. That's things like cherry, oak, maple, things like that. There's also a whole bunch of woodworking projects that use manmade materials like plywood and other things, and so it just depends on what you're making. You could go to Lowe's or Home Depot and pick up just some boards there and make things out of that, too. It really just depends on what you're making.

Brian Lehrer: My father was pretty handy, and I do remember going to lumber yards as a kid a few times. Are there still lumbar yards around? As I'm thinking about our conversation right now, I can't remember the last time I ran into a lumber yard.

Robyn Mierzwa: Yes, they're hidden away in the parts of the city that are really low rent. You're probably not going to run into them. I go to one up in the Bronx called Rosenzweig, and they're up on 135th Street. I go to one in East New York, Brooklyn that's just way out on Pitkin Avenue. They exist, and they're still doing business like they did 100 years ago. It's a very slow-changing industry, but they're out there.

Brian Lehrer: What's the last thing you made?

Robyn Mierzwa: What is the last thing I made? Gosh, I think I just made a really boring project, actually. It was just a floating shelf for some artwork I had. [chuckles]

Brian Lehrer: You say a boring project and it's a shelf. We talked about this with our guest who was on for clay. Are there schools or different lanes that you find that the people who come to your place are interested in either making practical things or making something that's more abstract, a work of art?

Robyn Mierzwa: Yes, we get a real mix of stuff in our shop, and that's one of the joys of working in there. You never know what you're going to see. Most of it is practical things that people think, "I need this or want this," and they think they can make it cheaper than buying it or it's just for the fun of it. Then we do have a lot of people that show up with crazy, crazy ideas. I had one guy years ago who came in and he wanted to make a Michelangelo project. It was this cart that you'd pull around, and it had all these mechanisms to play drums. Anyway, it was crazy. He was going to take it to a Renaissance fair, but he made it, and it was pretty cool from the plans.

Brian Lehrer: Super cool. Are there any controversies or competing schools of thought within the woodworking world?

Robyn Mierzwa: I think there are. We're a generalist shop, so we don't get too involved in that, but you do have people that are purists and will only use hand tools, they don't want to use machines. You get people that are the opposite of that, that want to do everything high tech and are on to the latest cutting-edge thing.

I think as a hobbyist, some of that stuff doesn't matter. I think as a business, if you're running a woodworking business, you're always trying to find the most efficient way to do something just to make money. I think for hobbyists, yes, it's wide open, and that's one of the great things about woodworking as a hobby because there's just always other branches to go down. You'll never master everything. There's always something new to learn. In that sense, it's a really fun hobby in that way.

Brian Lehrer: We're at a time, except for you to plug your place and tell people how to get involved if they want to.

Robyn Mierzwa: Oh, thanks. Sure. The business is called Makeville Studio, and we're in Gowanus, and you can find us online at makeville.com. You can read about the classes and the space, and hopefully, we'll see you down there making something.

Brian Lehrer: Where in Gowanus are you?

Robyn Mierzwa: We're on 8th Street between 2nd and 3rd Ave.

Brian Lehrer: Robyn Mierzwa, owner and founder of Makeville Studio in Gowanus. Thanks so much for coming on. This was really fun.

Robyn Mierzwa: My pleasure, Brian. Thank you.

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