A Survey of Woodturning Clubs

[Russell Neyman]

​Our turning club would like to know more about other groups and how they operate. We figure this sort of information will help everyone find out what works best and give us clues where to seek out advice and ideas. Please take a minute to answer the questions below.


 What is the name of your organization?
 Where are you located?
 Is your club affiliated with AAW? Or, another organization?
 How often do you meet?
 Where do you meet?
 Do you have a mentoring program for novice turners?
 How many paid members do you have? How many people show up meetings?
 Do you have a website? Printed newsletter? Electronic newsletter?
 What are your annual dues?
 Do you have other means of raising funds?
 What is your annual budget?


(Please feel free to add additional comments about your club or about woodturning clubs in general, either within this thread or via personal message.)

Admin Edit: Please include a link to your Turning Club's web site. This will make it easier for new members to find your organization.

[charlie knighton]

What is the name of your organization? southside woodturners
 Where are you located? Martinsville, va
 Is your club affiliated with AAW? Or, another organization? aaw
 How often do you meet? 1st Tuesday every month
 Where do you meet? artisan center/turners home
 Do you have a mentoring program for novice turners? no
 How many paid members do you have? How many people show up meetings? about 20/ 10 to 14
 Do you have a website? Printed newsletter? Electronic newsletter? facebook page
 What are your annual dues? $25
 Do you have other means of raising funds? octoberfest/occasional wood sales to members
 What is your annual budget? we look ahead maybe 3 months/ we do have insurance through aaw

[Bill Blasic]

 What is the name of your organization? Presque Isle Woodturners
 Where are you located? Erie, PA
 Is your club affiliated with AAW? Or, another organization? AAW
 How often do you meet? Monthly, 1st Wednesday
 Where do you meet? Meetings at a members shop/business and hands on at a members shop.
 Do you have a mentoring program for novice turners? Yes Several volunteers in their shops and we open the meeting place two hours early for those who might need help.
 How many paid members do you have? How many people show up meetings? 60 to 70 - 30 to 40
 Do you have a website? Printed newsletter? Electronic newsletter? Website, E-mail and printed.
 What are your annual dues? $20
 Do you have other means of raising funds? Yes Raffles, Wild Winds Folk and Art Festival where club gets 30% and special raffles from demonstrators pieces.
 What is your annual budget? $1500 + or - We purchase our own insurance that covers all club related activities

[Russell Neyman]

 What is the name of your organization? Olympic Peninsula Woodturners/OPCAAW.
 Where are you located? Western Shore of Puget Sound, Washington State.
 Is your club affiliated with AAW? Yes. Or, another organization? No.
 How often do you meet? Last Wednesday of every month.
 Where do you meet? Rented School Gym.
 Do you have a mentoring program for novice turners? Yes.
 How many paid members do you have? 112. How many show up meetings? 70-90.*
 Do you have a website? Yes. Printed newsletter? No. Electronic newsletter? Yes.
 What are your annual dues? $30.
 What other ways to you raise funds? Monthly wood auction.
 What is your annual budget? About $7000.


*There are another 60-70 people who attend our meetings a few times a year but who do not become paid members. They often participate in Club activities, donate to our wood auction, and join in on discussions, but don’t get the other benefits of membership (library, discounts, etc). We have no problem with this.


OPCAAW’s dues structure is strictly January through December, and pro-rated for partial year membership. Our actual paid roster will probably reach 150 by December 2014, at which time all dues will be due for 2015.

[George Morris]

 What is the name of your organization? Endless Mountain Turners
 Where are you located? North central Pa.
 Is your club affiliated with AAW? Or, another organization? AAW
 How often do you meet? First Tuesday of Month.
 Where do you meet? Members shop.
 Do you have a mentoring program for novice turners? Yes
 How many paid members do you have? How many people show up meetings? 20 paid 12 to 14 at meeting
 Do you have a website? Printed newsletter? Electronic newsletter? web site
 What are your annual dues? 20
 Do you have other means of raising funds? 50/50
 What is your annual budget? Not enough!

[charlie knighton]

I like Bill's idea of mentoring ie>>>>

we open the meeting place two hours early for those who might need help.

when we start the new year in September, maybe we could do something like this

[Thom Sturgill]

 What is the name of your organization? Treasure Coast Woodturners Guild
 Where are you located? Fort Pierce FL (60 miles North of WPB on Florida's east coast)
 Is your club affiliated with AAW? Or, another organization? aaw
 How often do you meet? Monthly (two meetings one 'business' meeting with show & tell and typically a video + morning demo at president's shop
 Where do you meet? Local College + members shop
 Do you have a mentoring program for novice turners? Not formal, but yes several members tutor.
 How many paid members do you have? How many people show up meetings? Don't know about 40 during winter 20 summer
 Do you have a website? Printed newsletter? Electronic newsletter? Yes, not any more, yes
 What are your annual dues? Currently $20 but going up to $25
 Do you have other means of raising funds? Wood raffles to members
 What is your annual budget? No official budget that I know of. (I'm 2nd VP)

[charlie knighton]

http://www.virginiawoodturners.com/this Is a club when I think of it

board member of Virginia Woodturners Inc........we and I do mean we.....a lot of people involved....put on the Virginia Woodturning Symposium every other year.....and this is our year....we do even years, north Carolina does odd years

[Lloyd Butler]

For a touch of Canadiana..

 What is the name of your organization? Golden Horseshoe Woodturners Guild (GHWG)
 Where are you located? Burlington, Ontario
 Is your club affiliated with AAW? Or, another organization? AAW
 How often do you meet? twice a month Sept-June with Club supported Xmas party in December. 1st & 3rd Thursdays. Hands-on evening, and then club meeting with demonstator
 Where do you meet? Knights of Columbus hall
 Do you have a mentoring program for novice turners? yes
 How many paid members do you have? How many people show up meetings? paid about 140, hands-on 30-50, meeting nights 70-80
 Do you have a website? Printed newsletter? Electronic newsletter? web site with newsletter and still 8-9 people without internet
 What are your annual dues? $45
 Do you have other means of raising funds? 50/25/25 on hands-on night, raffle table on meeting nights
 What is your annual budget? only real budget is Xmas party, due's cover rent, normal presenters and insurance and other programs are run to try and cover themselves.

Generally 2 all day pro demonstrators each year

[John Thorson]

 What is the name of your organization? Zumbro Valley Woodtuners
 Where are you located? South Eastern Minnesota (Rochester area)
 Is your club affiliated with AAW? AAW
 How often do you meet? Last Thursday of every month
 Where do you meet? We rent meeting room at a local township's Hall
 Do you have a mentoring program for novice turners? Yes we have a list of mentors by turning topic, we also do a 1 hour education class for new turners before the meeting over 5 months April through August.
 How many paid members do you have? over 40 How many people show up meetings? usually 30 or so
 Do you have a website? zvwoodturners.com Printed newsletter? No Electronic newsletter? Not any longer, we use the website and email
 What are your annual dues? $25 a year
 Do you have other means of raising funds? Special events have a reduced-rate charge for members choosing to attend, monthly dues cover all normal monthly activities
 What is your annual budget? Membership x yearly dues
Missing question - Do your members volunteer at schools, Scout troops, 4-H clubs, fairs and other community events as representatives of the club? Yes

[John De Ryckere]

The name of our organization is Chippewa Valley Woodturner's Guild. We are located in Eau Claire WI on 1125 Starr Avenue. We are an AAW affiliated organization with meetings on the first Wednesday of every month, from 7pm until about 9. We also meet on the second Saturday of the month for "Coffee and Chips" at the club house. Talk, trade advice, or use one of our lathes to work on a project.

We have a number of mentors for a variety of wood turning concepts, as well as introductory wood turning courses. We also teach wood turning to the boys and girls club.

We have about 85 paid members, and the turn out is seasonal. It's lower for the few weeks of nice weather we (sometimes) get during the summer. During the fall and winter we get about 50 or 60 members turning up.

We have a website: www.cvwg.org

We have a newsletter, it's available at the website. We print them out for the few members who don't have internet access.

Our annual dues are a bargain at $25.00 per year.

We hold an expo every year, the website is at www.expressionsinwood.net.
This is the first year we're holding it together with the wood turners. It's a
significant component of our operating budget.

[Robert B Povalkins]

What is the name of your organization? Southern Piedmont Wood turners
 Where are you located? Concord NC
 Is your club affiliated with AAW? Or, another organization? Yes
 How often do you meet? The 15th of every month
 Where do you meet? In our studio
 Do you have a mentoring program for novice turners? Yes
 How many paid members do you have? How many people show up meetings? About 60 paid members and 30 - 40 show up.
 Do you have a website? Printed newsletter? Electronic newsletter? Yes
 What are your annual dues? $45.00
 Do you have other means of raising funds? Grants
 What is your annual budget?

[Mike Peace]

 What is the name of your organization? Chattahoochee Woodturners
 Where are you located? Gainesville, GA
 Is your club affiliated with AAW? Yes Or, another organization?
 How often do you meet? Monthly meetings plus a monthly hands on sawdust session
 Where do you meet? In a free standing shop building we rent
 Do you have a mentoring program for novice turners? monthly hands on workshops lasting about 4-5 hours for anyone interested
 How many paid members do you have? About 60 How many people show up meetings? About 30
 Do you have a website? Printed newsletter? Electronic newsletter?
 What are your annual dues? $25 individual, $30 family, free student membership
 Do you have other means of raising funds? monthly raffles, pre meeting meal, Christmas banquet raffle and auction
 What is your annual budget? about $4200

[Brian Libby]

 What is the name of your organization?MAINE WOODTURNERS
 Where are you located?SOUTH CHINA MAINE
 Is your club affiliated with AAW? Or, another organization? AAW
 How often do you meet? ONCE A MONTH - SEPT THRU JUNE
 Where do you meet? ERSKINE ACADEMY
 Do you have a mentoring program for novice turners? NO
 How many paid members do you have? How many people show up meetings? ABOUT 100 MEMBERS - ABOUT 40 PER MEETING
 Do you have a website? Printed newsletter? Electronic newsletter? WEBSITE: MAINEWOODTURNERS.ORG AND ELECTRONIC NEWSLETTER
 What are your annual dues? $30
 Do you have other means of raising funds? WOOD RAFFLES
WE USE MOSTLY "LOCAL" DEMONSTRATORS BUT TRY TO HAVE NATIONAL/INTERNATIONALLY KNOWN TURNERS AT LEAST ONCE A YEAR.

[Russell Neyman]

The early responses to this survey inndicate a surprising trend toward a seasonal interest in woodturning. Didn't see that coming.

What prompted the discussion originally was I was wondering how our group compared with others. Were we average size? Did all groups meet every month, like we do? How do guilds address the experience gap between novices and advanced turners?

I'm surprised we haven't heard from more groups, but I'm guessing it will take time