About
Welcome to Highland Woodshop, we’re glad you found us. We come from humble, adventurous beginnings and love to share that laid-back sense of friendship through craft with you. We are a small shop, located on a family property, run by three dedicated folks, Ashley Merback, Nat Stein and Katherine Edmonds, who are excited to bring woodshop knowledge and access to our community. Our model includes monthly/yearly membership options that foster creative community, knowledge sharing, and localized environmental action. We also facilitate classes, teach custom classes for small groups, staff retreats, and private lessons.
Ashley Merback
Ashley and her family moved to Corvallis in 2017. Having left behind a community shop where she'd lived previously she began the long anticipated project of outfitting her own woodworking space in a small side room of their barn. It was around this time that she met Nathaniel, a fellow woodworker, who noticed that just on the other side of the wall from that small room was a 1,000 square foot space the family had no plans for. A collaboration was born. Once arrangements were underway to make that their shared shop they couldn't help but think how many more people could fit in it! And Highland Woodshop was born.
Ashley is always looking for the next adventure and a buddy to do it with. She has a special love for the notion of home, in all its forms, and has fallen particularly for crafting furniture. She especially loves sharing the feeling that follows the completion of a newly finished wood piece with people in relationship who come in to the shop to build together. Witnessing the communication and memory making that happens through experiential learning gives her immense reward.
Nathaniel Stein
Full time Dad, part time woodworker, Nathaniel haunts the woodshop at odd hours like a mysterious phantom in a dust mask. He likes working with tools, working on tools, and having one project too many going on at a time. He has been working with wood in earnest for almost a decade, with a special love for turning bowls and making furniture. He lives just down the road from the woodshop with two lovely boys, one lovely wife, several furry creatures and a garage full of half finished projects.
See Nat's work here.
Katherine Edmonds
Katherine joined Ashley and Nat at Highland Woodshop in early 2022. She was so excited to find two wonderful like minded makers in Corvallis, creating a community shop. She quickly joined the team and started teaching classes and offering mentored time. You can find Katherine either at Highland Woodshop or her home studio making things or thinking about making things. She loves teaching woodworking, and sharing the joy of making a creative idea into a 3D tangible product.
See Katherine's work here.
