I grip a piece of pale lumber, lay it atop a pair of sawhorses and nod at Siu-Sing Shantur, 66, a retired commercial banker. She aligns the blade to the penciled line and powers up her circular saw.

Sure, wood’s a pretty tough material all around, but it’s still highly susceptible to temperature and moisture fluctuations ...

Megan Shannon knows how hard it is to get into carpentry as a woman. Back in 2012, she started her company, Tiny Bit of Wood, but had zero mentors who looked like her. She was always the only woman in ...