Mitersaw station. Extension wings do not interfere with angle cuts or the saws own extension brackets. Can use saws own extension brackets with the sliding blocks for additional support. There is rooms for several blades and sand paper under the sliding out shelf. There is also stop blocks for repeating cuts.
Boy and Girls,Inspired by Ross Leidy's projects on 17 & 25 Dec 2021, and further spurred on by WFJ on 30 Dec & 3 JanMy primary objective was to create a cordless Man-Lamp. I wasn't after pretty but rather functional and designed my version in SketchUp (after getting the original model off Ross L.) What materialised on the above electronic paper seemed to rebel at the severance of that umbilical cord and my method of MDF lamination was disfigured by the spilling of excess CA and epoxy glue by the sticky subject matter… in English, after several modifications, finished up with Version 4 and he was named AdamAfter de-ribbing him, I thought I'd lay down an Eve so I can document some of the tricky processes for anyone dumb enough to try with a laser, CNC or the solid wood thrill seekers.Trying to keep it small and portable to accommodate the light source, the overall dimensions of the pieces were nominally 12mm x 12mm x 'length' out of 3mm and 6mm MDF. Using my MDF layered lamination method, the leg consisted of 2×3mm pieces to captivate the nut and a 6mm piece, To allow for articulation, the thigh and upper arms were laminated out of 2×6mm pieces. To ensure proper alignment, I made some jigs out of 3mm MDF to correctly place the pieces during glue ups.I had to doctor Ross's original tapered head design to compensate for the laser's 90 cut limitation, The shoulder and hip (as with most of us) assemblies caused some grief as I was keeping it small at 12mm (2 layers of 6mm with some 6mm laminated from 2 of 3mm) and end grain MDF is not conducive to threading actually any MDF rebels unless you use rivnuts. These were not practical and I finished up using epoxy the theory is hidden somewhere in these build videos,
I built several jigs to centre the bolt (and “shoulder socket”) for epoxying into place, For the knee and elbow joints, I used nylock nuts that can be pre-tightened using a screw driver on the retained nut, Rather than using nylock nuts that would require a tool on the hip and shoulder, I chose to use wingnuts, that could manually be adjusted.For the light, I used these 'torches' held in using a friction fit faceplate for ease of battery change, Anyone interested, the Sketchup and other related files.If you're not into these sort of things, I hope you haven't read this far and are enjoying a pleasant warm vino or cold beer instead.Keep safe, jocks... and your jocks, safe!
Inspired by the pattern in pic 4.Originally had in mind to go dark for the middle star, and lighter each layer out, But (long story follows) the palest wood was in short supply due to being a piece of rubbish—a tree cut down at the golf club, that I thought would come up nice, but nooo: after drying on the floor for 2 years I cut it and found the sapwood was a moldy medium brown, and heart was pale pink with streaks of brown and yellow. Got out just enough of that pale pink for 8 side pieces and 8 center rhombs. You can see one streak on the underside of the lid.The next-darker woods are Chilean myrtle (offcut $8 from a cabinetmaker), swamp mahogany (freebie many years ago), and redgum from an old fencepost.Is about 16cm across. And yippee, I remembered for a change to do a WIP pic.
The box in pics 1,2,3 started as a nicely figured piece of New Guinea Rosewood, to which about 2 years ago I applied oil poly with 240 grit paper. Filling the substantial pores “seemed like a good idea at the time”, but all its chatoyance went.A few months ago, I sanded it back til the chatoyance was partial, and since the piece was still about 25mm thick, cut it to 10mm with the idea of having another nice piece. Guess again. Both cut faces are boring, after sanding and applying oil poly with a rag this time.Anyway, the yellow-brown color “told me” it wanted a border of more orangey, then some dark red-brown. And so it has ended up. The orangey is “red ironbark”, again donated from Rob (thanks yet again); not at all the same as “red gum” from my old fence posts. and the dark is nasty ole marshmallow wood. Oh, i mean surian cedar, stained a little darker. Well, the first Surian box-sides I cut were dark enough, but not quite long enough, so it was either cut the lid-panel down, or cut more box-sides. Chose the latter.I learned to use the el-cheapo quadrant hinges for this. KJ bought 3 packets of 10 .. someone has to use them. They look a bit better once you use sand to take some of the gloss off. Learning took 3 or 4 prototypes using old pine drawer-sides. It's drilling the space for the arm to drop into that was giving me a hard time. Most of the instructions I could find on the web were mainly about rebates for the hinge leaves, and that was never a problem. I still think that while that drilling was possible in soft wood, it would be a lot trickier in hard stuff, because I had to stick small chisels in for some more adjustments of the hole. I have 36 more lines about those hinges if anyone is interested. Pics 4,5 are a box that started out as a nice offcut from KJ's scraps box. It was only 3-4mm thick, so I glued it to a piece of Qld Maple which was formerly a wardrobe-door panel, about 6mm thick. Then just added lid-frame and sides made from that same old bed-frame you might have noticed in quite a number of my recent postings.= = = =
This is my third open segmented turning. Made with paduak, maple, cherry, and walnut. 13.5” diameter and about 7” tall. This was a fun and challenging project. 48 segments per ring.
I don't have a lathe, so when I need to make a cylindrical part, I do it by hand. Using this holding device, I can easily turn a square piece into a round piece using a hand planeand you can, …Source
I finally finished this bowl. It was a real ugly piece of wood that I picked up at the saw mill..it might be eucalyptus. I have turned almost all the heart wood away so this is all sap wood.It had a big divot in the side and the guys in the shop threw it outside because they said it stunk so much. My smeller is gone from using solvents all these years so I could not tell. They said it is okay now when finished.I had to make a dam around the sunken area and pour it full of black epoxy to save it. It is 9” in diameter and 3” high and finished with Danish Oil and buffed as waxed with Carnuba wax.Cheers, Jim
Well I built this about six months ago and got it completed enough to use it but it sat sadly without drawer faces until this weekend. I picked up a piece of baltic birch and made some faces and got some handles too. I tend to keep my shop furniture pretty basic in design, I'm not looking to win any beauty contests here.This is the first stand-alone router table I've had, my last one was in the wing of my old Unisaw that I sold to a buddy when I upgraded to a SawStop PCS two years ago. So I've had to make do by putting my router lift in a vise to be able to use it. I don't recommend this to anyone for any thing. It was dicey to say the least.This one is equipped with all Jessem hardware except the router motor which is a Porter Cable 890. I've had the router lift for about five or six years. I bought a Jessem Master Top made of phenolic composite. I like it pretty well. It also has the Jessem Master Fence 2. I really love this thing although it was a bit of a pain to install. I have a review on all of this hardware on LJ. I also picked up the Jessem stock guides. I like them well enough but the tires on them are crap. I'm trying to find an o-ring that will fit.Well, the rest of it is press self explanatory in the pictures, so thanks for looking!Thanks, wayne
I bake bread, it's my Saturday morning thing to do. Not in a bread maker, but flour, water, yeast, muscle and time.Not mentioning any names, but someone has difficulty slicing bread. More likely to cut fat wedges that taper to crumbs…. hard to butter, catches fire in the toaster, and falls apart when marmalade is liberally applied.Solution… a whip around the ol' interweb for designs. Pretty slim, unless I wanna fork out some hard earned dosh! So I decided to make my own, designed to fit whatever comes out of my bread tins. (9×4 bread tin, I think. Zenker, from Germany, best tin I've used yet)All pieces cut on a table saw, straight cuts and tapered cuts (for looks) All glued, no nails and natural edible finish.Using a standard 8” bread knife, it cuts a 5/8” slice of bread nicely. (You could move the block left or right prior to affixing to adjust the thickness. I decided 5/8 was a nice size, fits the toaster and is a good amount if having two slices jammed)Made with leftover laminated pine, 3/4”, and oiled (monthly) with olive oil. Only the purest, cold pressed virgin olive oil. (No pimento prior to pressing!)(I would have liked to have a picture with the bread in it… but today is Friday and the loaves typically don't last past Tuesday, Monday if company comes)Thanks for watching.. bon appetite
Tool: Plunge Cut Track Saw TS 55 FEQ-F-Plus Shop Now Manufacturer: Festool Coming March 2022 Festool today announced the new Plunge Cut Track Saw TS 55 FEQ-F-Plus, an all-new model they claim cuts twice as fast as the older …Source
A look into the larger-than-life. Sometimes inspiration comes from the strangest places. Take a tree stump bust and an inlay backgammon table for example. Two very different woodworking mediums that couldn't be further apart, but for artist Michael Ferris it's …Source
The NSO, SSO combination goes over well with the golf ladies, so here it is yet again. (helps that we have plenty)Making and fitting those radial stripes: never again ! Except that I have about 12 leftover 5-stripe (dark,light,dark,light,dark) assemblies leftover and all I have to do is pick 8, make 8 light stripes to put between, and stick them together. Yeah, right.Oh, and make the center octagon, of which this box has a nice piece with not a knot, but some other non-linear grain, and I cannot find another non-linear piece for another center.The making of the rest is not too arduous. Even making rebates in the center and lid's light stripe, because those 5-piece striped assemblies already have tenons, is not hard. Even sawing the vertical corners of the box-body to 22.5 degrees is not too bad. But that fitting of all the radial stripes is a PITA.Forgot to say: it is about 18cm across
This is the second dresser I have made for my daughters. It's made from recycled oak and hickory. The black holes that you see are the bolt holes form a huge pallet I drug home. The top and bottom of the pallet were 2 x 6 net rough sawn oak and the stringers were 4x8 it was almost enough to get through two dressers. I also had several hundred feet of 7/8 x 4 net finished what I thought was oak. After I had it all milled up I realized that was hickory. Luckily a coat of watco stain was the great equalizer and it all passes for oak. You can see the hickory in the corner posts. The sides are a 3/8 panel set in dados in the corner posts and the 5/4×2 horizontals. The horizontals are cut like a tendon so that the sides all stacked. The drawers are 1×8 white wood with dovetailed corners and dadoed in bottoms. The drawer slides are full extension ball bering 100# slides . The knobs my daughter picked out. It's stained with Watco dark walnut danish oil. The final finish is 3 coats of satin polyurethane. Finished size is 18 deep, 36 wide and 54 tall. The top is an inch larger on 3 sides. It's been a lot of fun and hopefully it's something she will hang onto and remember me. Sorry the pictures are laying sideways.
This was the first dresser that I made from a huge oak pallet. All the details are the same as the second except all the exposed wood is the recycled oak. You can read the details in the post on the second one. This one was for my youngest daughter and was completed 3-4 years ago.
In my furniture repair shop, I repair a lot of chairs. I've seen many DIY mistakes over the years that didn't need to happen. Repairing a chair with loose joints is a relatively easy project to tackle with a bit …Source
Bessey K-Blocks are great for holding K-clamps in position for glue-ups, but they're also quite handy for other things. I milled hardwood strips the same dimensions as my K-clamps and use them to raise work pieces for stacked glue-ups. I …Source
So I got a request for my little post office box door trucks. The only thing is she wanted five of them! Of coarse I took the order but I had no idea what I was getting into. Making five of these was far more detail work then I anticipated. I was just glad she said “no hurry, just when ever you get them done”. That turned out to be about seven months. By the time I found doors, visited the lumber yard, got all the wood needed, cut and planed to 3/4, 1/2, 3/8 and 1/4 before I could actually start, a lot of time passed before I could even start working on the trucks. Not to mention other projects that popped up during that time. But I finally finished them.I made a nice assortment this time. I made one from ambrosia maple with walnut trim. I also made two from quilted (curly) maple with walnut trim and two from oak with walnut trim. All five have brass accents on the steering post and cab posts. I really like the way the assortment came out but one disappointment, I bought wheels this time instead of making my own. The look okay but it's a pride thing. All five are finished with danish oil.It may be a long time before I attempt an order like this again, but when your having fun working on a project, what can you say!
Have been looking at many different chess board types and designs and almost decided on one with a drawer. Then decided to make one with a lift off top for storage. Under the top the pieces could be stored ( ordered mine through Amazon – Stonkraft chess pieces). After i cut the storage area cross laps for the sections it was by accident the middle section worked out to also hold checkers . Why not !The over all lower frame is 2 x 2 walnut pieces with dados for the under pnel and so the top board can sit in for the floating look.Main playing board is with 2 squares and is close to 16 x 16 area 3/4 thick which also has plywood 3/4 bottom trimmed back to support the bottom from lower box frame.I used a larger paneling bit for the detail along the edgeThe edging around the board wasnt needed but added for little extra detail.I think it came together ok , Now my daughter gets to pick the one she wanted for her birthday
A few years ago I made a box that had blue glass in it. My son told me that I could not go around the corner with it, so I had to show him that I could. Then he said I could NEVER have it on three sides, so this is to prove to him that I could. It is made from Koa. Corners and top are all mitered. The tray has glass that is square because I could not find a router bit to cut a slot that thin. I used a 7 1/4” saw blade to make the slot. The other glass is 1/8” and I had a router bit to cut that.Thanks for looking.
Ready-to-carve 3D images make it easy to produce finished machine carvings or hand tool ready roughouts. Creating stunning carved woodwork has never been easier with a CNC router. Think of all the creative possibilities for carvings: door panels, box lids, …Source
Following a Passion Two years ago, Steve Thomson fell in love with creating art, with wood as his medium. The graphic-designer-turned-marketing-director decided to steer his artistic passion toward the workshop. Beginning merely as a hobbyist, he created gift items like …Source
Well howdy everyone, it's been awhile since I've posted anything. Over the past couple of years I've been involved with doing some carousel horse restorations, basically this involved carving parts that were missing, and prepping the horses for final painting. I've done enough of them (at least 15 – 20) that the thrill and challenge is gone now, time to move on. I recently made a major milestone on a cabinet that I've worked on for about 10 years now when I could get the time. It is an Aztec themed cabinet and over 1,000 hours have gone into it so far. The backsplash alone took over 100 hours to make. I'll show that when I finish the mirror (about 400 hours to go) and let that be seen. okay, back to the horses…......... The first 4 pictures is a 1921 Italian made horse, it was in horrible shape when I started on it and took 5 months to get it to the end results. I carved a new rear leg on it and the damage to the mane and head…....well the old saying of “They shoot horses don't they” came to mind. Everything on it needed a lot of loving care and I gave all I had to help it out. The fifth picture is an older mechanical horse, I did both the bottom, restored the internal mechanisms, new coin box install, etc. etc. ......... Then I went to work on the horse itself. The sixth and final picture is another horse I restored, here it is in primer ready to do final paint. I quit taking pictures of all the horses, it was getting boring. Hope you enjoyed the show. My best to all of you.
One of my sons-in-law recently outfitted his basement with a workout room. He was able to buy the bag for a reasonable price but the mounts were several hundred dollars for something that would hold up.I had a 10ft.+ length of 5/4 X 9 oak laying around so I cut, jointed, planed, and glued up 2, 26” blanks.Glued the blanks together with the grain at 90 degrees to each other to minimize the chances of it splitting from repeated banging and finished it round with a jig on the router table. It finished up at 24” diameter X 2” thick.Made the brackets from a 4' piece of perf. angle iron and 2 ft. of 1/8 X 2” steel strip.To mount the frame to the platform I inserted 6 threaded inserts and attached the frame with 5/16-18 hex head bolts. It's rock solid with no bounce at all.
I found yet another use for my trusty speed squares. Just clamp one or two of them inside the corners of a cabinet when you're gluing it up. This guarantees that the corners will be square. –Charles Mak…Source
Two more crosses. The smaller one is cherry with walnut for the contrasting color. The larger one (about 2 foot in height) is a piece of walnut with amazing color variations. I finished both with Odie's oil and I'm loving what that finish does to deepen the beautiful color of the walnut, and the cherry as well. The smaller will likely go toward my friends' St. Jude's fundraiser. My husband liked the larger so it now is in our home, between the entry and the kitchen.
In this last wrap-up entry of my four-part series on Dan Dargon's Torii table I will show how Dan build the table's drawer, applied finished, and finally assembled it all. Read: Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 With its grill-like …Source
my grandson wanted a small display for his lego creations. since his mom needs to pack up the project in her car when they head home, it needed to be easy to take apart and put together.found this design and it worked out great. each shelf is held in place by slipping in between a pair of 3/4” dowels near the top and bottom of each leg. as the legs spread at the bottom and close up at the top, the shelves are pretty much locked in place.had to take out a 2nd mortgage for birch plywood :/
Back about 50 years ago I was slowly starting up my wood tools collection. Had a very inexpensive table saw, A craftsman, right from the sears store. The one I'm still using today. Darn, should have taken a picture of it! A real old friend. Anyway, was thinking of Van and his growth. The challenges to the new wood worker. So expensive to get started these days. Wanted to show what I did without skills or knowledge. No fancy or precise corners. I just lapped the corners and used the brass nails as a feature. They have lasted the years. Couple more boxes in my hourglass post, in my projects. Page 7. Sorry, don't know how to transfer pictures. Anyway, great looking wood, well sanded will make up for lack of skills, sometimes…lol… I like to put felt on the bottom of the boxes. On these I used the felt on the lids too. Makes them fit snug. Thanks for looking, just old stuff here…
This is a saddle rack that I made from oak for a friend. He sent me a couple of photos from a saddle rack that he saw that he wanted to give to his mother and asked if I could build one for him. I found some rough dimensions online and used the photos that he sent me to draft some plans. I added a little light golden oak dye to bring out the grain and then sanded the majority of the color off just leaving the deep color in the grain and then added the topcoat Osmo Poly-Oil. This is the first time I have used the Osmo Poly-Oil and I have to admit the stuff is great to work with and simple to finish. The finish is soft to the touch and look just beautiful.
Thought you might like to see this cabinet I've just made. The doors are Bubinga and figured Sycamore Veneer and the cabinet outside is Bubinga veneer, all the inside is crown cut Sycamore veneer. I used solid Bubinga to edge the doors and for the base. The doors were the hardest part to do and took quiet a while to cut all the pieces, when it was ready it was all glued down to 18mm MR MDF ( moisture resistant) in a vacuum bag press. For a finish I used several coats of spray lacquer and then rubbed on some beeswax polish using 0000 steel wool and buffed it off leaving a nice finish that's not too glossy. Thanks Alan
A friend of mine is getting married in Hawaii in a couple months and I he keeps on talking about a shell display so I thought I make him one as a gift. We planned to go but he will receive this before so he has less to bring back. The gun is made of ash. I originally thought of blackening it to make it look like a silhouette but liked how the ash showed up. Holes were drilled around the perimeter and then around the gun portion. Added his initials for the personnel effect. I hope he likes it.It's about 16'' across 8 1/2'' high and 1 5/8'' thick. The walnut is left over from my son's wedding. LOL. Finished with spar urethane. I may buff it out later. Tanks for looking.
This is a goblet I made from scraps of Acacia and Pecan wood. The acacia pieces were long pen blanks that never became pens. It also has a captured ring. It finished at 1 1/2” diameter and 6” tall. It is finished with Danish oil and buffed and waxed.I added some shots of the turning process: The ring is taped to the shaft for finishing the base.Cheers. Jim
Feb 18, 2022After building the previous project which turned into a place to prepare coffee and tea, SHMBO thought it would be a good idea to have shelves to store cups and coffee & tea tins close at hand. This next project was the result of our collaboration.First I had to build the cabinet which measured about 23 inches wide, 30 inches tall and 9-1/4 inches deep. The case was made out of 3/4 inch plywood with 1/2 inch plywood back. The face frame was made out of solid walnut 1-3/4 inches wide. All pieces were glued together. All exposed edges were rounded over with a 3/16 inch round over bit.French cleats made out of 3/4 inch plywood were attached with screws to the back of the cabinet which was recessed in 3/4 inches from the back edge of the cabinet.For adjustable shelf supports I decided to make saw tooth supports. They were made by cutting 4 pieces of stock 1 inch wide and 1/2 inch thick and about 34 inches long out of hardwood. All 4 pieces were then screwed together on each end in the waste area that would later be trimmed off.Then the saw teeth were laid out on stack starting about 3 inches from the bottom end of the supports.For those not familiar with this type of shelf supports, cutting all the supports at the same time assures that when installed, all shelves will sit level.The horizontal part of the saw tooth was cut on the table saw using a jig to help space the cuts 1 inch apart. Next the angle cut was cut on the band saw.The stack of supports were trimmed to length to fit inside the cabinet and all were glued in place.The following images describe the geometry of the saw tooth adjusters for those interested in making them.I didnt know if I wanted crown molding on the top of the cabinet so I made blocks that would fit over the top edge of the cabinet. The crown molding was trimmed to length and the corner was glued and nailed together. Blocks were then made to fit over the top edge of the cabinet like clips. The crown molding was then nailed to blocks with brad nails.At this point if I didnt like it I could removed it with no one the wiser. As it turned out it looked good so I attached each block to the cabinet with 1 screw.The mating french cleats also made from 3/4 inch plywood were attached to the existing side of the wall oven cabinet with screws.Then the finished cabinet was hung on the french cleats.This is what each shelf support looks like. Two pieces of hardwood 1/2 inch thick and 3/4 inch wide were glued together. One piece was cut and loosely fitted to fit between the saw tooth shelf adjusters. The other piece was cut to fit between the cabinet back and the cabinet face frame.This is what the shelf support looks like when installed between the saw tooth adjustable shelf supports.Each shelf was made from left over pieces of our old countertop that was replaced with a quartz countertop. The old countertops were chip board with a formica laminated top.Although it wouldnt be seen I didnt want the chip board exposed on the bottom of the shelves so I glued a piece of 1/4 inch plywood to the bottom.To the front edge of each shelf was glued a piece of solid walnut about 3/8 inch thick and a little wider than the shelf thickness. After the glue was dried a flush trim router bit was used to trim it even with the shelf, The edges were rounded over.The last step in preparing the shelves was to notch the corners to fit into the cabinet.Here is the finished cabinet with the shelves installed.This is the cabinet after SHMBO filled it with what she wanted.Now the Coffee-Tea Center Cabinet is complete. SHMBO is happy and Im happy.The finish was semi gloss polyurethane.This project was made completely from wood off cuts harvested from a high end cabinet shop. Wood that would have ended up in a landfill now have a new home.Thanks for taking the time looking. Comments and questions welcomed and appreciated.
What tools do you need to start your woodworking journey? “What tools should I buy first?” is one of the more common questions I get from friends who are getting started woodworking. When you look on YouTube, everyone (ourselves included) …Source
I had another of my friend's pictures developed and decided to try one in cherry to be sent along with the one had done with the onyx stain on oak. It is interesting what a different look the frame gives. I thought that this picture which is slightly different from the other looks quite nice in the cherry for a change. I was able to get both frames boxed up and will be mailing it off to surprise my friend. Finished with General Finishes High Performance.Here are the two side by side
The right techniques and tools (plus a few tricks) will give you a good start on mastering this fine traditional joint. Dovetails have long been recognized as the premier joint for casework and drawers - and for good reason. …Source
My wife recently took up coloring as a hobby. She has large sets (100+ colors) of pens and pencils, but needs only ten or so for a given drawing. This holder helps her organize the pens or pencils (up to 11) she needs for her current drawing.The holder sits on a small, low table beside our couch, so she wanted it to be compact (about 6” wide, 4” tall, and 3” deep). To make it easier to see the pencil colors or labels, we decided to store the pencils in two staggered rows and tilt the holder back 15 degrees. A 1” wide rear stabilizer keeps the holder from tipping over. The pencil holes are 3/8” diameter, 2 1/2” deep, and spaced 1” apart.I built the holder from a scrap of 2” thick poplar, finished with General Finishes Polyurethane Water Based Topcoat (flat sheen).It was a simple project, but I'll provide some construction details for anyone who is interested. I also uploaded the SketchUp Model to 3D Warehouse.Construction DetailsI started by cutting the poplar to size, leaving an extra 1/4” or so of height. Then I cut the big notch that creates the two tiers on my table saw. Each tier is 1” wide.At this point, I wasn't sure how wide the stabilizer needed to be or how I was going to attach it, so I cut it oversized.My JessEm doweling jig's 1/4” guide block has holes spaced 1/2” apart, so I used it to mark the holes 1” apart. I set the jig's fence to 1/2” to center the holes in the top tier.Then I moved the fence to 1 1/2” for the front tier.I drilled the marked holes on my drill press. Fortunately, my 3/8” brad-point bit has a 4” cutting depth, allowing me to drill the holes for the front tier without having the chuck hit the top tier.With the holes drilled, I cut off the bottom of the holder at 15 degrees for the tilt-back. I used a scrap of 1/4” plywood as a makeshift zero-clearance inset.By this time, I had decided to use a butt joint to attach the stabilizer, so I cut it to 1” width (at the top).With the stabilizer cut, all I had do was sand both parts and glue them together.When I use poly, I usually finish one side at a time so I'm always finishing a horizontal surface to avoid runs or sags. This time, I decided to finish all sides except the bottom at once. I used carpet tape to attach a scrap wood handle that let me rotate the holder to any angle. I applied four very thin coats, sanding with 600-grit paper in between. After the poly dried, I finished the bottom.After the bottom dried, I attached some cork squares to the bottom (not shown), and the project was finished. Thanks for looking!
When I convinced my wife that my oversized bent-arm Morris chair had to be in the living room, I caused a problem. It fit but left no room for a table upon which to set my beverages! Necessity is the mother of invention.To match the chair, I used a combination of quartersawn and strait grained oak. To minimize the footprint, I went with a slant sided bookcase style I had seen in a Stickley catalog. Since my wife is a fan of owls, I purchased a nice art tile from Medicine Bluff Studios to grease the wheels.A few things a purist will notice is the closed shelf on top, and a mysterious hidden slider shelf on one side… The side that faces my chair! Those reading the first paragraph know what the shelf is for. The trick to creating it was accomplished by routing a dado in the slider and using Teflon to make it operate smoothly.The trickiest part of the build is the angled dadoes for the shelves. Had I intended on producing more of these, I would have tried to create a slanted router base. As it went, I spent considerable time with a chisel. Another solution would have been to set the dadoes back from the front by an inch. Live and learn.It came out pretty nice. The wife likes the owl. And my beverages have a perch within arms reach!
This kitchen workhorse presents a surprising and rewarding challenge. A wooden spoon - you can get one for a dollar in many places. It's just a stick with a hollow shaped at one end. Why go to any bother over …Source
What I was trying to accomplish is have the flutes on it the same length on each of the wider rings of the canister for a up coming project. Pic 4 shows a better view of it. It looked very easy to me on paper but it took some extra measuring. I think it will work. Fun and good practice on the lathe plus I got to use the fluting jig and the indexer.https://www.lumberjocks.com/projects/416404I made this from a piece of spalted gum which didn't turn out as nice as I thought so hence it became a test turning. I also decided to fill the flutes with Mahognany for more color and add a little character.. The lid and knob was all one piece but again it looked plain so I cut it off and made a mahogany knob for it. 11'' tall and hollowed 9 1/2'' deep. Finished with satin but after buffing it looks more glossy now. All in all it turned out a lot nicer than expected.
This wooden plane addresses the discomfort and wobble of a Stanley #5 used as a shooting board plane. Its mechanism is a Veritas 2 1/4 A2 blade and Norris adjuster. The plane is 12 inches long and roughly 2 1/2 inches square. As it is intended to be used right side down. I put the greatest effort into the right side being flat, smooth, and squares to the bottom. I added 1 1/4 pounds of weight to provide momentum into a cross-grain cut. Assembly followed the Lee Valley kit instructions with a couple of modifications that I will mention.Shavings in the above image result from planing with the grain. A cross-grain cut produces dust. The first use demonstrated the need for an improved shooting board. The long edge, 90 degrees to the stop, is extended beyond the stop. This helps to keep the plane from tilting away from the cut. Additionally, the lip on the board creates a track. With this, effort goes into moving the plane forward and not into holding against the work piece.The wedge pin below is a center drilled dowel with a 1/4 inch brass pin. The flat on the dowel provides greater surface area against the wedge, and it can be replaced if needed. The brass pin is just short of going through the right side, but there is a small hole that allows the pin to be driven out. The brass pin at the bottom of the adjusted grove protrudes into the oblong slot in the blade. It will catch the blade and stop it from dropping out of the plane's bottom. The knob is salvaged from an old Stanley is screwed into a threaded insert.This end view shows three plugs. Along with three in the front, there are 1 1/4 pounds of #8 birdshot inside the plane. The resulting weight is the same as a #5.In several test runs, the plane worked perfectly. I don't find anything to improve upon. It also works well as a standard plane and will take a measured 0.001-inch shaving in clear pine. In the future, I will build these for my grandsons, but have a few years before they will have a need. Great satisfaction resulted from the design and execution of this project.
As I continue to experiment with both the lathe and epoxy, here is the latest in bottle stoppers.The Barrel with French Goat logo – Epoxy and Cherry.The Antique Tread Spool – Walnut With Purple Wire Thread in epoxy. The Cone – Epoxy and Pine Cone. The Pawn – Walnut The Shroom – Epoxy (saved from learning lacquer eats epoxy) I have lots to learn, but progress being made.PS. Teak likes them. Thanks for visiting.
Double-check your tools, your technique, and your thinking. One of the most important skills in woodworking is rarely discussed or considered as a thing that needs to be learned or practiced. The basic skills of measuring and its close …Source
Hey! In our last episode of I Can Do That, we introduced the table saw. This time, we're covering three table saw basics that will take your woodworking to the next level. We start by angling the blade. By angling …Source
Once you understand the anatomy of a handplane, you'll be well on your way to using it with success. [View the full-size exploded view of a handplane here] Handplanes are the king of woodworking tools in that they are …Source
Special request for a frame to hold a old Stained glass that was a bit of a challenge, size, weight and lead frame posed some problems. Made out of some scrap wood, think it is Maple? Because of the weight decided to put 3/4” Oak dowels through the corners and since it is going into a Sun room gave it a few coats of Spar Varnish! Posted just for you BB1 :)
In preparation for building some cabinets for the basement reno project, I've been making some jigs for using the Festool rails. (Parallel guides and a right-angle guide) This time, it's a jig for using the LR32 system for boring the holes in the cabinet sides.I purchased the LR32 rail and router sled specifically for this basement project, so it's all new to me. As soon as I started watching videos on how to use the system, I knew that I needed to work out a way to eliminate the need for the Festool setup guides. They just seemed too fiddly, time-consuming, and prone to error. I plan on using the LR32 to drill drawer slide holes, shelf pin holes, and hinge cup and hinge baseplate holes. I identified 6 different setup distances that would be needed. That's just crying out for a jig.I spent probably an hour pondering different ways to do this, and I think I came up with a decent solution. While this one is purpose-built for 672mm cabinet sides (desk-height base cabinets), the jig could be re-worked to be adjustable. I'll leave that for another time.The jig is a frame with a stationary edge stop (horizontal along the bottom of photo) that registers the front edge of the panel to be drilled. The key to the jig is a pair of matching index strips that have holes for indexing pins that attach to the rails. The inter-hole spacing on the index strips corresponds to the desired distance between drilled holes in the panel (from front to back). The strips are screwed to the frame and provide low stops for the top and bottom edges of the side panel that will sit between them.The fixed stop has two semi-circle cutouts that allow the Festool setup guides to be used for a one-time calibration for the front-to-back position of the index strips. On the rail rides a pair of index pins that extend down to register into the holes in the index strips. The index pins are made from a 16mm diameter acetal copolymer rod I bought for a different project but never used. It was a larger diameter than I really needed, but it's what I had on hand. Here, the index pin is shown in the index hole that corresponds to the 37mm position, with the Festool setup bars also in the 37mm position. The 6mm thick index strip is low enough that the Festool rail stops can still drop down over the top and bottom of the panel. Because the 37mm position and 23mm position (for hinge cup drilling in the doors) were so close and the index pins so large, I had to make a bump-out for the 23mm position. In hindsight, this was a good thing because it means that I won't accidentally use that set of holes when drilling the cabinet side panels. At the back end of the jig is a floating stop that is exactly panel height, and it rides between the index strips. It acts as a support for the rail when drilling the far set of holes (the rear shelf-pin holes) and also as a clamping caul to keep the panel tight against the front stationary stop using the cam clamp. Because it's the same height as the side panels, the Festool rail stops drop over it and keep the rail centered for the rearmost shelf-pin holes. (I don't have plywood for the panels yet, so here I have a scrap that's roughly the correct panel depth.) Dummy panel clamped in place with the rail positioned for the rear shelf-pin holes. I did use the CNC for some of the parts, but with careful execution, this jig could be built with other tools and be just as accurate. I've tested it with some scrap and am happy with the results. I think I've got everything lined-up to start building cabinets. Time to buy some plywood!
Understand the fundamentals. A wood finish is a clear, transparent coating applied to wood to protect it from moisture and to make it look richer and deeper. This differs from paint, which is a wood finish loaded with enough pigment …Source
Hi:Today I completed the third in a series of three 'Puppy Cremation Urns for our family.There are 6 puppies between three families, and though all puppies are currently living, three are getting really old. Thus the desire to prepare for their eventual demise and loss to our families by building cremation urns in advance.This urn is for Apollo and Luna, both Bichon's, one apricot colored and the other snow white. They received their names in memory of the Apollo Space program and the first landing on the moon. My son's family are Nasa Nuts, so what else could we expect them to name their puppies. I'm surprise their children don't also have names like this :-)The box is made from 5/8 red oak with box-joints mitred at the corners. The lid is 1 hard maple which was 'domed' to allow more surface area for the portrait. The sides of the domed lid were mitred to add a bit of interest to the shape.Both the lettering on the sides of the box and the portrait on the lid are incised, then painted black. A partition was included in the box, and magnets added to help keep the lid in place, but with the contents still accessible.I had a lot of fun carving the portrait and am pleased that it is an excellent portrait of Luna, the white Bichon. I was also pleased with how crisp the image appears.Enjoy :-)
Seasoned professionals also benefit from woodworking safety. Regardless of your experience level, it never hurts to review the basics. In fact, I believe there are a number of standard safety items and practices that not only help keep you safer …Source
A friend of mine, and a good customer, wanted to buy a unique pen.“Do whatever you want,” he said.So i glued up some walnut with aluminum and turned it into a vertex bolt action pen.
My second ever bandsaw box, for my sister in law. I don't know how to rotate the pictures though. I think you know what state she lives in. By the way the wood is mesquite, and I put osmo on it.
This is a long post about a build I did a couple years ago. Unfortunately, no matter what I've tried, I can't get these older pics to rotate to the correct orientation. So tilt yer head a bit! apologies in advance.I've had a couple requests for more info about the table saw/router table cabinet build I did several years ago. Let me start by saying very few measurements were used in the making of this project. I pretty much just laid out what I had, marked along the edges and cut to fit. All my shop furniture is a 'practice run' for me to learn techniques, styles and finishes and this was no different. I wanted to try to copy the custom cabinets we had built for the remodel of our house many years ago, so I set out to do that.The face frames are maple. I sealed everything with Crystal-lac before spray finishing with 4 coats of NC lacquer. I know the pore filler wasn't really necessary, but it sure makes the frames silky smooth!The saw is an old 113 that I inherited from my father-in-law on a stoutly built rolling cart with a bit of storage underneath. I hung a set of Incra rails on it with the intention of having the router table on the left wing and a table extension off the right wing with storage under neath that. The router table was double thick Formica panels with an Incra Mast-R-lift router lift and a dust box. Surrounding the router table I wanted storage forwellrouter stuff. Originally the right wing storage area was fitted for a flip top cart with a planer mounted on it. The idea was that the planer would store upside down and the whole cart would store out of the way under the right wing. I planned to put faux matching doors on the side of the flip cart so it matched the cabinet doors around the rest of the assembly. Later on, after I acquired a jointer, I mounted that on the other side of the flip top and moved it elsewhere in the shop. I removed the faux doors and hinged them for real onto the cabinet frame under the right wing, storing my basic shop-vac dust collection system there. All the ducting ran out the back of the cabinet and through a series of paths to my other tools. When I upgraded to a Supercell, that storage area became jig and fixture storage for the table saw.Here's the basic tool layout before the build: I laid out tape lines on the ground that coincided with the edges of the tables by using a plumb bob and painters tape. I confirmed the measurements against the table the cut up 3/4 ply for the floor. I attached a bunch of poly casters to effectively create toe-kick space: From there I built up an interior framework to provide storage for the area under the router table, as well as to tie together the controls for the table saw and the router. These interior components were tied into the cart under the table saw as a way to stabilize the whole thing.lots of pocket screws here made for a very rigid interior skeleton: Next, I built a series of face frames sized to the ply baseplate already in place. There ended up being a couple different sections that I tied together on assembly. I built these including the detail that I wanted to include to match our home's cabinetry because, again, this was a learning project for me. After a complete dry fit, I spray finished all the pieces assembled in the largest chunks I could handle assembled, all the face frames were built and assembled with pocket screws: Then I fitted the frames to the baseplate and tied everything together. At this point, I finished the install of some of the interior storage parts and test fit the stuff I wanted to put in there: Lastly, I sized, built, prehung, finished and then hung the cabinet doors. This was my weakest element as I built them rail and style, but didn't have a jointer and some of my edges just weren't up to par. They all worked out and function, but I'm still unhappy when I look at a couple of the joints. The panel inserts were simple sande ply, which I would also not do again as they didn't take finish as well. Live and learn. I did find some awesome little black rubber balls that fit in the panel dado to hold the panel nice and tight, so that was a cool win: That last pic shows the faux doors installed on the flip top. Makes it look like it's just part of the cabinetry!Some great learning points and I'm happy with the final product. The Incra cycles works flawlessly with it, allowing to simply unlock and slide the carriage further down the rails for use with the router table. My shop limits the amount of outfeed I have, which is why I didn't add an outfeed table, but in a large shop that would be a great addition. It fits my needs, so I don't worry about it. Hope your neck isn't too still from looking at the pics, but thanks for looking!
Need to discover the differences among a groove, dado, and rabbet? Have trouble remembering what's a rail and what's a stile? Or maybe you just need to know how to spell “cyanoacrylate” (spell check will tell you you're wrong). You've …Source
A near-universal truth about woodworkers is that they're always working to improve their craft and expand their skills. That goes for the authors and editors here at Popular Woodworking as well; we just can't resist trying something new every time …Source
My former co-worker and good friend's grandson was a patient at St Jude's years ago, with successful treatment. Their family continues to raise money for St. Jude's and a garage sale is planned for this spring. I have been building some items for this fundraiser. Looking forward to surprising him and his wife with the donation (only mentioned I was going to try to build something). Also will include some crosses I've been building.These frames are cherry with General Finishes High Performance and walnut with Odie's oil. I really like the oil and how it really adds pop to the walnut. Also used it on this frame which is a Valentines gift from the pups for my husband.
When I first got into woodcarving, I picked up one of EJ Tangerman's books. The ball-in-a-cage and the wooden chain really caught my attention. I tried both and they came out okay. However, I've been wanting to do a crazy-long chain.I started with this 7ft long, reclaimed 1”x1” cedar board. It was basic building-grade stuff. Nothing special. There were a bunch of nail holes that I didn't bother filling. Fortunately, this didn't really cause problems.The first step in making the chain was to shape the board to have a plus-sign cross section. I thought about whittling that part, but that didn't sound like fun. This step amounted to cutting four rabbets, so it was a perfect excuse to use a moving fillister plane that I had just restored.A pile of wood shavings is so satisfying!Once the rabbets were cut, then it was time to mark off the links at 2” per link. After doing that, I used a saw to cut where adjacent links meet, then took a chisel to make a bevel on each of the four corners of each link.Now comes A LOT of whittling. I experimented with various knives gouges until I settled on a regular 1-1/2” carving knife, a pelican knife, and a gouge to do the Whittling. I estimated that it took, on average, about 30min free a link from the board and shape it.And, of course, there were times when I needed to do repairs. This usually happened when I tried to separate two links.I set up my work office in my shop when the pandemic hit. The beauty of this is that during a very boring meeting (there were many), I could turn off the camera, put myself on mute, and whittle while I listened. After many years of meetings, I finally felt like they were productive! :)After two weeks of meetings… uh… I mean whittling…As you might guess, I got a lot of practice whittling chain links. It was very clear after I finished, that the quality of each link was much better between the first one and the last. Therefore, I decided to go back to the beginning and fix the cruder links until they were relatively uniform.Once all the whittling was done, boiled linseed oil was poured onto the chain and hung up to dry for a day.The chain is done, but I'm thinking I might connect something to either one or both ends. I have a few ideas, but haven't settled on anything yet.Thanks for checking you my post!
Designed and made this pencil/tissue box from maple. Pretty useful project which I dressed up with pictures of my daughter. Once friends and family saw it the request poured in. Guess I should have made more than one at a time.
From a set of Paul Sellers Plans, a desktop organizer, in Red Oak..not counting the lid and the base panels (1/2” thick, each) sides are 4” tall…panels are 12” x 5-1/2”...ends of the box are 4-3/4” x 4”Drawer uses both half blind dovetails and through dovetail.A pair of 1” brass hinges for the lid. Round overs were done with a hand plane…Finish is 2 coats of Amber Shellac. A nice, 2 week project. There IS a build along BlogThere is also a video by Sellers, from his FREE Masterclasses series of projects. I simply changed a couple details in my version, is all.Thanks for looking in!
I picked up this 11” long Perfect Handle screwdriver for a $2 at a building reclaim place. It's would make a cool restoration project—the wooden for the handle is a wreck—and will come in handy considering all of my old hand planes require flathead screwdrivers.It was easy enough to remove the pins that used to hold the wood handles in place. I didn't see a point in trying to salvage the wood. Moisture loss and wear over decades made them too small to fit. Instead, I decided to make new wood for the handles from some scraps of maple I had laying around.Fitting the new wood took some effort to fit into confined spaces. The wood had to be cut to length as well as either end of the blocks having 55 degree bevels before the wood can be glued in. (Removing the old handles also revealed the maker's mark, IAB Co, which is Irwin.)Once fitted, the wood blocks were glued using epoxy. I'll mention here that the maple blocks I used for the handles each had two holes in them, so I made short dowels out of some scrap bubinga to plug the holes. I decided not to include new metal pins to hold the wood in place, figuring that the epoxy will do the job. The bubinga dowels are only there to plug up the holes and for aesthetics.This next part of the project, i.e., shaping the handle was super fun. It basically amounted to the same process as roughing out and rounding the wood when woodcarving in the round.The first step was to trim excess wood on either side of the handle on the band saw.Then I drew the handle shape I wanted.There are many ways to shape the handle. My preference is to use rasps and files whenever possible. They allow me to remove material quickly while providing me with a lot of control of the tool. In this case, I used a Shinto rasp, which I LOVE using. I highly recommend having one in the shop. It made quick work of rounding out the handle.Important note: I stopped using my rasps before the wood was flush with the metal of the handle to avoid gouging into the metal or ruining the rasps. I planned to shine up the metal by sanding it using my 1×30 belt sander. The wood would be sanded flush to the metal at that time. This was a bit tricky. The sander was perfect for cleaning up the metal and getting it to shine, but it was too aggressive for the wood, especially because I'd be sanding cross-grain. This led to a few burn marks in the wood, which were a pain to remove. (I had a few burn marks, usually close to where the wood and metal meet. I ended up sanding those marks out with sandpaper and small files. The belt sander was to aggressive and imprecise for spot sanding.)Once the shaping of the handle was done and hand sanded to 220 grit, I french polished the handle (using amber-tinted shellac) followed by applying paste wax with 0000 steel wool. This is my favorite finish and gives the tool a great feel in the hand.I'll mention here that the rest of the screwdriver was shined up using the 1×30 belt sander followed by using a fiber wheel, then buffing/polishing. My fiber wheels go on my 4-1/2” angle grinder, but you can also buy them for bench grinders/buffers. I'll note to be very careful when cleaning up the head of the screwdriver with power sanders and grinders. It's VERY easy to turn that flathead screwdriver into a chisel or to mess it up in some other way that makes the head useless as a screwdriver. (Ask me how I know.)Thanks for reading my post!
So, I'm working in the cockpit of a boat at a marina when a guy steps up and introduced himself having talked to some of the other boat owners I had done work for wanted to know if I might make him a “fish billie”. Now me, being a man of the world, I turned to him with my most intelligent expression and said; “Huh”? Well with a bit more information forthcoming I found out that he was a new fisherman and when his catch was brought aboard, he would like to send it to fish heaven with a quick bash between the blinkers. With me so far? So, after some more chatter I asked him if he'd like to come up to my shop and turn this fish killer himself. Well, this was met with great enthusiasm because sometime in his youth he had run a lathe. Unfortunately, he was headed out of the country for an extended period. I thought I'd just wait till his return and offer again. Then a thing happened to me that must happen to us all at least once if not more. I was bitten by the project bug and now I needed to create this halibut hammer. After doing a bit of online research I discovered that another name for this implement of Piscean mayhem was also known as a priest! Go figure! Now I HAD to make one. So, using an English design I turned this from Burmese teak and lignum vitae. They blended quite well together, joined by a blind hardwood tenon with wedges and glue. I knew that with the lignum vitae it was sure that any fish that took a smack from this thing would be off to salmon Valhalla in a flash. In the end Tom (remember Tom?) came back to the marina and has been presented with his new “fish billie”. He seemed quite pleased, (you can tell from the picture) even if he didn't get to turn it himself.
After portioning out some of the Paulownia logs into smaller units Dan set up his lathe and began the turning process (read about the genesis of this great project here: part 1, part 2). He turned the raw …Source
I built this classic style teardrop trailer on a 4×8 ft cargo trailer frame. I cut the sides each from a single sheet of plywood and finished them before I began any other assembly. I also cut the holes for the doors at this time. The bottom was a thin sheet of plywood that I sprayed a rubber undercoat on before installation. There is a 1×1 frame on top of the subfloor. There is blue foam insulation in this gap and I ran the 12 volt wiring through here for all the signal lights to keep them protected. Make sure to use a solid piece of plywood for the floor so it won't sag while you sleep. I place the sides and a bulkhead in place to begin building out the rest of the camper. This is a good time to put down some type of flooring before any dividing walls are put in place. I used linoleum so that it was light weight and would protect the wood from any spills. I built the cabinets next. There is a set of cabinets over the head of the bed and over the foot area. The cabinets over the foot are built on the same shelf. I chose to run a 12 volt electrical system that runs all the lights, fan, and some power outlets inside and in the galley. I added a 110 volt shore power system for the nights at a campground. This just gave power to the outlets and recharged the battery for the 12 volt system. All the wiring ran through between the roof and ceiling. I built storage for water, a two burner cook stove and storage for the propane cylinders. The rear door frame needed to be built while the wood was clamped to the side to get the curve right. i got the aluminum sheet for the roof from an industrial metal supplier. The cut the large roof piece and the piece for the rear door for me. after finishing up the interior, I added the side doors cabinetry and made some segmented wheel wells just because. The battery that runs the 12 volt system and a cooler are mounted on a frame on the tongue. I used some old metal crutches to make some removable tables that attached to the sides. This allowed the tables to adjust for uneven ground. I had always wanted to build one of these but after I moved and no longer needed this frame to haul, I found the perfect chance. It is a great road trip trailer because it was light and did not require any set up when I stopped to catch some sleep.
For turning spindles, there's nothing like having a really long tool rest. You never have to move it! I made my own with parts from the hardware store. This rest is just a length of square steel tubing with …Source
This intriguing utilitarian design is at home most anywhere. As a curious designer I often find myself frequenting estate sales, online auctions and even local antique stores in search of oddities and relics of the past. This exercise affords me …Source
First time working with plantation teak Lovely wood with lots of coloration. A bit hard to work with as it is gummy. Very flexy when cut into strips too I used the metal rods as supports and little spacers on the larger trivet so no glue required Small one is a coaster for me, larger is for a specific place in the kitchen Cheers for looking, Scott
I needed a small table for my 3D printer. I made this one out of maple, largely scraps from other projects and left over drawer material.The finish is Osmo. Mortise and tenon joints were cut with the pantorouter. The dovetails on the drawer were cut using a table saw dovetail technique that I am fine tuning.A simple three day build that will serve a purpose. The lines are a hybrid of empire and modern styles and match my desk build. It will live in the office and having the same lines as the desk will make it part of the general look of the room. Also, I simply like the basic clean lines of the legs and platform top.This is one of the few pieces of furniture I have done that I did not draw out…I just had a general size of the dimensions in my head and started roughing out stock. After all if the rails match, the length is moot!I did a full build video on the project, so if you want more details, give it a watch:https://youtu.be/UJ1iLV6P_2sI can't seem to embed video on this site anymore, but the link should work.
There's no single surface in my shop that's the ideal height for every job. With my adjustable-height sawhorses, I can quickly set up an outfeet table, drawing table, or assembly table at different heights as nee need arises. My sawhourses …Source
I had been wanting to build a Moxon for a while and I finally pulled the benchcrafted box off the shelf and did it. I used local walnut and cherry that I planed straight from the mill. I flattened the cherry top by hand to prove to myself I COULD do it, then power-planed all the walnut.I dovetailed the box and using a plow plane, ran a circumferential groove to receive the inset top. Cleaned up with chisels and a router plane.I wanted to inset a Lee Valley wagon vise in the top, really just to pinch a board while transferring dovetails. I made a template and used a router, cleaned up with a router plane.I drilled a bunch of 3/4” round dogholes and plopped some trinkets in there. The inset vise has some limitations and the stop on the vise end tends to tip out under pressure. I got the low profile “jaws” and they work a little better. It'll hold things gently, but I'm used to my primary wagon vise that will crush nuts. I got a few other builds and lots of tools to post when I can find the time. Thanks for looking and take care.Edit: here's the final product. If you have any questions, I've got tons more build pics.
Solid mahogany armoire converted to a gun cabinet. Project involved replacing the solid, veneered mahogany doors with glass panel doors, inlaying a walnut and holly escutcheon, replacing the 1/4 paperboard back with a four-panel solid mahogany back and refinishing the interior.Funny (now) story. I had to rebuild to barrel cradle because the gun I used to create the proper lean was scoped. Delivered the project, customer calls me the next day to let me know all of his shotguns are falling out due to the different center of gravity while vertical. Ok, honest mistake. I remake the cradle, install it and start packing up. Realize that there's two more hinge screws I need to install. Customer sees me looking around for my driver, says “no problem, use mine”. Despite every voice screaming in my head to go get mine, I accept his offer, attempt to spin the bit up to tighten it and the driver (me) spits the bit right through the glass panel. Sigh…. Two screws away from being done.I have no idea why the pictures got rotated. Couldn't get them to load any other way.
As part of my 100 Awl Contest, where I encourage others to make awls out of their best scrap woods, I came up with this awl, which I call the “Empty Spaces” awl. I used jatoba, maple and ebony (and a divine 6D nail) to create it. I used my table saw box joint jig to create the spaces in the maple pieces and then layered the hole and space needed to add a nail.Finally, I used a pvc pipe with a piece of sandpaper attached to it to give it a rounded inner look.https://imgur.com/Qki9S5b!I'm always looking for new participants in this contest as I have a lot of awls I'd love to give away, so if you're interested, come check out how to enter: https://makethingswithrob.com/stubby_awl/To see how I made this particular awl (it's about 5 minutes in all), click here:
Made this knife display for my buddy who was giving his son a custom Bowie knife. The antler is from a hunt the two went on. The antler is attached to the top with 2 brass 3/8” rods epoxied in place. I Also laser engraved thier family crest.
Tool: Slab Flattening Mill Shop Now Manufacturer:Woodpeckers MSRP:$799.99 (Basic mill) $1099.99 (Extended mill) There's no denying the popularity of live edge slab furniture (I've even seen full slabs wrapped in plastic at the big box store). Just …Source
Hold and guide your work like never before with this fixture that will (finally) fix your drill press. There probably isn't any machine more ignored in my shop than my drill press. Even though I use it constantly for …Source
Learn the nuts and bolts of making hardware new again. From the time I began collecting reclaimed wood I remember salvaging all kinds of hardware pieces. I like to dismantle hardware from found furniture that is either too damaged or …Source
I had a request to make a bench seat for outdoors from No 2 Son after seeing one his mates Dad made him.I started in in the last week of Jan and due to rain it was very slow progress.I used some of the old Queenslander stumps I had rescued from a house nearbyThe house still has the perimeter stumps in place but the inner ones supporting the actual house were replaced with steel posts in August 2017 and I hauled the discarded pieces home then.Its beautiful timber to work and provides fantastic finishes with but merciless on tools being so hard.as usual with recycled timber there is a additional amount of work to be conducted before being able to use it.Without going into a lot of detail here its the subject of a blog if you were interestedTimber Red IronBarkDimensions The Seat section is 1.640 m x 380mm x 37mm It has a 700mm Radius on each end. Its made up of 3 x sections butt jointed and biscuited together.The legs are 390mm x 140 mm x50mm cut at 15 degThe supporting Blocks are 70 mm x 50 mm cut at 15 degHeight 400mm.There are 14 x 100mm deck screws and TB III glue attaching them to the underside of the seat 2 x in the legs and 3 x holding the blocks in place.The finish as you see it is sanding sealer, however Sikkens Cetol Filter 7 Plus Pine will be applied over the next few days. See Note belowDust-free: after 4hours and recoatable after 16 – 24hours. Recommend 3 coats for 2 to 4 years protection.
This jig makes it easy to set up the bit for routing flutes and dadoes. I simply drop the appropriate depth gauge into the channel, set my router on top and lower the bit until it touches the gauge. The …Source
This is a project I was asked to build for a friend of my son. Each side has 3 shelves behind the doors. All joints are floating mortises. The drawer boxes backs are resaved poplar. Will be delivering it in a few weeks.
After building an I Can Do That: Tool Rack , I wanted to have my planes accessible on the rack as well. So here's my solution. Cut two pieces of oak into 12” x 3…Source
This is a block front chest in maple with a dye, stain, asphaltum and lacquer finish. Brass is Horton Brasses Chippendale pulls. I don't know how much time I have in it.
Final pics of my dog food cabinet. (It will actually house our flour, sugar, and olive oil as well) Final pics of my dog food cabinet. (It will actually house our flour, sugar, and olive oil as well) :-)It is mostly period correct to Louis XV – Louis XVI transition. The joinery is solid wood with 18th C joinery and the marquetry and parquetry are original designs from the work of Jean Francois Oeben and Jean Henri Riesener.The glue is all animal protein (hide glue) and the only metal parts are the pulls, hinges, catches and their fastenings . and one screw that holds the sliding back in place.The top is Vancouver Island Black Carmanah marble. Almost all surfaces, inside and out are veneered.Thanks for looking.
White oak vanity. It is actually about 1/8” too wide but it fits in the corner so that's ok. Maple drawers on undermount glides. The wood is doing all the work to add beauty, craftsmanship still improving.Edit: For the build, I used 1/4” loose tenons cut deep enough to also add a rabbet. This way I could have the sides not be interrupted by the base, but still rest on top of it.It ended up making the construction a bit more difficult since the panels warped a bit by the time the glue-up happened and I don't think I would do it that way again. The internal braces are sliding dovetails but looked so so and as such I cut the face plates to hide them. I also used the lock miter bit for the drawers. Nice and strong, and expensive bit so I'll keep using it, but in general I prefer the look of simple locking rabbet.
Fun JGR pattern. I played around with adding depth. Stacked the wings, moved the legs, antennas, stems and petals off the background. Custom barn wood frame, walnut, white wenge, yellowheart, green popular, aspen and background is blue pine and western cedar.
Hello everyone. Are you staying warm and safe? I pray so.Some of you may remember when I made this quick and dirty marking knife;Well, it worked for a time and then it didn't. I found that it was not as safe to use as I had hoped. So, I had to come up with something different.The idea for the marking knife you see in the photos came to me out of the blue.You see, when I'm in the middle of a project and something I'm doing, or a tool that I'm using, isn't working, I need a quick effective solution. I don't care if it looks good, I just need it to work.I sat down and started thinking about how to make another quick and dirty marking knife.Let me back up a bit. A friend of mine gave me some marking knife blades a while back when I told him about the one I originally made. Because the tang on the blades was tapered I set them aside so that I could figure out how I was going the mount them into a handle.While at my desk I happened to notice a pen sitting there and then it hit me. The marking knife you see is the outcome.You can see how I made it here.Thanks for your time. May it be well with you all.
This is another Red Oak Urn. A little bit different style than my others. All the ones I've built before were top loading. This one is bottom loading, which is standard in the industry. Inside is 200 ci. Which is also standard. Has a cut accent where the top and bottom attach. And two routed accents. With rocking chair felt pads on bottom. Natural stain with four coats of water base glossy finish rubbed on. Screws are recessed 1/16” in.
This is my latest car, a 1931 Ford Coupe. Unlike the American Graffiti car this one has a chopped body. I did not painted it for the purists among us. It is made out of Brazilian Cherry on a base of maple. The gear shift knob and swearing wheel are Cocobolo. The air intake and exhaust system are repurposed brass casings. (264 Mag).
I made this addition to previously built dining room furniture for my daughter, to match the buffet prior posted.Wood is maple, color is Weather Wash OAKED wood stain, and the finish is Weather Wash varnish. Both are water based, easy to apply and clean up.As usual, I try to use hand tools as much as possible, as shown in the pictures above: define rabbet shoulder with my home made kerfing saw, then cutting it with a moving fillister plane, and cutting shelf dados via wooden dado plane.Because this is made from solid lumber, I incorporate jointing methods that permit seasonal movement, such as:Corner blocks where cross members are glued into the rabbets, behind the drawer and bottom shelf, which adds strength.A cross brace dovetailed into the sides, along with traditional “buttons” held down by short blocks glued & screwed to the sides;I use the glue blocks for the hold down buttons, glued & screwed in place, for extra strength (should someone lift the cabinet by the top overhang) versus the traditional 1/4” mortise into the sides, and because it is faster than mortising the side members.The two shelves, the bottom of the storage area & the drawer support member, are only glued at the front of the cabinet, and are free to move in the side dadoes, and have a short support block glued & screwed to the sides similar to the short button blocks.Thanks for viewing.
I really got tired of digging around to find my tablesaw's push stick each time I needed it, so I figured out a way to attach it to the fence using a rare-earth magnet. I drilled a 1/2″ counterbore in …Source
Using your hands to sketch can teach your eyes to really see. Most of us use our eyes to avoid bumping into things; we probably are only using 20 percent of our visual ability. I had a student some …Source
Tried out a new 10” by 10” wall clock design. It's a new variation. Short of the L-shaped board that holds the clock face board in place, there is no pine in this clock. It's an Ambrosia maple outer frame atop a stained Ambrosia maple main frame.The center board is two 1.5” Ambrosia maple boards glued together. Tried something new and cut out a burl center piece that the clock movement is inserted through. I also played with paint a bit. The red background behind the burl is a little hard to see, but I also painted the center board red on either side.This design was not the design I started to do when I cut out the clock frame but, man, I'm pretty pleased with how this turned out.Thanks for looking!
I'm beginning to wade into leather working. I've bought the leather and started to plan my project and found I needed a few more tools than I currently have, one of which was a awl. Instead of buying one a light bulb went off and I had one of those I can make that moments. It took me maybe a hour. The wood is small piece of oak dowel rod. I drilled a small hole in it and screwed a screw in halfway. I cut the head off the screw and that allowed me to put it in my drill press (I still currently don't have a lathe). I cranked the drill press up to high and used a hand held belt sander to profile it. I couldn't resist putting some rings around it. After that was done I found a used nail and cut the head off it and used the drill press again along with some metal files. When finished I heated the full end of the nail and burnt it into the wood. I finished it off with a coat of old English stain. I used it for the first time just a bit ago, I'm still not sure what I'm doing but it seems to do what it is suppose to. Thanks for reading!
I did this carving for a customer who wanted to put it on top of a stick. The raven is about 5.25 inches long. She sent me the brass coupler so I could drill the appropriate hole in the carving, then I recessed it just enough that the brass didn't show. Final photo is one she sent me showing it put together.Claude
Dan's wood of choice for the Torii table (read part one of the story here) was Paulownia, a fast-growing tree that is both soft and strong, and that has been part and parcel of the remarkable Japanese woodworking …Source
This well-machined workholding device is easy to assemble and is solid. Tool: Moxon Vise Kit Shop Now Manufacturer: Lake Erie Toolworks MSRP: $209 Sure, you can make your own double twin-screw vise, but you don't have to - …Source
Ford HotRod C-Cab Delivery VanWith 3 grandsons to our middle daughter I had to make a third Keepsake Vehicle.The first was in T-Bucket HotRod then came the RatRod Truck so an internet search for a cool looking third vehicle finding a Delivery Van as a base to work off.And here is my scratch built wooden toy.I very much liked the open door style of this vehicle as you can easily see the inside detail of the Seats, Dashboard, Steering Wheel, Pedals and Console.The biggest challenge was making the extractors/headers and four into one exhaust; but saying that the redesign on the rear doors to open completely was a bit of a head scratching too.18 [465mm] long 8 [200mm] across the front 11 [280mm] across the back 7 [185mm] high at the cabAlmost all recycled Aussie Hardwood.The Roof was a threshold that came out of a 1970's built house at BlackheathThe Sides are Cypress Pine flooring boardsThe Engine, Rear Mudguards and Rear Wheels are TallowWood from a telegraph poleThe Radiator is the underside of Merbau Decking boardThe Chassis is Red GumThe Cab Floor, Firewall and Front Bumper Bar are Spotted GumThe Extractor/Header and Headlights are Tassie OakThe Air Rams/Trumpets are Tassie Oak with a recessed timber golf tees racked front to rear..The Rear Taillights are recessed shop bought.The Seats are WalnutThe Front Wheels, Exhaust Pipe, Rear Bumper Bar and Rear Doors are some offcuts of sort of red timber I was given.The finish is my homemade Wipe-On-Poly: 30% Tung Oil, 40% Clear Satin Polyurethane, 30% Mineral Turps.The Lapel Pin for the detailing on the front are all shop bought.The Ford Logo on the back is Thank again to AlexThe whole build has taken something like 60hrs.I did some blogs on the build progress too and had some helpful input from folk.https://www.lumberjocks.com/crowie/blog/133028 https://www.lumberjocks.com/crowie/blog/133042 https://www.lumberjocks.com/crowie/blog/133052 https://www.lumberjocks.com/crowie/blog/133054 https://www.lumberjocks.com/crowie/blog/133094 https://www.lumberjocks.com/crowie/blog/133129 https://www.lumberjocks.com/crowie/blog/133174 https://www.lumberjocks.com/crowie/blog/133204 https://www.lumberjocks.com/crowie/blog/133240 https://www.lumberjocks.com/crowie/blog/133260
My oldest son James works at Apple and hands me down what he calls out of date phones and iPads.They work fine for me.He stopped by before Christmas and noticed me listening to one of the iPads he gave me while I was working in the shop. He bought me these Edifier Speakers for Christmas which were a great improvement.To get them off the workbench I built tilting brackets and mounted them to the rafters.Here's some photos of my work process. I made 4 oak pieces to attach to the top and bottom of the speakers, drilled 1/4 + holes, chiseled out the space on the backs for the bolt heads to fit in and then epoxied them in place. I had to set a stop on my drill press so the bit wouldn't damage the electronics in the speakers. Mixing in some Poly-Wipe On with the oil stain I made helped speed up the drying process from up to 7 days to one or two. The bracket pieces were placed in Pony corner clamps and my bench vice to keep them square while I screwed them together with #8-2 square drive SS screws. At the end of the work day I hung the stained and finished brackets to dry from strings, then had some Wild Turkey Bourbon. It must have been 5 o'clock some where. I had to take one end of the bracket apart to fit the bolts into it and then reattach it. The bolts on the top center of the brackets go through a hole I drilled in a piece of wood I attached to the rafters and are attached with 1/4-20 Star Knobs. All the wood in this project was cut off's from other projects or wood my neighbors threw out.Thanks for visiting. Best Regards,
Made these a while back,, Steam bent Ash wood from my own trees, with artificial sinew. and mesh from vegee bags. I like re-purposing and re-cycling stuff as you can tell from my projects. i have some full size ones too. There was a guy and his wife who makes the real deal. Not sure if the video is still available. I like the wood ones much more than the aluminum and plastic ones. Fun project to try.
A felt-tip pen is the best tool I've found for adjusting a grinder's tool rest. When you need to find the center of a bevel in order to duplicate an angle, color the whole bevel with a Magic Marker or …Source
Create a Soda-Shop Classic In simpler days, soda jerks quickly and efficiently dished perfect servings of ice cream with sturdy wooden-handled scoops. Once you've collected the metal parts (see Sources), a small block of wood and a little turning skill, …Source
This week I finished the cherry chair. Completing the set. It has taken 2+ years. But I am done, two chairs, the table and all the pieces. All custom hand made for my self. Feels good to be done.Much of this build was done live on my stream @ Http://www.twitch.tv/Wrenchswoodworks . Sundays 8-10PM EST.
This sled allows me to cut the 1/8-in.- wide strips of veneer that I often use for inlays. I can cut strips all day without having to measure or reposition the saw's fence. The sled consists of a 13-in. by …Source
I got a request for a Gnome Roof from a very nice lady that found me on a neighborhood Social Media site. I decided to help her and make her a Gnome Roof for a stump in her yard!The stump is Crepe Myrtle (about 12” D. The trunk was not flat so I had to find a way to cut it flat with the only tool I had… an 8” electric “extend it” pole saw trimmer! I can't believe it work so well on a somewhat hard wood! . In this photo you can see the slice i cut off on the right. .I had to come up with a way to make a level cut line around the stump so I made this jig and used my level to make marks all around the trunk. Then I connected the dots!I used my pole saw to make the cutout for the KEY. Lot's of gouging and chiseling! It has to be level sitting in the cavity. . I made a KEY that mounts on in the center of the trunk. After I set the roof on the KEY a 1/4 turn on the roof and it locks the roof in place. . . . . . . She just sent me this night shot! Very nice! She said I'll get updated photos after she get all the village built!
This seems to be the year when I re-visit all my original shop-built fixtures. No more upgrades and modifications to the old, it's time for new. Today's episode: The Portable Router Table. The lower part really didn't change other than sanding and refastening, the tabletop changed significantly. Bigger, with a new insert, t-track and fence system. Measured it's storage spot so that it just fits.
Our one year old German Shorthaired Pointer puppy was threatening to jump our old gate so I used some salvaged redwood fence boards to build a new one. I ripped the old boards down to 2 1/2” wide and planed both sides to net 9/16”. Then I ran it by tongue and groove cutters on my router table. The little Shop Fox feeder made it a quick, safe and consistant job. The 2x redwood frame was joined with blind mortise and tenons and pegged with 7/16” birch dowels. I put drain grooves and weep holes in the rails to prevent rotting. It all went together with Titebond 3 glue.. I put beveled rain cap in the top and hung it to the existing posts. I am pretty proud of it overall.
Anyway, that's what I call them…Sometimes I'll call them noggin knockers…Was trying different style canes and these happened. The little nubs are ebony and really help with grip. I like them lots. The dark wood is mostly English Walnut. There is some maple and other unknowns. Like the red stuff. I was given some of that. The guy said it was from a crate he found. I got a few good pieces from that. Very cool. The tip ends I get from my local Rockler dealer. They used to have a bigger size too, for heavier walking sticks. I used a lot of those over time but they stopped selling the big ones, sad face here… Warning: If you buy the cane tip from Rockler make sure you check all the drill hole sizes….I got the big size instructions with the small size tips…That will really mess up your day, if you drill your holes too big…Trust me… I shape everything by hand, no lathes just rotary and hand tools and hand sanding. Thanks for looking…
Tool: PM2820EVS Drill Press Shop Now Manufacturer: Powermatic MSRP: $2709.99 The PM2820EVS drill press from Powermatic incorporates a very interesting motor design, combining an electronically controlled variable speed motor paired with gears. This gives the machine incredible torque, and …Source
Apply this Classic Finish Like a Pro If you aren't brushing shellac, it's either because you've never tried it or you've had a bad experience. Let's see if I can change that. The number one reason people abandon shellac …Source
I recently had a local customer ask me to build a small 3 ft. lighthouse after seeing another one I made last year. Apparently, their young son is hooked on lighthouses right now (very cool). I had wanted to try out a new color and it turned out quite nice. The lighthouse is made entirely of pressure-treated lumber, so I used a Cabot deck stain called “Newburyport Blue”. I might be making a bigger one now, I really like this color!
Mitersaw station. Extension wings do not interfere with angle cuts or the saws own extension brackets. Can use saws own extension brackets with the sliding blocks for additional support. There is rooms for several blades and sand paper under the sliding out shelf. There is also stop blocks for repeating cuts.
I made another walking stick
Boy and Girls,Inspired by 
What materialised on the above electronic paper seemed to rebel at the severance of that umbilical cord and my method of MDF lamination was disfigured by the spilling of excess CA and epoxy glue by the sticky subject matter… in English, after several modifications, finished up with Version 4
To allow for articulation, the thigh and upper arms were laminated out of 2×6mm pieces. To ensure proper alignment, I made some jigs out of 3mm MDF 
The shoulder and hip (as with most of us) assemblies caused some grief as I was keeping it small at 12mm (2 layers of 6mm with some 6mm laminated from 2 of 3mm) and end grain MDF is not conducive to threading actually any MDF rebels 
For the knee and elbow joints, I used nylock nuts that can be pre-tightened using a screw driver on the retained nut,
Rather than using nylock nuts that would require a tool on the hip and shoulder, I chose to use wingnuts,
Anyone interested, the 
Inspired by the pattern in pic 4.Originally had in mind to go dark for the middle star, and lighter each layer out,
The box in pics 1,2,3 started as a nicely figured piece of New Guinea Rosewood,
This is my third open segmented turning. Made with paduak, maple, cherry, and walnut. 13.5” diameter and about 7” tall. This was a fun and challenging project. 48 segments per ring.
I finally finished this bowl. It was a real ugly piece of wood that I picked up at the saw mill..it might be eucalyptus. I have turned almost all the heart wood away so this is all sap wood.It had a big divot in the side and the guys in the shop threw it outside because they said it stunk so much. My smeller is gone from using solvents all these years so I could not tell. They said it is okay now when finished.I had to make a dam around the sunken area and pour it full of black epoxy to save it.
Well I built this about six months ago and got it completed enough to use it but it sat sadly without drawer faces until this weekend. I picked up a piece of baltic birch and made some faces and got some handles too. I tend to keep my shop furniture pretty basic in design, I'm not looking to win any beauty contests here.This is the first stand-alone router table I've had, my last one was in the wing of my old Unisaw that I sold to a buddy when I upgraded to a SawStop PCS two years ago. So I've had to make do by putting my router lift in a vise to be able to use it. I don't recommend this to anyone for any thing. It was dicey to say the least.This one is equipped with all Jessem hardware except the router motor which is a Porter Cable 890. I've had the router lift for about five or six years. I bought a Jessem Master Top made of phenolic composite. I like it pretty well. It also has the Jessem Master Fence 2. I really love this thing although it was a bit of a pain to install. I have a review on all of this hardware on LJ. I also picked up the Jessem stock guides. I like them well enough but the tires on them are crap. I'm trying to find an o-ring that will fit.Well, the rest of it is press self explanatory in the pictures, so thanks for looking!Thanks,
I bake bread, it's my Saturday morning thing to do. Not in a bread maker, but flour, water, yeast, muscle and time.Not mentioning any names, but someone has difficulty slicing bread. More likely to cut fat wedges that taper to crumbs…. hard to butter, catches fire in the toaster, and falls apart when marmalade is liberally applied.Solution… a whip around the ol' interweb for designs. Pretty slim, unless I wanna fork out some hard earned dosh! So I decided to make my own, designed to fit whatever comes out of my bread tins. (9×4 bread tin, I think. Zenker, from Germany, best tin I've used yet)All pieces cut on a table saw, straight cuts and tapered cuts (for looks) All glued, no nails and natural edible finish.Using a standard 8” bread knife, it cuts a 5/8” slice of bread nicely. (You could move the block left or right prior to affixing to adjust the thickness. I decided 5/8 was a nice size, fits the toaster and is a good amount if having two slices jammed)Made with leftover laminated pine, 3/4”, and oiled (monthly) with olive oil. Only the purest, cold pressed virgin olive oil. (No pimento prior to pressing!)(I would have liked to have a picture with the bread in it… but today is Friday and the loaves typically don't last past Tuesday, Monday if company comes)Thanks for watching.. bon appetite
The NSO, SSO combination goes over well with the golf ladies,
This is the second dresser I have made for my daughters. It's made from recycled oak and hickory. The black holes that you see are the bolt holes form a huge pallet I drug home. The top and bottom of the pallet were 2 x 6 net rough sawn oak and the stringers were 4x8 it was almost enough to get through two dressers. I also had several hundred feet of 7/8 x 4 net finished what I thought was oak. After I had it all milled up I realized that was hickory. Luckily a coat of watco stain was the great equalizer and it all passes for oak. You can see the hickory in the corner posts. 
This was the first dresser that I made from a huge oak pallet. All the details are the same as the second except all the exposed wood is the recycled oak. You can read the details in the post on the second one.
This was a commission for my neighbor.
So I got a request for my little post office box door trucks. The only thing is she wanted five of them! Of coarse I took the order but I had no idea what I was getting into. Making five of these was far more detail work then I anticipated. I was just glad she said “no hurry, just when ever you get them done”. That turned out to be about seven months. By the time I found doors, visited the lumber yard, got all the wood needed, cut and planed to 3/4, 1/2, 3/8 and 1/4 before I could actually start, a lot of time passed before I could even start working on the trucks. Not to mention other projects that popped up during that time. But I finally finished them.I made a nice assortment this time. I made one from ambrosia maple with walnut trim. I also made two from quilted (curly) maple with walnut trim and two from oak with walnut trim. All five have brass accents on the steering post and cab posts. I really like the way the assortment came out but one disappointment, I bought wheels this time instead of making my own. The look okay but it's a pride thing. All five are finished with danish oil.It may be a long time before I attempt an order like this again, but when your having fun working on a project, what can you say!
Have been looking at many different chess board types and designs and almost decided on one with a drawer. Then decided to make one with a lift off top for storage. 
A few years ago I made a box that had blue glass in it. My son told me that I could not go around the corner with it, so I had to show him that I could.
Getting ready for art fair season with some charcuterie and cheese boards of various sizes. Leopard wood, Rippled Maple and Wenge.
Well howdy everyone, it's been awhile since I've posted anything. Over the past couple of years I've been involved with doing some carousel horse restorations, basically this involved carving parts that were missing, and prepping the horses for final painting. I've done enough of them (at least 15 – 20) that the thrill and challenge is gone now, time to move on. I recently made a major milestone on a cabinet that I've worked on for about 10 years now when I could get the time. It is an Aztec themed cabinet and over 1,000 hours have gone into it so far. The backsplash alone took over 100 hours to make. I'll show that when I finish the mirror (about 400 hours to go) and let that be seen. okay, back to the horses….........
One of my sons-in-law recently outfitted his basement with a workout room. He was able to buy the bag for a reasonable price but the mounts were several hundred dollars for something that would hold up.I had a 10ft.+ length of 5/4 X 9 oak laying around so I cut, jointed, planed, and glued up 2, 26” blanks.Glued the blanks together with the grain at 90 degrees to each other to minimize the chances of it splitting from repeated banging and finished it round with a jig on the router table. It finished up at 24” diameter X 2” thick.Made the brackets from a 4' piece of perf. angle iron and 2 ft. of 1/8 X 2” steel strip.To mount the frame to the platform I inserted 6 threaded inserts and attached the frame with 5/16-18 hex head bolts. It's rock solid with no bounce at all.
Two more crosses. The smaller one is cherry with walnut for the contrasting color. The larger one (about 2 foot in height) is a piece of walnut with amazing color variations. I finished both with Odie's oil and I'm loving what that finish does to deepen the beautiful color of the walnut, and the cherry as well. The smaller will likely go toward my friends' St. Jude's fundraiser. My husband liked the larger so it now is in our home, between the entry and the kitchen.
my grandson wanted a small display for his lego creations. since his mom needs to pack up the project in her car when they head home, it needed to be easy to take apart and put together.found this design and it worked out great. each shelf is held in place by slipping in between a pair of 3/4” dowels near the top and bottom of each leg. as the legs spread at the bottom and close up at the top, the shelves are pretty much locked in place.had to take out a 2nd mortgage for birch plywood :/
Back about 50 years ago I was slowly starting up my wood tools collection. Had a very inexpensive table saw, A craftsman, right from the sears store. The one I'm still using today. Darn, should have taken a picture of it! A real old friend.
This is a saddle rack that I made from oak for a friend. He sent me a couple of photos from a saddle rack that he saw that he wanted to give to his mother and asked if I could build one for him. I found some rough dimensions online and used the photos that he sent me to draft some plans. I added a little light golden oak dye to bring out the grain and then sanded the majority of the color off just leaving the deep color in the grain and then added the topcoat Osmo Poly-Oil. This is the first time I have used the Osmo Poly-Oil and I have to admit the stuff is great to work with and simple to finish. The finish is soft to the touch and look just beautiful.
Adjustable Cookbook Holder made from white Oak.
Thought you might like to see this cabinet I've just made. The doors are Bubinga and figured Sycamore Veneer and the cabinet outside is Bubinga veneer, all the inside is crown cut Sycamore veneer. I used solid Bubinga to edge the doors and for the base. The doors were the hardest part to do and took quiet a while to cut all the pieces, when it was ready it was all glued down to 18mm MR MDF ( moisture resistant) in a vacuum bag press. For a finish I used several coats of spray lacquer and then rubbed on some beeswax polish using 0000 steel wool and buffed it off leaving a nice finish that's not too glossy.
A friend of mine is getting married in Hawaii in a couple months and I he keeps on talking about a shell display so I thought I make him one as a gift. We planned to go but he will receive this before so he has less to bring back.
This is a goblet I made from scraps of Acacia and Pecan wood. The acacia pieces were long pen blanks that never became pens. It also has a captured ring. It finished at 1 1/2” diameter and 6” tall. It is finished with Danish oil and buffed and waxed.I added some shots of the turning process:
Cheers. Jim
Feb 18, 2022After building the 
First I had to build the cabinet which measured about 23 inches wide, 30 inches tall and 9-1/4 inches deep. The case was made out of 3/4 inch plywood with 1/2 inch plywood back. The face frame was made out of solid walnut 1-3/4 inches wide. All pieces were glued together. All exposed edges were rounded over with a 3/16 inch round over bit.
French cleats made out of 3/4 inch plywood were attached with screws to the back of the cabinet which was recessed in 3/4 inches from the back edge of the cabinet.
For adjustable shelf supports I decided to make saw tooth supports. They were made by cutting 4 pieces of stock 1 inch wide and 1/2 inch thick and about 34 inches long out of hardwood. All 4 pieces were then screwed together on each end in the waste area that would later be trimmed off.Then the saw teeth were laid out on stack starting about 3 inches from the bottom end of the supports.For those not familiar with this type of shelf supports, cutting all the supports at the same time assures that when installed, all shelves will sit level.The horizontal part of the saw tooth was cut on the table saw using a jig to help space the cuts 1 inch apart. Next the angle cut was cut on the band saw.The stack of supports were trimmed to length to fit inside the cabinet and all were glued in place.The following images describe the geometry of the saw tooth adjusters for those interested in making them.
I didnt know if I wanted crown molding on the top of the cabinet so I made blocks that would fit over the top edge of the cabinet. The crown molding was trimmed to length and the corner was glued and nailed together. Blocks were then made to fit over the top edge of the cabinet like clips. The crown molding was then nailed to blocks with brad nails.At this point if I didnt like it I could removed it with no one the wiser. As it turned out it looked good so I attached each block to the cabinet with 1 screw.
The mating french cleats also made from 3/4 inch plywood were attached to the existing side of the wall oven cabinet with screws.
Then the finished cabinet was hung on the french cleats.
This is what each shelf support looks like. Two pieces of hardwood 1/2 inch thick and 3/4 inch wide were glued together. One piece was cut and loosely fitted to fit between the saw tooth shelf adjusters. The other piece was cut to fit between the cabinet back and the cabinet face frame.
This is what the shelf support looks like when installed between the saw tooth adjustable shelf supports.
Each shelf was made from left over pieces of our old countertop that was replaced with a quartz countertop. The old countertops were chip board with a formica laminated top.
Although it wouldnt be seen I didnt want the chip board exposed on the bottom of the shelves so I glued a piece of 1/4 inch plywood to the bottom.
To the front edge of each shelf was glued a piece of solid walnut about 3/8 inch thick and a little wider than the shelf thickness. After the glue was dried a flush trim router bit was used to trim it even with the shelf, The edges were rounded over.The last step in preparing the shelves was to notch the corners to fit into the cabinet.
Here is the finished cabinet with the shelves installed.
This is the cabinet after SHMBO filled it with what she wanted.
Now the Coffee-Tea Center Cabinet is complete. SHMBO is happy and Im happy.The finish was semi gloss polyurethane.This project was made completely from wood off cuts harvested from a high end cabinet shop. Wood that would have ended up in a landfill now have a new home.Thanks for taking the time looking. Comments and questions welcomed and appreciated.
I had another of my friend's pictures developed and decided to try one in cherry to be sent along with the 
My wife recently took up coloring as a hobby. She has large sets (100+ colors) of pens and pencils, but needs only ten or so for a given drawing. This holder helps her organize the pens or pencils (up to 11) she needs for her current drawing.The holder sits on a small, low table beside our couch, so she wanted it to be compact (about 6” wide, 4” tall, and 3” deep). To make it easier to see the pencil colors or labels, we decided to store the pencils in two staggered rows and tilt the holder back 15 degrees. A 1” wide rear stabilizer keeps the holder from tipping over. The pencil holes are 3/8” diameter, 2 1/2” deep, and spaced 1” apart.I built the holder from a scrap of 2” thick poplar, finished with General Finishes Polyurethane Water Based Topcoat (flat sheen).It was a simple project, but I'll provide some construction details for anyone who is interested. I also uploaded the 
At this point, I wasn't sure how wide the stabilizer needed to be or how I was going to attach it, so I cut it oversized.
My JessEm doweling jig's 1/4” guide block has holes spaced 1/2” apart, so I used it to mark the holes 1” apart. I set the jig's fence to 1/2” to center the holes in the top tier.
Then I moved the fence to 1 1/2” for the front tier.
I drilled the marked holes on my drill press. Fortunately, my 3/8” brad-point bit has a 4” cutting depth, allowing me to drill the holes for the front tier without having the chuck hit the top tier.
With the holes drilled, I cut off the bottom of the holder at 15 degrees for the tilt-back. I used a scrap of 1/4” plywood as a makeshift zero-clearance inset.
By this time, I had decided to use a butt joint to attach the stabilizer, so I cut it to 1” width (at the top).
With the stabilizer cut, all I had do was sand both parts and glue them together.
When I use poly, I usually finish one side at a time so I'm always finishing a horizontal surface to avoid runs or sags. This time, I decided to finish all sides except the bottom at once. I used carpet tape to attach a scrap wood handle that let me rotate the holder to any angle. I applied four very thin coats, sanding with 600-grit paper in between. After the poly dried, I finished the bottom.
After the bottom dried, I attached some cork squares to the bottom (not shown), and the project was finished. Thanks for looking!
When I convinced my wife that my oversized bent-arm Morris chair had to be in the living room, I caused a problem. It fit but left no room for a table upon which to set my beverages! Necessity is the mother of invention.To match the chair, I used a combination of quartersawn and strait grained oak. To minimize the footprint, I went with a slant sided bookcase style I had seen in a Stickley catalog. Since my wife is a fan of owls, I purchased a nice art tile from Medicine Bluff Studios to grease the wheels.A few things a purist will notice is the closed shelf on top, and a mysterious hidden slider shelf on one side… The side that faces my chair! Those reading the first paragraph know what the shelf is for. The trick to creating it was accomplished by routing a dado in the slider and using Teflon to make it operate smoothly.The trickiest part of the build is the angled dadoes for the shelves. Had I intended on producing more of these, I would have tried to create a slanted router base. As it went, I spent considerable time with a chisel. Another solution would have been to set the dadoes back from the front by an inch. Live and learn.It came out pretty nice. The wife likes the owl. And my beverages have a perch within arms reach!
What I was trying to accomplish is have the flutes on it the same length on each of the wider rings of the canister for a up coming project. Pic 4 shows a better view of it. It looked very easy to me on paper but it took some extra measuring. I think it will work. Fun and good practice on the lathe plus I got to use the fluting jig and the indexer.
This wooden plane addresses the discomfort and wobble of a Stanley #5 used as a shooting board plane. Its mechanism is a Veritas 2 1/4 A2 blade and Norris adjuster. The plane is 12 inches long and roughly 2 1/2 inches square. As it is intended to be used right side down. I put the greatest effort into the right side being flat, smooth, and squares to the bottom. I added 1 1/4 pounds of weight to provide momentum into a cross-grain cut. Assembly followed the Lee Valley kit instructions with a couple of modifications that I will mention.
Shavings in the above image result from planing with the grain. A cross-grain cut produces dust. The first use demonstrated the need for an improved shooting board. The long edge, 90 degrees to the stop, is extended beyond the stop. This helps to keep the plane from tilting away from the cut. Additionally, the lip on the board creates a track. With this, effort goes into moving the plane forward and not into holding against the work piece.The wedge pin below is a center drilled dowel with a 1/4 inch brass pin. The flat on the dowel provides greater surface area against the wedge, and it can be replaced if needed. The brass pin is just short of going through the right side, but there is a small hole that allows the pin to be driven out. The brass pin at the bottom of the adjusted grove protrudes into the oblong slot in the blade. It will catch the blade and stop it from dropping out of the plane's bottom. The knob is salvaged from an old Stanley is screwed into a threaded insert.
This end view shows three plugs. Along with three in the front, there are 1 1/4 pounds of #8 birdshot inside the plane. The resulting weight is the same as a #5.
In several test runs, the plane worked perfectly. I don't find anything to improve upon. It also works well as a standard plane and will take a measured 0.001-inch shaving in clear pine. In the future, I will build these for my grandsons, but have a few years before they will have a need. Great satisfaction resulted from the design and execution of this project.
My son wanted an inside picnic table so I built this one for him
As I continue to experiment with both the lathe and epoxy, here is the latest in bottle stoppers.The Barrel with French Goat logo – Epoxy and Cherry.
The Antique Tread Spool – Walnut With Purple Wire Thread in epoxy. 
The Cone – Epoxy and Pine Cone. 
The Pawn – Walnut 
The Shroom – Epoxy (saved from learning lacquer eats epoxy)
I have lots to learn, but progress being made.PS. Teak likes them. 
Thanks for visiting.
Special request for a frame to hold a old Stained glass that was a bit of a challenge, size, weight and lead frame posed some problems. Made out of some scrap wood, think it is Maple? Because of the weight decided to put 3/4” Oak dowels through the corners and since it is going into a Sun room gave it a few coats of Spar Varnish!
In preparation for building some cabinets for the basement reno project, I've been making some jigs for using the Festool rails. (
The fixed stop has two semi-circle cutouts that allow the Festool setup guides to be used for a one-time calibration for the front-to-back position of the index strips.
On the rail rides a pair of index pins that extend down to register into the holes in the index strips. The index pins are made from a 16mm diameter acetal copolymer rod I bought for a different project but never used. It was a larger diameter than I really needed, but it's what I had on hand. 
Here, the index pin is shown in the index hole that corresponds to the 37mm position, with the Festool setup bars also in the 37mm position. The 6mm thick index strip is low enough that the Festool rail stops can still drop down over the top and bottom of the panel.
Because the 37mm position and 23mm position (for hinge cup drilling in the doors) were so close and the index pins so large, I had to make a bump-out for the 23mm position. In hindsight, this was a good thing because it means that I won't accidentally use that set of holes when drilling the cabinet side panels.
At the back end of the jig is a floating stop that is exactly panel height, and it rides between the index strips. It acts as a support for the rail when drilling the far set of holes (the rear shelf-pin holes) and also as a clamping caul to keep the panel tight against the front stationary stop using the cam clamp. Because it's the same height as the side panels, the Festool rail stops drop over it and keep the rail centered for the rearmost shelf-pin holes. (I don't have plywood for the panels yet, so here I have a scrap that's roughly the correct panel depth.)
Dummy panel clamped in place with the rail positioned for the rear shelf-pin holes.
I did use the CNC for some of the parts, but with careful execution, this jig could be built with other tools and be just as accurate. I've tested it with some scrap and am happy with the results. I think I've got everything lined-up to start building cabinets. Time to buy some plywood!
Hi:Today I completed the third in a series of three 'Puppy Cremation Urns for our family.There are 6 puppies between three families, and though all puppies are currently living, three are getting really old. Thus the desire to prepare for their eventual demise and loss to our families by building cremation urns in advance.This urn is for Apollo and Luna, both Bichon's, one apricot colored and the other snow white. They received their names in memory of the Apollo Space program and the first landing on the moon. My son's family are Nasa Nuts, so what else could we expect them to name their puppies. I'm surprise their children don't also have names like this :-)The box is made from 5/8 red oak with box-joints mitred at the corners. The lid is 1 hard maple which was 'domed' to allow more surface area for the portrait. The sides of the domed lid were mitred to add a bit of interest to the shape.Both the lettering on the sides of the box and the portrait on the lid are incised, then painted black. A partition was included in the box, and magnets added to help keep the lid in place, but with the contents still accessible.I had a lot of fun carving the portrait and am pleased that it is an excellent portrait of Luna, the white Bichon. I was also pleased with how crisp the image appears.Enjoy :-)
A friend of mine, and a good customer, wanted to buy a unique pen.“Do whatever you want,” he said.So i glued up some walnut with aluminum and turned it into a vertex bolt action pen.
My second ever bandsaw box, for my sister in law. I don't know how to rotate the pictures though. I think you know what state she lives in.
This is a long post about a build I did a couple years ago. Unfortunately, no matter what I've tried, I can't get these older pics to rotate to the correct orientation. So tilt yer head a bit! apologies in advance.I've had a couple requests for more info about the table saw/router table cabinet build I did several years ago. Let me start by saying very few measurements were used in the making of this project. I pretty much just laid out what I had, marked along the edges and cut to fit. All my shop furniture is a 'practice run' for me to learn techniques, styles and finishes and this was no different. I wanted to try to copy the custom cabinets we had built for the remodel of our house many years ago, so I set out to do that.The face frames are maple. I sealed everything with Crystal-lac before spray finishing with 4 coats of NC lacquer. I know the pore filler wasn't really necessary, but it sure makes the frames silky smooth!The saw is an old 113 that I inherited from my father-in-law on a stoutly built rolling cart with a bit of storage underneath. I hung a set of Incra rails on it with the intention of having the router table on the left wing and a table extension off the right wing with storage under neath that. The router table was double thick Formica panels with an Incra Mast-R-lift router lift and a dust box. Surrounding the router table I wanted storage forwellrouter stuff. Originally the right wing storage area was fitted for a flip top cart with a planer mounted on it. The idea was that the planer would store upside down and the whole cart would store out of the way under the right wing. I planned to put faux matching doors on the side of the flip cart so it matched the cabinet doors around the rest of the assembly. Later on, after I acquired a jointer, I mounted that on the other side of the flip top and moved it elsewhere in the shop. I removed the faux doors and hinged them for real onto the cabinet frame under the right wing, storing my basic shop-vac dust collection system there. All the ducting ran out the back of the cabinet and through a series of paths to my other tools. When I upgraded to a Supercell, that storage area became jig and fixture storage for the table saw.Here's the basic tool layout before the build:
I laid out tape lines on the ground that coincided with the edges of the tables by using a plumb bob and painters tape. I confirmed the measurements against the table the cut up 3/4 ply for the floor. I attached a bunch of poly casters to effectively create toe-kick space:
From there I built up an interior framework to provide storage for the area under the router table, as well as to tie together the controls for the table saw and the router. These interior components were tied into the cart under the table saw as a way to stabilize the whole thing.lots of pocket screws here made for a very rigid interior skeleton:
Next, I built a series of face frames sized to the ply baseplate already in place. There ended up being a couple different sections that I tied together on assembly. I built these including the detail that I wanted to include to match our home's cabinetry because, again, this was a learning project for me. After a complete dry fit, I spray finished all the pieces assembled in the largest chunks I could handle assembled, all the face frames were built and assembled with pocket screws:
Then I fitted the frames to the baseplate and tied everything together. At this point, I finished the install of some of the interior storage parts and test fit the stuff I wanted to put in there:
Lastly, I sized, built, prehung, finished and then hung the cabinet doors. This was my weakest element as I built them rail and style, but didn't have a jointer and some of my edges just weren't up to par. They all worked out and function, but I'm still unhappy when I look at a couple of the joints. The panel inserts were simple sande ply, which I would also not do again as they didn't take finish as well. Live and learn. I did find some awesome little black rubber balls that fit in the panel dado to hold the panel nice and tight, so that was a cool win:
That last pic shows the faux doors installed on the flip top. Makes it look like it's just part of the cabinetry!Some great learning points and I'm happy with the final product. The Incra cycles works flawlessly with it, allowing to simply unlock and slide the carriage further down the rails for use with the router table. My shop limits the amount of outfeed I have, which is why I didn't add an outfeed table, but in a large shop that would be a great addition. It fits my needs, so I don't worry about it. Hope your neck isn't too still from looking at the pics, but thanks for looking!
My former co-worker and good friend's grandson was a patient at St Jude's years ago, with successful treatment. Their family continues to raise money for St. Jude's and a garage sale is planned for this spring. I have been building some items for this fundraiser. Looking forward to surprising him and his wife with the donation (only mentioned I was going to try to build something). Also will include some crosses I've been building.These frames are cherry with General Finishes High Performance and walnut with Odie's oil. I really like the oil and how it really adds pop to the walnut. Also used it on this frame which is a Valentines gift from the pups for my husband.
When I first got into woodcarving, I picked up one of EJ Tangerman's books. The ball-in-a-cage and the wooden chain really caught my attention. I tried both and they came out okay. However, I've been wanting to do a crazy-long chain.
I started with this 7ft long, reclaimed 1”x1” cedar board. It was basic building-grade stuff. Nothing special. There were a bunch of nail holes that I didn't bother filling. Fortunately, this didn't really cause problems.
The first step in making the chain was to shape the board to have a plus-sign cross section. I thought about whittling that part, but that didn't sound like fun. This step amounted to cutting four rabbets, so it was a perfect excuse to use a moving fillister plane that I had just restored.
A pile of wood shavings is so satisfying!
Once the rabbets were cut, then it was time to mark off the links at 2” per link. After doing that, I used a saw to cut where adjacent links meet, then took a chisel to make a bevel on each of the four corners of each link.
Now comes A LOT of whittling. I experimented with various knives gouges until I settled on a regular 1-1/2” carving knife, a pelican knife, and a gouge to do the Whittling. I estimated that it took, on average, about 30min free a link from the board and shape it.
And, of course, there were times when I needed to do repairs. This usually happened when I tried to separate two links.
I set up my work office in my shop when the pandemic hit. The beauty of this is that during a very boring meeting (there were many), I could turn off the camera, put myself on mute, and whittle while I listened. After many years of meetings, I finally felt like they were productive! :)After two weeks of meetings… uh… I mean whittling…
As you might guess, I got a lot of practice whittling chain links. It was very clear after I finished, that the quality of each link was much better between the first one and the last. Therefore, I decided to go back to the beginning and fix the cruder links until they were relatively uniform.Once all the whittling was done, boiled linseed oil was poured onto the chain and hung up to dry for a day.The chain is done, but I'm thinking I might connect something to either one or both ends. I have a few ideas, but haven't settled on anything yet.Thanks for checking you my post!
Designed and made this pencil/tissue box from maple. Pretty useful project which I dressed up with pictures of my daughter. Once friends and family saw it the request poured in. Guess I should have made more than one at a time.
Magnetic knife holder made in 2014 from Walnut, Maple, & Padauk.
Simple backlit lamp made in 2014 from Peruvian Walnut & Purple Heart.
From a set of Paul Sellers Plans, a desktop organizer, in Red Oak..not counting the lid and the base panels (1/2” thick, each) sides are 4” tall…panels are 12” x 5-1/2”...ends of the box are 4-3/4” x 4”Drawer uses both half blind dovetails and through dovetail.A pair of 1” brass hinges for the lid. Round overs were done with a hand plane…Finish is 2 coats of Amber Shellac. A nice, 2 week project. There IS a build along BlogThere is also a video by Sellers, from his FREE Masterclasses series of projects. I simply changed a couple details in my version, is all.Thanks for looking in!
I picked up this 11” long Perfect Handle screwdriver for a $2 at a building reclaim place. It's would make a cool restoration project—the wooden for the handle is a wreck—and will come in handy considering all of my old hand planes require flathead screwdrivers.
It was easy enough to remove the pins that used to hold the wood handles in place. I didn't see a point in trying to salvage the wood. Moisture loss and wear over decades made them too small to fit. Instead, I decided to make new wood for the handles from some scraps of maple I had laying around.Fitting the new wood took some effort to fit into confined spaces. The wood had to be cut to length as well as either end of the blocks having 55 degree bevels before the wood can be glued in. (Removing the old handles also revealed the maker's mark, IAB Co, which is Irwin.)
Once fitted, the wood blocks were glued using epoxy. I'll mention here that the maple blocks I used for the handles each had two holes in them, so I made short dowels out of some scrap bubinga to plug the holes. I decided not to include new metal pins to hold the wood in place, figuring that the epoxy will do the job. The bubinga dowels are only there to plug up the holes and for aesthetics.
This next part of the project, i.e., shaping the handle was super fun. It basically amounted to the same process as roughing out and rounding the wood when woodcarving in the round.The first step was to trim excess wood on either side of the handle on the band saw.
Then I drew the handle shape I wanted.
There are many ways to shape the handle. My preference is to use rasps and files whenever possible. They allow me to remove material quickly while providing me with a lot of control of the tool. In this case, I used a Shinto rasp, which I LOVE using. I highly recommend having one in the shop. It made quick work of rounding out the handle.
Important note: I stopped using my rasps before the wood was flush with the metal of the handle to avoid gouging into the metal or ruining the rasps. I planned to shine up the metal by sanding it using my 1×30 belt sander. The wood would be sanded flush to the metal at that time. This was a bit tricky. The sander was perfect for cleaning up the metal and getting it to shine, but it was too aggressive for the wood, especially because I'd be sanding cross-grain. This led to a few burn marks in the wood, which were a pain to remove. (I had a few burn marks, usually close to where the wood and metal meet. I ended up sanding those marks out with sandpaper and small files. The belt sander was to aggressive and imprecise for spot sanding.)Once the shaping of the handle was done and hand sanded to 220 grit, I french polished the handle (using amber-tinted shellac) followed by applying paste wax with 0000 steel wool. This is my favorite finish and gives the tool a great feel in the hand.I'll mention here that the rest of the screwdriver was shined up using the 1×30 belt sander followed by using a fiber wheel, then buffing/polishing. My fiber wheels go on my 4-1/2” angle grinder, but you can also buy them for bench grinders/buffers. I'll note to be very careful when cleaning up the head of the screwdriver with power sanders and grinders. It's VERY easy to turn that flathead screwdriver into a chisel or to mess it up in some other way that makes the head useless as a screwdriver. (Ask me how I know.)Thanks for reading my post!
So, I'm working in the cockpit of a boat at a marina when a guy steps up and introduced himself having talked to some of the other boat owners I had done work for wanted to know if I might make him a “fish billie”. Now me, being a man of the world, I turned to him with my most intelligent expression and said; “Huh”? Well with a bit more information forthcoming I found out that he was a new fisherman and when his catch was brought aboard, he would like to send it to fish heaven with a quick bash between the blinkers. With me so far? So, after some more chatter I asked him if he'd like to come up to my shop and turn this fish killer himself. Well, this was met with great enthusiasm because sometime in his youth he had run a lathe. Unfortunately, he was headed out of the country for an extended period. I thought I'd just wait till his return and offer again. Then a thing happened to me that must happen to us all at least once if not more. I was bitten by the project bug and now I needed to create this halibut hammer. After doing a bit of online research I discovered that another name for this implement of Piscean mayhem was also known as a priest! Go figure! Now I HAD to make one. So, using an English design I turned this from Burmese teak and lignum vitae. They blended quite well together, joined by a blind hardwood tenon with wedges and glue. I knew that with the lignum vitae it was sure that any fish that took a smack from this thing would be off to salmon Valhalla in a flash. In the end Tom (remember Tom?) came back to the marina and has been presented with his new “fish billie”. He seemed quite pleased, (you can tell from the picture) even if he didn't get to turn it himself.
I built this classic style teardrop trailer on a 4×8 ft cargo trailer frame. I cut the sides each from a single sheet of plywood and finished them before I began any other assembly. I also cut the holes for the doors at this time. 
I had always wanted to build one of these but after I moved and no longer needed this frame to haul, I found the perfect chance. It is a great road trip trailer because it was light and did not require any set up when I stopped to catch some sleep.
First time working with plantation teak
I needed a small table for my 3D printer. I made this one out of maple, largely scraps from other projects and left over drawer material.The finish is Osmo. Mortise and tenon joints were cut with the pantorouter. The dovetails on the drawer were cut using a table saw dovetail technique that I am fine tuning.A simple three day build that will serve a purpose. The lines are a hybrid of empire and modern styles and match my desk build. It will live in the office and having the same lines as the desk will make it part of the general look of the room. Also, I simply like the basic clean lines of the legs and platform top.This is one of the few pieces of furniture I have done that I did not draw out…I just had a general size of the dimensions in my head and started roughing out stock. After all if the rails match, the length is moot!I did a full build video on the project, so if you want more details, give it a watch:
I had been wanting to build a Moxon for a while and I finally pulled the benchcrafted box off the shelf and did it. I used local walnut and cherry that I planed straight from the mill. I flattened the cherry top by hand to prove to myself I COULD do it, then power-planed all the walnut.
I dovetailed the box and using a plow plane, ran a circumferential groove to receive the inset top. Cleaned up with chisels and a router plane.
I wanted to inset a Lee Valley wagon vise in the top, really just to pinch a board while transferring dovetails. I made a template and used a router, cleaned up with a router plane.
I drilled a bunch of 3/4” round dogholes and plopped some trinkets in there. The inset vise has some limitations and the stop on the vise end tends to tip out under pressure. I got the low profile “jaws” and they work a little better. It'll hold things gently, but I'm used to my primary wagon vise that will crush nuts. I got a few other builds and lots of tools to post when I can find the time. Thanks for looking and take care.Edit:
Solid mahogany armoire converted to a gun cabinet. Project involved replacing the solid, veneered mahogany doors with glass panel doors, inlaying a walnut and holly escutcheon, replacing the 1/4 paperboard back with a four-panel solid mahogany back and refinishing the interior.Funny (now) story. I had to rebuild to barrel cradle because the gun I used to create the proper lean was scoped. Delivered the project, customer calls me the next day to let me know all of his shotguns are falling out due to the different center of gravity while vertical. Ok, honest mistake. I remake the cradle, install it and start packing up. Realize that there's two more hinge screws I need to install. Customer sees me looking around for my driver, says “no problem, use mine”. Despite every voice screaming in my head to go get mine, I accept his offer, attempt to spin the bit up to tighten it and the driver (me) spits the bit right through the glass panel. Sigh…. Two screws away from being done.I have no idea why the pictures got rotated. Couldn't get them to load any other way.
As part of my 100 Awl Contest, where I encourage others to make awls out of their best scrap woods, I came up with this awl, which I call the “Empty Spaces” awl. I used jatoba, maple and ebony (and a divine 6D nail) to create it. I used my table saw box joint jig to create the spaces in the maple pieces and then layered the hole and space needed to add a nail.Finally, I used a pvc pipe with a piece of sandpaper attached to it to give it a rounded inner look.
Made this knife display for my buddy who was giving his son a custom Bowie knife. The antler is from a hunt the two went on. The antler is attached to the top with 2 brass 3/8” rods epoxied in place. I Also laser engraved thier family crest.
Tried a new design with some features I've been experimenting with. This one is 10” wide by 14” tall. I cut out another burl centerpiece.
I had a request to make a bench seat for outdoors from No 2 Son after seeing one his mates Dad made him.
I started in in the last week of Jan and due to rain it was very slow progress.I used some of the old Queenslander stumps I had rescued from a house nearby
The house still has the perimeter stumps in place but the inner ones supporting the actual house were replaced with steel posts in August 2017 and I hauled the discarded pieces home then.Its beautiful timber to work and provides fantastic finishes with but merciless on tools being so hard.
as usual with recycled timber there is a additional amount of work to be conducted before being able to use it.Without going into a lot of detail here its the subject of a 
This is a project I was asked to build for a friend of my son. Each side has 3 shelves behind the doors. All joints are floating mortises. The drawer boxes backs are resaved poplar. Will be delivering it in a few weeks.
This is a block front chest in maple with a dye, stain, asphaltum and lacquer finish. Brass is Horton Brasses Chippendale pulls. I don't know how much time I have in it.
Final pics of my dog food cabinet. (It will actually house our flour, sugar, and olive oil as well) 
White oak vanity. It is actually about 1/8” too wide but it fits in the corner so that's ok. Maple drawers on undermount glides. The wood is doing all the work to add beauty, craftsmanship still improving.Edit: For the build, I used 1/4” loose tenons cut deep enough to also add a rabbet. This way I could have the sides not be interrupted by the base, but still rest on top of it.It ended up making the construction a bit more difficult since the panels warped a bit by the time the glue-up happened and I don't think I would do it that way again. The internal braces are sliding dovetails but looked so so and as such I cut the face plates to hide them. I also used the lock miter bit for the drawers. Nice and strong, and expensive bit so I'll keep using it, but in general I prefer the look of simple locking rabbet.
Mahogany, walnut danish oil and Osmo polyx oil
Fun JGR pattern. I played around with adding depth. Stacked the wings, moved the legs, antennas, stems and petals off the background. Custom barn wood frame, walnut, white wenge, yellowheart, green popular, aspen and background is blue pine and western cedar.
Hello everyone. Are you staying warm and safe? I pray so.Some of you may remember when I made this quick and dirty marking knife;
Well, it worked for a time and then it didn't. I found that it was not as safe to use as I had hoped. So, I had to come up with something different.The idea for the marking knife you see in the photos came to me out of the blue.You see, when I'm in the middle of a project and something I'm doing, or a tool that I'm using, isn't working, I need a quick effective solution. I don't care if it looks good, I just need it to work.I sat down and started thinking about how to make another quick and dirty marking knife.Let me back up a bit. A friend of mine gave me some marking knife blades a while back when I told him about the one I originally made. Because the tang on the blades was tapered I set them aside so that I could figure out how I was going the mount them into a handle.While at my desk I happened to notice a pen sitting there and then it hit me. The marking knife you see is the outcome.You can see how I made it 
This is another Red Oak Urn. A little bit different style than my others. All the ones I've built before were top loading. This one is bottom loading, which is standard in the industry. Inside is 200 ci. Which is also standard. Has a cut accent where the top and bottom attach. And two routed accents. With rocking chair felt pads on bottom. Natural stain with four coats of water base glossy finish rubbed on. Screws are recessed 1/16” in.
This is my latest car, a 1931 Ford Coupe. Unlike the American Graffiti car this one has a chopped body. I did not painted it for the purists among us. It is made out of Brazilian Cherry on a base of maple. The gear shift knob and swearing wheel are Cocobolo. The air intake and exhaust system are repurposed brass casings. (264 Mag).
I made this addition to previously built dining room furniture for my daughter, to match the buffet prior posted.Wood is maple, color is 
A cross brace dovetailed into the sides, along with traditional “buttons” held down by short blocks glued & screwed to the sides;
I use the glue blocks for the hold down buttons, glued & screwed in place, for extra strength (should someone lift the cabinet by the top overhang) versus the traditional 1/4” mortise into the sides, and because it is faster than mortising the side members.The two shelves, the bottom of the storage area & the drawer support member, are only glued at the front of the cabinet, and are free to move in the side dadoes, and have a short support block glued & screwed to the sides similar to the short button blocks.Thanks for viewing.
Tried out a new 10” by 10” wall clock design. It's a new variation. Short of the L-shaped board that holds the clock face board in place, there is no pine in this clock. It's an Ambrosia maple outer frame atop a stained Ambrosia maple main frame.The center board is two 1.5” Ambrosia maple boards glued together. Tried something new and cut out a burl center piece that the clock movement is inserted through. I also played with paint a bit. The red background behind the burl is a little hard to see, but I also painted the center board red on either side.This design was not the design I started to do when I cut out the clock frame but, man, I'm pretty pleased with how this turned out.Thanks for looking!
Built this to store house cleaning items like vacuum, brooms, mops, ironing board, etc. Cabinet size is 18” deep x 30” wide x 7' tall.
I'm beginning to wade into leather working. I've bought the leather and started to plan my project and found I needed a few more tools than I currently have, one of which was a awl. Instead of buying one a light bulb went off and I had one of those I can make that moments. It took me maybe a hour. The wood is small piece of oak dowel rod. I drilled a small hole in it and screwed a screw in halfway. I cut the head off the screw and that allowed me to put it in my drill press (I still currently don't have a lathe). I cranked the drill press up to high and used a hand held belt sander to profile it. I couldn't resist putting some rings around it. After that was done I found a used nail and cut the head off it and used the drill press again along with some metal files. When finished I heated the full end of the nail and burnt it into the wood. I finished it off with a coat of old English stain. I used it for the first time just a bit ago, I'm still not sure what I'm doing but it seems to do what it is suppose to.
A few months ago I found a good deal on a 100w co2 laser. I have thoroughly been enjoying adding a new skill to my woodworking.
I did this carving for a customer who wanted to put it on top of a stick. The raven is about 5.25 inches long. She sent me the brass coupler so I could drill the appropriate hole in the carving, then I recessed it just enough that the brass didn't show. Final photo is one she sent me showing it put together.Claude
Ford HotRod C-Cab Delivery VanWith 3 grandsons to our middle daughter I had to make a third Keepsake Vehicle.The first was in T-Bucket HotRod then came the RatRod Truck so an internet search for a cool looking third vehicle finding a Delivery Van as a base to work off.
And here is my scratch built wooden toy.I very much liked the open door style of this vehicle as you can easily see the inside detail of the Seats, Dashboard, Steering Wheel, Pedals and Console.
The biggest challenge was making the extractors/headers and four into one exhaust; but saying that the redesign on the rear doors to open completely was a bit of a head scratching too.18 [465mm] long
My oldest son James works at Apple and hands me down what he calls out of date phones and iPads.They work fine for me.He stopped by before Christmas and noticed me listening to one of the iPads he gave me while I was working in the shop. 
He bought me these Edifier Speakers for Christmas which were a great improvement.To get them off the workbench I built tilting brackets and mounted them to the rafters.Here's some photos of my work process. 
The bracket pieces were placed in Pony corner clamps and my bench vice to keep them square while I screwed them together with #8-2 square drive SS screws. 
All the wood in this project was cut off's from other projects or wood my neighbors threw out.Thanks for visiting. 
Made these a while back,, Steam bent Ash wood from my own trees, with artificial sinew. and mesh from vegee bags. I like re-purposing and re-cycling stuff as you can tell from my projects. i have some full size ones too. There was a guy and his wife who makes the real deal. Not sure if the video is still available. I like the wood ones much more than the aluminum and plastic ones. Fun project to try.
This week I finished the cherry chair. Completing the set. It has taken 2+ years. But I am done, two chairs, the table and all the pieces. All custom hand made for my self. Feels good to be done.Much of this build was done live on my stream @ Http://www.twitch.tv/Wrenchswoodworks . Sundays 8-10PM EST.
I got a request for a Gnome Roof from a very nice lady that found me on a neighborhood Social Media site. I decided to help her and make her a Gnome Roof for a stump in her yard!The stump is Crepe Myrtle (about 12” D. The trunk was not flat so I had to find a way to cut it flat with the only tool I had… an 8” electric “extend it” pole saw trimmer! I can't believe it work so well on a somewhat hard wood! 
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This seems to be the year when I re-visit all my original shop-built fixtures. No more upgrades and modifications to the old, it's time for new. Today's episode: The Portable Router Table. The lower part really didn't change other than sanding and refastening, the tabletop changed significantly. Bigger, with a new insert, t-track and fence system. Measured it's storage spot so that it just fits.
Our one year old German Shorthaired Pointer puppy was threatening to jump our old gate so I used some salvaged redwood fence boards to build a new one. I ripped the old boards down to 2 1/2” wide and planed both sides to net 9/16”. Then I ran it by tongue and groove cutters on my router table. The little Shop Fox feeder made it a quick, safe and consistant job. The 2x redwood frame was joined with blind mortise and tenons and pegged with 7/16” birch dowels. I put drain grooves and weep holes in the rails to prevent rotting. It all went together with Titebond 3 glue.. I put beveled rain cap in the top and hung it to the existing posts. I am pretty proud of it overall.
Anyway, that's what I call them…Sometimes I'll call them noggin knockers…Was trying different style canes and these happened. The little nubs are ebony and really help with grip. I like them lots.
I recently had a local customer ask me to build a small 3 ft. lighthouse after seeing another one I made last year. Apparently, their young son is hooked on lighthouses right now (very cool). I had wanted to try out a new color and it turned out quite nice. The lighthouse is made entirely of pressure-treated lumber, so I used a Cabot deck stain called “Newburyport Blue”. I might be making a bigger one now, I really like this color!