Carve light into wood
A six-day chip carving residency in Dubai. With one knife and a series of clean cuts, you lift tiny chips of wood to build patterns that catch the light like faceted stone, and you take your finished panel home.
Taught by visiting master carver Bernat Mercader · Woodbern Carvings, Barcelona
For six days, our benches in Ras Al Khor become a chip carving studio led by one of the craft's most exciting makers. You begin with your very first cut and finish with a panel worth framing. No machines, no power tools, just a blade, the grain, and a steadier hand than you thought you had.
What is chip carving?
Chip carving is one of the oldest decorative techniques in woodworking. With a single knife and a series of precise cuts, small chips of wood are lifted away to build geometric and flowing patterns across a flat surface.
No machines. No power tools. Just a blade, the grain, and patience. The magic is in the angles: cut them cleanly and the finished surface catches light like faceted stone.
Part of its magic is how little it asks for. All you really need is one knife and a piece of wood, which is why chip carving travels so well: once you have the technique you can carve at home, in the workshop, even outdoors. Over your days at the bench you go from your very first cut to laying out and carving patterns of your own, guided the whole way.
Choose your bench
Go deep across five days, or come for a half-day session to try it. Both run in our Ras Al Khor workshop, with wood, materials and bench tools provided.
The Residency Workshop
Five days at the bench to go from your first cuts to a finished carved panel you take home. Bernat teaches the full method: knife control, laying out patterns, the classic grids and rosettes, and how to start designing your own.
- All levels welcome, beginners included
- Wood, materials and bench tools included
- A carving knife is required and can be bought on the day, yours to keep
- Small group, real one-to-one time
- Leave with a finished, framed-ready piece
The Taster Day
A single relaxed four-hour session to learn the foundations of chip carving: the essential knife grips, the core cuts, and how a pattern is built. The aim is not to rush out a finished object, but to leave able to keep carving on your own with confidence. Perfect if you are curious, short on time, or want a taste before the deeper course.
- No experience needed at all
- Knife and all materials provided, just turn up
- The essential grips, cuts and pattern basics
- Leave able to keep carving on your own
For the five-day residency a carving knife is required, and you can buy one on the day. Chip carving depends on a blade that fits your hand, so you carve on a knife that is yours to keep, and since the craft needs nothing more than that knife and a piece of wood, you can carry it anywhere long after the workshop ends.
A session in our workshop
Small groups, shared benches, and the calm focus of a room full of people making by hand. This is our space in Ras Al Khor, and for six days it is Bernat's.
What a knife can do
A closer look at Bernat's carving, and the work made along the way.
Who is Bernat?
Bernat Mercader is the chip carver behind Woodbern Carvings, based in Barcelona, Spain. He works in chip and relief carving, cutting geometric and botanical patterns so fine the surface seems to ripple when the light moves across it.
His pieces range from small carved discs to large wall panels, each one built cut by cut from a single blade and a very steady hand.
He found the craft in 2015, learning the basics at Tallamadera, a small workshop about twenty minutes from Barcelona. From there he took tools and wood home and kept practising until he could design and carve pieces entirely of his own.
His teaching began with a bit of trust. Andrea, who ran that workshop, gave him his first ever chance to teach, and he has not looked back since. Today he splits his time between teaching and his own carving, always pushing his work somewhere new.
Book your bench
Places are limited and the intensive fills first. Choose your format and book your spot below. Wood, materials and bench tools are included.
Good to know
No. Both courses start from the basics and are open to complete beginners. The difference is depth: the five-day residency explains the techniques in much more detail and gives you time to take them further, while the four-hour taster is a focused first taste.
For the five-day residency, yes: a carving knife is required, and you can buy one on the day of the course, which is yours to keep. Chip carving depends on a blade that fits your hand, so you learn on the exact knife you will carry on with at home. For the four-hour taster, a knife is provided, so you can simply turn up and try.
No. Wood, materials and all bench tools are provided. Just bring yourself, and maybe your glasses if you like to see the fine detail.
Residency makers leave with a larger, finished carved piece plus their own carving knife. Taster guests spend the session on the foundations and leave able to keep carving on their own, along with the small piece they practise on.
At The Makers Society, our workshop in Ras Al Khor, Dubai. Full location details go out with your booking confirmation.
The five-day residency is AED 2,950 and the four-hour taster is AED 750, both per person and including wood, materials and bench tools. The taster also includes the knife. For the residency a carving knife is required and can be bought on the day, and it is yours to keep.
Bernat is only here for six days
A workshop like this does not come around often. Book your bench before the seats are gone.
Book your place