# Do You Belong To A Woodworking Club?



## Router Forums (May 7, 2010)

Do you belong to a woodworking club in your area? If so, in what ways has it helped you?

If not, is this something you have considered? Why? Why not?


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## Stick486 (Jan 4, 2013)

no...


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## JOAT (Apr 9, 2010)

Need to know basis only. And you don't need to know.


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## herrwood (Apr 19, 2014)

No, Not really a people person.
This forum is as social as I get.


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## CharleyL (Feb 28, 2009)

Yes....I was quite active for 5 years, but then had a bit of "falling out" with some of the leaders. I don't participate much anymore.

Charley


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## Dejure (Jul 27, 2009)

I enjoy meeting other sawdust makers. I've reached out several ways, but have little luck. 

I find humor in that a couple I tried to make contact with never dropped around, until a year or two after I talked to them. After the first time, they started dropping by more regularly. Each time, it was the same thing, they were expecting some guy with a Craftsman radial arm and a bandsaw. My wife and her sister were around and were laughing at the reaction of each of them. It involved something to the effect of "holy s____t." Part of that may be because everyone thinks my shop is just the house next door.

In effort to meet others with similar interests, I joined a turning club in a city about an hour away. It meets once a month.

I learn a lot from meetings and demonstrations. If can be fun other ways too. Though I'm an amateur turner in comparison to a few of the nationally known turners, it can be fun or at least interesting being underestimated, based on that I am a newbie to turning. Many seem unable to understand some of us have been working wood for a half century, even though we've only recently started running a lathe. Often, there seems to be a small amount of shock when I share things that can be applied to detailing turnings and such.


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## Stick486 (Jan 4, 2013)

funny hoe others think your shop is theirs to use as they see fit...
no matter hat ...


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## Shop guy (Nov 22, 2012)

I pretty much stay to myself. After 50 years of working with the public I've had enough. Don't want it and really don't need it


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## DesertRatTom (Jul 3, 2012)

The only club I know of around here is really a community college class. The hassle of registration is not my favorite thing. When I'm in public, I'm a very social person, but I like and enjoy my private time so woodworking is not a club thing for me. This site is made up of some really great people, and I enjoy the hell out of everyone here. But I'd be a little intimidated if some of the really great woodworkers here were in the shop with me.


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## kklowell (Dec 26, 2014)

I'd be a lot more than a little intimidated if most any of the woodworkers here visited me in my shop.


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## Stick486 (Jan 4, 2013)

Shop guy said:


> I pretty much stay to myself. After 50 years of working with the public I've had enough. Don't want it and really don't need it


exactly...
enough is enough...


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## Frankj3 (Oct 6, 2014)

Well, I don't have a shop so there's no club knocking on my door. And if I did have a shop, I'm not sure I'd answer the knock at the door. I'd rather learn from you guys.


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## jj777746 (Jan 17, 2015)

DesertRatTom said:


> The only club I know of around here is really a community college class. The hassle of registration is not my favorite thing. When I'm in public, I'm a very social person, but I like and enjoy my private time so woodworking is not a club thing for me. This site is made up of some really great people, and I enjoy the hell out of everyone here. But I'd be a little intimidated if some of the really great woodworkers here were in the shop with me.


This is pretty much how I feel also.


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## Arcola60 (Jul 4, 2009)

I am not in a club. I have no desire to be in one. This forum does just what I need, knowledge sharing, and support of what we love to do. You can work at your pace, and not be bothered with someone who annoys the .... out of you. If people keep coming around for something, I will never get anything done.


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## Everend (Mar 15, 2013)

I may like an in person club.
Last night my wife took us to dinner at her girlfriends house. The kids all played in the back bedroom while the four of us sat in the living room socializing. Most of the time I was thinking about the project I had been working on when she said "time to go to .... house" 
Now if her friend's husband has been a woodworker...


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## hawkeye10 (Jul 28, 2015)

We have one here in town but I am not a member. I went to one meeting and it was not for me. I am in noway saying any thing bad about the club.


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## JimSC (Apr 17, 2014)

For 2-1/2 years now I have been a member of the Charlotte (North Carolina) Woodworkers. A great bunch of people, good equipment, and a lot of members with woodworking skills, and willing to help and teach if asked. Free woodworking class' for all levels.
And due are a whopping $35 per year.


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## mgmine (Jan 16, 2012)

I was in one a few years ago but dropped out. They had a national speaker each month which was nice but it was held pretty far from where I live so I never attended. They also offed classes during the year but for those you had to pay. I would have liked to go to a couple of them but for the most part it was stuff I already had done a million times before.


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## smitty10101 (Oct 15, 2004)

I'm THINKING of joining the one that the community that I live in has, only because when I moved I had to part with some of the power tools that I had. So to make up for the downsize I'm investigating the communal woodshop.
Having said (typed) that, some of my wife relatives have their own shops set up in the same community but the organized community woodshop has tools that we collectively don't have. Also the skill levels that some of the woodshop members have is just plain AWESOME. 

Downside--- time restraints -- the shop is only open at such & such hours-- unless you're a "Golden Member" and then you get a key to the door. Projects are limited to what you can transport in your vehicle. Mine's a car so projects would be small.

Upside--- combined experience-- you can tap others know how almost instantaneously. Learning experience--doing a craft/skill that would take you years to decipher. Discounted price for materials.
No mess at home so SWMBO is a happy camper.

Cost is minimal about $20/yr
Rules ?? (I don't like rules)
You must go through a course ( probably a safety course--liability issues I'm sure) before you can be turned loose on the machines.

All in all I'll probably join just for the heck of it and see how it goes.


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## cocobolo1 (Dec 31, 2015)

I've never joined any woodworking club, nor do I have any desire to do so.
The only thing I can even remember along this line was a privately run club of sorts, which had all the machinery you might need. You had to pay by the hour, don't remember what that was. But the owner didn't just want you to cut out parts and go home, he also expected that you would stick around to glue things together. I could see that would end up costing more than an arm and leg, so I didn't pursue it any further.
This was many years ago now, some time in the late '60's I think. Now if I want to do something I buy whatever tool it is that I need. 
To me, woodworking is a solitary activity. If I need someone to hold the dumb end, I can always ask the missus. :smile:


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## Roy Drake (Feb 10, 2014)

I belong to the Stateline Woodturners (associated with the American Association of Woodturners) at Rogers, Arkansas. We meet twice a month - second Saturday for business, instruction, demonstration & fourth Saturday at a member's shop on the bank of Little Sugar Creek at Pineville, Missouri for personalized help & practice - pure heaven. The drives are inconvenient, but the comraderie is worth it. I am a messy amateur so I keep my home shop private. SILENCE IS GOLDEN!!!


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## thomas1389 (Jan 4, 2012)

JimofSC said:


> For 2-1/2 years now I have been a member of the Charlotte (North Carolina) Woodworkers. A great bunch of people, good equipment, and a lot of members with woodworking skills, and willing to help and teach if asked. Free woodworking class' for all levels.
> And due are a whopping $35 per year.


That's a lot of pop bottle refunds!


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## kywoodchopper (Jul 18, 2013)

I helped start a woodworking club in 1986 and it is still going. We came up with a name KYANA Woodcrafters Club (KY for Kentucky / ANA for Indiana) and we are in Louisville, KY. We meet the first Thursday night of each month except July. I am the treasurer and when the club started I was the Program Chairman - coming up with new programs each month). In December for the past 26 years our members turn in toys that they have made to go to the Salvation Army for kids. Often several guys will get together for several months making the toys. There is generally over 1,000 toys. 

We don't have equipment on site. Some meeting we have someone bring in hand tools to demonstrate. We have swap meet where folks can sell some of their equipment they want to pass on. We have show and tell. We had a father / son that brought in a 26 foot wooden canoe they made. We find it a good source to locate lumber and supplies. Also we find out if certain members make items that others are interested in (like I make funeral urns). We generally have 60-85 members come to each meeting.

Malcolm / Kentucky USA


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## Cabbie41 (Nov 28, 2010)

Yes-I belong to a local club--about an hours' drive away in evening traffic. It's worth it once a month, as I get to meet with fellow sawdust-makers and trade tips and techniques, hear from accomplished experts as they make presentations, and go on tours of local placwes of interest. We also work together all year to make Christmas gifts for local charities, and that activity just makes you feel good. This year it will be over 1000 wooden gifts. All in all I think its' worked out well.


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## dick in ia (Jul 23, 2007)

I also belong to a woodworking club. I joined app. 15 years ago, just after the club started. At the early days, we had a hand-full of members and met in a 2 car garage. Since that time, we have grown to 100+ members and have been active within the community assisting in many needed areas. The club has members who drive app.50 miles to the monthly meetings taking in many towns within our area. As a club we provide Christmas presents for the Salvation army, Make flag cases for the vets and have even provided urns for another non-profit group. We have started an off-shoot area for turning and another for scroll saw users. Within the meeting, a guest speaker (either within or outside the club) will demonstrate, or provide interesting information on a variety or topics.


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## Nickp (Dec 4, 2012)

I don't know if there is one in my area or not...haven't had the interest to look.

I like working wood, tools, jigs, etc... by my lonesome...it's my balance against dealing with the people I deal with on a daily basis.

Same reason I like sailing by myself, fishing by myself...etc... My dad had told me a long time ago, in preparing me for peer pressure, "When you're with others you wind up following them...when you're with somebody else you feel obligated to do what they want...if you want to do what you want then do it alone".

I am very sociable but right now I have enough friends in each of the different aspects of my life.

This forum is just right...comfortable, friendly, welcoming, extremely knowledgeable and very giving...it is more than I expected...the bar is set high...


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## jw2170 (Jan 24, 2008)

The Strathfield Men's Shed (Strathfield Men's Shed) is as close to a club as I need.

Good size shed, great range of tools/machinery, very friendly group.

The shed has wood work and metal work areas.

Even learned how to solder LED light strips yesterday....


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## donald_archer (May 24, 2012)

I wish I could find one or I would 

Regards


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## marecat3 (Nov 30, 2010)

people make me nerves, I like to do my work alone or maybe with one other person.


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## Cherryville Chuck (Sep 28, 2010)

I'm not aware of any and I'm out in the country which would make it a pain. I'm also like several others who have said that it is relaxing and best done alone except when I need the missus to hold the dumb end.


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## greenacres2 (Dec 23, 2011)

Cherryville Chuck said:


> I'm not aware of any and I'm out in the country which would make it a pain. I'm also like several others who have said that it is relaxing and best done alone except when I need the missus to hold the dumb end.


The last time I asked my Missus to hold the dumb end, she squeezed me too tight!! :grin:

I live in a small town, at least an hour from the nearest club i'm aware of--and that one is in the eastern time zone (I live & work in central) so i'd have to leave work early to go--and it's tough enough to leave on time most days. 

I do have several people I know that I can call on, and the forums seem to be a surrogate club without drive time. If I ever start turning--that's one of those things that i'd go out of my for a club, as I perceive it to be something where watching and listening to others would really help the learning curve. 

earl


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## MT Stringer (Aug 15, 2012)

I don't belong to any woodworking clubs. In the past, I did go to a few meetings at a photographer club, but got discouraged with their curriculum and quit going. 

Now the fishing group is a totally different story. I met a lot of life long friends. In the early 2000's we met several times a year at different places along the Texas Gulf coast. Lots of fun with impromptu tournaments and lots of food! They were called gatherings.

These days, I turn to this forum or You Tube to learn just about anything that I have questions.


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## Everend (Mar 15, 2013)

I agree that YouTube is a great resource for learning new things. The reason I would be interested in wood working group is for learning the answers to the questions I didn't know to ask.


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## crow400 (Jan 12, 2008)

I am a member of the Caloundra Woodworkers Club in Queensland. The club has excellent equipment (many lathes, bandsaws, table saws, mitre saws, sanding machines, sharpening systems, thicknesses, jointers, carving facilities, and an array of work benches. The club also provides a great selection of wonderful timber at reasonable prices. More importantly, the folk(ladies & blokes) are a great mob to be around. We even welcome an American lady for some weeks each year. (Leslie is most welcome and an excellent saw dust maker.) My own shed has all the toys I need, but the knowledge which is generously shared by our club members, would be very expensive to buy. Club is open 5 mornings each week and has about 100 members. Great place also for coffee and a yarn. Visitors are always welcome.


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## Herb Stoops (Aug 28, 2012)

I have been a member in a woodworking club for 10yr. now and we meet once a month at the Rockler store and the following month at the Woodcraft store. We have had as many as 100 members, right now we are around 60 or so. There is a steering committee that meets 2-3 times a year to map out the following years presentations. every meeting we have a presentation, I usually give 2 per year, and we have outside speakers come in and show us different techniques about wood working. Sometimes we hold our meetings at commercial sites and they show us how they make their products, or their line of products. i.e. lumber,finishes,stairs,furniture,tools,etc.
We usually have 18-20 members at each meeting, one set of members at the south end Woodcraft store and another set of members at the north end Rockler location. Some members attend at both locations. Both locations have excellent shops and we sometimes use the tools for a demonstration. The dues are $20./year. Members bring in free lumber ,veneer, tools, accessories, and give them to the one that want them. Someone is always cleaning out their shop and wanting to find a home for some of the old tools. 
There are a lot of retired members, but we are signing up quite a few younger ones now. We have some woman members and they are very good woodworkers. Some of the members bring their children and they show the work that they do. One of the members does the monthly Newsletter,and a very professional job too. We have a website and this brings in new members and quite often free lumber, veneer, and tools.
If a person gets there early to the meetings they can browse the stores and drool all over the tools and equipment. Also the store that are sponsors, around 6 or so give us a 10% discount too.
It is fun to meet and talk to other woodworkers, see their work, we have a projector/laptop and screen the members can show their projects and step by step build off of a thumb drive too.

Herb


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## DaninVan (Jan 1, 2012)

Herb?! You're back!!!


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## kp91 (Sep 10, 2004)

Just this one.....


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## Stick486 (Jan 4, 2013)

DaninVan said:


> Herb?! You're back!!!


he never left like some we know...


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## Herb Stoops (Aug 28, 2012)

DaninVan said:


> Herb?! You're back!!!


Oh, Hi Dan, Didn't see you there. I didn't go away, just took the summer off,been lurking in the shadows now and then. 
The truth is I finally got around the password change so I can remember it, I had it tatooed on the back of my hand so I didn't forget it.
Herb


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## Dejure (Jul 27, 2009)

Like most on here, I enjoy sharing things I figured out or picked up. Sometimes it's hard because people presume much. For example, the only club around me is a turners club. I'm one of the newbies to turning. Because of that, most of the clubs old timers presume I don't know about board stretchers and other fine woodworking tools and equipment, materials and so on. Contrary to their beliefs, I started making sawdust back around 72 or 74 and there isn't much my shop doesn't have. In fact, mine goes beyond all the shops I've been in for meetings, since I incorporate glass etch, granite and so on into my projects.

Anyway, I've brought a few tid bits of information and a few tricks to the meets that none of the others knew about and it's fun to share the wealth.


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## tar905 (Feb 16, 2014)

*...but I'd like to.*

I do not belong to one but would very much like to start one. I would like to form a consortium of sorts where the membership donates, or conspires to buy, decent stationary tools. The big liability, as I see it, is "liability". Can one get an insurer to write that policy in our litigious age? The other item in the minus column is space. If one cannot do it in his own shop, it seems that rental or buying an existing and cheap building would be necessary. Any ideas on overcoming these obstacles?


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## Herb Stoops (Aug 28, 2012)

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tar905 said:


> I do not belong to one but would very much like to start one. I would like to form a consortium of sorts where the membership donates, or conspires to buy, decent stationary tools. The big liability, as I see it, is "liability". Can one get an insurer to write that policy in our litigious age? The other item in the minus column is space. If one cannot do it in his own shop, it seems that rental or buying an existing and cheap building would be necessary. Any ideas on overcoming these obstacles?


There are places around here that rent shop space to people who don't have a shop. Also one club which at present is closed to new members has its own shop. It owns its own land and building and has its own nice collection of power and hand tools plus space to store your project while building it. 

There is another that has has an old industrial building in the city that they rent out space to individuals and small start-ups to work in,they furnish all the large power tools and workspace,and finish room,plus room to store your projects while in progress. They rent by the hour, day ,week month, year.
Another one just rents space partitioned off you furnish the bench and hand tools ,they have the big tools and Dust collection.
There is also an industrial art school that furnishes all the tools except for some hand tools and has an instructor on duty that helps if needed, you work on your own projects.

Just some ideas to pursue.
Herb


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