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President’s Letter — January 2021
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The Executive Board of the Guild has decided to re-open the shop at Faust Park in February for members. Classes will also be starting again later in the month as we can get instructors matched up to available dates. Please check elsewhere in the newsletter for information, watch for further emails and check the calendar on the website for more information. The shop will stay open as long as we have Shop Monitors that are willing to work and members that cooperate with the health requirements that are in place. Keeping everyone as safe as possible is our number one goal.
Please remember that new members have to take the safety class before they can use the shop. The safety class is not required to take a class. Check out the website calendar for dates.
January is the month we recognize the many volunteers that make the activities of the Guild possible. A number of gift cards are to be given away to Shop Monitors and Toy Contributors. (See elsewhere for names.) In past years about half of our membership has donated their time and efforts in some manner to support the programs of the Guild. It is only through these efforts that we can continue all of the activities and try to bring something of interest to all members. Our thanks to all who support the Guild in some manner.
Election of officers will be coming up in the first quarter of the year. Elections for President, Vice-President, Secretary, Treasurer and one Director’s position will be held. If you have any interest in one of these positions, feel free to contact me or any other officer to discuss the responsibilities and learn more. More information about the elections will be coming in February.
Programs and classes for 2021 have been developed. There will be a variety of subjects with something that should to appeal to everyone. We are always looking for ideas for subjects that you would like have covered. We also feel that we may be able to do tours later this year. If you been to, or know a place that would be of interest to woodworkers, please pass it on. Contact Bill Schuchat at vicepresident@slwg.org with suggestions.
The one advantage of winter is the lack of outdoor activities. This gives woodworkers an opportunity to spend more time in the shop to create the items that interest you. When you do, please work safely. Plan your work, take your time, know your equipment’s capabilities, and use personal protection equipment. Safety in the shop should be your number one concern.
Until next month, |
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THIS MONTH’S PROGRAM
(Online Presentation)
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January Program
The January Meeting will include Committee Reports, Show & Tell and a presentation on the subject of Federal Style Furniture. The presenter will be Steve Latta who teaches woodworking at Thaddeus Stevens College of Technology in Lancaster, Pa. He also serves as a contributing editor to Fine Woodworking Magazine and teaches at the Marc Adams School of Woodworking. Go to the Connecticut Valley School of Woodworking website HERE or the Mark Adams website HERE and look him up.
Guild Members: Watch your Inbox this week for the Zoom meeting invitation.
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The presentation for the November 19 meeting was a virtual presentation on the subject of Woods Used In The Construction Of Guitars And Other Musical Instruments.
Michael Olgivie from Washington University gave the presentation.
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NEWS BYTES
- The Guild needs a Volunteer to head up the toy program. The job requires about 8 hours a month of time to work toy collections, make sure parts are in stock, and get toys ready for distribution. There is help available for all of these functions and delivery of the toys. If you are interested in making sure this important program continues and have questions, please contact Wayne Humphrey at wehumphrey@hotmail.com or 314-440-2173.
- The Guild would like to thank Bob Brinkman for all his past efforts on behalf of the organization. Bob and his wife have moved to Florida and he has resigned as a member of the Board. Dan Lender has been appointed to fill the remaining months of the term.
- The entire schedule for the Woodworking Shows has been cancelled for 2021. Check out their website for more information. They plan on creating additional content to replace some of the things you may have seen at the show. https://www.thewoodworkingshows.com/
- Most memberships are due for renewal the first part of the year. Please remember that if your membership has expired for more than 30 days when you renew, you will be considered a new member and be required to take the safety course again before using the shop. If you have any questions about your membership, please contact David Schindler, membership@slwg.org
- Our Email Help Assist works! Lynn Pollak of Olivette wrote the Guild that she had a cabinet with European hinges that needed to be adjusted. She had unsuccessfully tried to adjust them herself and asked us to assist her. Guild Member Paul Deutsch reached out to her and explained how these hinges work. With the knowledge from Paul, Lynn got an assist from a neighbor and was successful in getting the cabinet doors aligned. Kudos to Paul.
DONATIONS
- We received $46.56 from Amazon Smile. Please remember to use Amazon Smile when ordering from Amazon and specify the Guild for a donation. We have now received more than $400 in donations from them.
- David Hoffman donated many tools, clamps and other items for use in the shop.
- Another member has anonymously donated $460 to the guild.
- Wayne Watson donated several of the gift cards that are to be given away to shop monitors.
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A drawing for Gift Cards was held from the pool of Shop Monitors with the following winners:
Paul Trelford
Jared Bullock
Keith Lissant
Steve Mettes
Dave Gronefeld
Hal Donovan
Dan Pace
Al Carlson
Thank you to all of the Monitors for the support that you have provided to the Guild over the last year.
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The Shop will be open in February!!
Faust Park Shop Rules to Keep Us Safe!
Rule 1: If you feel unwell or were in contact with someone who feels unwell please do not use the shop until you have been cleared by a health professional.
Rule 2: The number of people using the shop is limited to four (in addition to the Shop Monitor) at all times. Shop usage is on a “a first come, first served basis. A new phone number has been activated so that you may call ahead to ensure that the shop is below maximum capacity. The number is 314-348-3945. This number is only available during “open shop hours” It is not available at other hours.
Rule 3: Every person in the shop must wear a facemask at all times while indoors. Safety glasses must also be used at all times.
Rule 4: Everyone entering the shop must have their temperature taken by the Shop Monitor. Anyone with a temperature of 100.4 degrees or higher will be denied entry. This is a St. Louis County health requirement for anyone using any building within Faust Park.
Rule 5: Each person entering the shop must use hand sanitizer before they start working in the shop. Hand sanitizer is available in the shop for your use. Sanitizer first, sign in second!
Rule 6: The Shop Monitor will be enforcing “social distancing” to the extent possible within our space. He or she will assign appropriate workbenches as required to maintain the best separation among all users.
Rule 7: The Shop Monitors well be sanitizing the machine controls such as on/off switches, adjustment knobs etc. on a regular basis.
I would also like to point out that the Shop Monitors have all volunteered to continue to serve the Guild during these trying times, so please make their efforts easier by adhering to these health precautions. Doing this will ensure that we all can continue to enjoy one of the Guild’s greatest benefits.
Wayne Watson
Shop Manager
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Join or Renew your Guild
Membership Today!
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Annual Dues Renewals
Remember that letting your membership lapse will result in having to retake the Safety Class ($20) prior to using the Open Shop at Faust Park.
Annual membership renewal is available online (click on button below) with PayPal or any major credit card, or mail a check for the appropriate amount with member’s name in the memo line to
St. Louis Woodworkers Guild
P.O. Box 411766
St. Louis, MO 63141-9998
Current membership status is required for use of the Faust Park Shop.
Annual Membership Dues:
Basic Membership $40
Full Shop Membership $75
A Basic Membership entitles the member to four (4) uses of the Guild Shop during the membership year.
A Shop Membership entitles the member to unlimited use of the shop during open shop hours.
Member benefits also include:
> Discounts at Guild sponsors
> Access to Project Workshops
> Access to a local community of woodworkers
> Access to the secure portion of the website
See the SLWG Website for signing up! |
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| Editor’s Note:
The St. Louis Woodworkers Guild encourages its Members to share their projects in the Newsletter. Please send items you would like to showcase in future SLWG Newsletters to grady.vaughan@gmail.com.
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When you don’t have a woodworking project and want to use your bandsaw.
12 quarter cowboy cut to be sous vided….had to cut the handle off to fit in cooker!
Vickie Berry
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This is a ladder I built for storing/displaying blankets & quilts. It is made of reclaimed pine. |
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The rungs are pegged through tenon construction and was finished with 2 coats of a clear, satin wipe-on poly.. |
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8 scroll-sawn Nativity scenes. They were made using a pattern from a recent Woodworker’s Journal.
All of the wood was reclaimed from a very old church & rectory that was being converted into a home. The mangers are white oak and the people & animals are pine. The church that was the source of the wood was built in 1830. |
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| And a Memorial Flag holder.
John Bronson
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Here’s some Kitchen cabinets I recently built for my sons kitchen.
Thomas Clemens
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| I took a Windsor chair-making class from Cecil Robertson a few years ago and was intrigued with all the carving of curves by eye. Really no right angles. I looked for another project to explore this and hit on carving linear bowls (not turned bowls). I have made too many of these to justify the need, 30 or more.
Most are carved from a single piece of wood without any joinery. It is a purely subtractive process. I use a lot of power carving for this, but there is a lot of hand tool work and hand sanding in the end.
Greg Finn
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| Shop Tips from Wayne Humphrey: |
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I use a six gallon vacuum cleaner on my scroll saw and a couple of small sanders. I found a large filter bag to go inside this unit. The photo of this filter installed is of a bag that was more than half full and I had not noticed any drop off in airflow. A little more expensive but worth it. |
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The standard paper bag (blue thing) loads up and the airflow drops off quickly. |
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Here is a quick and easy way to hold a vacuum nozzle when working on the drill press. Basically, it is a flat magnet (Harbor Freight) with a threaded rod. |
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| Word of warning: Don’t lay the magnet on the drill press table without the rod or leave an edge hanging off. The pull is so strong you will play heck getting it back off. Mine has a layer of “duck” tape on the bottom and it is still plenty strong. |
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To keep items handy around the drill press, this handy storage device works well. It mounts to the column at the top and at the bottom is just a half circle around the column to keep it in place. |
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The top is fixed and there are two drawers that rotate to hold bits, sanding sleeves and other commonly used items. |
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I made Shaker berry boxes for a few Christmas presents this year. Four of the boxes have cherry sides and maple handles & bottoms. The fifth box is made from all poplar. |
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The sides and handle are 1/8” thick and the bottoms are ¼” thick. The construction is 1/8” x 1/8” box joint. The finish is two coats of shellac.
Dan Lender
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Bill Meuth has been busy in his shop and writes:
I built a few things for around the house in December plus some more toys that I donated directly to Toys for Tots. |
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I added Teddy Bears to all of the Adirondack chairs before donating them. |
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I made a porch swing to replace the tire swing in the back yard, |
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a small wine rack to organize our wine bottles better, |
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and tried my hand at building a bulldozer ( I now have 6 of them). |
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I just completed the first of two Pennsylvania Spice Chests. They’re really influenced by Steve Latta’s work from Fine Woodworking (January/February 2008). |
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The case is walnut with poplar and maple as secondary woods. Door veneers are flame walnut. Panel veneers are striped mahogany and walnut burl on the outside and birdseye maple on the inside.
This was a gift to my son and daughter in law.
Tony O’Driscoll
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Here are pictures of some Christmas gifts that I made. The candle holders are made of cherry and walnut. Some were all cherry or walnut and some were combinations of the two with maple splines. |
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They were finished with two coats of Danish oil and three coats of wax.
Ron Romitti
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| This is a stool I completed last month. I purchased a lathe and wanted to incorporate it into a project. The undercarriage is hickory with a spalted poplar top. The wood is from Lumber Logs down in the city. I assembled it with liquid hide glue and finished with clear shellac. It was Zinsser sealcoat from the homecenter cut with additional alcohol for thinner coats that I built up with a brush.
Jake Strait
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| I am midway with a project to make a walnut nightstand. I thought I had enough walnut for the project, but have come up short so I bought another board and was surprised that walnut had increased to nearly $9/ bf. Given the price, I am stretching my inventory as much as possible and am using some sapwood to make this happen.
I found articles on coloring the sapwood to match and have bought dye to make this happen. An article in Popular Woodworking recommended mixing natural colors to be able to match the heartwood, so I have a water based aniline dye set that I am using. The procedure worked very well and I am pleased with the color match. And I have extra aniline dye (water based) if anyone would like some for free.
When we toured the David Stine furniture shop, he indicated that he fills knots and voids in walnut with epoxy resin colored black. I am using this technique to fill knots, too. First attempt at this. Used packing tape on the back side to keep the resin from running through which worked fine except for the largest knot. Had to scrape the resin off the floor after it ran thru. Second try I used a silicone mat to back this one and that worked well. Overall, it took 3 rounds of resin to fill all the knots and I am pleased with the results. See photos below of filled holes and after sanding and how the sapwood was blended into the heartwood.
Bill Schuchat
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Panel before filling.
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Filled panel before sanding.
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Filled panel after sanding.
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I have a friend who is an amateur chef and asked me to help him with a knife block Christmas gift for his son. |
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He did the design work to include all of these cutting implements. |
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He furnished the 5/4 pine material and we laid out the end grain for an interesting pattern since it would be quite visible. |
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I used a dado blade to cut the slots for the knives and glued the pieces together in sections for ease of alignment. |
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This was the final clamping for the glue-up. My friend did the finish work with the application of 4 coats of clear poly.
Grady Vaughan
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Gallery of SLWG submissions to the Toys for Tots program.
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| Don Snyder shared this Marquetry Tutorial video. Click HERE. |
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| Here is a link to a site that lists safety recall notices for woodworking tools. LINK |
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SLWG Surplus Woodworking Equipment SALE
No items to be posted in January. Stay Tuned.
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COMMUNITY
St. Louis Woodworkers Guild contributions to the local community
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A web page has been created for our Ranken Jordan projects.
Check it out HERE.
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Toy Committee Update
Thank you to all of whom participated in the local Marine Corp Toys-for-Tots event in year 2020. It was a great success with the Guild contributing 541 toys which were distributed to children in the St. Louis area.
Despite the Covid-19 pandemic, Guild Members contributed nearly 5,500 toys for 2020 for a Grand total of over 75,000 since 1994.
The Toy Committee has a new outreach Organization! We were alerted that LifeWiseSTL located in downtown St. Louis was interested in partnering with us and committee member, Vickie Berry, contacted them. She has already delivered 175 toys to them in December 2020. Their mission is to help individuals and families achieve economic well-being by providing high-impact, relationship-based programming and by addressing systemic barriers to their success. If you want more information about the services they provide, you can see them at Lifewisestl.org.
We had a successful morning earlier this month collecting toys from many of you. Thank you for your generous donations and for your support.
Dan Lender
Toy Committee Chair
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Toy Collection
The SLWG Toy Committee plans to have a toy collection on Tuesday, February 9, 10:00 am – 11:00 am. We will meet at the Guild shop maintenance parking lot, Faust Park, Chesterfield, MO. If it is raining or snowing, we will be meet at the Old SEARS store, Chesterfield Mall, south side, under the canopy. Look for the blue Ford pick-up. We will have axles, tires, wheels, etc. available for your future use. You can always contact me in advance to help us have available what you need.
Dan Lender
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You Asked…
I won’t be able to bring my toys to the Toy Pick Up – will there be another opportunity?
Yes, Vickie Berry has volunteered to act as a collection point for members for those that want to contribute and can’t make it to our next collection day. She lives in Glendale and is available most days and times – just call or text her at 972-741-1944 to schedule a delivery time.
….and we have Winners!
Congratulations to our 2020 Toy Contributor Winners
Top Producer – Wayne Humphrey – $50 Woodcraft GC
Drawing Winners – $20 Rockler GC
Bob Baird Bill Schuchat
Brian Ellison Paul Bailey
Dale Norman Al Carlson
Linda Turner Mike Seevers
Rich Sanders Dan Sudkamp
Steve Briner Bill Meuth
Steve Palmer Dave Groenfeld
Wayne Humphrey
Gift Cards will be mailed to winners by the end of the month.
When will we get cake and ice cream?
We promise, at our first in-person meeting, we will celebrate in style…cake and ice cream for everyone! We know this has been a challenging year and once again our members came through in a better-than-expected way. It will be good to see everyone again – so stay safe and keep making plenty of saw dust. |
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Collected
December — 67
YTD — 5,494
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Delivered
December — 158
YTD — 5,350
Since 1994 — 75,212!*
*No Deliveries March-July
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Thank you to our 2020 Toy Program Major Contributors
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Over 1000 Club
Wayne Humphrey -1,430
Bill Meuth – 1,086
Over 500 Club
Rich Sanders – 814
Over 300 Club
Linda Turner – 404
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Over 100 Club
Bill Schuchat – 278
Vickie Berry – 239
Keith Lissant – 193
Bob Baird – 154
Steve Briner – 142
Al Carlson – 123
Dale Norman – 120
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None this month – great opportunity!
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2020 Target and Challenge
Progress towards our Modified 2020 targets:
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| Target for Delivered Items: 5,350 |
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100% ACHIEVED
Reduced demand and target due to the Pandemic
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| 10% Member Participation Target |
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Collected
January — 418
YTD — 418
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Delivered
January — 549
YTD — 549
Since 1994 — 75,761
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Toy Pattern Library is Growing
Keep checking the website for new patterns throughout the year as well as the schedule for donating seasonal items. We’ll continue to add new and interesting patterns for all levels of woodcrafters so check back often.
Find patterns at: https://slwg.org/community-involvement/toy-program/ |
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Organizations that we currently donate toys to include: |
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Dan Lender
Paul Bailey
Vickie Berry
Hal Donovan
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Steve Mettes
Bill Schuchat
Rick Weitzman
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| Please contact us with comments, suggestions or if you need to arrange pickup or delivery of toys. Individual contact info can be found on the Members Only section of the SLWG website. |
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Bring Me A Book Team News
Though we are not busy building book boxes, BMABStL has been very busy getting new books into the hands of young readers.
The BMABStL program provided 645 books to East St. Louis school age children on December 18 at the East St. Louis Public Library. The BMABStL program is supported by a $10,000 donation to provide a total of 3,500 books to children during the year. On December 19, 360 books were given to children ages 1 – 14 at the Book Drop event sponsored by Community First, a nonprofit organization.
BMABStL still has an inventory of about 180 book boxes. Michael Shipley is hopeful the boxes will start to be included with the book give away events in the next three to six months. I am hopeful we will start building boxes again in four to six months.
In other BMABStL news the Horizon Housing Foundation (HHF) just hired more staff with the goal of expanding the book box program in 2021. The BMABStL program dovetails well with HHF’s mission. I have attended several of these HHF events which are held at the housing complexes that HHF supports through various programs and are well attended. Their kids receive 3 -5 books each and a book box to carry them home in.
The Guild has provided 1,066 boxes to the BMABStL program since the program was started with 81% or 860 of the book boxes distributed to underserved children in the Metro area. Along with the book boxes almost 3,500 new books were distributed.
With a current inventory of 206 book boxes, the Guild is taking a break from making more book boxes for the next few months.
Tom Tierney
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Tom Tierney: (314) 412-1817
Jack McKay: (314) 435-2232
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Charles Schrock: (314) 822-3709
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Check out the Events Calendar on the SLWG website HERE. |
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Woodworking Classes
Held at Faust Park Workshop |
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Woodworking Classes
Classes will resume in February. A schedule will be announced shortly.
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Faust Park Workshop Information
SEE SHOP MANAGER’S LETTER FOR SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS DUE TO THE PANDEMIC
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- To participate in the Workshop Safety Class or use the shop, you must have paid the current year Guild dues and have your current membership card with appropriate marking.
- To use the Guild Workshop during open hours, you must have passed a Workshop Safety Class.
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Just a Reminder…
Having a workshop that we all can use is one of the great perks of membership in the Guild. Opening the door to the shop and finding the place a mess is one of the more disappointing things that a shop monitor faces. When you leave the shop, cleanup all the tools you have been using, put tools away and make sure the shop is ready for the next person to use. |
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February Shop Hours
February 9 & 10 10 am – 2 pm
February 13 & 14 9 am – 5 pm
February 16 & 17 10 am – 2 pm
February 20 & 21 9 am – 5 pm
February 27 9 am – 5 pm
Safety Class attendees must register online and bring their current Guild membership card.
Directions to the shop on the SLWG website HERE. Limit of 4 per class.
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Next Shop Safety Class
When:
Thursday, Feb 4, 6:30 PM
Friday, Feb. 5, 6:30 PM
Where:
Faust Park Workshop
Duration:
Plan for 3 Hours
Cost:
$20 for Current Members
Visit the SLWG website for Safety Class Signup HERE. |
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WELCOME TO NEW MEMBERS
Joe Booth
Andrew Erdmann
Susan Griesedieck
Randy Lamb
Derek Sharp
Matt Stacker
Charles Ward |
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If you are a current or retired Boeing employee you can now contribute to the St. Louis Woodworker’s guild through the Boeing Gift Match program. The guild is now an approved charitable organization with the Boeing program. As an employee participant, your donation of $25.00 USD or more or the equivalent volunteer hours of 25 hours or more will be matched 1:1 by Boeing. The maximum individual contribution is $6,000.00 or 6,000 volunteer hours. Your contribution is tax deductible as long as you follow three simple steps:
Step 1: Eligible Boeing employees or retirees first make a contribution directly to the guild
Step 2: After making your donation go to Total Access and click on My Community Giving – GIVE – Gift Match on the Boeing Gift Match page.
Step 3: Register your donation whether it’s monetary or volunteer hours and select The St. Louis Woodworker’s Guild and enter the total amount and the date of the contribution.
It’s that easy, you get a great tax break and it benefits the guild directly. If you have any questions, please email Wayne Humphrey at president@slwg.org and if I don’t know the answer, I will try to find it for you. |
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The St. Louis Woodworker’s Guild is now listed with Amazon Smile.
AmazonSmile is a simple and automatic way for you to support your favorite woodworker’s guild every time you shop at no cost to you. When you shop at smile.amazon.com, you’ll find the exact same low prices, vast selection and convenient shopping experience as Amazon.com, with the added bonus that Amazon will donate a portion of the purchase price to the St. Louis Woodworker’s Guild.
Simply go to smile.amazon.com and select the St. Louis Woodworker’s Guild as your organization that you want to receive donations from your eligible purchases. The AmazonSmile Foundation will donate 0.5% of the purchase price from your eligible AmazonSmile purchases. You don’t make the donation, Amazon Smile does. It truly is at no cost to you. Just make sure you go to smile.amazon.com instead of amazon.com. If you have any questions on how the program works, just send an email to Wayne Humphrey at president@slwg.org . |
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SLWG Officers, Board Members and Committee Leaders |
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President:
Wayne Humphrey – 314-440-2173
Vice President:
Bill Schuchat – 314-406-1823 |
Secretary:
Adam Connors – 314-495-1772
Treasurer:
Tom Tierney – 314-412-1817 |
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Directors:
Jay Noffsinger (exp. 2024)
Vickie Berry (exp. 2021)
Dan Sudkamp (exp. 2022)
Don Turner (exp. 2023)
Immediate Past President:
Bob Brinkmann
Marketing & Membership Chair:
Wayne Watson
Membership Coordinator:
David Schindler
Woodworking Show Coordinator:
Wayne Watson
Book Box Committee Chair:
Tom Tierney
Outreach Coordinator:
Open |
Newsletter Editor:
Grady Vaughan
Librarian:
Al Carlson
Toy Committee Chair:
Dan Lender
Shop Manager:
Wayne Watson
Classes and Workshops Coordinator:
Bill Schuchat
Web Master:
David Zemon
Media Coordinator:
Bob Fuerman
Legal Counsel:
Bill Hobson |
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Our Sponsors
The St. Louis Woodworkers Guild relies heavily on sponsorship to execute on our mission statement of education, community service, and local development. Please support our sponsors.
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(In-store only)
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