Equipment & Studio

The Center provides students with the opportunity to develop their professional interests and skills in a safe and stimulating environment. Students have access to a well-equipped 7,000sq.ft. studio that has recently undergone an extensive expansion and renovation. The shop includes many new state-of-the-art machines.

The studio includes two bench rooms, a machine room, a fully-ventilated finishing room, a technology area featuring a new CNC equipment, a dedicated library and resource area, and an entire studio focused on turning. The facility also includes a dedicated studio space for the Artist-in-Residence. Each of our students has an individual space for storage and bench work, along with hand tools and cabinet. The studio is well ventilated and controlled with its own dust collection and filtering systems.

The educational emphasis of the Center is geared toward cooperative learning and mentorship. Undergraduate and graduate students work together in an open studio environment and are encouraged to share their variety of studio and experiential backgrounds among each other. This creates a strong inter-disciplinary setting where students assist each other and engage in open dialogue sessions involving the development of their work.

The Center facilities include:

Lathe/Turning Studio
• 13 wood/turning lathes, high capacity, state-of-the-art (the only such facility within in 4-year college/university program in the nation)
• fully exhausted and air conditioned
• water stone and buffer/honing sharpening system, dual head, electric
• 3 dual-head grinders/sharpeners
• turning tools, full compliment for class of 13
• 4-jaw chucks, full compliment for 10 lathes
• 10"-blade sliding-bed table saw, commercial-grade, dedicated exhaust venting

Primary Power Machine Shop All machines are commercial grade
• fully exhausted, vented, and air conditioned
• Saw Stop 10"-blade/8 hp table saw, with extended beds
• 10" blade/5 hp Powermatic table saw, with extended beds
• 22" Planer, with helix head
• 10" Jointer
• 10" miter saw
• end-tenoner
• 3 drill press's and full compliment of bits
• 4 bandsaws, ranging from 12 "to 18" to 30"
• router table
• compressed air
• sink
• storage for scrap wood
• plywood/sheet goods cart, tilting, with hydraulic lift to counter/table saw height
• pallet jack

Sanding Room
• fully exhausted, vented, and air conditioned
• down-draft hand-sanding vacuum table, independent/free-standing, commercial grade
• 2 FESTOOL portable sanding stations
• 6" x 30" horizontal belt sander
• spindle sander
• 24" horizontal "Time-Saver"-type surface sander
• combination disc and belt sanders
• disc sander

Metal Working Studio
• sheet metal bender
• pipe/tube bender
• band saw
• drill press
• steam chamber (wood), with direct steam line, 10" dia x 8' long
• overhead door giving direct access to Sprowls Hall loading dock

Tech Bay
• fully exhausted, vented, and air conditioned, with additional direct exhaust
• Epilog "Helix" 40-watt laser cutter/engraver with dedicated ThinkPad laptop and dedicated software
• 48" x 48" CNC router (computer numerical control) and dedicated software
• 16" dia. x 36" CNC lathe (computer numerical control)
• compressed air
• vacuum bag-type press, 48" x 48"
• overhead garage door to loading dock, as well as separate/direct access into 3-D Design and the building elevator
• storage of wood acquired on-campus, for planned CenterWorks sales projects

Finish Room
• 12' x 18' room
• explosion proof
• dedicated make-up air
• end-wall filtered exhaust
• storage cabinets
• 2 spray guns
• compressed air
• direct double-wide doors allow access to/through to shop and to hallway/exit

Wood Storage Room
• wood for students, both commercially prepared and for sale, as well as, Center-cut wood
• 10"-blade cross-cut saw, for rough cutting timber, with dedicated exhaust

Dedicated Resource Center
• Loan Library, approx 250 volumes, sign-out honor system, texts focus on design/construction/finishing, woodturning, woodworking history, and architecture, as well as, design, creativity, and marketing
• small CD/DVD collection of contemporary woodturners, methods, and the entire digital history of Fine Woodworking magazine
• several life-time collections of: Fine Woodworking, American Craft, American Woodworker
• collected volumes of contemporary magazines related to wood, fine craft, marketing
• furniture-capacity display case, with led spot lights and electrical outlets, 30" x 6' x 10'
• 2 powerful PC computers, with 24" flat screen displays
• 5 ThinkPad laptop computers, all with MasterCam modeling/cutting software
• large format scanner, 11" x 17"
• digital projector
• digital camera

Undergraduate Bench Room
• bench and table work areas, each with a vise, for 13 students
• fully exhausted, vented, and air conditioned
• significant storage, for shop and individual students
• sink, refrigerator
• power machine shop area, self–sufficient
• 10"-blade Saw Stop table saw, mid-size/contractor's
• 12" planer
• 8" jointer
• 3 band saws
• 2 drill press's
• -2 disc & belt sanders
• clamp/glue-up area, with commercial grade miter/chop saw
• hand tools, full compliment for class of 12

Graduate Bench Room
• 10' x 12' work areas and European style benches for each of 7 students and Artist-in-Residence
• cabinet tool storage for each of 7 students
• pull down projection screen
• various woodworking clamps
• full compliment of hand tools
• various hand and power tools for joining, shaping, and finishing

Extended Graduate Area
• design/study cubicles, for each of 7 Graduate student
• photography light/boom, 150 & 250- watt, light-box head, professional quality
• furniture photography area, with pull down back drops
• upholstery area with commercial grade sewing machine, cloth layout/cutting table
• storage of wood acquired on-campus, for planned CenterWorks sales projects
• long-term storage of machine/equipment parts
• critique area