What is the Guild

The Guild of Oregon Woodworkers, founded in 1978, is a non-profit volunteer organization comprised of over 1000 members who share a common passion for woodworking.    Guild members have a variety of woodworking interests, including furniture design and construction, cabinets, antique furniture restoration, turning, carving and more.

Guild bylaws.

Monthly Programs

Every month an evening program features a wide variety of woodworking subjects, ranging from demonstrations of a skill or tool, finishing, tours of local industries on a variety of woodworking subjects. Presentations by internationally recognized woodworkers bring a high quality of woodworking knowledge to the audience, including notables such as Michael Fortune, Mary May, George Walker and Chris Schwarz.  Program meetings are held on the third Tuesday of the month at the Multnomah Arts Center or specialty shops around Portland.

Education

Numerous seminars for woodworkers with all levels of experience from beginner to advanced are offered throughout the year. Topics such as basic techniques (from hand tools to power tools with a strong emphasis on safety), different aspects of furniture building, cabinet construction, veneering and finishing techniques are just a few examples.

All members that will be using the shop for any reason will be required to receive machine safety training to ensure that they are able to use the shop equipment safely.

Community Projects

The Guild has a commitment to the community.  Numerous projects during the year allow members to improve their woodworking skills and benefit a variety of non-profit organizations.

We have donated our labor to several deserving groups including: the German-American School in Beaverton (library furniture), the Salem Police Department (display cases), the Peninsula Children’s Center (shelving and play structures) and the Clackamas Library (shelving gondolas). All we ask of our clients is to cover the material expenses.  We provide the labor.

Woodworking Shows

The Guild participates in a number of woodworking related art shows during the year to provide a venue for members to sell their products as well as participate in the art community. Members can display and/or sell their work. The largest of these is the Gathering of the Guilds in May and Art-in-the-Pearl Labor Day weekend.  

Membership Cost

A single annual membership fee offers several options: general, professional, family, student and wood shop educator.  See Join The Guild - new members.

Additional fees include shop rental time and storage space for your projects if desired.  

The Guild Shop

Stocked with top quality industrial equipment, the shop is the gathering place for members working on their own projects, participating in many of the education classes, production of furniture for non-profit local community organizations and Guild based projects for sale at woodworking shows.

Each member may become qualified to use the shop by taking the Intro to the Guild and then by completing the two-session Shop Certification. If you're a newcomer or novice woodworker, you will take the Getting Started session (Basic Power tools) and then go on to the Shop Certification sessions. This training for new members to access the machine room, generally, takes 60-90 days from the date of membership to complete. 

Shop time is purchased by either the hour or an unlimited pass.  Shop rate is the lowest anywhere on an hourly basis.

Newsletter, Library

The monthly newsletter keeps you up to date on happenings in the Guild and offers articles of woodworking interest and how-to articles on a variety of subjects.

A well stocked library in the Guild shop, with hundreds of selections,  allows members access to many, many high quality books to read in a section of the shop or check out.

Professional Members

Professional members can promote their businesses through visibility to members and the community on the Guild website through a listing and an optional gallery featuring their work.