Wood working clubs?? Do they work?

[Larry Brannan]

Disclaimer...I'm very new to woodworking and retiring 12/31/11. Rather than go out and rent a shop building and then buy all of the tools that are required, it seems there has to be a better way. Plus I need instruction.

Do any members of this forum belong to a woodworking club that has a shared facility, shared tools and provides 1:1 coaching? I've asked the question at the local wood working store but they didn't know of any such clubs.

Are there any out there?

thanks,

Larry Brannan
Grand Rapids, MI.

[Mike Heidrick]

There is one 40 miles from here. It is a 10K buy in. Then you also get profits from the Rockler store front building. Bunch of folks with no space of their own bldg got together and built it. It is stocked with ever table saw rockler sells, all the kreg equipment through the Foreman, all the festool equipment, a big general international resaw bandsaw and a few 14" bandsaws and a few 18" bandsaws, about 6 router tables, a Shark CNC, lockers and lounge, spray room, main shop is 7500sq. They have classes and host tours. It is a sweet setup and a crazy neat idea IMO. Plus they can demo the machines they sell. Super sweet to see all the sawstops, the new unisaw, pm2000 and PM66, and the two general cabinet saws all under power. Also you could try out the kreg beaded face frame setup and try a domino and kapex all within feet of eachother. Its a neat place to visit.

Not trading my shop but if I lived there in a condo I would be all over that place!

http://www.cuwoodshop.com/dreamshop.html

[Mike Heidrick]

Also welcome Larry to SMC!! Great site here and over at woodnet. You will have a top of teh line shop before you know it. HUGE woodworking deals and awesome wood up your way for sure!!

[Victor Robinson]

That club is ridiculous. Absolutely ridiculous.

Larry - is it not feasible to have a shop at home in the garage or basement? A 10k investment will get you a pretty decent setup in a basement or garage. Even less if you look for used tools.

I'm not questioning the value of woodworking clubs and shared equipment at all - just those situations are difficult to find. You CAN get started on your own, especially with the wealth of information and videos available on the internet. And not to mention extremely helpful folks on forums like this one!

[Larry Brannan]

We live in a condo - no room whatsoever. Our garage stores two cars plus it's COLD in Michigan in the winter! I have purchased DVD's from Woodworkers Guild and watch them every day while walking on the treadmill. First preference would be to have my own shop, but I'd have to rent space or buy a building. At this point, I'm unsure of my ability to make the cabinetry items, so that would be a big investment as well as a big risk.

Thanks for your response!

[Larry Brannan]

Great link - thank you! I've sent it to a local friend who also has interest in starting such a club. Ours would be much more modest and not linked to a retail store.

[Eric DeSilva]

Check into whether your county offers classes (mine does at a local HS in the evenings) or whether there are other adult education opportunities (we also have an artist's guild that does classes). A lot of those types of programs also offer "shop time" and I've found (in other areas) that they have been pretty accommodating when it comes to doing your own project and deviating from the "class."

I find the "membership charge" absolutely ridiculous for that CU club. I remember having an argument with someone advocating for that before and the cautionary note I'd throw out is that it is a clearly a "for profit" venture. It is "affiliated" with a woodworking store, and I'd argue that the store has to buy most of that gear for demo purposes anyway. Besides, they say they have $100K worth of gear. That means it is fully paid for with a dozen members, and that includes $20K in consumables and maintenance. I much prefer things like: http://clubworkshop.com/. They manage to have 18K sq ft of space and have a pretty expensive range of gear as well--including metalworking stuff like a 3 axis CNC milling machine. Yet they manage to offer this for $90/mo. for a year with no membership fee.

[Paul Symchych]

Wow!! One hundred members at 10K each; plus operating fees and members helping to clean up. That is one sweet money making deal for whoever started it.
Victor was being kind in calling it ridiculous.

[David Keller NC]

Larry - One warning about starting something like this - talk to an experienced lawyer before you set it up. Woodworking, especially with power tools, can be quite dangerous, and the potential for a serious accident and a court case where all of the club members are the defendants is a real possibility. That sort of liability can be avoided with specific organizational setups, but you will definitely want to have that taken care of before you start up.

In the meantime, you may want to check your local universities and/or community colleges. Many have craft workshops that include woodworking setups that you can access for a modest fee.

[Matt Meiser]

There was one in Grand Rapids called The Wood Source, combination store/shared shop. Out of business...

[Dave Verstraete]

Larry
I'm not sure what side of town that you are from, but try your school districts "adult ed classes". I'm in Grandville, MI and they used to have adult ed courses once or twice a year. PM me if you have other questions

[Casey Morgan]

Hi Larry, This is my first post on this forum and I don't live anywhere near you, so this advice might be good for nothing. I was thinking back about when I first started building things with wood and all the help and advice and experience that was available to me at the time and am quite sure I never could have made it this far without it. So I understand you want someone to lean on. My high school woodshop teacher once had an older gentleman set in with my class for about 3 months so he could get the basics down. The man would show up afterwards with projects he had built or to ask questions of our teacher. He wound up buying his tools as he needed them (except for a planer, he used the schools when he needed to.) I remember at the end of the school year we walked in to class and there set the most stunning grandfather clock I had ever laid eyes on before or since. And yes, he had made this at home in a little over 8 months time from knowing nothing about wood. I would check out the high schools in your area and see if you could do something like that. I do think experience is hard to get from watching videos. The shop teachers are used to teaching and usually very patient with all the new questions. I hope you can find a suitable avenue to work your wood, because it is one of the most fullfilling things to pass time with in my opinion. Good luck!

[Rick Fisher]

About 8 years ago I read an article about a fella in Manhatten.. or Chelsea.. one of those places.. he had a 3 story condo.. I guess they are pretty common in NYC.. Old building near Central Park.. It was your basic main floor living, upper floor bedrooms and lower floor basement, except it started on the 7th or 8th floor.. I cant remember..

Anyway.. he had made the basement floor, which looked to be about 25 feet wide x 50 feet into a woodworking shop.. He was a turner.. His big complaint was the low ceiling height.. but the windows in his shop looked down on the park..

If I where a condo dweller... I would like that set-up.. lol

[Myk Rian]

On the other side of the state, but our WW group uses a school shop for just this purpose.
If someone has a project, but no tools, they come on Tuesday evenings to work on it.

[Roy Turbett]

My local woodturning club (michiganwoodturners.org) charges $100/year including AAW dues. They have their own building and lathes. There is a demonstration at the monthly meeting, a summer picnic, and a Christmas party. One Saturday a month is a mentoring Saturday where for $10 you can get one on one instruction from 9am until you get tired. The $10 includes lunch. Many of the members have their own shops and are very generous with their time and resources. Members that live near me also meet every other Wednesday evening and take turns hosting.

[Joseph Tarantino]

maybe you can find a woodcraft like this one in norwalk, CT:

http://www.woodworkersclubnorwalk.com/?Click=2

some of the staff are of dubious experience, but the costs seem reasonable.

[Matthew Hills]

One of the nearby shops also runs a shop you can buy time/membership at. I took one class there to try and soften some of my self/web-taught edges. If I hadn't already bought a lot of my own tools, I do think it would be a viable option for the first couple projects. I liked that they have issues like dust collection and lighting already solved (both still projects in my garage). And it is nice to be working around others. I have the impression that their shop had been pretty crowded a few years ago, but things are a bit slower now with the slower economy.

http://www.sawdustshop.com/build.asp
(http://www.sawdustshop.com/build.asp)213543