What you join

Twenty-two chapters. One conference. Two publications. Over a thousand members.

A national society of working makers, more than twenty-five years deep. Chapters meet through the year at a pace they set themselves. The Conference comes once. The magazine, four times.

  • American Period Furniture — the annual journal, mailed each December
  • Pins & Tales — the quarterly magazine
  • The annual Conference, at member rate
  • All twenty-two chapters — join one, visit any
  • The online community forum
  • A growing video archive of member presentations — techniques, interviews, and shop stories
  • Help sourcing lumber, hardware, and tools — from sponsors, and from members who know
The publications

An annual journal. A quarterly magazine.

American Period Furniture journal 2024 cover — Marion Smith secretary desk

American Period Furniture. The annual journal, mailed each December.

Pins & Tales Summer 2026 cover

Pins & Tales. The quarterly magazine.

American Period Furniture arrives in your mailbox each December — long-form research, edited by Robert W. Lang, printed in the United States to last on the reference shelf. Pins & Tales arrives as a PDF four times a year — what's happening across the chapters.

Both come with membership. The magazine archive runs to every issue since 2008. Back volumes of the journal are available for purchase by members at the SAPFM store.

See the publications →
Where members meet

The chapters and the Conference.

Twenty-two chapters.

Regional groups meet on their own rhythm — some monthly, others a few times a year. Each chapter sets its own program — bench demonstrations, study groups, visiting makers, weekend workshops, museum trips. Some chapters host fifty members at a time. Others meet around a single workbench in someone's shop.

All twenty-two are part of your membership. Most members attend whichever chapter is closest, but visiting members at other chapters' events is welcomed and common.

Find your chapter → Coast to coast. From Maine to Southern California

One Conference, each year.

The national Conference each year pulls members from every chapter into one room for four days. Bench demonstrations from working masters. Member presentations. The Cartouche Award presentation at the banquet. Tours of museum collections and private workshops in the host city.

The 2026 Mid-Year Conference meets at the Connecticut Valley School of Woodworking in Manchester, with optional tours bracketing the weekend — the Yale Furniture Study with curator Patricia Kane on the Friday, and the Stanley Weiss Collection and John Brown House in Providence on the Monday.

2026 Conference details → Manchester, Connecticut. October 2–5, 2026. Registration opens soon
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Membership & dues.

Individual
Regular membership
$75/ year

All chapter access. The annual journal mailed in December. Pins & Tales quarterly. Forum and member directory. Conference at member rate.

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Joint
Two at one address
$95/ year

Everything in Individual, for two makers who share an address — both members in full.

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Student
Full-time students
$25/ year

The full membership — chapters, both publications, the Forum — at a reduced rate for full-time students.

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Non-profit / Institution
Schools & museums
$65/ year

For schools, museums, libraries, and other 501(c)(3) organizations.

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Business
For period-furniture businesses
$140/ year

All Individual benefits, plus a Business Directory listing — promote your business, and your support of the Society, to all SAPFM members.

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Benefactor
Support the work
$125/ year

The same membership as Individual; the additional contribution supports SAPFM's programs.

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SAPFM is a 501(c)(3) educational organization. Dues fund the publications, the Conference, chapter activity, the Cartouche Award, and educational programs.

Over a thousand makers, in twenty-two chapters, talking through the work.

Join.

Become a Member