A few people have asked me about the woodworking and construction classes I’m taking at Austin Community College. I think ACC has a great program, and I highly recommend it to anyone who thinks they might be interested. I myself procrastinated for a long time before signing up, just due to FUD about the process, cost, time commitment, prerequisite experience, etc. Those concerns all turned out to be groundless. The hardest part was the initial admissions bureaucracy. If you’ve already taken a class at ACC in the past, all you have to do is fax in a proof of residency form and call to have the advising bar cleared.

All of the classes I’ve taken have been from 5-10pm once a week fall/spring (16 wks) or twice a week in the summer (8 wks), cost $240 total (in-district), and are offered only at the Riverside campus. (Those are the hands-on woodworking and construction classes; there are also “classroom classes”, like OSHA regulations, etc., that meet more often for shorter periods, but only people seeking a certificate need to take those.) The teachers are all really friendly, patient, and knowledgeable. Registration and payment can be done online within 10 minutes.

I started with the cabinet making class, then advanced furniture construction, then woodworking special topics (basically shop time to work on whatever you want). I’ve also taken roof framing and interior finishing, which are more construction than woodworking. There is an introductory class that most classes list a prerequisite, but if you’re at all crafty or skilled with your hands, you should be able to skip it. Of course, if you want to start with a survey course, that class seems to cover a lot of things, and people seem to enjoy it.