Castle adds contest for student makers

Castle USA, a manufacturer of pocket hole joinery equipment, recently announced a new student woodworking contest, “What’s Your Angle?”, which will award prizes to contestants whose projects exemplify innovative uses of screw pocket joinery.

The contest opened Sept. 1 and will accept entries through Nov. 1. It is an extension to the company’s education program that gives financial discounts on its products to schools to help further the future of the industry.

“The discount for our education program has been out there for quite some time. But for 2022, Castle has tried to implement a program above and beyond the discount. We’ve realized how challenging the labor market has become, especially, anything skill-related like the woodworking trade. So, we decided to offer this in our effort to bring more attention to the importance of student woodworking programs and to reward them for outstanding work,” says Phil Johnson, a marketing and technical support specialist at Castle.

Contestants will compete in three categories: Individual Student, High School Program, and Secondary or Vo-Tech Program. Projects must include screw pocket joinery in the construction. Use of a Castle machine is not required.

“We’re keying in on the overall project look and creative ways to use screw pocket joinery,” adds Johnson. “We’re just trying to get students excited about a potential woodworking career, and also give these woodworkers of the future the best possible training from the start.”

Winners will be announced on Dec. 15. Prizes include a Castle 110, TSM-12 and TSM-22 machines.

For contest details, visit castleusa.com.  

This article was originally published in the October 2022 issue.