-
Home
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
|
|
 |
 |
|
|
|
|
Italian Joinery from the Dolomites
Brad Carr took his family on vacation in the Dolomites in Italy. They stayed in the small village of Lajen. The man from whom they rented a flat also has a barn / stable with some interesting wood architectural structures. Brad was quite impressed with the detail and scale of the barn, which, it turns out, is not uncommon around here. Brad shares his pictures in the slideshow below.
Getting Started in Woodworking, A Guidebook for the Novice written by The EMGW Guidebook Team
Various members of EMGW led by Andrew Davis have been involved with planning, designing, writing, reviewing, formatting, and writing more a guidebook for beginners in woodworking. The mission of this project has been to supply a document that would provide insight and a morale boost to someone who has an interest in woodworking but not sure how to answer the questions, how do I get started, and what do I need to know. This all-volunteer, multi-month project attempts to provide answers to that person with a compendium of instructional and informative articles to build awareness and confidence. That being said, even experienced woodworkers will get something out of reading the guidebook.
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.
Old Iceland Furniture
Tom Shirley and his wife traveled to Iceland last June 2021 where they visited a traditional sod home museum in Glaumbær. In the museum, Tom took photos of much of the old handmade furniture. He even found an old woodworking bench and some tools including a lathe. See the slideshow of Tom's pictures below.
|
|
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.
Dan Sichel's Research: Economic History of Nails
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.
EMGW Woodworking Exhibit at Old Sturbridge Village
As part of the 75th Anniversary celebrations at Old Sturbridge Village, EMGW participated in the OSV Woodworking Weekend on October 9 & 10, 2021 (see slideshoew below). The Village held a Grand Opening Ceremony for the new Cabinetmaking Shop on the Common, and EMGW had a front-row seat for the festivities, under a tent where we displayed members’ work and did some demonstrations for visitors. Members may recall that our September field trip was initially scheduled to get a preview of the new shop with Master Cabinetmaker Chris Nassise. Due to COVID, we postponed that visit until the spring, but Chris invited us to show how the methods of the early nineteenth century have evolved and live on.
A variety of objects were on loan from Guild members Michael Bossin, Rob Carver, Ann Dinsmoor, Steve Hoffman, Bob McKee, Ed O’Neil, Mike Roughan, Tom Shirley, Rick Silva, Jim Tartaglia, Jim Thompson, and Ken Zoller. Most of these folks also spent time in the Village during the event, chatting with visitors and Village staff about the Guild and woodworking, distributing Guild postcards, and doing some demonstrations. Thanks to numerous members and the editing of Tom Shirley, we had a slide show running continuously to showcase some eye-catching furniture pieces. Among the visitors we met several local woodworkers and possibly recruited a few new members for EMGW.
In addition to the display items, Ann had brought a two-board sample illustrating a dovetail joint. Kids and adults delighted in exploring how the joint works. Steve supplied toys from the Toys for Tots program from a few years back. The cars and articulated creatures were a big hit, attracting children, parents, and grandparents.
Tom demonstrated the use of handsaws, shooting boards, and hand planes to construct small boxes with perfect mitered corners, and Rob used a shaving horse, drawknife, and spokeshaves to make a Paul Sellers milking stool. All the display pieces drew praise, especially Ken Zoller’s Machinist’s Tool Chest, Jim Tartaglia’s segmented bowl and mahogany tilt-top table with its inlaid veneer top, Bob McKee’s Krenov-inspired curved-front display cabinet, Ed O’Neil’s Morris ottoman, Rob Carver’s sackback Windsor chair, and Mike Bossin’s mantle clock. We had two shaker stepstools, by Ann and Tom, and people found the comparison vey interesting as well. More than a few visitors asked about purchasing or commissioning items!
The featured speaker at the shop dedication was Brock Jobe, renowned authority on early American furniture now retired from Winterthur, and on the board at OSV. Brock has spoken to the Guild in the past. One additional surprise was a sighting and brief encounter with Norm Abram, who also played a role in the creation of the new shop.
We had a lot of fun, met many people, extolled the virtues of woodworking and our Guild, and strengthened our own bonds while meeting people from around the country and several nations. Our OVS hosts could not have been more gracious, and (as they say) a good time was had by all. We look forward to on-going relationship with the Village.
Rob Carver
