Eastern Massachusetts Guild of Woodworkers

Eastern Massachussetts Guild of Woodworkers

Upcoming Guild Events

December Guild Meeting - Dan Faia on Traditional Woodworking in the Modern Era

December 14, 2024 9:00 AM • Lowell Makes, Lowell MA

January Guild Meeting (1st Saturday) Michael Wheeler on History and Construction of Banding and Paterael Wheeler on

January 04, 2025 9:00 AM • Eliot School of Fine and Applied Arts, 24 Eliot St, Jamaica Plain, MA 02130

New EMGW Project - Dustpan and Brush

Howard Barnstone was inspired by Aspen Golann's article Make a Wooden Brush in Fine Woodworking issue #296-MAY/JUN 2022 (https://www.finewoodworking.com/2022/04/07/make-a-wooden-brush). After making a brush along with the accompanying wooden dustpan, he has volunteered to lead a small group of EMGW members in making their own brush and dustpan. This is a modest project that requires a combination of hand and power tools, and allows for individual creativity in choice of woods. This is quite timely, since Aspen Golann will be our guest presenter for the April 2025 meeting.

Interested? Please send an email to Howard before November 30. hlbarnstone2@gmail.com

Upcoming Non-Guild Events

Tours of Mason & Hamlin Piano Co Factory--every Wednesday

August 21, 2024 10:00 AM • 35 Duncan Street, Haverhill, MA 01830

North Bennet St School Open House

December 06, 2024 10:00 AM • NBSS

Fallon & Wilkinson Wood Identification Workshop

February 07, 2025 9:00 AM • Historic Deerfield’s Deerfield Community Center 16 Memorial Street Deerfield, MA 01342

Woodworking Tip for November 2024. Smoother Slide with Miter Bars

Guild Project Update - Make a Shave Horse

The shave horse group met at Ed Payne's shop on October 8 to show off progress to date. There was quite a variety of designs and materials, all in the general dumb-head style. Some were finished, and others still in process. We plan to meet one last time on November 7 with completed projects for a shave horse rodeo and some serious shaving.

Captions (clockwise starting at top left): Ed Payne and his mellow dog admire their horse; John LeJeune's steed even has a brand on the right rear flank; Steve Hoffmann, Mike Roughan, and Don Cole discuss the merits of different designs; Steve relaxed astride his nearly-finished horse; Mike shows his rustic design from a felled tree on his property.

The Drum Maker | Rope Tension Drum | A Craftsman's Legacy

At the September 2024 meeting a presentation by Bill Whitney was performed. You can see a few representative pictures below. Click any of the following links.

This is the primary video that caught our attention. In this way you will get to see more details that the pictures cannot convey.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xN8kkjGS-98 (36:46)

Calderwood - Hellcats Drum Line [Showing the project overview, 10 snares, 2 bass drums] (7:48)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ltAceF9kQy4

Hellcat Drums - Maiden Voyage (short clip playing demo, 3 snares, 1 bass)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=80nPE3NLsTk (0:39)

Make a Chair Slip Seat

Mike Mascelli

November 9, 2024

Credits Tom Shirley (Photos) and Vincent Valvo (Slide Creation)

Rope Tension Snare Drums, Process and Demonstration

Bill Whitney, CalderWood Percussion Instruments

September 2024

Credits Vincent Valvo

Bevel Cut

What a Grind Part 2

by Andrew Davis

What a Grind is the second installment of Andrew's series on Abrasives. Part 2 discusses more details on the manufacturers and types of sandpaper that you would use for specific projects.

This is a keeper to have handy when you have a sanding project. It's not about the correct grit. This is a fully researched compendium for purchasing and using sandpaper. There is more about what kind of sandpaper you should use, and names of the products for your searching pleasure when purchasing.

Read What a Grind Part 2 then add it to your woodworking binder for later reference.

Andrew welcomes your feedback.

Measure Twice, Cut Once - Wisdom From the Shop

Friction

by Rob Carver

We all know about friction. It's the dry friction we are most familiar with but there are several types of friction. Friction was discovered by Leonardo da VInci although he didn't get credit (posthumously, of course) until the 17th century when his codices were discovered. Ever hear of the coefficient of friction? Leonardo didn't coin the phrase he merely described the ratio. While there are fun facts about friction and Leonardo, there are more serious sentiments about such a force.

Rob's article is less about history and science and more about the impact (not a pun) on human nature. Here friction is not a physical force in mechanics. Adding or reducing friction is a metaphor for slowing or increasing communication pathways, or slowing the pace of development or facilitating it. There is more in the article than this little intro, so click Friction. It's such a good read.

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.

Featured Piece of the Month

Shop Made Glue-up Jig

by Steve Hoffmann

Readers may know that I am always looking for jigs and fixtures to be featured for this column. I love the creativity that comes with a jig or fixture because by definition it’s original. Steve Hoffmann's jig certainly qualifies.

Steve is a former EMGW president who has contributed Featured Piece articles in the past. This time it's a jig with drawings so that you might like to make one. Steve designed and made the jig to facilitate glueing the treads and risers of a staircase. While readers may not have a staircase project, they would find value in a jig that keeps parts in place during glue up with reproduceable outcome. Learn about about Steve's jig in his article Shop Made Glue-up Jig.

For more information, you can reach Steve at Steve Hoffmann.

Consider submitting an article to be published once we return to the start of the Program Year 2024-2025. Remember this column is not necessarily dedicated to furniture pieces. Tools, jigs, processes, and other woodworking related themes are also relevant.

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 February, 2024 that displays members' locations on a Google map. This is private information, so to access the map ou 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.

EMGW Board of Directors 2024-2025

The following members were elected to the EMGW Board of Directors for the Program Year 2024 - 2025.

President: Rob Carver

Vice-President: Andrew Davis

Treasurer: John LeJeune

Secretary: Tom Shirley

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.

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.