People come for demonstrations, mentors, gallery critique, and a room full of shop talk.
About
A club built around meetings, mentoring, and member work
Chicago Woodturners is a long-running Chicago-area AAW chapter for people who want regular demonstrations, practical help, and useful feedback from other turners. This page gives the short version of how the club works, how it grew, and why the AAW connection matters.
The regular meeting still centers on demonstrations, announcements, and member work.
The club remains an AAW chapter with awards, recognitions, and shared programs.
Come to a meeting, send a note, or start with the first-visit details on Events.
That history still shows up in the meetings, classes, archive, and member work you see across the site.
Club overview
What kind of club this is
Who the club fits
The club fits beginners through experienced turners who want regular in-person learning, useful feedback, and a reason to keep showing up with work in progress.
The monthly meeting is the center of club life
The regular meeting is where members see demonstrations, catch announcements, bring work for instant gallery, and talk through problems before heading back to the shop.
Member work gets seen and discussed
Members bring in work, compare approaches, and ask questions in person. The Gallery and newsletter archive keep some of that record visible after the meeting ends.
The chapter reaches beyond meeting night
You also see the club's reach in symposium work, recognitions, Women in Turning, and service projects. Community is the place to follow those threads.
History
Milestones in club history
The short version is that the club began in members' shops, grew into larger venues, and kept meetings at the center the whole way through.
Organizing started in 1987, the chapter was founded on March 28, 1988, and the name changed to Chicago Woodturners in 1991.
The club grew into larger venues without losing demonstrations, mentoring, and instant gallery critique.
Turn On! Chicago, service work, and the newsletter archive all grow out of the same in-person club life.
Show the longer timeline
Early organizers including Tom Jesionowski and Dick Sing helped pull together a first group of local turners after interest sparked around the early AAW symposium years. Those first home meetings led to the formal March 28, 1988 founding of Northern Illinois Woodturners.
The chapter adopted the Chicago Woodturners name to better reflect the area it serves and the broader membership it had already begun to draw.
The chapter grew into larger venues and regular visiting demonstrations without losing the same core mix of demonstrations, member work, mentoring, and shop conversation.
The club still turns on the same things: meeting in person, sharing work, learning from experienced turners, and giving newer members a way to shorten the learning curve.
AAW relationship
Part of the AAW chapter network, and active inside it
The AAW connection shows up in programs, chapter recognitions, Women in Turning activity, and the wider network the club is part of.
AAW chapter roots
Chicago Woodturners operates as a chapter of the American Association of Woodturners, which ties the club into a larger national turning network.
Programs, recognitions, and WIT connection
You can see that connection in chapter awards, symposium collaborative work, Women in Turning activity, newsletters, and the educational programs the club keeps bringing back.
Where to go next
Other club pages to keep handy
Events First visit, meeting dates, and locations
Meeting dates, locations, and what to know before you come by.
Contact Club inbox, leadership, and membership helpClub inbox, current leadership roles, and membership help.
Community Awards, Women in Turning, and service workAwards, local WIT activity, and service projects.
Learn Mentors, handouts, safety notes, and shop helpPractical help with tools, techniques, and projects.