Hello Nation

I am looking to see what kind of interest there is in a local builders guild.  I know in the woodworking hobby there are such things where like minded people pool knowledge and resources to benefit the community as a whole.  I would like to see the same sort of thing for our community as well. 

So first let me explain more about a guild.  Like minded hobbyists get together in a local region.  The meetings are any combination of learning new skills or building common projects.  They also share resources. 

For instance, I have a large band saw and a surface planer.  Among my abilities is to resaw a board and book match it for use as a sound board in an instrument.  I do not however have a decent size wood lathe.  I have a great idea for a  back resonator for an instrument but do not have the skills or tools to make it happen.  Guilds are helpful for the barter and exchange of skills.  Also when purchasing materials, a mass purchase can be a huge cost savings.  I often buy way more materials than I need because the wood species I get at the specialty lumber yard is what ever size I find.  I bought a rather large piece of leopard wood and used a fraction of it for a few instruments.  As a group, we can buy and use our resources to mill and divide the materials and the costs.

For me personally, I have the resources I need and because I used to make furniture as a hobby, pretty solid skills.  My main issue is that I work mostly alone. I know from experience that this kind of work is more rewarding with others.

So the main requirement is one of geography  unless someone wants to take lead and create another guild somewhere else.  Every skill level is welcome including none.

Thoughts?  Questions?  Lets have a discussion right here.

For those who do not know me, check out my profile and some of my previous work.  I'm a pretty serious builder but a lousy player.  Won't find me organizing any jam sessions.

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I split my time between Saratoga Springs and East Boston. Where is your shop?

I am pretty much centrally located in NE as I am in north central MA in Westminster.  Probably should have added that. 

I am hoping to spur smaller groups to figure out how to work together while setting up regional tech workshops where fundamental and advanced skills are covered.  The point is to move beyond the virtual community.  So even if there are those who are too far outside my geographic area to get together on a regular basis, there may be an area of skills covered in a workshop that would be worth a longer ride to attend. 

There is a New England forum, maybe you should mention it in there also. Me, I'm from Chatham NY, not far from Pittsfield MA. So almost NE.

Hello. We have a New England builders group already, as Michael pointed out so please join that too. You will see some discussions there about a possible meet up, but it is hard for anyone to just take the reins and make it happen, could end up being a lot of extra work and expense. I am new up here, moved up from VA last year about this time. Loving New England so far but I sure could use some face to face friends. I work from home and we only have one car right now so I am pretty isolated from any social contact. I am in Amesbury MA, way up north east, about 3 miles from  NH line.

Look forward to meeting some of you. Bruce

I did see the group but there has not been any activity on it since Oct and most of that is a bunch of "hello, I'm here" posts.   No offense intended to anyone.  I don't know exactly how many active builders we have here in the area but I figure it would only take a handful of builders to build a regional community.  I saw the posts about a get together that went back to April with a handful of posts following.

I am neither concerned about the work or expense to organize events. I only worry about getting people to attend.  Need to identify the individuals interested and reach consensus with regard to mandate.  If general building group get together events don't interest anyone, I'll have to figure something else out.  

My post was meant to serve as a space to have a discussion to gauge interest. 

So far there are three replies.  Both Boston and Amsbury is about a little more than an hour from me and Michael is probably a bit more than two and a half hours away in the opposite direction.  Neither is a problem for me.

I'm going to continue to move forward.  My hope is I can organize enough NE members before spring when the weather gets better.  As we all get to know each other, it will be easier to organize fair weather outdoor events.  Won't find me joining any jam bands but I've spent my career on the opposite side of the microphone.

Perhaps I should just start with a meet and greet open shop event. Any interest?  Anyone else want to do the same?

Man I'd love to get involved but I'm afraid it's a bit of a drive for me. I'm in Hampton NH.
I used to live in townsend though. That is close, too bad. it's nice to know there are plenty of builders and players here in New England

The point of this is not so much me but to spur builders in our area to find others nearby to work with.  I went through the members around NE and there should be plenty of active builders.  Enough so that small groups of a few can meet and start to turn this virtual community in to a more social one.

Someone warned me that New Englander's are a tough bunch to reach out to.  Should I have listened?

Ok, I'm a little far but who is in your area.  The members tab has an advanced search.  Check out the who is in NH and MA near you that is still active and give them a shout out.  It has to start somewhere or not at all.  It is like when you decided to build one of these things.  I'm sure there was some hesitation for many. 

Very true indeed! I in general am not a social person, but when it comes to my hobbies I am very social, just ask the mrs.! Basically what I was saying is that you have a great idea and I wish I was still close. So I will have to do a search for those in my area. I find that when I go to music shops I have little knowledge and little in common with conventional guitar players. Hopefully some of us can band together for building and playing!

That is only about 10 miles from me, so maybe we can get together?

Yea sounds good

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