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The Des Moines Woodworkers Association makes it clear that their mission is to dedicate their time and effort (and a considerable amount of expertise) “…to education, community service, and sharing of knowledge for those of all ages and skill levels…” who are interested in woodworking.

For example, a few months after 9/11, I became involved with a project sponsored by the club and Woodworkers United for America to build Memorial Flag Boxes for the families of victims of the terrorist attacks. It was a gratifying experience and I ended up building a few extras for my family members.

Then, just the other day I heard a member of the club on a local public radio station talking about their latest community project — building special caskets for preemie babies. The Infant Casket Program is an off-shoot of the Precious Angels Organization. Their goal is to help families who have lost children and may not be able for whatever reason to afford a quality casket or other services. You can find out more about this organization here.

Des Moines Woodworkers club members can build caskets from plans provided on their website. The club also provides wood to any member who requests it to build caskets. They announced the plans to help out at their last meeting and the hope is that members will bring their projects to the September meeting where they’ll be presented to Vicki Dischner, the young lady who runs the program for SpecialAngelsIA.org. The Des Moines Woodworkers have also contacted clubs in Omaha, NE., and Ames, Cedar Falls, and Cedar Rapids in Iowa to become involved in this worthy project.

Contact Russ Wilson, the community service director for the club, if you’d like to be involved.

I recently received the following email notice from the Minnesota Woodworkers Guild. It illustrates the problems with buying online.

Wood SCAM

In the Nov/Dec Guild Newsletter there is an ad offering 400,000 bf of lumber. The advertisement leads with the line “Lake Elmo Lumber closes doors.” Sadly, it is true that Lake Elmo Hardwood Lumber has closed.

They have however informed us that they have nothing to do with this offer. Please don’t call them! It has also been brought to our attention that the offer maybe too good to be true. Be prudent, do not pay in advance. If advanced payment is required, arrange to use PayPal or some other 3rd party. Hopefully the offer is good.

Apparently, if you were interested in buying lumber from the person running this scam, the first requirement was that you pay money down before delivery. Predictably, the material is never delivered. I’m told several local businesses and some individuals did lose some money and the police are investigating the scam.

As the email notice states, if the offer sounds to good to be true, it probably is! Just be careful out there.

When I was a young boy, my dad would get together with some friends and play some bluegrass music.  He played guitar.  At one point, he taught me how to play mandolin.  Well…I knew a few chords, anyway.  I had fun, but unfortunately it was a borrowed mandolin and I had to give it back.  So I’ve long since forgotten everything I knew about playing.  That’s why I became a drummer, instead.

Since finding my love of woodworking, I thought it would be fun sometime to build a musical instrument.  One of our craftsmen here at Woodsmith has built a violin for his wife.  And one of our editors has built a guitar.  Maybe I’ll start with an electric guitar for my teenager.  That seems simple enough.

Here’s a story about a self-taught woodworker who retired to Florida and found himself making harps.  Lowell Patrick says, “I decided to tackle this challenge after I found a place in California that offers detailed drawings of various sizes and models of harps and has all the necessary hardware, strings, tuning pins, etc. Fortunately, all my harps have turned out well. They definitely are from ‘tree to tune.’”

Hopefully I won’t have to wait until I retire before I can make music.

I’ve belong to two woodworking organizations, the Des Moines Woodworkers Association and the Minnesota Woodworkers Guild, although I’m not an active member of either of them at this time. The Minnesota club has around 700 dues-paying club members and it’s one of the largest in the country. The Des Moines club has been steadily growing for the last several years and its membership is closing in on 400 members, which is amazing considering the population base in central Iowa.

Woodworking clubs promote the craft and encourage members to become involved in their hobby. Joining a club is a great way to meet other woodworkers and depending on how involved you are, it’s a great way to educate yourself, as well as others.

The DMWA activities include such things as tool swap meets, summer tours to places of interest to woodworkers, meetings for like-minded members (turning, scrolling, and small furniture groups are offered by the Des Moines club), and special events like the Festival of Trees, in which members participate in charity fundraising by building and auctioning holiday ornaments.

Of course, the best thing about belonging to a club is having the chance to interact with others who share your interest in the wonderful world of woodworking. I was active with DMWA when they got involved with building flag boxes for the families of victims of the 9/11 attacks. The Des Moines Woodworkers Assoc. teamed up with Woodworkers United for America (WUFA) and other clubs around the country to build over 3000 Memorial Flag Boxes. It was a very rewarding experience.

Here’s a list of active woodworking clubs:

Woodworking Clubs in the U.S. and Canada