Eastern Massachusetts Guild of Woodworkers

Eastern Massachussetts Guild of Woodworkers

Upcoming Guild Events

April Guild meeting: Mickey Callahan on Kerf Bending and Making Tambours

April 12, 2025 9:00 AM • Walpole Woodcraft 3 Walpole Park S, Walpole, MA 02081

May Guild Meeting -- Annual Auction

May 10, 2025 9:00 AM • Needham Furniture Makers, 590 Hillside Avenue, Needham

Upcoming Non-Guild Events

Cutting Out Cancer Fundraiser for Woodworkers

March 31, 2025 • Anheuser-Busch Biergarten. 221 Daniel Webster Highway, Merrimack, NH

FineWoodworking New England

May 09, 2025 9:00 AM • Connecticut Valley School of Woodworking, 249 Spencer Street, Manchester, CT 06040

Map of Member Locations

For in-person meetings, the possibility to carpool to monthly and FIG meetings, and other group gatherings may be of use to you. Tom Shirley has updated the Member Map as of December, 2024 that displays members' locations on a Google map. This is private information, so to access the map you must be logged in. To interact with the map, simply click the map above. You can also click Member Map from the Member Map dropdown list. Once there you can pan, zoom in and out, and click a pin to see the member's name and location.

CNC Routing

Paul Cavalloro

March 9, 2025

Credits Tom Shirley (Photos & Formatting)

Hide Glue Applications

Jim Russell

February 8, 2025

Credits Linda Smith (Photos) and Tom Shirley (Photo Formatting)

Bevel Cut

Haley's Comet Redux

by Andrew Davis

Andrew has once again cut through all of the fog of woodworking publications with his Haley's Comet Redux article. Like a comet shooting through space he points out the periodicity of articles.

Andrew welcomes your feedback.

Measure Twice, Cut Once - Wisdom From the Shop

Lincoln's Axe

by Rob Carver

Sharpening is important as anyone who has worked with hand tools will attest. This month's TWIG meeting, and a quote attributed to Lincoln encouraged Rob to contemplate this and some of his past articles. Read some wisdom from Rob's shop with Lincoln's Axe.

You can reach Rob by clicking Rob Carver.

Cape Cod Subgroup

Six of the eleven members of EMGW's Cape Cod subgroup met July 25 2024 at the home/workshop of Josh Shapiro in Chatham. We got a tour of Josh’s well-equipped shop which he assembled over the past 8 months, starting with an empty room. Josh buys used equipment exclusively and shared with the group his tips for buying equipment on Craigslist, Facebook Marketplace, and other venues. Contact Andrew if you are in or near the Cape Cod area. - Andrew Davis

Pictured from left to right are Steven Contin, Walter Henry, Andrew Davis, Josh Shapiro, Mike Walter, Rob Aronson.

Mentoring in 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.

Featured Piece of the Month

Curly Maple Tea Boxes

by Vic Kelman

Vic takes us through the process of building a pair of Curly Maple Tea Boxes. The story behind the boxes and why Vic was asked to build them in quite intriguing.

You can contact Vic Kelman.

Thanks to our recent contributors the backlog of Featured Piece articles is getting better. However, we are always looking to fill the queue. So please consider submitting an article. Remember this column is not necessarily dedicated to furniture pieces. Tools, jigs, processes, and other woodworking related themes are also relevant.

The Woodworkers' Bookshelf

Book Review: Set and File, A Practical Guide to Saw Sharpening by Matt Cianci, Lost Art Press, 2024.

Book Review by Dan Sichel

April 2025

This review is much shorter than recent ones. That is intentional so as to highlight that shorter articles or notes on an interesting resource on woodworking are welcome. Please share what you are reading or seeing online that would be of interest to other Guild members. Easy to submit – just email Dan Sichel or see him at a Guild meeting!

In the meantime read Dan's April book review. As Dan describes, the book is an amusing treatise on sharpening saws and other tidbits called Set and File, A Practical Guide to Saw Sharpening by Matt Cianci, Lost Art Press, 2024.

Guild Gear

Ken Zoller has received interest in ordering another allotment of EMGW hats and work shirts. Pricing will greatly depend on how many items we order so get your orders in soon. Shirts will likely cost between $35 and $50 and hats $15 - $20 depending on volume and shipping. Once the order is ready to be placed, Ken will have definite pricing. Arrangements can be made for payment and delivery.

If any of you are interested, contact Ken Zoller for details (cost, sizes, quantity, timing, etc.) and/or order placement.

Tribute to John George and the EMGW Mentor Program

Member Joe Frank lives in Somerset, MA, a short drive to southern Rhode Island. Joe joined several years ago as a novice. He needed a mentor and found one. John George stepped up.

Joe works full-time so his availability with John was limited. With a couple years lost due to Covid, John mentored Joe for almost four years, one evening a week at John's workshop in Hopkinton, MA. As Joe's craftsmanship progressed they continued their mentorship program building other pieces. Joe was elated to be mentored by John. But like all of us, Joe was surprised when John died suddenly last fall. Joe felt the need to extol his mentor and write about his experience. To learn more about their mentorship arrangement, read Joe's article A Tribute to John George and the EMGW Mentor Program. To contact Joe for more details, click Joe Frank.

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.

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.