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Website Changes

This blog is used by the Web Administrator to list updates to the website. This blog is summarized on the front page to make it easy for the members it locate new material without having to go  through the entire site. 

  • Posted video of the "Special Moldings" meeting presentation on 2/12/2022

    February 25, 2022 8:12 PM | James Russell (Administrator)

    Special Moldings by Mickey Callahan

  • Posted slides from February 2022 Meeting "Creating Special Moldings" presented by Mickey Callahan

    February 15, 2022 2:46 PM | Vincent Valvo (Administrator)

    February 2022 meeting with Mickey Callahan as presenter titled "Creating Special Moldings".

  • Posted Alert "EMGW Plans Regarding Covid for In-Person Meetings"

    February 02, 2022 10:16 PM | Vincent Valvo (Administrator)

    Covid cases are declining in Massachusetts after peaking in January.  So, we are planning how to proceed as the cases continue to decline.  We realize that another variant may emerge or that the pandemic is not going to end abruptly.  But that does not mean we will wait for zero cases for a specific consecutive number of months before we re-institute in-person meetings.

    With that in mind, we want to alert you to what has been going on.  Our plans consist of both health and logistical concerns.  Our earliest opportunity, assuming a further decline in cases, is to have the March 12 meeting in-person with strict adherence to Covid vaccination, social distancing, and mask wearing.  Specifically, all members planning to attend in person must: 

    • Preregister with affirmation of being fully vaccinated including booster shot.
    • Agree to wear an effective, non-cloth mask, such as a surgical mask, or the preferred N95 or KN95 models, throughout the meeting in deference to the speaker and fellow members.
    • Adhere to EMGW guidelines for social distancing while in the building.

    The mechanism for preregistration will be performed via the EMGW website, and further instructions will be included in the March meeting reminder email, along with status regarding the viability of a March in-person meeting.

    In addition, we are working to provide Zoom access and video recording during in-person meetings.  The ability to offer these features are based on volunteers to video the speaker and pertinent props.  Please contact Ken Zoller if you would like to help. 

  • Posted February 2022 MTCO article "Lubricate Often" by Rob Carver

    January 31, 2022 1:17 PM | Vincent Valvo (Administrator)

    Lubricate Often 

    by Rob Carver

    Rob trusts that this article is PG quality.  In fact, Rob provides lessons learned for folks of all ages.  Keeping things well-oiled is a great preventative course to maintain working machinery.  But there is a philosophical perspective to this article, one in which this column excels.  There is no spoiler alert here nor is there a change to an adult rating, but there is much more to lubricate than metal.  Rob presents his thoughtful article and asks for your feedback.

    For a clever read, click Rob's Lubricate Often.

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


  • Posted February 2022 Bevel Cut "Halley's Comet" by Andrew Davis

    January 31, 2022 1:15 PM | Vincent Valvo (Administrator)


    Halley's Comet

    by Andrew Davis

    Andrew steps outside the sphere of making furniture to address his opinions on the cyclical nature of topics published in woodworking journals.  His thesis is that there is a finite set of recurring topics (e.g., Turning) in the woodworking universe.  Beyond that, the half-life of each topic is on a regular basis of 86 weeks when any given woodworking topic is ready to be seen again.  That spacing may be a lot of time, but Andrew goes further.

    Andrew lists the topics that are repeated as though they have a gravitational pull to return our world in eastern Mass.  Why are these publishers so short-sighted?  All these topics are within the orbit of woodworking, but one wonders when there will be a change (delta?) in the velocity or momentum before we see something new.  We can always hope for an expansion to that universe.  Click to read the aptly named Halley’s Comet article.

    Andrew welcomes your feedback.


  • Posted February 2022 Featured Piece "Curved-Front Cabinet-on-Stand" by Bob Mckee

    January 31, 2022 1:13 PM | Vincent Valvo (Administrator)

    Curved-Front Cabinet-on-Stand

    by Bob Mckee

    Curves can really make a difference.  There is a visually captivating feature that is embedded in this work.  With substantially rectilinear projects we see, use, and make, when curves emerge, it produces higher brain activity.  Many a scholarly paper illustrate the difference in acceptance between angular objects and curved objects.  There’s something soothing about seeing curves.  It seems hard enough to ensure all rectilinear furniture is square.  So, it’s not surprising to appreciate curves in furniture.

    Bob McKee, no stranger to this column, built a curved-face display cabinet for his prized hand tools.  With expert craftmanship following a thorough, eye-catching design, this reveals a piece that adds to his portfolio and that of this column.

    Read Bob’s article Curved-Front Cabinet-on-Stand.

    To send your comments, click Bob McKee.


  • Posted NPR podcast of Dan Sichel's interview on "What Nails Tell Us About the Economy"

    January 19, 2022 12:10 PM | Vincent Valvo (Administrator)

    Did you know that in 1810, the use of nails in the US was comparable, as a measure of nominal GDP, to household purchases of personal computers and peripherals or air travel in our modern times?  That's just one nugget in guild member Dan Sichel's recent paper that caught the eye of NPR's Planet Monkey program for an interview. 

    You may remember Dan's mahogany dining table featured as Piece of the Month last year.  So you might think the interview was about woodworking -- but, only peripherally.  You see, under the guise of an accomplished woodworker, Dan has a full-time job - Professor of Economics at Wellesley College.  Dan recently wrote "The Price of Nails Since 1695: A Window into Economic Change" that was the basis of the interview.  Presented in a ten minute podcast, Dan discusses his research on what we can learn about the US economy from the economic history of nails. 

    Look forward to a light treatment of a serious paper by clicking Dan's Podcast. Also look forward to another featured piece by Dan later this year.

  • Posted January 2022 Measure Twice, Cut Once "Read the Grain" by Rob Carver

    January 02, 2022 3:41 PM | Vincent Valvo (Administrator)



    Read the Grain 

    by Rob Carver

    Woodworking for most of us is a singular enterprise. Our workshops are sized mostly for tools, not other humans.  Using woodworking as a metaphor for social relationships, Rob informs us to think about the bigger picture.  As we toil among our joinery, almost invisible reliefs, and grain direction, we also toil in our communities, small and large, to improve our interaction, to understand the direction of our grain and others.  Rob brings this article at a time of new year, which often is a time of reflection and introspection.  Here's to a Happy New Year and Happy Woodworking in 2022.  And here's to a Healthy New Year physically, mentally, and socially.

    For a must read, click Rob's Read the Grain.

  • Posted January 2022 Bevel Cut "Is Your Project a By-Product?" by Andrew Davis

    January 02, 2022 3:37 PM | Vincent Valvo (Administrator)


    Is Your Project a By-Product?

    by Andrew Davis

    One thing leads to another and in this issue most woodworking projects lead to sawdust.  Big surprise!  But Andrew thinks about this kind of stuff.  And that leads to using the sawdust or any other seemingly useless by-product into something that can be monetized above the level of trashing it.

    I collect hand plane shavings for kindling for my outdoor wood-fueled pizza oven.  The company I bought the pizza oven actually sells hardwood wood shavings and small blocks for just that purpose.  I admit I've actually thought of mechanizing a cutter to produce shavings of my hardwood scrap.  Now there's a by-product that could be worth something.

    Have you considered a project or business turning trash into gold?  In his January 2022 article Is Your Project a By-Product?, Andrew amusingly goes through the mental process of what to consider to evaluate a price for a by-product.  Andrew lays out a compelling list of accounting variables that will have you feeling that sawdust, wood shavings, wood blocks, or other woodworking by-products might be best left for the trash.  See for yourself.

  • Posted January 2022 Featured Piece of the Month "Dual Top Oak Cherry Table by Dick Belanger

    January 02, 2022 3:34 PM | Vincent Valvo (Administrator)

    Dual Top Oak Cherry Table

    by Dick Belanger

    When a daughter comes calling, what father is going to decline the request?  So empowered, Dick Belanger took on the request for "something different."  Dick takes you along his design and build technique to create a remarkable one-of-a-kind table using two table tops separated by arched supports for that different look he was appealed to take.  I dare say he accomplished his objective and workmanship.  See for yourself by clicking Dual Top Oak Cherry Table. 

    To send your comments, click Dick Belanger.

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