Grizzly opens 2026 Makers Challenge for woodworkers and turners
Grizzly’s Makers Challenge is back with a $4,000 top prize, and the first hurdle is popular vote. Turners have one entry and a July 18 deadline to make it count.
Grizzly Industrial opened submissions for its 2026 Makers Challenge, putting a $4,000 gift certificate and a featured spot in Popular Woodworking Magazine in play for woodworkers and turners. The contest is accepting online entries now through July 18, and the company is making the path to the finals clear: get one finished project in, and make the photos do the talking.
That presentation matters because Grizzly says the top ten finalists are chosen by popular vote before judges pick the winner, runner-up and honorable mentions. The company is asking for high-quality photos of completed woodworking projects, which gives turners a practical edge if the piece reads cleanly on screen, shows crisp detail and looks finished from the first image. Grizzly says each entrant may submit only one project, so the entry has to carry its own weight.
The rules limit the challenge to legal U.S. residents age 18 and older, with the entry window running from May 18, 2026 at 12:00 AM PDT through July 18, 2026 at 11:59 PM PDT. Grizzly says the contest is open to makers of any skill level, from beginner to advanced, and it is again pairing the event with Woodsmith, Popular Woodworking, Fine Woodworking and Woodshop News through Active Interest Media.
The 2026 prize pool tops $6,000. First place gets a $4,000 Grizzly gift certificate, runner-up gets a $2,000 gift certificate, and finalists receive a $50 gift certificate plus swag. For a turner, that prize structure matters because the contest is not just a cash-equivalent payout. It is also a route to a national audience through the magazine feature attached to the top prize.
Grizzly is running the challenge for a second year after the inaugural 2025 contest drew 1,500 entries, produced two winners, 10 finalists and three honorable mentions, and awarded $4,500 in prizes. Haseeb Ahmed of Roswell, Georgia won the grand prize that year with an entryway cabinet, taking home a $3,000 Grizzly gift certificate and an interview and feature tied to Popular Woodworking.
Grizzly Industrial says it was founded in 1983 by S. Balolia and operates two large U.S. distribution centers and showrooms. That scale gives the Makers Challenge a reach well beyond a single contest page, and for turners who can make one project stand out in photos, it offers a rare bridge from the shop bench to a magazine spread.
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