About Us

First State Woodturners – headquartered in Delaware – is an affiliate Chapter of the American Association of Woodturners (AAW). We are organized as a non-profit 501(c)(3) corporation.

Our Chapter is open to woodturners of all ages and skill levels. We provide an opportunity for area woodturners to meet regularly, show their recent work, learn new techniques, and discuss various aspects of woodturning.

The Chapter has lathes available, and experienced turners to demonstrate safe procedures and techniques. We frequently have guest demonstrators at our monthly meetings — including turners from other chapters, as well as professional turners of national and international renown.

Our Chapter engages in a variety of woodturning related activities, such as contests, skill challenges, group collaborations, silent auctions, and charity events. Members often have access to fallen trees, and other sources of wood which are shared at the monthly meetings and through email notifications.

We also collaborate with other Chapters on the East Coast to bring national and international turning experts and demonstrators to the area.

Membership is open to everyone. We invite you to attend one of our monthly meetings to get to know us. (Our regular meetings are free and open to the public. However when we host a professional demonstrator, we charge a small admission fee to help defray our costs.)

We typically meet the first Wednesday of every month. Currently, most of our meetings are online via Zoom. But we also have Hand-Ons Workshops and other in-person events throughout the year. Going forward – whether we meet online or in person – we plan to continue streaming our meetings so that everyone can attend regardless of where you live.

We have members throughout the Mid-Atlantic region – Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Maryland – and beyond. In addition to our Regular Membership, we also offer a reduced-price Affiliate Membership for those who already belong to another AAW Chapter. Affiliate Memberships are also available for those who live outside the US. And we have a Student Membership for K-12 students.

See the Membership page for more details on joining.

Please subscribe to our mailing list to receive notifications on upcoming Chapter meetings, events, and demonstrations. We also send out a monthly Newsletter. (This is a low-volume list, and you can unsubscribe at any time.)

Donate!

First State Woodturners is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization committed to sharing our skills and growing the craft of woodturning. We participate in many community outreach initiatives, including the Beads of Courage program for children, teaching woodturning to area high school students, and demonstrating at local events. Your donation will help us advance these goals.