Author Archives: Patrick Murphy

2017 Habitat Cabinet Build Class Completes Construction

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Habitat Home for the Holidays Cabinet Construction Complete!

The final workshop session for the Habitat Cabinet Build Class is now history. Students learned the tips and techniques for using Jigs and Templates to install drawer slides, pull out shelves, doors and external hardware pulls.

Once again our friends and partners at HGH Hardware Supply came through with a generous donation of premium hardware products which made the installation so much better to achieve. It was a long but satisfying day to see the efforts of the past several months come to together with such great looking cabinets!

The final session for the students and instructors will be the in-home installation of the cabinets in early December. Many thanks to the AWG Students and Volunteer Instructors for your time, dedication and skills to bring this year’s project home!

Be sure to check out the ABC 33/40 coverage of the Home for the Holidays news segments later in November and early December!

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November Toy Makers in the Spotlight

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A big Thank You goes to, Toy Group members, Patti and Joe, for spending Halloween morning with the children at Children’s of Alabama. The patients and their siblings had a great Trick or Treat event that included wooden toys from the Alabama Woodworkers Guild. We were able to put smiles on many faces including the faces of Patti and Joe.

October Toy Makers in the Spotlight

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Tuesdays are a special day for many Toy Makers.  Not only do they get to brighten the life of a child but spend the day with long time friends. 

Bill, Cliff, Lee, or Buddy are our Over the Hill Gang Historians.  They have invested almost 20 years of their time and talents on behalf with the AWG Toy Makers. Thanks guys for your amazing contributions and the wonderful example that you have set for all of us.

August Toy Makers in the Spotlight

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Both Danny and Marion say that the camaraderie with their fellow toy makers is one of the many benefits of showing up every Tuesday to build airplanes. But, it is not all fellowship. There may be just a little competitive edge regarding who can build the bigger biplane. All competition aside, they agree that what is really important is the joy that they receive knowing their planes will brighten the day of a child. Without Marion and Danny we would not have built over 8,000 toys since January of 2017.

AWG toys are distributed to Children’s Hospitals in Birmingham, Atlanta, Nashville, Memphis, and Greenville, SC. Children in homeless and domestic violence shelters and community programs in the greater Birmingham area benefit from our toys, too.

July Toy Maker in the Spotlight

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When you join the Alabama Woodworkers Guild you soon realize you have joined folks that believe in sharing their skills with the community. One of those folks is Tom.

Tom is one of the star volunteers in AWG Toy Group. Tom became a guild member in 2009 and immediately joined the Tuesday toy maker. He rarely misses a Tuesday producing 16 Bird houses every week. Consequently, we just call him Bird House Man.

Tom says what keeps him making toys is knowing he helps to put a smile on the face of a child who is having a very tough day. Also, his volunteerism keeps his hands, eyes and mind exercised while he has a lot of fun.

2016 End of Year Report

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Well the best laid plans etc.!  Apologize for not providing the expected monthly updates but things just got crazy.  Happy to report that the November General Guild Meeting was a success and we were very fortunate to have several of our Toy Recipient Partners with us that day.

The Toy Group made 10,644 Toys last year!  That was an increase from the previous year even with picking up more complex toys to make.  Below are just a few of the photos we received this year from Children’s of Alabama and our new partner: the YWCA of Central Alabama.

This will be my last posting as the Toy Chairman.  It has been a great and rewarding “tour” as your Chairman!  It has been my honor and pleasure to work along side such a Talented Group of Woodworkers!! Thank you!

H4H Trestle Table Class – Session 2

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H4H Class 2 Summary

On Thursday September 22nd, the class made good progress toward getting the leg assemblies done for the table base. During the first class we got all of the material cut to rough dimensions and stickered, then left to acclimate to the shop's atmosphere on the top of the project rack for two weeks until the next class. In this class we finished milled the material for the leg assemblies S6S (square 6 sides). We cut the mortises into the bases and the undercarriages using the hollow chisel mortiser. And we cut the tenons on the columns to fit into the mortises in the bases and the undercarriages using a tenon jig on the table saw. Next class we will finish the details on the leg assemblies and start working on the top.

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2016 Habitat for Humanity Cabinet Class Off and Running

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This year’s Habitat for Humanity Cabinet Class kicked off Saturday the 27th at the Woodworkers Education Center in Maylene.  The first session included a basic orientation and review of the proposed plans then off to the shop floor to begin work on the Red Oak, Cabinet Face Frames.  Lead by Bob Moore and Randall Robertson, the class divided up into two teams and learned how to cut the dado joint on the face frame to fit the cabinet carcass.  The rails and stiles are joined with pocket hole screws then sanded smooth in preparation of the next session: Carcass construction scheduled for Saturday, September 10th.

There is still time to catch up with the remainder of the class if you are interested in learning cabinet making.

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