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Eastern Massachussetts Guild of Woodworkers

BULLETIN: Personal Protective Equipment in Dire Need

Recently, an email was sent to all EMGW guild members regarding the need for personal protective equipment at local hospitals.  The purpose of this message is to reach out to other viewers of this website who are not necessarily the guild members who received that email.  We recommended that any PPE (face masks, especially N95, nitrile gloves, gowns, and face shields that you have no immediate need to call your local Board of Health, Primary Care Provider’s office, Fire Department (they usually run the EMS service), or nearest hospital and ask where/how you can donate.  Some will accept packages that are opened so don’t let that stop you.

To emphasize that request, we received an unsolicited email from Michael Coughlin, a mental health clinician working in several Boston EDs with an urgent request for PPEs, especially, N95 masks and clear (non-mesh) face shields for Carney Hospital in Dorchester.  It was a heart-wrenching email for concern for the understaffed and under-equipped healthcare workers.  They are in such need, someone will come to pick up whatever you can offer that are in reasonably good shape.  (For example, some hospitals are decontaminating N95 masks using vaporized hydrogen peroxide.)  Please call Michael at 781-856-2032.  Thank you.

Upcoming Non-Guild Events

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Featured Piece of the Month

Five Drawer Miniature Chest

by Len Nyren

Shown here is this month's featured piece by Len Nyren.  Everything about this piece is exquisite in and of itself and reflective of the Chippendale design but it's done on a proportionally smaller level.  Made of tiger maple. Len produced this piece to match other similarly sized furniture.  The carving is exceptionally well done.

In addition to a nicely written article Len provided several pictures to enhance your viewing of some pf the detail. Take a look at Len's Five Drawer Miniature Chest.

You can reach Len at lnyren@comcast.net

Membership Map Update

Thanks to Tom Shirley, the map of member locations has been updated.  It can be reached by clicking Members -> Member Map.

Announcement: Donation Policy Regarding The Eliot School of Fine and Applied Arts

For a number of years Eastern Massachusetts Guild of Woodworkers has donated funds to The Eliot School of Fine and Applied Arts in Jamaica Plain, MA.  EMGW is proud to continue this policy to further the pursuit of excellence in woodworking at The Eliot School.  As students at the school benefit from this donation, the Guild wishes to donate its funds in the memory of those EMGW members who have passed in the year of the donation year.  A more detailed description of our donation policy is posted on the EMGW website under the Board Reports tab.

EMGW is pleased donate funds for year 2020 to The Eliot School in honor of Jules Siegel, who passed away on January 10, 2020.  Jules was a long-time member of the Guild and was very active in Guild activities until a few years ago. Jules was a very accomplished woodworker.  At guild meetings he was an interested attendee asking pertinent questions  and providing thoughtful advice.  He was a wonderful colleague and will be missed.

Bevel Cut

Fibonacci is Not a Pizza Topping

by Andrew Davis


Andrew has found a way to write a new article at the confluence of math, woodworking design, and the physical sciences.  And all because of an advertisement he read for a new Woodpecker's product.  By the way, despite the title of his article he did not mix in any culinary aspects.

It turns out Woodpecker is selling a gadget that assists in the design of furniture using width - length proportions dictated by the golden rule.  This stimulated Andrew to think about the 12th-13th century mathematician Fibonacci and his number sequence that follows that the next term is the sum of the previous two.  I could go on but I think I'll leave it to Andrew with his newest Bevel Cut article "Fibonacci is Not a Pizza Topping".

After you read it, ask yourself: have you ever seen an advertisement trigger such a result?

Andrew welcomes your feedback.

Bevel Cut

Safety First - Know Your Alcohol

by Don Michael

The Perpetual Novice returns to provide a public service.  Previous Perpetual Novice articles have attempted to look at the trials and errors of learning the woodworking craft with a bit of humor. This one is different in that it is serious. I’ve been surprised of late to see the “wrong” alcohols in a number of people’s shops. I’ve known about this for a long time and assumed it was general knowledge, but since it doesn’t seem to be, allow me this one time to slip into lecture mode.

To read more click here.

Furniture Interest Group Meetings

Meetings of the Guild's Furniture Interest Group (FIG) are held every third Monday of the month.  All members are welcome.  Members meet at a different member's house every month where they attend to discuss all things furniture building, including designs, jigs, wood species, joinery, tools, etc.  Members have a chance to seek advice from a varied, friendly, and experienced assembly of woodworkers or add to this body of collective knowledge.  Keep an eye on FIG meetings for time and place in the Upcoming Guild Events at the top of the page. 

Mentoring in the EMGW

Mentoring in the Guild takes many forms.  Everything from a brief conversation or email on a particular technique to a full-blown cooperative effort to build an entire piece.  Most mentoring occurs informally among members.  However, the Mentor Program provides an easy way, especially for new members, to get involved in mentoring.  Members listed on the Mentor Program page of this website have expressed a willingness to help other members in a variety of ways.

To read more about the Mentor Program, click here or navigate to About Us then Mentor Program.  To see the list of Mentor members with their interests and contact information, click here or navigate to Members then Mentors.

A Note From a Father and Son during the COVID-19 Pandemic

The EMGW website reaches more than our guild members.  More evidence was revealed recently when we received an email from a father and son, Tom and Dom, respectively, who were looking to use their self-isolating time as a learning experience.  They decided to invest some time in routine general maintenance around the house.  Dom responded with interest enjoying the manual aspect of the work and using tools.  This brought their interest to our website via an internet search where they benefited from exploring the content and “everything you posted there”.  As a measure of gratitude Tom sent a wonderful email to us telling of their experience.

We certainly encourage woodworking and sharing our experiences with people of all ages and in all times, not necessarily during a pandemic.  But Tom’s email was encouraging in return.  It was nice to know that people value what we do, what we know, and what we share.  And this attitude propagates because Dom has passed on to us a website (https://dragonfiretools.com/family-woodworking-projects-for-your-workbench/ ) for anyone who is similarly inclined to work with wood with a new generation.  He found it useful and a good addition to our website. Consequently, we have added another section called Websites where Dom’s recommendation now resides.  You can access the Websites section by clicking Resources on the Home page then Links.


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