Translating Computer-Aided Design (CAD) models into physical objects requires expertise and adjustments to navigate fabrication constraints. Makers develop this tacit knowledge by understanding materials, techniques, and practical requirements. Adjustments are typically shared with designer collaborators through sketches and text. However, this documentation lacks situated knowledge gained during fabrication and remains disconnected from the model.

Computational tools for fabrication often treat materials as passive rather than active participants in design, abstracting away relationships between craftspeople and materials. For craft communities that value relational practices, abstractions limit the adoption and creative uptake of computational tools which might otherwise be beneficial. To understand how better tool design could support richer relations between individuals, tools, and materials, we interviewed expert woodworkers, fiber artists, and metalworkers. We identify three orders of convivial relations central to craft: immediate relations between individuals, tools, and materials; mid-range relations between communities, platforms, and shared materials; and extended relations between institutions, infrastructures, and ecologies. Our analysis shows how craftspeople engage and struggle with convivial relations across all three orders, creating workflows that learn from materials while supporting autonomy. We conclude with design principles for computational tools and infrastructures to better support material dialogue, collective knowledge, and accountability, along with richer and more convivial relations between craftspeople, tools, and the material worlds around them.

When novices fabricate, they naturally start by choosing a workflow (e.g., laser cutting, 3D printing, wire bending) and the corresponding software (e.g., Adobe Illustrator, Fusion 360, Rhino) from a narrow set of options they know. As they advance their design, another workflow might better suit their design intent, but their models remain committed to the original workflow. This prohibits exploration, a learning mechanism fostering informed decision-making.

We present a speculative design for a novel appliance for future fabrication in the home to revitalize textiles using re-programmable multi-color textures. Utilizing colored photochromic dyes activated by ultraviolet (UV) light, we can selectively deactivate hues using complementary colors in visible light to result in the final desired dye pattern. Our proposed appliance would automate this process within a box placed in the bedroom. We envision a future where people are able to transform old apparel into unique and fashionable pieces of clothing.