Our Club

Founded in 1980, the Western Pennsylvania Woodworkers (WPW) is a non-profit organization dedicated to providing educational, safety, and techniques/skills information in all areas of woodworking. Our membership includes about 100 men and women, mostly amateurs and a few professionals, with interests in all areas of woodworking crafts (we focus on both hand and power tool woodworking). Our primary mission is to educate, inform, and share woodworking skills, experiences, and ideas in an enjoyable environment. Many of our members often mention that the social aspects of our monthly meetings are also a high priority for them. [For more information, please see our website: WPWoodworkers.org]

WPW members come from all walks of life, backgrounds, and skill levels. Your age, gender, profession, politics, address, etc. simply don’t matter when it comes to working wood. Some are (or were) professionals who make their living doing custom or production work, most simply enjoy the occasional building of a piece in their home workshop, and some are beginners who are looking for guidance to increase their knowledge and skills. In any case, they are members because they enjoy some aspect of woodworking and the results of their labor – an item of pride to be cherished, given as a gift, or sold for a profit.

Monthly meetings are often held on the second Saturday of each month where, in addition to the main program, we exchange woodworking information, techniques, tips, designs, and ideas. The main program is a formal demonstration or presentation, usually by a member of the group. We suspend regular meetings for the summer months of June, July, and August, but sometimes hold a special meeting or field trip over the summer.

Become a Member

If you are thinking about becoming a member of the Western Pennsylvania Woodworkers, we would love to have you join us. Memberships are based on our program year, September to August. Our annual dues are a very reasonable $25/year. For most meetings the doors open about an hour before the meeting begins for some social time, coffee, and donuts.

Your annual dues give you access to our website and all meetings (either by physically attending the meeting or joining us virtually through a WebEx link), including occasional presentations by nationally-known professionals. We occasionally have optional weekend-long workshops taught by professionals, for which an additional fee is usually charged. Our monthly meeting presentations typically range from nuts-and-bolts demonstrations on a specific tool or technique, to hands-on workshops where everyone comes away with an improved skill, to discussions about design and history of the craft. Our annual Show-and-Tell meeting allows members to show off their work. Since we are an all-electronic club, all communication with members will be through our website and usually a monthly email “reminder” about the next upcoming meeting; only paid members will have access to this website information or virtual meeting links, and receive emails, which is especially important since our meeting days and/or times do change.

Paid members have complete access to our archive of past newsletters and videos of past meetings/presentations. Additionally, while we own an extensive physical library of woodworking books and DVDs, we currently do not have a way to provide access to them, but we are working on a way to once again provide member access. Members also gain access to a range of discounts from area vendors and the website’s members-only classifieds.

Attend A Meeting

If you’re thinking about joining us, we encourage you to attend a meeting or two as a guest at absolutely no cost. New and prospective members and visitors are always welcome at our meetings (see below for details of our next meeting). Meetings are often held on the second Saturday of each month from September to May (check the website for the current month’s meeting date/time). Arrive early and introduce yourself to other members to learn even more about the club.

We also offer a free two-month Guest Membership. Just click on the Join-The-Club button below, fill in your contact info, and then scroll down and click the Guest Member button. This will give you full access to the website for two months so you can “look around.”

Information Regarding Covid Protocols For Physical Meetings

While most COVID-related restrictions for physical meetings have been eliminated, the WPW will always try to be a responsible meeting host.  As such, we have some simple guidelines that we ask all meeting participants to please follow.  If you feel unsafe attending in person or are unable to comply with our COVID-19 Guidelines, we also provide simultaneous virtual meetings via WebEx. Guests should email webmaster@wpwoodworkers.org for details regarding attending a virtual WebEx Meeting.

Join Us For Our Next Meeting When We Present:

If you’re ready to join us as we learn about woodworking, improve our skills, and share knowledge and passion for woodworking with others, there is no time like today to join the Western Pennsylvania Woodworkers.