Eastern Massachusetts Guild of Woodworkers

The Annual Tool Auction was held at Mike Bossin's shop. Many hands helped to prepare and hold the auction. A big thank you to anyone who helped but a special thank you to Mike for all of the work he has done over the past year to make the tool auction and affiliated sales happen. This is John LeJeune's report on the auction results:

“Proceeds from the auction and tool sales this year are $2,533. Last year we took in $,2022 so we are up $511 from last year. Interestingly, we had 29 bidders in 2025 vs. 23 bidders in 2026, 6 fewer people attended this year. Also, earlier this year we sold tools from the two Woodcraft events totaling $483. Add that to the auction sales and we currently have taken in $3,016 in tool sale income for the year, a $944 total increase from last year. Thanks to everyone who participated and worked so hard to make this such a successful year.”

Upcoming Non-Guild Events

No upcoming events

New Members

In April and May, we welcomed six new members.

Luke Driscoll (Scituate)

Theodore Carlson (Medfield)

Alan Reed (Yarmouth Port)

Martha Koch (Providence RI)

Kaela Bleho (Newport RI)

Ed Chiappini (Reading)

Featured Piece of the Month

Blacker House Chair by Dave McCormick

September 28, 2026 9:54 PM • Anonymous member

Invitation for Featured Piece of the Month Articles

Thank you to the contributing members for responding with your recent Featured Piece of the Month articles. As a result, there are some really fine articles about woodworking pieces coming in the next few months. However, there is never an overflowing supply in the queue, so please send in your work to Tom Shirley (email address can be found in the Members Directory). Thank you.

The Woodworker's Bookshelf

Review of Ingrained: The Making of a Craftsman by Callum Robinson

September 26, 2026 10:16 AM • Dan Sichel

Review of Tools for Engagement: Reclaiming Craft in an Age of Technology by Joshua Klein and Michael Updegraff

August 22, 2026 9:48 AM • Dan Sichel

President's Message

MANY Thanks!

May 31, 2026 4:28 PM • Robert Carver

Guild Meeting Slides

Slideshow of Recent Monthly Meetings with Presentation

David Gillerin - Harvesting Timber and Onsite Sawilling
Northborough
April 11, 2026

Credits Tom Shirley

Annual Pinic with Show & Tell
Dover
June, 13 2026

Credits Tom Shirley

Annual Auction
Norwood
May, 9 2026

Credits Tom Shirley

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 November, 2025 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.

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 Mentors with their interests and contact information click here or navigate to Members then Mentors.

Open Committee Positions

Committee Positions. (Rob Carver) We are still in need of volunteers to team up with committee members already on staff. Committees are short staffed so please consider joining a committee in order to ease the effort to maintain successful outcomes. Any amount of time you volunteer is helpful. Here are the ways you can become a bigger part of the guild. One of the most rewarding ways to connect with other EMGW members is volunteering to help on a committee. Many tasks are very light lifting and can be fun and lead to long-term friendships.

Newcomer Committee: Make a phone call or otherwise contact a new member after they join, and become the first person they meet. We'll provide guidelines for that first conversation. newly elected VP Mike Bossin is the person to contact.
Program Committee: Help plan the Saturday programs a year in advance. We meet about quarterly on Zoom for 60-90 minutes. Shape the substance of our meetings and make personal contact with cool presenters. Let Rob Carver know if interested.

Presenters: Long-time guild members remember the good old days when more presentations were given by guild members. Is there a topic or technique that you are willing and able to present to the group on a Saturday morning? Don't be shy. Raising your hand is another huge way to help the Program Committee.
Development Committee: We're starting to get more serious about fundraising and soliciting & collecting tool donations for auction. Mike Bossin is leading the charge. Anyone is welcome, and people with backgrounds in non-profit finance or marketing/advertising are especially welcome. We anticipate needing to gather and move tools, so a truck and healthy back are assets.

Nominating Committee: Developing a pipeline of on-going leaders is an essential need for any voluntary association. For many years, we've had a fantastic single-proprietor operation handling this function and it is now time for transition. Can you recognize talent? Talk to Rob.
The AV team can use another person to help with sound at our events, so we need a person with know-how about portable sound systems and amplification, who might also be a substitute when one of the three-person crew has to miss a Saturday session.

Tool Swap at Woodcraft Woburn and Walpole.

John LeJeune reports the photo (L to R) of Ray Tice, Vic Kelman, Carl Tappan, Michael Bossin and John LeJeune is from the Woodcraft of Woburn October 25, 2025 Tool Swap. They are standing in front of our new wood banner that Vic Kelman made with her wood burning tool for guild events such as these. Other items on the table are recent guild projects. (Shaker stool, wavy cutting board, hand made brush and dustpan and hand carved owl and bear. Additional volunteer/participants at Walpole Woodcraft on 10/18/25 were Dan Sichel, Cindy Forkner, and Matt Forkner. Money raised from the tool sales from members and the public totaled $443.00. There are still some tools left if members are interested. Thanks to all who participated and who bought tools. The event has also yielded the recruitment of several new members. We welcome them to the guild.

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.

Mission

The Eastern Massachusetts Guild of Woodworkers (EMGW) is a non-profit organization dedicated to the promotion of excellence in the woodworking community through the sharing of information in the art, technique, and business of woodworking. We aspire to these goals in order to promote and foster interest in our craft for both the aspiring and skilled woodworker.