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As someone who works in a shop every day with a bunch of bright and talented woodworkers, let me say that the craft is a lot more fun when you can compare notes, tease each other and work together. And you learn new skills a lot faster as well.
Woodworking clubs around the world are a great way to get a taste of this. For some nominal annual dues you get to tap into the club’s expertise, usually get a discount on equipment and the chance to bond with fellow woodworkers. I’ve been to a lot of club meetings, and I recommend you seek one out in your area.
Now Marc Spagnuolo (aka the Wood Whisperer) has launched an online woodworking club called The Wood Whisperer Guild that offers many of the same benefits of a local club, but with members all over the world and content that is accessible all the time. Plus, Spagnuolo has come up with some additional cool ways to use technology to add features you don’t see in physical meetings.
One of the cool things the Guild does is to build projects together. They can share ideas and help each other make design modifications. Recently, the Guild tackled a project from Popular Woodworking‘s “I Can Do That” column , a magazine rack built by Senior Editor Glen D. Huey. Spagnuolo built the project following our plan (above, left), then he built the project using his own design sensibilities.
Spagnuolo said the Guild was considering tacking the Knife Block project featured in the August 2009 “I Can Do That” column. And I think that’s great. We publish the “I Can Do That” column to encourage woodworkers to get into the shop and build (no matter what their skills). And it’s clear that the Guild is full of builders. So my hat is off to you.
In addition to getting in on the building fun, Guild members get additional Wood Whisperer videos, live demos, coupon codes to save money at online vendors (such as Rockler and Eagle America) and you get to bend Spagnuolo’s ear if you need fast assistance with a woodworking project.
You can read all the details on The Wood Whisperer’s site. Even if you don’t sign up for the Guild you should take some time to watch some of the videos there. Spagnuolo is a good teacher, a funny guy and a fine builder. You can try out the Guild for six months for $48. Or you can get a year for $84. Check it out.
– Christopher Schwarz
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