Break out your chisels and saws and join us at Helena Hardwoods to add an essential woodworking tool to your kit. 

In this first workshop, we will be making a marking gauge that is used often in furniture making and timber framing to mark joinery lines on material. More specifically, this is a Japanese style marking gauge called a kebiki. A kebiki utilizes a ballpoint pen blank instead of the more commonly seen knife or scoring wheel to make a line.

We will cover some wood philosophy, layout, and tool use. At the end of the day you will have one or multiple kebiki completed for you to use on your upcoming projects. 

This is mainly a hand tool only workshop, so start getting your chisels sharp!

This workshop is limited to 12 participants. You must be an active member to register for this free workshop.

Please register below

We would like to invite you to the silent auction for woodworking shop tools of the late Dave Carlson.

Dave’s son Scott will be opening his father’s workshop up across 3 days (Sept 10-12). Tools will be "auctioned" via blind bid/offer after the close of the three-day viewing/bidding.

The tools that will be available for auction will be marked for sale and there'll be a paper bag attached to each into which an index card (provided) with the bidder's contact info and bid can be placed.  Darla, Scott, and his sister will review the bids and contact the "winners" on Sunday.  Pickup and transport of the tools will be the sole responsibility of the buyers.  Darla will take payment (cash or check, but not electronic/digital transfer) and have the shop open for pickup by appointment, coordinated with her availability.

716 E Broadway St, Helena, MT, 59601

Stop by anytime during these hours.

• Thursday Sept 10: 10am-7pm

• Friday Sept 11: 3pm-7pm

• Saturday Sept 12: 10am-5pm

Join us for a dinner social. Chef Sam will be cooking up wood-fired pizzas in his stone oven.

• Bring a lawn chair if you’d like

• BYOB and anything else you might like to share

Please RSVP below

Come visit and tour with Jacob Franklin. He will be showcasing the newly built Exhibit Studio in which he works, discussing the trials of opening, and highlighting the varitiy of trades that are fabricated there.

No food, drinks, or bags allowed.

This may be restricted to a certain amount of attendees.

Join us for an engaging Woodworkers Guild meeting: Dust Collection Demystified

Learn smarter, safer shop airflow strategies from Glen as he walks us through his new-shop priorities, explains why two-stage dust collection matters, and breaks down the real differences between High-Volume/Low-Pressure and High-Pressure/Low-Volume systems — plus practical tips to help you pick the right setup for your space and budget.

Bring a snack or drink, share shop stories, and get answers to your dust-collection questions.

Please RSVP below

SponCon - Spontaneous Construction!

SponCon challenges community teams to push the boundaries of creativity! Using free upcycled materials from the ReStore, teams have seven hours to design and build the most innovative, functional, and visually stunning creations imaginable. This event is a joint fundraiser for the Helena Area Habitat for Humanity and the Rotary Club of Helena.

The MTWG was the recipient of the “Participants Choice” award at the end of the event last year. Lets bring it home again!

We might have more than 1 team representing the MTWG this year.

If you’re interested in joining, please fill out the form below and we will be in touch!

MTWG will not have an exclusive location for this event, however we encourage anyone who is interested to head out for the night, find your friends, support the woodworkers, and have a great time!

If you are interested in participating visit Omerta Arts to register.

Leroy G. Zent of Helena, MT passed away peacefully at home after a short illness on December 21, 2025. He was 75 years old.

Leroy was an active member of the MTWG. In conversation he would always share his passion for wood working, philanthropy, and family. For that, his big heart, and his many ways he will be missed.

Please join his Celebration of Life in the community room at Helena Food Share.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to Wild About Cats Rescue & Sanctuary or Helena Food Share.

To visit his obituary Click here.

Ever wondered what goes on inside a high-production cabinet shop? Here’s your chance to find out.

Join us for an exclusive behind-the-scenes tour of Silver City Stone, Cabinetry, & Tile. One of Helena’s fastest-growing millwork businesses.

Get up close with a hands-on demo of cabinet hardware—hinges, slides, installation techniques, and the mechanics that make it all work.

Then take it all in: two floors of active woodworking space, an auto loading CNC table, and a full spray room operation. It’s a rare opportunity to see a shop that does it all—from cabinetry and millwork to stone, tile, and solid surfaces.

No food provided—bring a drink if you’d like and come ready to explore.

Please RSVP below

Join us for a special visit to a local business owner who is providing a much-needed service to makers of all kinds. As woodworkers, many of us have faced the challenge of finding a replacement part for a machine—or wished for a custom handle or component to improve a jig. MT3D offers end-to-end design and fabrication services that can bring those solutions to life. This is a great opportunity to see what’s possible, learn about the process, and discover a valuable resource for your own shop.

Here are some words from his website:

Tom Wietecki,
Mechanical Design Engineer / owner

I started MT3D because I genuinely enjoy complex problem solving. I grew up constantly looking for ways to invent, create and find solutions; this led me to pursue a degree in Mechanical Engineering Technology at Montana State University. I graduated in 2012 and since then have worked for a wide array of companies across the U.S. that produce both large and small scale products in various industries. The products I’ve helped to develop range all the way from medical instruments to thrill rides and much more in between! Though their products were all very different, they all had 1 thing in common… There were problems to solve!

This is a no food event.

Please RSVP below

We will be lending our building skills to help the QCWH create bike racks.

You can help by:

• Donate any length 2x4s to the job

• Help move bikes in and out

• Build the racks

If you are interested in helping out please fill out the form below.

WE ARE CURRENTLY FULLY STAFFED. THANK YOU FOR THE INTEREST.

Local Shop Meeting in Helena

Leonard Clonniger has a place built with whimsical engineering where endless creativity flows in the air and the tools are at the ready.

Address: 1210 Ropers Rd. Helena, MT.

Directions: Turn right onto Ropers Rd off Montana Avenue. Then an immediate Left onto our driveway. Then it’s the first building on the right. Says woodshop next to the door.

The MTWG will be providing pizza. Feel free to bring a side or beverage that fancys you.

Please RSVP below

Come visit and see a demonstration by Andy Thornton in his inventive Garage Shop.

We recommend parking off Highland and walking down the alley to the back side of his home where the garage is.

From the front of the house, please use the gate to enter the backyard.

BYO snack and/or drink

Please RVSP below.

Join us for fun, folly, and jolly folks to celebrate another beautiful year in woodworking at Tim Carney’s newly remodeled home. Tim’s house is at 721 Broadway.

As part of the festivities, the Cabinet encourages everyone to participate in a “Hand Tossed” gift exchange. We’re asking everyone to bring along a wood creation—a small project, a unique piece of lumber, a wooden surprise—anything goes, as long as it contains wood!

• We’ll be playing by the classic White Elephant rules: the first name drawn chooses a gift, and each person after can either open a new one or steal a gift that’s already been revealed.

• In the spirit of the White Elephant exchange, try to keep the value of your gift to less than $25.

Family welcome.

This is a potluck event where the guild will bring some main dishes and adult beverages. Feel free to bring a side dish and a beverage of choice.

Note: Parking is not allowed on Broadway if it is snowing. Please be prepared to park on the side streets Beattie and Raleigh.

RSVP

Support your fellow guild members and enjoy a night out downtown.

The MTWG will be showcasing at the Blackfoot River Brewing Company for our favorite time of year.

See you there!

Mary Webb has an extensive window project that she would like to share. Come see her process and get to know her philosophy on restoration and the recreation of old windows.

Feel free to bring a snack or beverage of choice, a lawn chair if your like to have a seat, and perhaps a friend!

418 5th Avenue, Helena.

Please RSVP bellow.

Join us for a live demonstration plus a discussion about grain and how to choose your lumber cut for your next project. Steve Mcevoy is a great source of locally harvested wood. He and his horses pull wood from his families land and mills it into shape for timberframing, live edge woodworking, decks, and so forth. We look forward to inviting Steve into our membership base and introducing him to new friends.

This event will include a pizza dinner. Feel free to bring along your drink of choice, snack, or anything else you might like to share.

Other Items you might consider bringing:

• Lawn chair

• Ear/Eye protection

Please RSVP

Will Rex will walk us through his remodel of his home. This project was full of surprises that we can all learn from. Join us and feel free to bring a snack or drink.

We are asking all members to come to our next gathering to vote in our Articles of Incorporation and Bylaws.

We have been working diligently on getting these dialed in. Once these documents are ratified in we intend to celebrate!

A Potluck Celebration! We rented out the pavilion and would like to invite you and your family to come have fun at the park.

If you intend to bring a dish please email us at admin@montanawoodworkersguild.com what you would like to bring and we will take care of the rest.

Please RSVP bellow

SponCon challenges community teams to push the boundaries of creativity! Using free upcycled materials from the ReStore, teams have seven hours to design and build the most innovative, functional, and visually stunning creations imaginable. This event is a joint fundraiser for the Helena Area Habitat for Humanity and the Rotary Club of Helena.

Participant Rules and Guidelines can be found here.

6 person per team. We can have more than one team competeing.

If you are interested in joining a team, please sign up below.

We have been welcomed back to Brothers Tapworks to display our wares during the Spring Art Walk. They have mentioned that we can utilize space outside on the walking mall, weather permiting.

Visit Omerta Arts to register as a participating artist starting April 1st. Dont forget to NOTE that your host is Brothers Tapworks.

We ask that all our participants are active MTWG members in order to display at Brothers Tapworks.

Join us at Montana WILD to celebrate World Migratory Bird Day! This free festival will include over 20 bird-related stations run by partner organizations including the Forest Service, Montana Discovery Foundation, Lake Helena Watershed Group, Birds and Beasleys, Prickly Pear Land Trust, US Fish & Wildlife Service, Last Chance Audubon, and the Bureau of Reclamation. These stations will feature guided bird walks, educational activities, live raptors, crafts, a taco truck, the book-mobile and so much more! We hope to see you there!

We had been ask to participate. Jake and few others will be in attendance, helping out at the bird house building table.

Ahead of the event we are seeking wood donations to precut material needed to build the bird houses. If you have any pine or native wood species 1in thick 6in wide 10 ft long to donate please contact any Cabinet member or email.

Please visit Montana WILD to learn more about the event details.

As the weather warms some of us hobbyists are moving back into the shop, and after a good spring cleaning what do most of us do? We sharpen our tools.

Join us at Rising Sun Woodworking where our host Jeff Camplese and others will demonstrate how to sharpen chisels and plane irons.

Feel free to bring your own equipment and we can all sharpen together.

Getting up into the Gulch this time of year might be challenging, but the snow is melting fast. Parking could be limited, please carpool.

Please RSVP for this event by filling out below

The joint making fun continues with a show and tell of your joint creation. We ask that all participate and bring a prefabricated joint to show off. This can be a completed project, or a simple practice piece done with scraps. If you want to get fancy and bring some glue and do the glue up in front of everyone that would be a great addition! Stay tuned for further details.

Andy Thornton will demonstrate a different technique for completing a M&T joint using router methods. Seeing two different techniques for completing the same joint should make for some interesting conversation and learning.

• Workshops are limited to 12 attendees. Slots will be fullfiled on a first come first served basis.

• Any active member can reserve a slot by emailing admin@montanawoodworkersguild.org

• Please specify in the email that you would like to attend one or both workshops.

• We will send you a confirmation email with the location and further details.

• No food or alchohol will be allowed during workshops.

Jacob Franklin will be giving a demonstration on the simple methods of mortise and tenon creation. Featuring a table saw tenon and a hand mortise technique, this lesson will leave you with some tips and tricks that you can apply with little equipment and easy steps. This will be a confidence booster for those who have yet to tackle this joint

• Workshops are limited to 12 attendees. Slots will be fullfiled on a first come first served basis.

• Any active member can reserve a slot by emailing admin@montanawoodworkersguild.org

• Please specify in the email that you would like to attend one or both workshops.

• We will send you a confirmation email with the location and further details.

• No food or alchohol will be allowed during workshops.

Come help us celebrate the Holidays, Bill's retirement, and deliver a thank you to Brother's Tapworks for hosting us at the Fall Art Walk.

We have the opportunity to get to know Chris Weslosky this Month. Chris was bitten by the wood bug around 12 years ago while in college studying architecture. He has been woodworking professionally ever since and has had projects ranging from foundation to finish home building, timber framing, production cabinetry, and fine furniture. His most recent work exemplifies his passion for Japanese woodworking tools and joinery. He is a member of KEZUSA, The Timber Framers Guild, and is always looking for more ways to craft and make connections along the way. 

Join us at Chris' modest abode to talk shop and try out a Japanese pull plane. He is located at 1700 5th Avenue in Helena. Please bring a snack and drink of choice. We will not be serving a main dish at this meeting.

Details:

• October 14, 2024 at 5:30 PM

• 1700 5th Avenue, Helena Montana

• Bring a snack and a drink of choice

• A folding chair might be a great idea

Agenda:

• Update from the Cabinet

• Open Treasury seat starting in December

• Fall Art Walk

• Sponsorship program

• Logo design competition

• Chris Weslosky will introduce himself