The Rochester Woodworkers Society |

Scott Grove (September 18th and 19th)

Virtual Visit: Scott will do both his Friday evening presentation and his Saturday workshop via Zoom. Scott Grove is an international award-winning master craftsman, a woodworker, artist, sculptor, teacher, author, tool designer, and YouTuber who lectures,...

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From The Chair – August 2020

2020-21 Season News Greetings RWS members, As promised, here's a rundown of how RWS will operate this year (September 2020 - June 2021). The short story: We are still going to have monthly national speakers and SIG meetings and some local workshops. These are all...

From The Chair – February 2020

The Joy of Woodworking Greetings RWS members, You are reading this because you love woodworking. (OK, maybe you are just curious.) You like to make things. You love the beauty of wood. You admire the beauty of design. Whatever specific aspects of woodworking move you,...

From The Chair – December 2019

Grateful Greetings RWS members, The holiday season is in full swing. I know this because of those lingering feelings that I should: Catch up with family and old friends Make somebody a gift Volunteer someplace Donate someplace Sing Shop Dig out annual decorations Make...

From The Chair – October 2019

Experience Teaches Judgement Greetings RWS members, Have you ever surprised yourself by selecting the right size socket for a bolt or hex key for a set screw on the first try? You probably had thought about the vintage and origin of the fastener at hand and guessed...

From The Chair – August 2019

Collaboration of the Long Distance SIG Greetings RWS members, Welcome to the 2019/2020 season of RWS. Another new beginning for the organization with more opportunities to learn and do. High in my attention lately has been my impending retirement from the world of...

From The Chair – April 2019

Finding the artist within Greetings RWS members, At the most recent RWS national speaker workshop, as Yoav Liberman reviewed his work, I was struck over and over by the same question: “How did you come up with that design choice?” These were his artistic choices, not...

From The Chair – February 2019

And the sign said, “Help wanted” --- You may have heard that Connie Gates will soon step down from her position as RWS Librarian. Thank you, Connie, for your years of service to RWS members. You have been a joy! But her position won’t go vacant, because John Alescio,...

From The Chair – December 2018

Tis the season for reflecting --- As this year winds down with the holidays upon us, my mind has been going a million miles an hour thinking about how fast life flies by, about this charmed life I have been given, about what I have and haven’t yet done with it, and...

From The Chair – August 2018

Holy Cow Moments Greetings RWS members, Thank you for this opportunity to serve as your new Chairman. I am very grateful for the experiences that RWS has provided me, and I intend to repay that favor by doing all I can to sustain and enhance the RWS experience for...

From The Chair – April 2018

Changes About two years ago I began my term as RWS Chairman. The position was about to become vacant, and as our bylaws state, only an existing board member can assume the chairmanship. As one of the longer serving members on the Board, I agreed to accept the...

Local Workshops for 2020-21

The RWS board is lining up local workshops for the upcoming season, we will update this section as soon as more information is available.

RWS Monthly Show & Tell sessions

Enjoy a bit of socialization and see some friendly faces again! Interested members will get a few minutes to share their projects. Now you can show us your at-home projects that were normally too big to carry to the (past) meetings.

We may experiment with the format, but the first one is on Tuesday September 22 at 7PM. If you have something to share, take a few pictures and send them to Showcase@Rochesterwoodworkers.org by Friday September 18th. A Zoom link will be sent out to all members to join.

National Speakers for 2020-21

Click on a link for the speaker’s web site, if available.

Scott Grove – Fine Furniture and Finishing; September 18 and 19, 2020
Jeff Headley – TBD; October , 2020
Tim Coleman – TBD; November, 2020

We are a group of men and women in Upstate NY dedicated to the enjoyment of woodworking. Membership includes lectures and workshops by renowned woodworking personalities and local professionals as well as free access to our extensive lending library of books and videos.

RWS welcomes everyone interested in the craft whether professional or hobbyist. Join the company of hundreds of enthusiasts – carvers, turners, furniture makers, boat builders, and other skilled craftspeople and take your woodworking skills to a new level.