June/July 2006

Time for our annual summer time dinner!

Place: Mario's High Hook Restaurant
Time: Wednesday, August 9 th at 7 P.M.
Address:16 East Court St.   Babylon NY (631) 669-1869

It's at the end of Fire Island Ave. but before the Babylon Town Pool

Click HERE for more directions

May 2006

The May meeting was held at A G Mastercrafts in Garden City. We probably all came away ay least 10 pounds heavier! The food was awesome! Tom’s next-door neighbor, Akbar restaurant, who specialize in Indian cuisine, catered the meeting. The appetizers alone were plenty, but then they brought out the main courses; at least 10 to choose from! And then dessert! Everything was delicious! Thanks again toTom and Akbar restaurant. 

Well, after about an hour of stuffing ourselves, we got a look at the shop, a 15,000 sq. ft. facility, with plenty going on. We saw at least seven large- scale projects in the works, plus some nice pieces of furniture. As we walked through the shop, we saw just about every piece of equipment one could want, however, interestingly, no CNC machines. Tom explained he feels his operation is not suited for them. Well, it’s obvious they’re doing something right, A G Mastercrafts has a reputation as one of the premier woodworking facilities on Long Island, and we all came away with an understanding of why that is so. 

We then proceeded to the finishing area, which includes a waterfall spray booth and an automotive fully enclosed , heated spray room. Tom explained that they use only urethanes as their standard finish. He feels that the higher cost is offset by the labor savings, it’s basically a two coat system, (for most applications) not to mention its superior durability. They also do their own in-house polyester finishing.

The meeting was then turned over to Ed Pappas, of Simantech Inc. who is the areas Martin dealer, as well as several other lines. Ed gave us a brief history of the martin company, then went on to explain some of the features of the new models. Brochures and CDs were available for us. Thanks Ed, for your presentation. 

We then moved on to a brief meeting regarding Guild business:

1)      We discussed our third annual summer dinner: Gerhardt suggested Marios High Hook in Babylon, so he’ll be in charge of setting that up.

2)      We welcomed George Stern of Big Apple Closets in Syosset as a new member.

3)      We set up the agenda and location of next months meeting.( See below)

4)      We then moved into Tom’s office, where Michael Dugan showed everyone how to access our web site, and how to access our members- only section. (www.pwgli.com)( the user name is prowoodworker and the password is wood) Believe it or not several of you guys haven’t ever seen the site! Shame on you! Eventually the newsletters will only be posted on the site- no more faxes or phone calls or letters- so you computer dummies get with it! It’s going to be a great way to exchange info,  ask questions etc.

5)      At next month’s months meeting we will be having a roundtable discussion regarding the list of sources that we are compiling, so everyone PLEASE remember to bring one or two sources that they think might not be known to all. Bring catalogues if you have them.

Hank Koelmel of Select Machinery will be doing a presentation; showing some of the specialized machines he sells, including Lamello’s new portable doweling machine. It should be interesting! Bob and Jim of Majestic Cabinetry in Hicksville volunteered to host the meeting.

We have a lot to cover next month so we are going to start the meeting at SIX o’clock, so EVERYBODY PLEASE TRY TO BE ON TIME!

Next meeting will be at Majestic Cabinetry, June 14^th at 6:00PM 

Click here for directions.

95 Engineers Drive
Hicksville, N.Y.11801
Tel 516 933 3661

 April 2006

Our April Guild meeting was held at Four Quarter in Westbury. 

It is very interesting to see that even though we are all in the same kind of business, we all have things that differentiate us from each other.

Four Quarter has a nice open shop, and they seem to have been working on their production and efficiency skills for a long time.  Everything appears to flow as planned.  They have found their niche in some repetitive commercial work, however, they still produce custom cabinetry.  Martin has found that outsourcing the cabinet doors is a great help for him, allowing him to produce work faster. 

Four Quarter has recently integrated a CNC Machine to the shop. They are going through the transition, and it appears to be going well.  Another helpful part of their business is the fact that they have A. National Moulding & Ornament LTD conveniently located right next door to them, and if they need 10’ or 200’ of mouldings, they can just walk over and get it.

Also, during the meeting, we had the opportunity to view software that might be helpful to some shops. 

We would like to thank Martin and his team for the tour of the shop and for the time they spent with the Guild.  It was an interesting, and very enjoyable evening for us all.

Next Guild Meeting: 

Our next meeting will be held at A G Mastercrafts LTD on Wednesday May 10^th at 6:30 p.m.
A G Mastercrafts LTD
5 South Street, Garden City
Phone: (516) 745-6262 Tom Gardinanos. 

Directions: 
§        Take Northern State Parkway to the  MEADOWBROOK PKWY
§        South via EXIT 31A towards JONES BEACH – 1.4 miles
§        Take EXIT M2 W toward SHOPPING MALL. - 0.1 miles
§        Turn RIGHT onto ZECKENDORF BLVD. - 0.1 miles
§        Turn SLIGHT LEFT onto RING RD S. - 0.1 miles
§        Make a U-TURN onto RING RD S. - 0.1 miles
§        Stay STRAIGHT to go onto SOUTH ST. -  0.1 miles
§        End at 5 South St Garden City, NY 11530

 March 2006

At our March meeting we had an excellent turnout, and it’s no wonder why, it was held at Ace Tools, and it was like being a kid in a candy store!  A good part of the fun was due to the tool demonstrations given by Festool.  They demonstrated for us several power tools with all their accessories.  It was especially interesting to those Guild members who have used Festool tools before, and are familiar with the quality of the product.  But for those members who hadn’t, it was a good experience to see some of the tools they’ve never had the opportunity to work with before.   

The Guild would like to thank Ace Tool for having us at their store, and for the food.  A special thanks to all the people who work there & who helped make this happen for us.  We really enjoyed ourselves.   

The time flew by so quickly, that before we realized it, it was time to go, and we never even had a chance to talk about business.   

Again, we would like to remind all members to help us get our website up and running, which would be to the benefit of all of us.  We also want to remind everyone that it is time again to collect our dues.  Please bring $150.00 in cash per shop to our next Guild meeting.

Next Meeting 

Our next Guild meeting will be held on Wednesday, April 12, 2006 at 6:30 P.M.  The meeting will be held by Martin and Emerson Chin of Four Quarter.                    

 Four Quarter

1500 Shames Drive
Westbury, NY 11590
Phone: (516) 334-8666

Directions:

§        Take the NORTHERN PKWY
§        Take the WANTAGH PARKWAY exit- EXIT 33- toward JONES BEACH.
§        Take the BRUSH HOLLOW RD exit.
§        Turn LEFT onto BRUSH HOLLOW RD.
§        Turn RIGHT onto SHAMES DR.

§        End at 1500 Shames Dr
Westbury, NY 11590-1760, US 

February 2006

Next Meeting 

Our next Guild meeting will be held on Wednesday, February 15, 2006 . the time is still to be determined.  We are trying to get people there as early as possible, hopefully between 5 and 5:30.  Everyone needs to be reminded to fill out source questionnaire.  The meeting will be held by Bob and Mike of Edmund Bein & Son where they will be hosting an intensive seminar on finishes and finishing techniques.  There will be a technician from Chemcraft Finishes to talk about their products.

Edmund Bein & Son, Inc.
365 West Sunrise Hwy.
Freeport, NY 11520
Phone: (516) 223-2884

 Directions from West: 

Southern State Parkway to exit 21 (Brookside Avenue).  Ramp divides.  Stay toward right.  Make right on Brookside Avenue to Sunrise Highway.  Make left. 

Located 1 ½ blocks on right side.

January 2006

Next Meeting

 Our next Guild meeting will be held on January 11, 2006 @ 6:30 p.m.  The meeting will be hosted by Michael Tutton at his shop Cabinetry by Castle.  Michael will be demonstrating the use of the CNC router.  The shop is located at:

Cabinetry by Castle
770-2 Broadway Avenue
Holbrook, NY  11741
Phone: (631) 563-1426

Directions from West:

 LIE exit 62 – right onto Nichols Rd heading South – proceed to Sunrise Hwy. (Rt. 27) heading West – stay on service road – bear right to Vets Highway heading North – make a right at the first light which is Broadway Ave. – Cabinetry by Castle is the first building on the left.    

 New Business

Please note that we had Artisan Custom Interior’s e-mail address listed wrong on the Guild Roster.  The correct e-mail address is as follows: 

      Sawduust@aol.com    or     Michael@artisancustominteriors.com  

November  2005

Our October Guild meeting, we had really bad luck with the weather.  It was raining all day, and the traffic was terrible.  On my way to Cavalieri’s I almost turned around.  I’m so glad that I didn’t.  When I finally arrived to the shop and walked into their conference room, a nice assortment of Italian food, pastries and coffee was on the table! 

We would like to thank Claudio and his wife for their hospitality, their great sense of humor, and for sharing their knowledge and experience on polyester finishing.

It was exciting to see the pianos they had in their shop.  I was also suprised to see the amazing quality of their work.  I remember that once in our shop we tried to do a polyester finish, but we had really bad results.  That is why to this day, we do not take any polyester jobs.  However, after seeing Cavalieri’s shop, I now know who would do the right job! 

 Business

 The Guild would like to welcome our newest member, Carmine Pirolo of White Birch Designs:

White Birch Designs
85 Pine Hollow Road
Oyster Bay, NY  11771
Tele: (516) 922-3051
Fax: (516) 922-2617
E-mail: Whitebirch@aol.com  

 Next Meeting
Our next Guild meeting will be held at the “President” John Dreyer’s shop on Wednesday November 16^th @ 6:00 p.m.  
 

Directions to J.T. Dreyer Cabinetmakers:Phone: (516) 674-607

Take the L.I.E. to exit 39 north (Glen Cove Rd), proceed north on Glen Cove Rd, pass over the 25A (Northern Blvd) intersection, then go to 3^rd traffic light, make a left onto Back Rd (Nissan dealer on the corner), then make a right onto Glen Cove Ave, proceed to the first light, make a left onto Scudder’s Lane, go about 1 mile, you will see the Swan Club (restaurant / caterer) on your left, shop is approximately 200 yards past the Swan Club, on the left side, right next to Duffy’s Bait & Tackle shop. 

Best regards,

Adolfo Ayala