The December 2022 general meeting will be our annual holiday party! 

Our Holiday Happening will be held on Thursday, December 15, 2022 from 7:00pm - 9:00pm in the Fred Maytag II Scout Center's expansive main lobby and meeting rooms! Wear your favorite plaid or flannel and get in the holiday mood with us!

Plan to bring your show-and-tell projects from any time since the pandemic started in 2020, or email your project pictures to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., to be entered in the show and tell prize drawing! Please include your name and some details about your project when using email. 

Put your apron on and get cookin'! Everyone is invited to bring a desert or appetizer to share. The club will provide plates, napkins and forks. Please bring your own serving utensils if needed. Beverages will also be provided.

If you would like to participate in the white elephant gift exchange, please bring a wrapped present with value $10.00 or less.

All party-goers are asked to bring new pairs of white sweatsocks to be donated to the Central Iowa Shelter Services.

Gene Pedersen details his involvement in Tools for Opportunity 

Gene has served as president for this org for some time. This West Des Moines based nonprofit provides woodworking tools and training to craftsmen in developing countries. The craftsmen earn their tools to start or expand a woodworking business. The goal is to offer opportunities for financial security and self-reliance to individuals who would otherwise not have the resources to pursue their dreams of a better life.

Gene will speak to the similarities and differences in woodworking in Central America versus Central Iowa. Additionally, he will speak to how members can get involved with the group with volunteering, teaching, or other support.

You can find more information about Tools for Opportunity on their website,
https://www.toolsforopportunity.org/about

From their site:
The mission of Tools for Opportunity is to provide woodworking tools and training to craftsmen in developing countries. The craftsmen earn their tools to start or expand a woodworking business. The goal is to offer opportunities for financial security and self-reliance to individuals who would otherwise not have the resources to pursue their dreams of a better life.

Our vision is not about providing charity, but rather to seed long-term economic development that can raise the living standard in these areas through the hard work of local craftsmen. There are dozens of honest, hardworking, talented woodworkers in need of a few simple tools to develop a more viable woodworking business and provide a more secure income for their families.

** February's meeting has been CANCELLED **

4pm February 16th: The DMWA board has decided to cancel for tonight due to the winter storm that's been in the area since last evening. Side streets are a mess and a lot of people will have to dig out at home.

Please stay safe and we'll see you next month!

The March program will be presented by Dale Herzberg, Paddlemaker from Camp Mitigwa near Boone IA and operator of the camp sawmill.

From Dale:

"I have always loved the outdoors. I went on my first BWCAW canoe trip in 1987 and have been back over 20 times with family, friends and Scouts. This love for paddling started me looking for a lighter and better paddle that the standard wood straight shaft style. In 1987 I saw the “NEW” style bend shaft paddles in the shops in Ely MN and being a woodworker, I decided that I should be able to make one. That started the process of designing and building the jigs and fixtures that I needed to build these paddles.

\

I have been Boy Scouts of America Scout leader taking Scouts on weekend campouts, summer camp, BWCAW canoe trips and hiking treks to Philmont Scout Ranch. I am an ORF at BSA Camp Mitigwa near Boone IA and run the camp sawmill. I am also involved with First Tech Challenge (FTC) robotics as a team mechanical mentor and now as a Head referee and robot inspector in Iowa.

My real job was a Technology Education teacher in the WDMCS for 39 years. I retired in 2014. I introduced 7th and 8th graders to materials and processing, CAD, graphic design and industrial problem solving.

Our venue, the Fred Maytag II Scout Center, is located at 6123 Scout Trail in Des Moines, off of SW 63rd just South of Park Ave and just West of the Des Moines Airport grounds. If you've been involved with the Des Moines Wood Turners (or the Boy Scouts recently) you may already be familiar with the location.

Enter through the main doors. Parking is somewhat limited near the doors, so if you have good mobility, please consider parking further from the entry to help others.

Doors open at 6:45pm for social time, and the meeting will begin at 7pm. Give yourself extra time to find your way in to our new meeting place if you haven't been over yet. 

Meeting Agenda: 

• 6:45pm - Doors open, both in person and on Zoom. Click on the Zoom link below to join the meeting.
• 7:00pm - Welcome!
• 7:05pm - Introduction of Tonight’s Presenter
• 7:10pm - Presentation
• 7:45pm - Q&A with Dale
• 8:05pm - 5 MINUTE BREAK
• 8:10pm - Show and Tell
• 8:30pm - Meeting Adjourn

If you are a member and have not been receiving our email messages recently, please contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Eugene Harms will present our April program, discussing the art of Kumiko, on April 20th.

"Beautiful Peace" Art of Kumiko

Eugene: "I credit of my interest in woodworking to my grandfather. I have fond memories of reglazing windows with him at a picnic table under the shade of a tree. I started making Kumiko after reading an article in Fine Woodworking issue #259–Jan/Feb 2017 by Mike Pekovich. I purchased The Art of Kumiko: Learn to Make Beautiful Panels by Hand (link to publisher) by Kenney Matt (Author) November 20, 2020. I then created my first Kumiko art in December 2020.

Kumiko is mostly used for shoji screens and dividers in Japan. Today Kumiko is used in furniture, boxes, coasters, and framed art. The technique was developed hundreds of years ago in Japan (600-700 AD). There are two design types of Kumiko – Koshi Kumiko (lattice) and Hishi Kumiko (diamond shape). Kumiko is made with numerous, thin pieces of wooden that are intersected and laid down individually to form decorative designs with no nails or metal used. There are several hundred variations of Kumiko patterns.

During the program I will:

• Present how to build the jigs and guide blocks used to size the thin pieces of wood
• Demonstrate how the wood is prepared and cut into thin strips and hand planed to accurate thickness
• Show how the wooden jigs are used to cut the various angles needed for the designs.
• Discuss both the Koshi and Hishi Kumiko designs
• Demonstrate the process used to size the individual wooden pieces for the patterns and how to put them together to create a design.
• Discuss making rice glue and illustrate how it is use to attach rice paper to the panels

My first framed Kumiko panel December 2020.

A lamp I built with Kumiko panels

Our venue, the Fred Maytag II Scout Center, is located at 6123 Scout Trail in Des Moines, off of SW 63rd just South of Park Ave and just West of the Des Moines Airport grounds. If you've been involved with the Des Moines Wood Turners (or the Boy Scouts recently) you may already be familiar with the location.

Enter through the main doors. Parking is somewhat limited near the doors, so if you have good mobility, please consider parking further from the entry to help others.

Doors open at 6:45pm for social time, and the meeting will begin at 7pm. Give yourself extra time to find your way in to our new meeting place if you haven't been over yet. 

Meeting Agenda: 

• 6:45pm - Doors open, both in person and on Zoom. Click on the Zoom link below to join the meeting.
• 7:00pm - Welcome!
• 7:05pm - Introduction of Tonight’s Presenter
• 7:10pm - Presentation
• 7:45pm - Q&A with Presenter
• 8:05pm - 5 MINUTE BREAK
• 8:10pm - Show and Tell
• 8:30pm - Meeting Adjourn

If you are a member and have not been receiving our email messages recently, please contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

The May general meeting will be held on May 18th.

Join us for our May General Members Meeting and a presentation from Andy Klindt. Andy is a chain-saw sculptor, tool maker, and kitchen carver. Andy’s presentation will introduce us to the fun of spoon carving!

Bring your project for Show and Tell. We’ll be drawing for door prizes from the Show and Tell entries.

Look over the library offerings at the meeting. You can also go the library tab on the club website and order a book or two to pick up at the meeting.

And, of course, look forward to coffee and cookies, and talking woodworking with friends old and new.

May will be our last regular program until September, but we hope to make an announcement about summer field trips and classes before then!

Our venue, the Fred Maytag II Scout Center, is located at 6123 Scout Trail in Des Moines, off of SW 63rd just South of Park Ave and just West of the Des Moines Airport grounds. If you've been involved with the Des Moines Wood Turners (or the Boy Scouts recently) you may already be familiar with the location.

Enter through the main doors. Parking is somewhat limited near the doors, so if you have good mobility, please consider parking further from the entry to help others.

Doors open at 6:45pm for social time, and the meeting will begin at 7pm. Give yourself extra time to find your way in to our new meeting place if you haven't been over yet. 

Meeting Agenda: 

• 6:45pm - Doors open, both in person and on Zoom. Click on the Zoom link below to join the meeting.
• 7:00pm - Welcome!
• 7:05pm - Introduction of Tonight’s Presenter
• 7:10pm - Presentation
• 7:45pm - Q&A with Presenter
• 8:05pm - 5 MINUTE BREAK
• 8:10pm - Show and Tell
• 8:30pm - Meeting Adjourn

If you are a member and have not been receiving our email messages recently, please contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Club President, Ken Rummer, will be presenting the program on a furniture project he built with his wife during COVID: a pair of matching nightstands in black walnut

Thoughts on design, the usefulness of mockups, working with Soss hinges, keeping track of multiple parts, a no-catch door latch from rare earth magnets, “floating” joints from machine screws and copper tubing, and more. Come for the pictures. Stay to see the nightstands up close.

\

\

Our venue, the Fred Maytag II Scout Center, is located at 6123 Scout Trail in Des Moines, off of SW 63rd just South of Park Ave and just West of the Des Moines Airport grounds. If you've been involved with the Des Moines Wood Turners (or the Boy Scouts recently) you may already be familiar with the location.

Enter through the main doors. Parking is somewhat limited near the doors, so if you have good mobility, please consider parking further from the entry to help others.

Doors open at 6:45pm for social time, and the meeting will begin at 7pm. Give yourself extra time to find your way in to our new meeting place if you haven't been over yet. 

Meeting Agenda: 

• 6:45pm - Doors open, both in person and on Zoom. Click on the Zoom link below to join the meeting.
• 7:00pm - Welcome!
• 7:05pm - Introduction of Tonight’s Presenter
• 7:10pm - Presentation
• 7:45pm - Q&A with Ken
• 8:05pm - 5 MINUTE BREAK
• 8:10pm - Show and Tell
• 8:30pm - Meeting Adjourn

If you are a member and have not been receiving our email messages recently, please contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

The October 2023 meeting will be held on the 19th at 7pm. 

Logan Wittmer is the editor of Popular Woodworking Magazine, and is a cast member of the PBS show, The Woodsmith Shop. Logan’s been an avid woodworker since middle school, and specialized in handtools, both new and vintage. Apart from flat woodworking, Logan is also an avid turner.

Restoring hand tools is a great way to get into hand-tool woodworking. For a fraction of the cost of a new tool, you can break into the hand tool world. However, choosing the right tool and restoring it properly is an integral part of this process. Logan will talk about choosing restoration candidates, what to look for, and how to restore many types of vintage hand tools. 

Our venue, the Fred Maytag II Scout Center, is located at 6123 Scout Trail in Des Moines, off of SW 63rd just South of Park Ave and just West of the Des Moines Airport grounds. If you've been involved with the Des Moines Wood Turners (or the Boy Scouts recently) you may already be familiar with the location.

Enter through the main doors. Parking is somewhat limited near the doors, so if you have good mobility, please consider parking further from the entry to help others.

Doors open at 6:45pm for social time, and the meeting will begin at 7pm. Give yourself extra time to find your way in to our new meeting place if you haven't been over yet. 

Meeting Agenda: 

• 6:45pm - Doors open, both in person and on Zoom. Click on the Zoom link below to join the meeting.
• 7:00pm - Welcome!
• 7:05pm - Introduction of Tonight’s Presenter
• 7:10pm - Presentation
• 7:45pm - Q&A with presenter
• 8:05pm - 5 MINUTE BREAK
• 8:10pm - Show and Tell
• 8:30pm - Meeting Adjourn

If you are a member and have not been receiving our email messages recently, please contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

The November 2023 meeting will be held on the 16th at 7pm:

"My name is Randy Willey. I live near Norwalk, IA with my wife and two children. In addition to my full time day job, I am a part time custom saw maker and an avid antique woodworking tool user and collector.

"I love the history behind old hand tools, especially planes and handsaws. That said, most old tools and specifically saws I find are usually covered in rust and need cleaned up and tuned before they are sufficiently functional. The following program will simply be a tutorial about what I have learned over the years restoring handsaws.

"These are great tools of the past that can, and many times, should be saved and restored. Whether it is grandpa’s old saw or a quality saw found at a garage sale or antique store, we will discuss some different types of saws and certain qualities and features to look for in a quality saw. We will then discuss some techniques to get that rusty old saw back to a usable tool worthy of using in your shop and passing to future generations.

November is also our Annual Meeting

at which we will elect next year's Board of Directors. If you have been curious about getting more involved with the Association, let us know at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.! We'd love to hear from you! We still will have an open position with no one yet declared for them:

 - Eugene Harms is nominated to serve as Vice President. Ramona Messenger is stepping down from VP and several other roles after 6 years volunteering in some way or another with DMWA.

 - Craig Ruegsegger is nominated to serve as Program Chair, which has been vacant for most of this year, and which runs the Program Committee and arranges speakers for the monthly meetings. (Program planning meetings are open to any member who wants to be involved in selecting and scheduling programs for our monthly meetings.)

 - The Community Service Chair, which coordinates volunteer opportunities and wood project donations to other groups, is still open after a vacancy of 2 1/2 years with no nominee again this year. We have several projects waiting for a steward to coordinate them. For now, Greg Alberts and Tom Brumback will fill in when they're able to.

- Our full slate of nominees:

President: ___________________  Ken Rummer (continuing)
Vice-President:  _______________ Eugene Harms (new, Ramona Messenger outgoing)
Treasurer: ___________________ Greg Alberts (continuing)
Secretary: ___________________ Mark Schillerstrom (continuing)
Program: ____________________ Craig Ruegsegger (new, position is vacant)
Education: ___________________ Tom Brumback (continuing)
Community Service:____________ no nominee presented (Greg and Tom filling in)
Librarian: ____________________ Shawn Brown (continuing)
Newsletter Editor: _____________  Nathan Kress (continuing remotely)

Members attending the November Annual Meeting may nominate themselves or others for a position during the meeting too.
This will be a simple voice vote for any positions running unopposed.

We could also use volunteer help with several projects that don’t require joining the board - a great way to see if we’re a good fit for your interests.

We hope you’ll consider getting involved to help to keep your Des Moines Woodworkers Association improving!

Our Annual Meeting will also include a presentation of club finances by our Treasurer, Greg Alberts. If you'd like to see our annual financial report ahead of time, you can download it from the Member menu -> Club Info -> FInancial Information once you log in to our website.
If you're already logged in, just follow this link to go right there:
dmwoodworkers.org/member/club-info/financial-information

Our venue, the Fred Maytag II Scout Center, is located at 6123 Scout Trail in Des Moines, off of SW 63rd just South of Park Ave and just West of the Des Moines Airport grounds. If you've been involved with the Des Moines Wood Turners (or the Boy Scouts recently) you may already be familiar with the location.

Enter through the main doors. Parking is somewhat limited near the doors, so if you have good mobility, please consider parking further from the entry to help others.

Doors open at 6:45pm for social time, and the meeting will begin at 7pm. Give yourself extra time to find your way in to our new meeting place if you haven't been over yet. 

Meeting Agenda: 

• 6:45pm - Doors open, both in person and on Zoom. Click on the Zoom link below to join the meeting.
• 7:00pm - Welcome!
• 7:05pm - Annual Meeting : Voting on 2023-2024 board members, financial review, Q&A
• 7:15pm - Introduction of Tonight’s Presenter, Randy Willey on Handsaw Restoration
• 7:20pm - Presentation
• 7:50pm - Q&A with Randy
• 8:05pm - 5 MINUTE BREAK
• 8:10pm - Show and Tell
• 8:30pm - Meeting Adjourn 

If you are a member and have not been receiving our email messages recently, please contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

The December 2023 meeting will be held on the 21st at 7pm. More details to come soon!

Our venue, the Fred Maytag II Scout Center, is located at 6123 Scout Trail in Des Moines, off of SW 63rd just South of Park Ave and just West of the Des Moines Airport grounds. If you've been involved with the Des Moines Wood Turners (or the Boy Scouts recently) you may already be familiar with the location.

Enter through the main doors. Parking is somewhat limited near the doors, so if you have good mobility, please consider parking further from the entry to help others.

Doors open at 6:45pm for social time, and the meeting will begin at 7pm. Give yourself extra time to find your way in to our new meeting place if you haven't been over yet. 

Meeting Agenda: 

• 6:45pm - Doors open, both in person and on Zoom. Click on the Zoom link below to join the meeting.
• 7:00pm - Welcome!
• 7:05pm - Introduction of Tonight’s Presenter
• 7:10pm - Presentation
• 7:45pm - Q&A with presenter
• 8:05pm - 5 MINUTE BREAK
• 8:10pm - Show and Tell
• 8:30pm - Meeting Adjourn

If you are a member and have not been receiving our email messages recently, please contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..