The Guild was founded on April 28, 1990 when Paul Tuller and John McAlevey called a meeting at John’s shop in Warner, NH. Fourteen woodworkers were present at that meeting including Paul, John, Terry Moore, David Lamb, Roy Noyes, Steve Cunliffe, Jon Siegel, Jere Osgood, John Skewes and David Emerson. The group felt that although the League of NH Craftsmen was doing great things, it was time for a new organization dedicated solely to woodworkers.

At that meeting a mission statement was drafted which even today has changed little, and established some of the goals of the Guild which later became the cornerstones of the organization: woodworkers helping to educate each other by working as a community, tying it together with periodic meetings and a Communication letter.

The first meeting was with John Skewes showing us how he made Windsor chairs. The second meeting was Paul Tuller and the Japanese style. The third meeting was Jon Siegel doing woodturning. This was the first demonstration to be videotaped (by Peter Bloch) and was the start of the video library.

Jon Siegel started the Communication letter, and in the third issue he named it The Old Saw. After about two years Jon turned it over to Roy Noyes who was editor from 1992 to 2002.

The first president of the Guild was John Skewes, then Terry Moore, Jon Siegel, Wayne Marcoux, Ted Blachly, and Loran Smith. In this period, the Guild grew steadily to over 200 members, and clearly had great momentum. Roy Noyes, although never president, was very influential in this period by steering the goals of the organization.