Forgot password
Eastern Massachussetts Guild of Woodworkers

Upcoming Guild Events

May 01, 2025 10:00 AM • 121 Crescent Street, Athol, MA 01331
May 10, 2025 9:00 AM • Needham Furniture Makers, 590 Hillside Avenue, Needham
June 14, 2025 10:00 AM • Tim Holiner’s home in Dover (address will be provided in registration confirmation email)
September 13, 2025 9:00 AM • Lowell Makes, Lowell MA and virtual on Zoom

May 10 EMGW Auction

110,400+ Auction Stock Photos, Pictures & Royalty-Free ...

The May 10 guild meeting is the annual fundraiser auction that starts about 9AM.  Proceeds go to EMGW to supplement annual expenses.  So, bring woodworking related items to be auctioned to a pool of bidders.  Please arrive early to deliver your items and then register for the bidding process. There is no cost to join the bidding.  After winning a bid, winners' names will be recorded.  Payments are reconciled after the last item is auctioned. 

TWIG Has It's Own Archive

With the popular TWIG meetings being recorded on Zoom, the guild will archive selected sessions on this website as a member-only feature.  Mike Roughan (video editing) and Vincent Valvo (website and internet connectivity) have teamed up to make them available under the Guild Video Library tab on the Home page.  Navigate the website to Guild Video Library to see the addition.  The two most recent TWIG sessions are available.

  • The February session is on cutting rabbets using various planes (Skewed, fillister, block, Stanley 78, shoulder, and others)
  • The March session is a Show and Tell of attendees' newest hand tools. 
Going forward Wyatt Mills will take over recording the session and editing the file from Mike.


    Upcoming Non-Guild Events

    March 31, 2025 • Anheuser-Busch Biergarten. 221 Daniel Webster Highway, Merrimack, NH
    May 02, 2025 • NBSS 150 North Street, Boston MA 02109
    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.

    EMGW Field Trips in May and June

    We received a great response to our survey about Spring mid-week field trips. Based on your answers, we can now confirm two trips:

    • May 1, 2025. 10 AM Thursday Tour of Starrett Tool, 121 Crescent Street, Athol, MA 01331. The tour is nominally one hour.  Please register by April 30.
    • June 5, 2025. 10 AM Thursday Guided tour at Reader’s Hardwood Supply, 250 Cape Hwy Unit 9, East Taunton, MA 02718.

    Watch the website for more information. We’ll ask for reservations to get accurate headcounts.

    Slideshow of Recent Monthly Meetings with Presentation

    Kerfs and Tambours

    Mickey Callahan

    April 12, 2025

    Credits Tom Shirley


    CNC Routing

    Paul Cavalloro

    March 9, 2025

    Credits Tom Shirley (Photos & Formatting)

    Bevel Cut

    White Water Rafting on a River Table

    by Andrew Davis


    If you have an urge to make a river table, you've come to the right place for the right article.  Working with epoxy can be rewarding but as Andrew writes it can be expensive and hazardous. Writing from experience, Andrew provides his advice, including a 7-point list of suggestions.  The article best navigates the Class VI rapids of rafting down the Epoxy River.  Find out for yourself.  Click White Water Rafting on a River Table.

    Andrew welcomes your feedback.

    Measure Twice, Cut Once - Wisdom From the Shop

    Prime Suspect

    by Rob Carver


    There is no need to stream a new suspense thriller for your next binge session.  There is a mystery to solve in this essay and each of you are suspects.  Who is responsible? 

    Put down the remote control and read Prime Suspect.

    Hint: Don't look too far for the solution.

    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

    Buggy Wheel Restoration

    by Dick Belanger


    We are always looking for unusual pieces to feature. This one is no exception.  It seems Dick is a magnet for these one-of-a-kind pieces.     


    And don't think this is as simple as it may seem.  This project comes with needed craftmanship, requiring laminated curves and turning,  The buggy wheel restoration project article is an easy read and something you probably haven't ever been involved with before. Here's your chance.  Take a look at Buggy Wheel Restoration.


    Click Dick Belanger to send your comments.


    We are always looking to fill the Featured Piece queue.  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


    Consider writing a brief review of a woodworking book or magazine or internet article.  Please share what you are reading or seeing online that would be of interest to other guild members. Easy to submit – just email the editor Dan Sichel or see him at a Guild meeting!


    While the editor is involved with some non-woodworking activity, the April book review is still available.  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.

    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.

    Eastern Massachusetts Guild of Woodworkers. Copyright © 2025  Privacy and Cookie Policy

    Powered by Wild Apricot Membership Software