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Eastern Massachussetts Guild of Woodworkers

Upcoming Guild Events

October 08, 2022 9:00 AM • Lincoln-Sudbury Regional High School and on Zoom (see link in description)
November 12, 2022 9:00 AM • Lincoln-Sudbury Regional High School
December 10, 2022 9:00 AM •

Board of Directors 2022 - 2023

At the June, 2022 annual meeting the following were elected to the EMGW Board of Directors:

Ken Zoller, President (formerly V.P.)

Rob Carver, Vice President

John George, Treasurer

Tom Shirley, Secretary (re-elected)

All candidates were elected unanimously.

Upcoming Non-Guild Events

No upcoming events


Map of Member Locations

For in-person meetings, the possibility to carpool to monthly and FIG meetings may be of use to you.  Tom Shirley has updated the Member Map that displays members' locations on a Google map.  To access the map, log in, click the Member tab, then from the drop-down list click Member Map.  User instructions can be found there.

Bevel Cut


Finishing Frustrations

by Andrew Davis

There is no argument for many woodworkers, their woodworking Achilles' heel is finishing.  I always thought this last stage was ill named because you have to ask yourself, how many times does it take to restart "finishing" and fix problems before you are satisfied?  Only the last attempt should be called Finishing, i.e., when you are FINISHED!

When something goes wrong with finishing, the result can be a double whammy.  Not only is the piece visually unappealing, sometimes it ruins the piece after laboring ever so carefully during it's construction.  It seems that within the skill set of woodworking, such as cutting, drilling, carving, hand planing, dry assembly, gluing, measuring, and so on, finishing is one that is the black sheep in that family.  So relax and enjoy some laughs while commiserating with Andrew in his latest article Finishing Frustrations.

Andrew welcomes your feedback.

Measure Twice, Cut Once - Wisdom From the Shop


Pay Attention to Proportion

Rob Carver

When thinking about proportions...wait, let's stop there.  Maybe you don't go around thinking about proportions.  But it's in your face (literally, as per Leonardo) and figuratively around the world.  It's not a thing you can touch but you can touch what has proportion.  It's a characteristic for some, it's a relationship for some, it's a ratio for some.  But, moreover, it's a principle. While it may be all Greek to some (ha, it's symbolized with the Greek letter phi), it's as ubiquitous as common sense and uncommon sense combined.  It forms beauty, stability, moderation, balance.  I'll leave it there.  Rob has more to say.  Read Pay Attention to Proportion.

You can reach Rob for comments and additional information, by clicking Rob Carver.

Featured Piece of the Month


A Coffee Table For M.C. Escher!

by Jim Allen

You may remember when President John F. Kennedy challenged the Aeronautics space community with the Moonshot Program, he said, "We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard."  Over the course of bringing Featured Pieces to you, I've been amazed how that quote can be paraphrased for woodworking.  We all have our Moonshot Moments and as we develop our skills we reach for greater challenges.  Here Jim Allen takes on a dizzying piece that fits that challenge.  When you read his A Coffee Table For M.C. Escher!, you will be amazed and, hopefully, not too dizzy.

Further information can be requested by clicking Jim Allen.

We are revving up for another season of Featured Pieces.  Your contributions in any form are welcome.  Click my email address to send your draft.

Remember this column is not necessarily dedicated to furniture pieces.  Tools, jigs, processes, and other woodworking related themes are also relevant.

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.

EMGW Projects 2022 - 2023

Pictures in this column are from past guild projects.  Now Steve Hoffmann and Jeff Clunie are making preparations to run a workshop project this Fall for guild members. The intent is to provide a program where new members can get to meet each other as well as some long-time members over a course of a few weeks and to work alongside them, learn new skills, share experiences and make nice projects to bring home.

It is anticipated that the workshops will be held during the day on weekdays, however, the location, time and other specifics will be determined once we have an idea of the number of people interested, their demography, availability, skill level, access to tools, etc.

Three different projects are being considered:

1. an articulated wooden toy dinosaur based on the book Animated Animal Toys in Woodby by David Wakefield

2. a wavy cutting board based on the Fine Woodworking article “A Unique Cutting Board” by Scott Lewis (May/June 2013 issue # pages 68 – 73).

3. a Shaker Stool (either a foot stool or a utility stool) with woven Shaker tape adapted from the books Shop Drawings of Shaker Furniture and Woodenware by Ejner Hanberg, Chairmaking Simplified by Kerry Pierce, and The Book of Shaker Furniture by John Kassay. (There is no need to purchase any of these books or magazines).

If you would like to learn more about these projects click EMGW Project 2022.  You may also contact either Steve or Jeff to register your interest or ask questions.



Starting out in Woodworking? EMGW Members Compiled a Guidebook for You

Considering getting into woodworking?  A team of members of EMGW has written a guidebook targeted for new woodworkers and a refresher for other woodworkers.

The guidebook is complimentary.  It can be viewed and downloaded for your reading pleasure.  We hope that reading the guidebook will engender interest in woodworking and membership in our guild.  Click here for a priceless copy.

Discounts and allowances Dry cleaning Coupon Price, Sale Sticker, text, logo, banner png | PNGWing

Considerable work has already gone into renewing older and securing new discounts from various sources.  To review the list on the website you must first login then click Members and then Special Membership Discounts.



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