When working on small projects, I often need to glue odd-shaped mouldings and tiny trim to box sides and other pieces. Not much pressure is required to hold these small pieces in place, and I find that the humble wooden …Source
Getting ready for summer fun. I welded up base and benches got them powder coated. Built table top and bench slats all made of Ash from my buddy Scotty's property here in Tennessee. Bread board ends, 7 coats of Total boat finish. This thing weighs a ton. Ohh, we built a cedar wood picnic table for neighbors Mike and Carrie made him do most the work lol.
I did this project for my friend who lives in a condo with very limited space. This was my first go around making a floating panel type door, I also used a tongue and grove technique for the cabinet corners. I used pocket holes & glue to make up the face frame and used prefinished 3/4 ” plywood for the box. The cabinet was installed above, near the ceiling in the bathroom sink area so I never concerned myself with the top. I also attached a surface LED light to take the place of the ugly hanging light. SO, the precious wasted space is now available even though it's kind of high, it is still available.In picture 5, I finally realized why all you wood workers have so many clamps. LOL!—— Yolandaled
Understanding the importance of chip load calculations. If you have spent time using handheld routers then you have developed an intuitive sense for what is the ideal feed rate and speed for the cutter. The feedback is immediate and tactile. …Source
Back in 2019, I created a thin strip jig as a way to cut thinner stock in a repeatable fashion. Thin strips might not seem desirable until you need one. The one I originally made wasn't well documented, so I started a new one. I'm going to run through it here. First I created a base by using dowels to join 3 pieces of wood together. Dowels are easy if you're starting out. You could, of course, create half lap joints, box joints or rabbet joints. Then I created an expansion bar, which is nothing more than a 3/4” piece of wood that you can add a cone head screw to…oh, and it's partially cut down the middle. Then I glued the expansion bar to the base. I created 2 arms. This is the first of the 2. I call this the measuring arm as we'll be adding a measuring stick to it for gauging how thick to cut our stock. It's also what houses the bolt and the wing nut on top. The second arm will be what I call the “Spring” arm. It will spring up before we go to cut thin strips. I added a 5/8's hole and a spring. Then added a hinge and epoxied and screwed each arm to it. Finally, I added a segment from a steel ruler, snipped. I used epoxy to attach it to the wood. To use it, we'll first square the stock. We'll set our gauge to the thickness we're looking for, we'll press the stock against the fence and then against the spring arm. After we've locked our fence, we'll slide the stock back and let go of the spring loaded spring arm. Then we make our cut.If you're interested in more detailed step by step instructions, I have a link for it on my website. I also have a material and tool used list: https://makethingswithrob.com/spring-thin-strip-jig/Here's the full step by step video:Thanks for looking!
My version of a valet stand. Something to dump my clothes on at the end of the day. I rarely wear a suit, so didn't need the traditional type hanger in the back. Also designed to match other bedroom furniture I made a while back.Nothing too complicated. M&T's everywhere except the slats which are lap joints. Maple everywhere except the cherry slats. Wipe on poly.Thanks for lookin'
Tool: FREE Aware Bluetooth Earbuds Shop Now Manufacturer: ISOtunes MSRP:$199.99 I've written before about the impressive ISOtunes Aware headphones, which use a built-in microphone that allows the user to hear their environment while preventing hearing loss from loud …Source
A long-time carpenter shares a repair trick to hide the mistakes made by ham-handed apprentices. For more than 30 years I was a traveling carpenter foreman in charge of installation of top-quality architectural woodwork and cabinetry. My job assignments …Source
My latest Build out the door. 59×23x38 Credenza Distressed and aged wood top and drawer fronts to resemble greyed driftwood The Color of the cabinet is (Mermaids Dream) the closest Match to a Green YETI tumbler I could get. The Drawer pulls are leather cut from old footballs that were retired from a local Highschool where the client is the Head Coach. There is also a False bottom in one of the drawers and I also all brass hardware. The Drawer pull top brass were all cut from Brass flat stock to fit my need.Enjoy…
The hardest part in building this was handling the parts. 77 is really big. It tips the scale at an estimate 450 lbs. Roughly 60-70 bolts hold it together.Not a real hard build from a joinery standpoint. But my area/benches/press are set up for dining tables that are rectangular or round. Something of this size sucks.The wood/finish is not my cup of tea, but it works decent and finishes well.Thanks for looking.
Well, LJs, I've been absent for awhile because I decided to take on a home improvement project. We have a little bathroom off of our kitchen, and it's always been a bit of a wreck.I did the demo this past Saturday:Then I put in about 12 hours each day through Wednesday… replacing the toilet flange (nightmare that lead to me putting in some new plumbing in the basement), replacing the toilet, painting, tiling the floor, installing new baseboard, installing a new vanity, and replacing anything that didn't have a brushed nickel finish.It turned out pretty good, and I even managed to get some Ambrosia Maple into the design (one of my skinny clocks hangs on the wall next to the door too, but you can't see it in this pic):But then yesterday, looking at my Ambrosia Maple pieces, I got an idea for a new clock (partly because I finally got an idea for these turquoise legs I saved from a stool my wife was throwing away).I had some fun putting the pieces together, and I think the hints of turquoise throughout look pretty good.It's about 25 inches tall and 8 inches across.
Made a bunch of oven squirrels using some boards I had in my shop.Wood used was maple from Lowes, what I think is cocobolo but the sticker was unreadable after spending near a decade on a shelf and getting mostly worn away. The smell when I was sanding it made me think of when I was doing pens and other turnings out of cocobolo. I also have one made of pear from some logs a friend gave me and I milled into rough boards after his ornamental pear tree got taken out in a snow storm in Oct 2021.There is also a squirrel made of oak that came from my firewood pile about 10 years ago that was cut into a rough board and only recently milled into a finished piece of wood.I also have some squirrels made of what could probably be called spalted maple. The maple literally grew in the swamp behind my house and was dying thanks to the amount of water in the ground and was in danger of hitting the barn in the back. We cut down the maple trees which maybe 5-6 inches in diameter and I had been playing with milling rough stock from logs on the bandsaw. Those got stacked and forgotten about for about 10 years. The boards I have left have the insect holes and the coloring on some of them squirrels show where the wood starting to go soft and rot from the inside of the tree. Tried my best to stabilize with some thin superglue on the spots that seemed more punky.The finish is Odie's Wood butter rubbed in, let sit for 2 hours, and then buffed out.
This versatile router joint is perfect for production work. When I need to batch out a bunch of drawer boxes, I use a lock miter router bit. Not only does this bit create a joint with a clean, mitered look …Source
Clamping cauls are indispensable for gluing up casework. A caul is simply a stiff piece of wood used to apply pressure where a clamp can't reach. Sooner or later, you're going to run into a situation like this; you're clamping …Source
My new F-clamp rack, made of solid red oak and an oak veneered plywood back. It doesn't have a finish yet because it's still to cold out to put one on but in about a month I plan to hit it with some semi gloss lacquer.It may seem like a bit of overkill to make a shop project out of a solid hardwood but, at the time, I happened to have a lot of oak on hand and plywood had close to tripled so I just decided to make it out of the solid hardwood instead of ply, it wasn't really that much more in cost.It is also hanging on a French cleat. Thanks for looking.
I received a request for a Queen Size headboard, but due to the size it needed to be easy to breakdown to sizes portable in a car. My grandson recently graduated college and has gone out on his own. He purchased a Queen bed, which was delivered to his new apartment, but my limited transport via an SUV required it be assembled on site.I considered all the possibilities, was considering using standard bed bolts to hold the two sides to the main structure, but I came across something called a Joint Bolt on Amazon, which seemed to fit the need.Photo 1 shows the headboard after finishing, which pretty much takes up the full width of my shop – a single car integral garage.Photo two shows the mortise & tenon method I used for the assembly, making sure the tenon was a press fit into the mortise, allowing about 1/2” of room both top & bottom for the large panel's wood movement.Photo three shows the specialty fastener I used, something called a “Joint Bolt” on Amazon. This didn't require all the necessary additional mortising into the main pane that a bed bolt requires, simply a bronze threaded insert in the panel, and no need to sink the head of the Bed Bolt into the side member. The Joint Bolt provides a finish appearance with it's flat head.Photo five shows the details for the items discussed, the Joint Bolt, the bronze threaded insert, and the mortise & tenon.I'm thinking the headboard secured to the bed frame with 4 bolts toward the bottom of the side members, and reinforced in the middle of the panel via the Joint Bolts, will provide more than sufficient structural support. Only time will tell.Thanks for viewing.
Nothing new or fancy, just using up some scraps of walnut, cherry, and jatoba.These items sell quickly, good inexpensive gifts I figure. Fill some down time in the shop.3-3/4” square, 3/8” thick, “juice grooves” routed in with a small round nose bit to keep wet glasses/cans from lifting the coaster due to the moisture seal.A set I made for home suffer this problem with a dewy can. They have cork bases, finished with amber shellac topped with satin poly.The holders are all walnut, brass brads to keep them in one piece 8^)3/8” felt pads on the holder base, slightly inset to keep them in place.Thanks for having a look-see!
I have built this candle stand for local church. It is 8' long and about 5' tall. 16 drawers with soft-closing slides, cam locks on the top drawer and donation box, the whole thing is on the locking wheels, so it is movable. Materials – cherry and cherry plywood, birch plywood for drawer boxes. Finish – boiled linseed oil, 5 layers of wipe on poly, sanded to 400 grit.By far, this is the largest piece of furniture I built – took 3 months to finish.
This was a fun quick project requested by my wife. The original design was by June Taylor in the 50's. It is used for ironing different seams for sewing such as pointed collars. There were a few pictures online to use for a guide. Took a few adjustments to make sure that it sat level in all 3 ironing configurations. Reinforced it with dominos. Made from unfinished scraps of cherry and maple.
Tool: Small Bench Dog Shop Now Manufacturer: Big Horn MSRP:$15 (set of 2) Any decent workbench with a face vise will allow you to easily work the ends and edges of stock, but finding an efficient and effective …Source
There are a number of things to think about when choosing wood for your woodworking project. You can have a great design, but if the material you use in your woodworking project has flaws in it, there may be problems …Source
This is the projects entry for the construction blog I finished earlier.Called the MKII because it is the second version with some refinements (and de-finements) from the first version based on an older article by Rick AllynThe Basics 13.5”W x 6”H x 10”D Spanish cedar sides and lining Marble walnut veneer Jatoba and walnut trim. Brusso quadrant hinges. Boveda Humidity control packet holder. Mohawk satin pre-cat lacquer. Holds about 75 cigars.I made the first version following the plans as I wanted to get a feel for all the construction requirements for a humidor versus a plain box. I learned a few things but the box, although considered “traditional”, was a bit lacking in details for my questionable tastes 8^)With this version I added some of those details. Still a ways to go before I create “The One”, but better than the first!Constructed with solid Spanish cedar and lock-miter corners (improvement over the plans calling for lap joints).Veneered with a walnut called “marble walnut” which I had never heard of before, but easy to see the names source (looks like marble cake). It seems to be an odd arrangement of heart/sap woods.The interior has an additional 3/16” cedar lining (raw wood).I added some corner caps and lid lining… and of course some splines for the upper/lower frame corners The blog hopefully spells out any details, but feel free to question/comment!
This is a project that I began in the winter of 2005. The big leaf Maple grew in my yard and is estimated to be 250 to 350 years old. The poor health of the tree was evident as it was rotting and dropping dangerous branches. I decided to remove it but I wanted to save the wood. After hand digging around the roots on the inside of the hollow tree I was able to cut it off and wedge it up enough to get chains around it and lift it out with a backhoe. It took seven years of work to get it to where it is and I've been maintaining it from 2012 until now.
I had this cut-off from a board of maple that had an ugly knot that didn't go all the way through the board. The other side had a lot of character so I decided to make an Andy style art box and use it. The plan was to mount the medallion with the knot down and be careful not to sand down to the knot when sculpting the box. Then I got the bright idea of mounting the knot side up and sand down through the knot, removing most of it. This box was the result. The pattern around the knot was way more interesting than the other side of the cut-off with much more chatoyance.So be careful with that piece of wood with the ugly knot. The box is sepele with all other parts maple.
We redesigned this classic with techniques so simple even a novice can build it! Project #1918 Skill Level: Beginner Time: 3 days Almost everyone likes the look of barrister bookcases. But what makes them so appealing? I think …Source
My basement shop is quite small and my drill press is right next to my workbench. When I needed to drill a long board, I would stack pieces of wood on top of my workbench to act as a support.…Source
This project was inspired by Poritz and Studio . They have made a number of pieces with tambour doors that are simply stunning.I used walnut and ash for the entire piece. I tried to integrate the ash in a manner to break up the walnut.To make the tambour doors I made some 1/2” plywood out of mahogany with a walnut ply for the face side. I then cut the strips shown in pic #5 on my bandsaw. Picture #6 shows the jig that was used to keep the strips square and flat while the canvas was glued to the back side of the strips. After the glue dried the canvas had to be “broken.”A video of the doors operating is on You Tube.Thanks for looking, I'm happy to answer any questions.
This was for a granddaughter becoming a Registered Emergency Room Nurse, or something with a special name like that!!!!!! about three or four months ago! No plans. I started making a square box using 1/4” Baltic Birch plywood about 9” square and about 3”wide? Then after going through many carving pictures and designs I drew out something that would fit on the 4 sides of the box. I then laid the box down on a piece of paper and drew out the shape of what I thought would make 4 legs that would flow in to the shape I would carve around the box.. The scroll saw cut out the pieces to be carved along with a 5/16”backer board for the pieces after they were carved to glue them all back together to look like one carved section for each side of the box. Each carved section is screwed on to the box. All the carving was done using power tools and mostly by a Dremel 3000 with the bits coming from Wood Carvers Supply, Inc from Florida. And I have learned to make pictures during the process to help someone that's just starting out playing with wood. When I first started wood working I don't know if my proportions all went together as well as they do now but there are many many years of making things with out paper plans…I did have a round clock dial to lay on a square piece of plywood as the starting place and all the pieces I added were all proportioned to match up for the final looks. All the carved pieces is maple and I used dye stains diluted in lacquer thinner in an air brush with clear lacquer for the top coats in a semi gloss finish. The plywood on front that the dial is attached to is 1/8” thick as I usually use short stemmed clock movements. Clock movement stems can go up to about 7/8” long but using wood this thick makes things too heavy and un necessary. The flowers are of maple also.
Simple project I originally was not going to post but I'm so proud and happy with it since it's something for myself and I can use it every day. It's from a Penn State kit. (pic 3) Made from a piece of Osage Orange. Just make a tenon on one side and drill a hole on the other. Shape and length to your liking's. This is about 16'' and custom fit for me. Finished with Danish oil and waxed. Such a pleasure using it instead of struggling getting on those certain shoes. For some reason after turning it seemed that it was begging for some rings in the Osage so I added a few. Thanks for looking.
Designing sag-proof shelves. Have you ever heard a shelf groan? Well, maybe not, but some shelves look like they would if they could. So much stuff gets piled on them that they end up sagging like a limp noodle. It's …Source
Last night I installed the last 4 door knobs, which officially finished my dual vanity project. This is the permanent fixture that replaces the ”temporary” one I built in January of 2019:It took a little over a year from the original plans, which started with a digital CAD model using Autodesk Inventor.This wasn't my first time doing inset doors, but I learned a new trick to help keep the spacing even using a deck of playing cards, which also proved helpful when attaching the drawer fronts.The casework is all oak, interior is Baltic birch plywood, and the dovetailed drawers are made from maple.Considering the number of pieces that are included in this vanity, this has been one of the most extensive projects that I've attempted, and I'm so stinking proud of how it turned out.Side note: thanks to my lovely wife for her patience throughout the build.
Semi-finals are here. The drill and miter saw both walked away cleanly from their prior opponents, but who who will come out on top now? And with the block plane narrowly edging out the bench plane in round 1, can …Source
This is an oak paperweight I made a while back. I just liked the coin with an elk or buck deer on it, so I counter sunk it into a nice piece of oak I had laying about just waiting to be made into something.
Walnut tv stand. It's really a credenza with a tv on top of it. Most challenging part was flattening and thicknessing the top and the sides. They are made from one 19” wide, 8.5' long walnut board. I didn't want to cut it so it would fit my planer so I built a router sled. My kids love the new tip-on Blum hardware. I have to chase them away from clicking the drawers open and closed all day. Thanks for looking.Credit to YouTuber woodworker Kobeomsuk for the idea.
Although I have several commercially made accessories for clamping mitered frames, they don't work well on small frames. So, I devised my own small-frame clamping method. First, I made four V-shaped corner blocks out of 34″ MDF. Along the outside …Source
I've been fascinated by tensegrity structures, particularly tables, since I first encountered them on the web. I've also seen tensegrity projects here on LumberJocks. At first glance, they look impossible, but they make sense after you study them for awhile. In a nutshell, tensegrity tables are composed of two structural assemblies. The top assembly hangs off the bottom assembly by a wire, and wires connecting the outer edges of the two keep the top assembly from tipping over. If the top starts to tip in one direction, the wires on the opposite side stabilize it. As a result, it can't tip over in any direction.Tensegrity stands for “tensional integrity.” I won't try to explain the concept further here, but the YouTube video Tensegrity Explained does a good job of describing it. (It also shows a commercially available table kit with a clever mechanism for attaching and adjusting the support wires. I got the idea of using nails to hold the support wires in my table from that video.)We don't need any more full-size tables right now, so I decided to build a miniature one. It serves no useful purpose, but it looks interesting and was a challenging project, incorporating elements of geometry, model building (because of some very small parts and joints), and jewelry making (beading wire and crimping) in addition to traditional woodworking.My table is about six inches wide and tall. The top and base disks are 3/8” thick walnut, finished with gloss Arm-R-Seal poly over amber shellac. The two tetrahedrons (which I'll just call pyramids) are made of maple, finished with matte General Finishes water-based poly. The faces of the pyramid segments are 1/4” wide.The pyramids are the centerpiece of the table, both literally and figuratively. I chose to use them because they're more interesting to me than the flat L-shapes, triangles, or circles I see in the centers of most tensegrity tables. I was inspired by another YouTube video that uses tetrahedrons. I didn't understand everything the guy did in his video, so I modeled my pyramids from scratch and used a different method to build them.One of my goals for this project was making the structure look light and delicate. Part of that involved keeping the disks and pyramid segments thin. The other part was keeping the wires and their connections as unobtrusive as possible. (I didn't want any noticeable eye bolts, for example.) The beading wire is very thin—0.024”, which is about 1/40” or 0.6 mm. Loops on the ends of the wires are secured by crimp tubes that are only 2 mm tall and 2 mm in diameter (before crimping); they're tiny.The loops on the outer wires are pinned inside circular pockets in the disks' undersides by 16-gauge brad nails. The pockets hide the wire loops and most of the crimp tubes. The nails are perpendicular to the disks' edges, with exposed heads. I like the look of the exposed nail heads, and they have one practical benefit. Theoretically, I could remove the nails and rewire the entire table if necessary for some reason.I wasn't quite as successful at hiding the connections for the wire connecting the two pyramids. The crimp tubes are visible, as are the J-hooks they connect to, but they're not too objectionable.For those who are interested in the construction details, I plan to write a series of blog posts. I also need to update my SketchUp model to reflect some as-built details. I'll update this post with links to those items when they're available. Until then, I've included some representative (and uncaptioned) construction photos below.Thanks for looking!
You needn't rely on ready-made patterns to design good-looking gams. Legs with engaging, flowing three-dimensional curves can add immeasurably to the aesthetic success of such pieces as tables, stands and chests. In this article, using the legs for a …Source
One of the first steps on my woodworking journey was to organize our garage. Otherwise, I had nowhere to work! We have a large two car garage, but it was stuffed with… stuff. I moved everything around, found space for a bench and got to work.Now that I've worked in the space for a year-plus, I realize it's not working. I also have realized that while I like the idea of putting all of my tools out and open on shelves, that's not a good solution for a space that is routinely covered with sawdust. I needed a tool cart or cabinet.I looked at dozens of plans and came up with a simple design. The biggest challenge was that I decided I wanted to use only supplies I already owned. I would save money for more interesting projects and make a dent on the scrap pile. That meant using a collection of plywood that ranged from “Good, if a little shopworn and slightly warped,” through “Eh, OK” to “Lordy what happened to this stuff?”I made So Many Mistakes. The worst was completely miscalculating the width of the drawers and cutting my very limited supply of plywood for the drawer bases too narrow. I realized this just AFTER gluing and nailing the cabinet carcase. I frantically pried out the nails before the glue dried and took it apart, thank goodness. Then I recut the back, base and top so the drawers would fit.I also realized, after two drawers were complete, that the sides were bowing out partly because they were already warped and partly from the weight. So I turned one drawer base into a part of the carcase and glued and nailed it in place.That means I'm short one drawer base and will have to break down and buy plywood! That's OK, I won't need a full sheet. And anyway I think I'm going to put some kind of thin plywood facing on the drawer fronts. I don't mind it looking functional, but the contrasting plywood is a bit much.I worked very hard on the dividers for the top drawer, and while it's in no way perfect, the tidy little spaces bring me great joy.In the next week or so, I'll buy drawer pulls and locking casters and finish the last drawer. It's not glamorous, but it will make my space much more functional.
This seemed like an easy project. I even had my mother in law's vintage 1960's wood trivet by corningware to copy. Over the years corningware switched to steel trivets and dropped the wood ones. They also changed the sizes of their dishes and started making round dishes. I should have just started from scratch. After several fails and lots of leg modifications I finished them. Never again.The tricky part was making the legs a close enough fit to the sloped walls of the dish to keep it in and not let it slip out the side. These are made to carry the hot dish from the kitchen to the table. I switched out the original design's brass pins for dowel joints and brass screws. I also made the handles larger. I have burned myself numerous times on the original carrying hot dishes to the table.Cherry and maple with garnet shellac finish.PS My wife just gave me a history lesson. The trivet I copied is from Pyrex circa 1970. Corningware made mostly steel trivets.
A small Pill Bottle, 4” x 7/8” Dia, Leppordwood finished with a friction polish.My better half uses a small plastic baggie to keep one of her meds in her purse. So I came up with this as one birthday present next month.I had recently picked up some Leppordwood turning blanks, milled this down to 1” square x 6” and started with the turning. After I obtained a cylinder (between centers). I sat back looking at the grain and figured out how to finish this thing. I laid out a tennon on each end and where to create the cap. (Which is a friction fit). Back to turning to finish the outside.After cutting the cap off I placed it in the chuck and used a 3/4” fostner bit to create the lip, then a 5/8” fostner bit to make the cap a bit deeper, and softened the edge. Then chucked up the bottom and used a 1/2” fostner bit to clear out the inside. Then softened the cut and sneeked up on the fit for the cap.While I still had the tennons on I pushed it together and sanded to 220 grit, stopping after each grit and sanding with the grain. Then finished with BLO and Shellac for a friction finish (thanks Dave P).From there separated the two halfs and chucked each one up, cut off the tennon, sanded and finished the ends.Fun little project, while turning a couple of other things. And I managed to get a good friction fit for the cap. This could also be used for a tooth pick holder, (not those Texas sized ones),since you don't see tooth picks in restaurants anymore.Still learning how to turn, getting better controll of the tools and better at sharpening them too.Thanks for looking.
Hi fellas,Check out this latest video where the NJ Woodturners got together at a members shop with 5 lathes. We had a great time turning tops for donations to the Childrens Specialized Hospital of NJ.Check out Gil's awesome shop also.https://youtu.be/HzUgApeMzGEBob
I pulled My useable scraps out of the scrap bin and created these red grain chaos pattern cheese boards. Woods used are maple, walnut, cherry, bloodwood and wenge.
My sister wanted a specific gardening tool for Christmas so I got it and I hated the handle. It looked like it was turned then run through the table saw to create a slot for the tool's tang to sit in. It was also very bland and fat (my sister has little hands). I carefully cut off half of the wood holding the tang, being sure to leave the side for the pin intact (in hindsight I don't think I needed that but, hey, I was winging it). First I turned a one piece handle and drilled holes in the end for the tang. Then I realized I had no good way to make the multiple holes into a slot. On line search took me to SawMill Creek where a feller shared how he used lamination to create tanged tool handles. Cut out the outline of the tang from the middle piece then glue and turn. I didn't prep the separate pieces very well and ended up with some gaps. The kind jocks on the 2022 Bowling League(Turning Swap) helped me work through that (epoxy and saw dust). Thanks y'all! I used curly maple and ebony. The finished handle is 1 at largest diameter and tapers down in the middle. It is 7 3/4 long. Clear epoxy was used to secure the tool, ferrule and pin in place. 3 coats of BLO and buffed on the wheel. The curl in the maple didn't show as well as I would have liked but it's done and delivered (not quite 3 months late). Sister likes it and says the size is just right! She promised to send a picture of her holding it after she gets her nails done(I'm kidding, she already had them done). I'll add that when she sends it. If you've made it this far I commend you. Thank you for looking. Comments always welcome.PS. Brother-in-law says it's a good back scratcher!
Built a coin bank from scrap red oak (actually found layed out by a neighbor on trash day), and some scrap walnut from my fireplace build.Cant seem to get all the pics loaded like I used to be able to, so oh well.Only way to get it open is when its full, and we saw it in half!-that'll force the little guy to save
This was a custom entry door that I constructed for our new landscape wall into a courtyard. Made from solid Sapele lumber, self closing with a biometric lock. The upper image shows a rendering of the original design I came up with. First time gate building for me with lots of fun challenges. Very heavy! Bank door heavy….Construction is loose mortise and tenon throughout. Finished with spar varnish.
Years ago I took liberties with a design credited to Rogue Engineer for a wooden star. I thought it would serve a dual purpose if the wall hanging could be used as a trivet. I've made them in different thicknesses over the years. They make good gifts, and to improve the angle precision I created a table saw sled. The latest batch are thinner, made from sugar maple sandwiched between hard maple. The maple was too hard for Brad nails, so I made a set of glue jigs from 2×4 stock for the 54 angles to clamp until the glue set. Finished with danish oil and polished with wax. (Polyurethane will leave burn marks from a hot pot.)
The time is upon us! Tool Madness 2022, where we're pitting power tools vs hand tools in the ultimate showdown, starts today! For the next week we'll be polling you to decide which tool moves on to the next round …Source
This is a custom designed low hutch for storing books at the foot of a bed in a small space.Solid white ash case with mahogany stand and accent drawer. Adjustable shelving and sliding doors with polycarbonate panes to avoid breakage as this will be at lower leg level.Custom design (see photo #5) but based loosely on a midcentury modern liquor cabinet by @libbyschrumdesign and published in finewoodworking magazine. The design was refined and rendered in Fusion360.
With the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic, I was obligated to change my curriculum and put our traditional shop work on hiatus. Since I wasn't able to use our benches, vises, and clamps I had to lighten up the projects, …Source
On the 14th of this month I posted a left over box – The left overs was from the box in picture #1. There's not too much to say about the larger box other than the fact that I don't do schetchup or even a hand drawing of a project. I just start cutting and hacking away usually with the intent of saving as much precious wood as I can. That ususlly involves resawing a piece so that I can use all of the wood instead of planeing it down to a given size. In this case the dims were dictated by what was left after the resaw. As mentioned with the left over box that what it was, left over wood from this box. The only reason I made the box to begin with was to shelter the hinge mortising jig I got for quadrant hinges from Rockler. In my frugal attempt at saving lumber I ended up with a box wall thickness that wasn't thick enough for a quadrant hinge – thus the IRONIC label So I ended up with a couple solid brass hinges that I had in storage for 10 years or so, even had brass screws. The box is curly Koa and 13 1/4” x 10 1/4” x 2 7/8” high and it has the 12ga twisted wire encased in resin on all 4 walls. I also put some imitation leather on the inside for tool comfort. Again, I had my local graphics shop make a copy and install the Rockler box top, another $20 well spent. BTW – Linda's question was “you're going to leave that in the shop ?” Guess whare it's going to live until I can sneak it out to my shop ? (on the table with lamps, bowls, and all things nice so visitors can get a glimpseof it) Thanks for looking and I'm sure somebody will remind me to at least make a pencil drawing with a plan of attack on my next project.
Yesterday, looking over my 5 1/2” Ambrosia Maple, I was thinking of doing another skinny clock, but then saw the potential for a different kind of clock. The three boards I recently bought are highly patterned, and I think the wood speaks for itself over any fancy design.I might do another of these today!A few things I did. I did round the corners. I also applied a black stain to the edges and, though it wasn't the intent, the black sides seem to accentuate the “floating” effect that I was going for (similar to what I've done with the skinny clocks).It's about 14” by 5 1/2”.There are no embellishments to this board… no “extra” patterns drawn in with touch-up pens or pencil.Everything you see was in the wood.Sometimes staying simple, when the wood speaks for itself, is the way to go.
Most of the time, the end vise on my workbench is more than adequate to secure workpieces between bench dogs. Occasionally, though, I need to work with thin wood at the front edge of the bench (such as when using …Source
The best measure of success comes in the doing. I don't know if I am alone in this matter, but I have to admit that quite often I consider myself a couch builder. Maybe you know the drill yourself. You …Source
So, there were a few ideas I've been wanting to try for some time. Now, most people are going to either dislike this clock or hate it. That's fine. I've decided that I'm going to make what I want to make and not worry so much about whether or not it will sell. I want to let my creative side make the decisions.I've had this idea for a deconstructed clock and, so yes, this does take three clock movements to make… and three batteries. That doesn't worry me… I just wanted to try it, and the post modern English student in me kinda digs it.My favorite artists were always the Jackson Pollocks… slapping paint on a canvas on the floor and pushing the limits on the idea of what can be considered art.I've been watching the clock for the past 20 minutes, and it is keeping accurate time.Also, I think a few people on here mentioned the idea of doing one of these clocks horizontally… so I tried that with this one. I think it works with the clock's concept.Like the other clock I posted today, I rounded the corners and stained the edges with black stain.Because of the three clock movements, the “clock” has my desired “floating” effect.One of the things I noticed is that this Ambrosia Maple often darkens up a bit when the poly is applied. (See today's earlier clock).So, I applied two coats of Dead Flat Varnish before applying anything else. If you want to keep a piece of wood from darkening from a polyurethane application, you should get some of this stuff. It really helps the wood keep its original color during the finishing process:The clock is about 15.5” wide and 5.5” tall.Don't beat up on me too much!
I've had the opportunity to build 8 of the Hal Taylor-design classic rocking chairs, and then left behind rockers for perhaps 5 years now. Several contemporary desks and side tables later, I wanted to revisit the rocking chair from a different, non-classical, perspective.This is a prototype, and while I started with a full-scale drawing of a rocking chair, the end-result bears little resemblance to the original design. As everyone knows, design-while-building is both fascinating and frustrating. For those interested in the general design, I'll offer that this is a very buildable chair, based on templates and common tools; the challenges arise in precise layout and execution, and maintaining a holistic sense of how the parts interact with each other: one example (we're getting ahead of ourselves here) – the Lower Cross Member (below the Seat) must remain square to the Front Cross Member, and everything in-between must also be square and align properly) the challenges are subtle and demanding.Design Considerations This design departs from virtually every convention I know, except for the Rocker Rails which are necessary for it to be a rocking chair: the back has no fixed support, no legs to speak of, and I substituted sliding dovetails for the traditional Maloof/Taylor joinery.Touching on each of these points:The floating back is carried forward from my High Back Chair (see my Projects section, here), and relies on the Back Braces being captured in a loose deep mortise, at the base of the 'seat', and the top being captured by a moveable Crest Rail.Sliding dovetails streamline the otherwise bulky Maloof/Taylor joint for the Arms/Front Risers/Front Verticals (legs, if you will). The traditional joint is beautiful when used in a classic design; but out of place within contemporary chairs.An under-seat 'back riser' arrangement supports the seat these streamline the sides of the chair, and are sized to be the primary load-carrying element - I'll re-visiting the ones used here, as their shape is my least favorite aspect of the chair.The chair tapers 3 degrees front-to-back, which creates different sized cross-members (Front, Lower and Rear End Cap).A final note on visual weight: this design places considerable physical and visual weight on the front half of the chair: the Front Risers, the large end of the Rails and the full weigh of the arms. This required the addition of the Rear Cap - to offset the otherwise front-end load of the parts, as well as to draw the eye along the full profile - it would not work to have so much going on forward of center, and nothing but thin sticks behind center.Wood Selection From prior builds, I had sufficient Cherry in the shop to complete the build. Billets for each piece begin life at 6/4, and are 5/4+ finished - the Rails are an exception, as I start at 8/4, and finish at 6/4+.Build Approach I work from templates whenever possible: these allow standardized parts, and design changes are first made to the templates, and the parts remade.Festool Dominos are my go-to joinery application, and these are used for several of the joints; however, I found these to be problematic when first connecting the Rails, Front Verticals and Arms I substituted sliding dovetails to spread the load across the joints - I made these exposed, rather than blind, for aesthetics, and practiced a great deal prior to making the cuts on 'good billets' (having said this, I still need more practice). Seat Support (Back Risers)I went through several profiles on the Back Risers prior to settling on the ones used I need to revisit these - my daughter says she likes them though, I'm not sure that she's an un-biased critic.Floating Back I first incorporated the Floating Back in my High Back Chair. The design premise is that the Back Brace bottoms are angled (30 degrees) into individual deep mortises (in the seat), and are held in place by the pressure of the sitter's weight. The floating Back Braces have both considerable flex front-to-back, and are constrained by the Crest Rail. This approach creates a very comfortable envelope for the sitter.Transition Block (Seat) The Seat comprises two parts: Seat Slats (5 one-eighth inch x 18 slats bent and glued via a form) and the Transition Block - this piece receives both the back end of the Seat Slats and bottoms of the Back Braces the piece serves to transition the visual line from the Seat Front to the top of the Back Braces (these elements are aligned to help support this).The mortises are cut using a trammel router jig - typically, I'll use a 35 to 38 radius - both the Transition Block and the Crest Rail need to be made using the same radius.Crest Rail The Crest Rail is comprised of 8 blocks of glue-up mirror dados, which is then shaped via a compound arc: 35-38 front-to-back, and 41-45 top-to-bottom. The Crest Rail is made by ripping a 2 thick, 5 wide board on the bandsaw; these haves are cleaned on the jointer, and thicknessed on the planer. Dado locations are marked such that 5/16 is removed from each side in matched pairs (for 8 slots - one for each Back Brace. The two haves are glued together to create 8 through mortises. Individual blocks are then cut to separate the mortised pieces. These pieces are then mitered at 3 degrees on each side; then glued to form the desired arc. (there is considerable math behind this Once all eight pieces have been glued, the appropriate horizontal (front-to-back) arc is formed then draw the desired vertical (top -to-bottom) arc, and cut on the bandsaw.As I stated at the outset this is a prototype with the primary purpose to assess proportions and workflow. The fact that the design changed during the build means that I may need to build another chair to lock down all of the variables.Local feedback has been interesting my sister and daughter find it very comfortable; my wife is not a fan of contemporary designs and she'd be happy if I just sold my equipment and took-up a different interest and so it goes.I have not applied a finish to this chair; as I have to attend to other things for several weeks. When I do get to the finishing stage, I will use 2 coats of Zinsser Seal Coat (or Deft Lacquer Sealer) and several coats of Deft Clear Acrylic Wood Finish.As always, I'm look forward to comments and constructive feedback; and I'll try to answer questions as thoroughly as is practicable. Everyone, Stay Safe and Chill-out (man, things have become tense out there).
In the past, I did a wall clock that had more of a star shape, and I really liked the look:However, the circles made for little gluing surface (and were a pain to assemble… next time I'll use dowels!). In fact, this clock is so fragile that I've decided to keep it for myself.But, I liked the star shape of it, so I decided to try it again. I ended up using the last of my 1.5” Ambrosia Maple (at least the AM with any fun grain to it). This design gives much more surface to glue, and overall it feels pretty sturdy. I wasn't able to get the miters perfect (the angle pieces were almost impossible to clamp), but overall I was pretty pleased with the look.It's about 14 inches tall and 11 inches across.Rummaging through my scrap burl box, I stumbled on a piece that I felt made a perfect centerpiece. It's finished in a wipe-on gloss poly with two different color end caps on the ends of the “spokes.”
A master craftsman's method for making perfectly spaced drawers. I made this dresser for a client whose father designed and built similar furniture back in the 1950s. Its grid system is very modern looking, but getting all the spacing just …Source
The new Marilla and Kinzua are great EDC knives for woodworkers. Tool: Marilla Shop Now and Kinzua Shop Now Manufacturer: Case Knives MSRP:$164.99 (Marilla) & $139.99 (Kinzua) No tool in my shop gets more usage than my everyday …Source
A 48” long wine glass shelf. Made of alder, stained with General Finishes Java Gel Stain and finished with General Finishes Satin Top Coat. It attaches to the wall with a French cleat. I pre-stained and finished the inside of the all of the wine glass moulding pieces and the bottom of the shelf where they were screwed on.
I was asked to make 16 pinewood derby trophy bases for the derby which took place recently. So, there were 2 classes of 1st, 2nd and 3rd place winners plus a number of other classes for fastest wolf cub, bear cub etc.
When your 8 year old granddaughter asks you to make her a checkerboard, your 8 year old granddaughter gets a checkerboard…..plus a box to store her checkers. A joy to see her wanting to play with something that doesn't plug in or make noise. The same joy you get when you use hand tools.Woods: Cherry, Ash and Walnut.Finish: Tru-Oil.
Old glasses cases are great for protecting, containing and organizing small tools, scrapers and plane irons. I label the outside so I can see at a glance what's inside each case. -John Rustan…Source
A platter made from Manzanita root. Approximately 10” x 7” x 2”. Finished with several coats of wipe-on gloss poly. Turned entirely with Easy Wood Tools.
Learn techniques for 'shallow relief' and 'applied' carvings. Have you ever been involved in something where you get completely absorbed in it? Where hours go by without realizing it? Those are the moments when you discover something you truly …Source
Well, as I continue to practice on the lathe, things are starting to spin a little faster. Here is the latest progress photos.All and all, I think they came out nice, even the ones I added a splash of color to.Starting to understand what a few of the tools do, and, more importantly, what they don't do; although I only have three tools thus far.So, yes. The designs remain similar, but progress nonetheless.Maybe a bottle opener is on the horizon. Then of course, a pen.Thanks for looking.
My wife wanted a card holder to pass the decks of cards around when playing pegs and jokers. We had a bowl but she saw someone with a rectangular holder and wanted one…so I designed this one to fill the order. It is 4 3/8” x 3” x 3 1/4” high and made from some scraps of pistachio that were cracked in lots of areas. I could not cut around the cracks so I filled them with turquoise.I made it to fit 3 deck and the bottom is 3/4” in the front and 1/2” in the back so the cards lean backIt is finished with satin lacquer…...................Cheers, Jim
This similar jig was originally made by one of my co workers and myself from metal and used on inserting wood inserts for wood floors and other materials while I was still in the trade. I passed it on to my son after I retired 10 years ago. We called it the adjustable framer or GIG. Later It was nicknamed by the guys as the GIGGOLO.I made this jig about 8 years ago while I was setting up to do sign making. Remembering the giggolo I thought this could be something that may come in handy. I can set the wood in the frame clamp it down and by using different bushings on the router I could change making a border around the wood. LittleBlackDuck posted a adjustable oblong routing jig last year and I got the idea to use it to cut grooves on cutting boards. I also use it to hold mitered box side panels so they don't fall as I'm checking on the fit. I also used it for temporary clamping. This has many different uses if you use your imagination and could come in handy for something or not.Start off by making 4 rails any length you like. This can be done with a keyhole router bit. Since I have a endless supply of bamboo flooring I chose to laminate 3 pieces together. The two ends I cut a dado in as you see in the pics and the middle piece is shorter to create the slot for the T bolt. Which ever way you go you need to start with the four rails.Then the end caps which have the tightening knobs also. At this point I made my own knobs and threaded them with a wood threader but you can also buy knobs if you choose These are for 1/4-20 bolts. Keep in mind the knob can not be thicker than the thickness of the rail or it won't sit flat. There is a small spline inserted as you see in the next pic. It goes in the groove of the adjacent rail and aids the sliding and also keeps the rails from going willie wonky.That's pretty much it but if you have a question please ask.Hopefully this can be useful to someone. I use it quite often and it's one of the many jigs that didn't get thrown out a few months ago.
Quick & dirty. A case of it's quicker to make a tool than clean up the shop to find the one that's buried somewhere.A piece of unused white oak, a couple small pieces of walnut with a 5/16 hole drilled in them, and a little glue. Plus a level tube I bought a half-dozen of just to have.Drilled holes, cut notch, planed and checked for level, putting the level down both directions (picture 3). A couple coats of tung oil once the glue had set.Good enough for hanging new cleats on the wall, but I should've made it a little thicker so I could plane the sides flat. Oh well.
This house was finished in July 2018. After less than 3 years the shutters started rotting, as well as those on the other houses. The construction was crappy, as well as the materials – who would use finger jointed lumber for panels outdoors?I made a set for our house and another set for a neighbor.I used 5/4 poplar for the frames. after routing the dadoes and mortises, I painted (soaked) them all with 2 coats of very thin primer loaded with M1 mildew treatment. Then painted all end grain wood with several coats until no more would soak in. The dadoes in the horizontal members have drain holes to the rear sides. The paint was loaded with M1. I don't know anything else to do to prevent rot.You can see some deterioration on the left side of the window frame; a springtime project.Its truly a shame that construction quality is this poor even on higher end homes. My only advice is to avoid Patrick Malloy homes.
Stanley Steamer model. I'm fascinated with these brass era cars. Body is Bloodwood, and curly maple stand with cherry frame. The tires are katalox (no paint), wheels are painted, springs are walnut dipped in a vinegar / steel wool solution to ebonize. Some copper and brass covered pieces. The Stanley logo on the front is a thin strip of brass cut with a scroll blade on the band saw. The seats are pine upholstered with a piece of scrap leather and brass pins. Plans are from Forest Street Designs but with some of my own preferences. Thank you for taking a look and appreciate your comments and suggestions.
Was in a “let's see what I can come up with from various cutoffs and odd pieces” type of mindset. Got rolling with some business card holders. Gave away most to faculty in my department. Various wood types – walnut, cherry, oak, and mahogany. Glued them up with blue tape to hold in place and then did some trimming at the bandsaw to refine the shapes. Used Odie's oil which I'm really liking for the depth of color. Still have the three cherry ones left so likely will make part of my donation to my friends St. Jude's fundraiser.Few other pictures
Sorry to bore some people with another grade, however the first two were sold to raise $1800.00 for a children's hospital appeal here in Auckland New Zealand. Consequently I had to make another one for my self. This one is slightly different in a few areas like the rebated closing side of the cab doors. I also changed the way the doors lock work with the rebated doors. Just seemed like a better solution for me. Most of the grader is made from American Cherry that is a little darker than normal. Tyres are ebonized Mahogany and wheels are Holly. Engine and rippers are Walnut. This is a great model to build with heaps of detail and just as pleasing after No3 to build.
Sorry for not posting again for awhile and thanks to all for all you that have reached out….appreciate it!Forgot to grab the photos of the old way this was organized, but for sure this is better….The goal was to get all the drill press / bit stuff somewhat organized and the timing of this seemed to work out. A coworker had a bunch of Poplar tongue and groove cutoffs (pic 2) and I also had a bunch of free to me Oak narrow strips (8-10' long) that had no apparent future….....(pic below).These worked out to be the slide-out shelves.The things I did buy for this build was the drill bit organizer:https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B09987LKFN/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o08_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1And cheesy 9” drawer slides…not going to post a link for those, they work, but not super sturdy.A shout out to my brother for building the steel back board to the right of cabinet. I initially put it in my office and later thought it would be great in the shop! So many things you can do magnets. I have a bunch of my drill driver bits on there and they stay put being mounted horizontally.More Photos:From a distance…this is the new addition (RED BORDER):Thanks for looking.
Like most woodworkers, I never have enough clamps. Adding to a clamp collection is expensive, so when I needed some deep reach clamps, I made these auxiliary hardwood jaws. The jaws are mortised to slide on the clamp's bar. You …Source
One of the strops that I tried in my efforts to find a high-quality yet economic tool was the Lee Valley strop. (Read part 1 of the story here). This strop is made of plywood and comes with separate …Source
An Airman, of whom I was his first supervisor, contacted me about building him a shadowbox for his retirement. I told him I would be honored to build it for him and we started discussing about what kind of wood he wanted. After showing him the other shadowboxes I had built he was still undecided so I sent him a picture of the box I built for my father and upon seeing it, knew that he wanted his built from honey locust. We both agreed that it was something that neither of us had seen at a retirement ceremony as everyone typically sticks with the standard maple, cherry, or walnut; not that there is anything wrong with any of those but when it's something no one has ever seen then it seems a little more special. This was the first time I chalked out the “useable” sections from the rough cut lumber and I can honestly say, I'll be doing a lot more of that! The edges were waterfalled and the whole thing was sealed with boiled linseed oil to bring out the warmth of the honey locust and four coats of poly to seal it. To say this Air Force jump team member was on cloud nine when he saw it would be an understatement. I do have to admit that I feel old as former first troops are nearing their retirements but it's still an honor to build their shadowboxes for them.
This project started as an natural stain grade oak kitchen with a drywall stub wall . I was asked to replace the stub wall with a design of mine for a curio cabinet with lighting and top ,and a L-shaped breakfast nook on the other side , Then i changed hardware and hinges out to new softclose, and my painter stepped in and repainted and glazed all the old and new . Turned out great ,I think , they loved it .I also removed old built in hood added the missing crown , and changed it out with new SS, and my tile guy did the tile. hope you like it .after i did the kitchen across the street , from old to new shaker style .
The critical parts are the fluid nozzle and air cap. As I have said many times, spray guns are pretty simple tools. By comparison, they aren't any more difficult to use than a router. Still, there are a couple of Source
Bought a Delta 33-890 12” Radial Arm Saw, came without a table.I despise MDF, but that is the ideal material for the table, so I went with it, and then edge banded to make it more acceptable. :)Glued 3/4” walnut and oak dowels through the MDF where the hardware mounts, since MDF tears, cracks, or wallows out so easily.The hardest part with no old table to work from, was figuring out the sizes. The manual shows that the tabletop is one main piece, 4 varying size insert panels, and the fence. But I could only find the sizes for the main panel, not the insert panels. Finally found someone right here on LJ's that took a guess at them. Used the same sizes, and it worked!The way it works, you install the main panel, which screws down, then using the table clamps on the front of the saw (those two knobs), you clamp the insert panels between the main panel in front, and the clamps at the back of the saw. Really ingenious design. Point of so many sized pieces is you can reconfigure the fence and panels for any number of cut angles and sizes, in less than a minute.Panels and Fence – 3/4” MDF Edge Banding – 3/16 Pine Finish – MinWax Fast Drying Poly. Just did one coat brushed on, so it comes out still feeling like wood and not shiny.
In need of some quick lumber storage, I rummaged around my shop for a solution. I discovered a length of PVC pipe left over from a plumbing job and cut it into three 12″ pieces. I also found some 1/2″ Source
I randomly bought a piece of flame birch and it looked like a waving flag. Added some curly maple and some highly figured shedua for the red and yellow. The star is shedua, I had made another star out of tropical walnut embedded with copper, but changed my mind. It's an available option. I had fun at the Arizona historical society archives, where they allowed my to see the original draft of the official flag. Took all of the measurements down and scaled it down Autocad. The frame is shedua with curly maple. I hope the pictures are good enough. They were the only ones small enough to upload
Finally ready to go!! I purchased this new Stepcraft 840 about 2 months ago. As everything typically goesI buy new tools and have every plan of giving it a home prior to use. Then I end up just breaking into it and having to re-adjust my plans later. This one was different, I waited to use it till the cart was done. Wellhere it is! 42×36 top to support the machine and also to keep the footprint at the bare minimum, including enough size to support any hanging wires in the back and to support the access panels on each lead screw without having them dangle in the air. Added storage, a drawer for keyboard and mouse. The monitor stand will be done on the CNC so I had to get it to this point to begin that process. And of course the first project was the logo accent light on the side. And the filling of the lines in the drawer faces in the orange. Mobile base allows me to move it super smoothly and out of the way! Cannot wait to really get this dialed in and assist with jig making or patterns for bigger projects, (really the only reason for purchasing). Thanks for looking!!
Efficient storage is important in my garage shop, so after use, my assembly tables tip, fold, clamp and roll. Each table has one apron-mounted caster ($10 at a home center). I used two sheets of 3/4-in. plywood to make the Source
Somebody said that we needed to try something new with this swap and really push ourselves. I may have taken it too far.I got the inspiration from a few youtube videos and a website (www.marchland.org/woodturning/list.htm) that explained how to get a twisted tapered turning. Given the amount of time we had to work on our projects, I figured I could give it a try and still have time to do something else if it failed.I began with three glue-ups, walnut, maple, and cherry, with the idea that I would have multiple attempts and that I may want to mix-and-match the species to create different sets. Each blank would yield two shakers and I figured the maple would be my prototype and the cherry and malnut would be the final products. I turned the blanks as identical as I could, with matching tenons in the middle and on each end. Next up was the jig to hold the blanks. It consisted of two 10” circles from 3/4” plywood which would be endplates for the jig. Each endplate was marked up for three equidistant holes sized to firmly hold the end tenons on the blank. In the end I didn't use the whole 10” capacity, keeping the holes as tightly spaced as I could while also getting the max twist from the blanks. I was only 6 holes so I planned to simply drill the holes on the drill press by eye, but I realized that the holes actually needed to be tilted and a jig was preferable to make sure the holes were indexed correctly. I used a faceplate and a centering pin to locate indexing holes where the screws go, and then those holes could be used to space the mortices for each tenon. Clear as mud? Once I got that thought through and made (and it took awhile as I'm no engineer), I put it all together and got it on the lathe without too much trouble. The tenons are screwed through each endplate to secure everything. I didn't put any thought into how I would index each face on the blanks, but I should have at least marked the endplate and blank in their starting positions. It didn't take long for me to realize I had a long, slow process ahead of me. Me and my old Craftsman lathe really took a pounding with the interrupted cuts and it was a slow slog. After awhile, I realized that the pounding had actually caused the blanks to rotate slightly, which caused a slight misalignment. I ended up adding additional screws but since the diameter of the tenon was relatively small they couldn't be spaced apart very far, the rotation was something I had to keep checking for. The fix was to cut deeper than I originally wanted, but I made it work. After the first half of the first face was done, I created a template in a peice of scrap to repeat it on the other half and on each additional face. I created a mirror image of the template and rigged up a holder so that I could do the rough shaping by eye. I spent all day on the first face and I was spent. I knew I needed a better way to at least get the rough shaping done. I improvised a sliding trim router holder and using a 1/4” ball-end bit I freehanded most of the rough removal. The lathe was not running, just the router. I positioned the router and then rotated the blank jig manually to bring the blanks into contact witih the spinning bit. No CNC here! Ideally, I would have rigged up a way of using the template and a follower to guide the router, but that's for later. After each face was roughed, I followed up with regular turning to bring it to final shape. After a very long time, I had all faces turned and it was time to remove the jig and cut each blank into its two items. This is where those middle tenons come into play. I was able to use those to drill the center from either end. Now that the bodies of the shakers were roughly done, I stared with the bottom plug/base. I was thinking wenge and maple for salt and pepper, but the walnut was suffering from alot of tear out and I was really liking the maple, so that called for a rethink. Instead I opted for the same contrasting wood on each, wenge for both maple and cherry, maple for the walnut “prototypes”. These were just 3” squares of 4/4 material on which I turned a tenon with space for a rubber o-ring sized for the bored holes. I traced the outline of the main body on each to match, then trimmed to within about 1/4” with the bandsaw. Final shaping was with the belt sander and hand files. Final hand-shaping and sandiing was done mostly on the lathe to use it as a rotisery. I finished the bodies with simple wax and alot of hand buffing. The last touch was the matching black and white buttons that were glued into a small recess on the top with 5 minute epoxy. I will say that I should have partially bocked the holes for the salt and it pours out too easily. I ended up selecting the maple shakers for Bill. The walnut shakers need loads more sanding due to the tearout and the cherry set needed a repair to one of the bases. Overall, I like the results. I've never tried to make anything this sculpted before. I would note that cutting the blanks in half resulted in less twist for each half, so the effect is a little underwhelming and may not even be noticed at first. I definately achieved the goal of trying something new and having fun while doing it. Swaps are a great place to interact other LJs and I highly recommend joining the next one!JD77
Bud vases (both wet and dry) have been good sellers at craft shows.This year, I'm adding a little different take on them. This design was inspired by a demonstration given by Mark Sillay during a recent weekly WorldWideWoodturners Zoom meeting.These are about 5 inches tall and have glass tubes (13mm x 100mm). They are finished with Parfix 3408. Mark Sillay used Gabon Ebony for the tops and bases he demonstrated … I used some less expensive hardwoods I had on hand (Black Walnut, Cherry, and Teak).
I made this rack so the finish on my small projects would dry without leaving marks. I cut strips off of a 3/4″ board with my tablesaw's blade tilted 30 degrees. For each new strip, I just flipped the board Source
Cost, time, and a spouse's patience help determine the course of action. Editor's note: This article was originally published in the November 2009 issue of Popular Woodworking. It's a dilemma nearly every woodworker must face. Whether you are a weekend Source
I use a portable circular saw to break down plywood and other sheet goods into manageable pieces before bringing them to the table saw for final sizing. I prefer to do the job on sawhorses rather than crouching on the Source
Hello everyone. Hope you are all doing well.My latest project was this adjustable cell phone stand.I've made stands like this one before as Christmas gift in 2019. Those were made out of some pallet wood. This one was made from quarter sawn white oak that was probably 35-40 years old.I can't take credit for the design. I saw it on Pinterest and thought it would be fun to make.As usual there is a video of the build if you care to watch.Thank for looking. Take care.
A perfect platform for teaching woodworking to kids. Woodworking safely with children requires a bench vise to hold stock securely. While stools can raise a child to the height of your workbench, there is nothing safer than having your feet Source
So, I had a long piece of wild cherry gall out in my crates. I took the pruning saw to it (which is probably the majority of the work) and cut this piece. Then I ground it and then sanded it.I decided to go with off-center placement of the clock hands.It sits really nicely against the wall and has a floating effect to it.My guess? This thing is going to do some warping… but maybe that will add to its charm.It's a really beautiful piece of wood! If you look at the dark part of the grain, it almost looks like a duck-billed platypus diving down toward the bottom of a lake.(And, yeah, these things come together even faster than the skinny clocks!)
This guy has a bit of spalting but the real challenge was the knots and splits. CA glue was needed in a couple of spots to keep it together while the larger holes and gaps were filled with clear epoxy. Finish was multiple coats of Wood Turners Finish with sanding between coats with progressively finer grits to achieve a high lustre finish.Thanks for checking it out. Appreciate any and all comments/suggestions.Cheers Bryan
Picture #1 is original box – the rest are pics of the new box Sometime last year I got a Freud Forstner set. I had never had a complete set of good bits before so I was excited about having them and even more excited on their performance compared to what I had been using. This build was totally unnecessary because the box they came is was quite sufficient. However, I had a piece of American chestnut left from a tree that was given to me and thought it would be perfect. It was (please note was ) perfect until I started millwork. Somehow I ended up with a 'short' board so I performed stretching exercise on one piece. I made a butt joint with a 45 degree as opposed to a lap or even a dowel joint. Now it must be said that when I glued this joint I merely put glue on ONE edge and made the marrige and held it for 15 or 20 seconds. in 2 hours or so I scraped off excess glue and ran all of the components thru the drum sander and kissed both edges on the table saw and ran the rest thru for same dims. I wasn't concerned about losing heigth because not only being a poor planner I did have the foresight to leave plenty for the top and bottom. Now, for the top and bottom – both are 1/4” laun and set in dados. After I got the box complete I took it and the original to our local graphics store. Tiffany ran the original thru their copy machine and got a pretty good image. I asked her if she would install the graphic when it was done – sure I'll call in a couple days. When I went over to pick it up I remembered that I failed to ask HOW MUCH ? Imagine my surprise when she showed me the box and then I finally asked – with tax $16.01 I couldn't get to the money in my pocket quick enough. I didn't have a penny but she had already got one out of the dish by the register when she saw that I had a $20 in my hand. I told her thank you and left – I thought $20 was cheaper than I thought it was going to be. Bottom line – I have a new home for the bits albiet a flawed home but one heck of a nice roof and again a totally unnecessary build but it shows what I've been saying all along – That's what I meant to dobelow are pics of my error – more later about gluing things and thanks for looking blast away about my glue process and the butt joint – i'd like to hear opinions
i had this bench i got from my dad for many years and i always looked at it as a wasted space under the top.now we never have enough storage space especially in a shop so it was time to fix that problem.cabinet is just a simple box made from melamine.drawers are baltic birch and drawer fronts are clear grain doug fir which has gotten quite expensive at 11.40 a board foot.full extension slides with wire pulls.just a stain for finish.last pic shows the wheels i had on it.they were a big POS ! id be moving it and they would drop.adding the weight i have they had to go.replaced with 3” poly wheels which sound small but i dont want it rolling too easy.they work fine.
Kudos to Mother Nature again.The objective here was to pick a shape to display as much of the burl as possible. Any of you who tackle burl know how tricky it can be to get a 'clean' surface. The amount of sanding required with this was best measured by a calendar – not a watch. In the end I think it was worth it.It's 8 wide at the top tapering to a 3 wide base by 2 high. Finish is Shella Cream and Shella Wax followed by time with the buffer.Appreciate any and all comments/suggestions.Cheers Bryan
I built the lager child size Rocker using a photo that I got off of Etsy. (more on that one here) . I wanted to make a plan but had no idea how to use SketchUp. So I asked Little Black Duck (LBD) if he could help me out. He came up to bat and hit a home run for me! . The plan that he made of the lager chair you see in the photo came out perfect! . I would say I asked the right jock for this task not to say my other buddies wouldn't have helped me out. . Soooooooo! . The plan is full size but I decided to print them on my home printer and choose “to fit printable area” which is 11 X 8.5 size paper I had. . This let me have a downsized plan so I made this Mini rocker for a doll with that print. I'll have to head over to the UPS store to have them print me a full size plan for the lager child size rocker. Thanks to LBD for making me a happy guy! Everyone loves that little mini rocker! . Oh… wife came out the the shop with two of her little mini stuffed teddy bears and sat them in the Mini rocker before I was even done making it. LOL! Guess you can tell who's getting this rocker!
I had a lull in projects so I planed down some of the extra mesquite laying around and made some more hangers. I made these out of 3 pieces instead of 4 like last time. they are doweled and glued together. They finished up at 7/16” x 9” x 16 1/2” and they are coated with Boiled Linseed Oil and semi gloss lacquer….....................Cheers, Jim
The origin of these is, I'm sure, the same as others: have to find a way to use up some of this scrap material.I still haven't learned how to visualize in 4 dimensions (ala MTM woodworks) to see the pattern I want in the finished board and then know how to glue it up, cut apart, flip and rotate, re glue, recut, etc in order to get it. So mine are more of the variety here's what I have, guess I'll put it together this way, maybe if I cut here and flip these 4 strips and re glue before I repeat the process and look it turned out this way. That's just how I roll.If anyone has cracked the code on this visualization translation as it relates to cutting board design (ie those amazing geometric patters I often see) please pass them along.These 2 are of the smaller variety; the smaller one being more of a cheese board size. Our daughter is my board tester. Every once in a while I'll send her a board or 2 to use (and abuse) so I can see how they hold up and what I can learn to apply to the next build. She has these 2. I've had to touch these up a bit with some re sanding and refinishing but other than that they are holding up well. Her preference, from trial testing different sizes of cutting boards, are smaller ones: easier to store and move around.The larger one here is 13 x 10 and the smaller one is a tad shorter, both are 1 thick. Woods used are oak, maple, cherry, ash and walnut.Appreciate any and all comments/suggestions.Cheers Bryan
I use strops all the time to hone our many carving knives, our plane, and chisel blades, not to mention my pocket knife. Strops maintain our edges and gift them with pinnacle sharpness that lasts a long time. If you Source
Here are a few of my recent turnings that keep me occupied in the cold winter weather.The larged bowl is Apple wood as are the two smaller bowl in front of it. The bright bowl in front is maple but the camera flash washed out the color. The two shallow bowls are walnut the boxes above are big leaf maple on the left and on the right apple wood with a Madrone lid. All have walnut oil for the “bling”. The apple bowls have a salad bowl finish and the rest are just polished with a paste wax over the oil. The apple bowl is 10” in diameter.
Tool: D8 Hand Saw Shop Now Manufacturer: Bad Axe Toolworks MSRP:$395+ Making a good handsaw is difficult; making great handsaws at a production level seems darned near impossible. The D8 handsaws (based on the Disston D8 and Simonds Source
This is a fun little project to finish on the lathe. It would be a good one for those folks who have small lathes. They make great gifts. Pictured on the right are Myrtle wood (Calif. Bay Laurel), center apple wood, right plum wood. I made sets of 8 of each.First I made a pentagram template piece so I can mark off the blanks on a board. Then I cut them free with the band saw and sand the 5 flats on a belt sander to remove the saw marks. I have made them before and struggled with drilling the center holes on the drill press so I came up with another method on the lathe using a jig that mounts on a lathe chuck to hold the blanks and a Forstner drill bit mounted in a chuck in the tail stock. (see picts) Boards that are 3/4” to 1-1/4” thick work well and for a challenge you can try cutting a pentagram shaped column from a thick piece of wood (possibly a tree limb?) and slicing pieces off. The hole is 1-1/2” in diameter and each side measures 1-5/8”...or more if you want larger finished pieces. After the hole is drilled I mount the rings on the short small diameter jaws of the chuck, round over the each side with a scraper tool and sand as needed. It is best to start the cut from the outside on the tips to reduce chipping and because of the smaller diameter I find a high speed (2000rpm) work well. These were first coated with processed walnut oil. The Myrtle wood ones looked “flat” so I applied 3 coats of salad bowl finish to bring out the wood color better. The Plum ones the same and the Apple were just oiled and waxed.
Playful Dalmation puppy. About 4 inches long. This was a piece of Southern basswood that I had. Got it started and immediately ran into trouble with the wood splitting. Started to throw it away, but decided to go ahead and finish carving. The grain is vertical, and the tail is a dowel that was added on. You can see places where the wood split off. After attempting to smooth them out, I finally stopped as it would cause the shape to change too much IMO.Claude
You know when you're working on a turning and get that feeling of this needs something. This was one of those.This piece had some interesting figure appear as I turned it. Before I started hollowing I got that feeling: this needs something to set that figure off. I glued on pieces of rosewood to the bottom (which you can't see in the photos) and the top, blended those into the profile and hollowed out the bowl. It's 6 wide by 3.5 high with a 1.5 opening. One day I'll get brave enough to attempt a small opening hollow form (not there yet). It was finished with Shellawax and then buffed.I was pleased with the end result but all comments/suggestions are welcomed.Cheers Bryan
How to choose a spray gun. A spray gun is a tool that turns a stain, paint, finish or other liquid material into a fine mista process called atomization. It then propels the liquid onto a work object. Spray guns Source
Good Bye Garry I lost a friend and mentor recently, and the woodworking community has lost an icon. Garry Knox Bennett's accolades are far more than can be mentioned in this article, but I'll share a few: a 2004 Award Source
These are some rings I made from the scraps laying around the lathe. The one on the right is Osage Orange and the other two are 2-tone Acacia ( some heart and some sap wood in them). One is a size 4 1/2, one is 4 3/4 and one is a size 5. They are finished with clear gloss lacquer.I met this little girl named Harley whose mother had the booth next to mine. Harley wanted a ring but the ones in the shop sponsoring the craft sale were all too big. Her mother said she was a 4 1/2 size. I have never made one that small back home and my mandrels don't go that small…..so I made a wood mandrel last night to get by.They are coming to the sale in our park this Saturday and she can have all the rings for herself and some friends.Cheers, Jim
Quick and easy turning from a scrap of Piquarana, which is a straight grained wood. Sanded through 220. Finished with shellac, about 6 coats, sanding to 400 then 0000 wool and buffed. The finish took longer than turning the blank, waiting for it to dry.But that gave my time to clean the table saw and way tubes on the shopsmith, then wax and buff.Thanks for looking.
Looking at those boards of Ambrosia Maple while drinking my coffee this morning, I was curious how long it would take me to do two skinny clocks. Turns out, about three hours… and much of that is finish drying time.One is end capped in red. The other is end capped in silver with clock hands spray-painted the same color as the end caps.Nothing super fancy about these, but I did stain the sides rather than monkey around with paint. The sides are stained in a “honey” tone (next time I may go darker).I know, not much new to see here, but the clock wall is getting pretty full!
A Forstner Bit can drill holes other bits only dream about. Forstner-style bits can go where no other drill bits dare. The reason is simple: A Forstner bit is rim-guided while other bits are center-point guided. That means you can Source
Tool: WD 5/P Wet-Dry Vac Shop Now Manufacturer:Karcher MSRP:$199.99 Many woodworkers rely on vacuums for their dust collection needs around the shop. These tend to fall into two categories: common wet/dry vacs or much more expensive dedicated Source
I tried to make a copy of a child's bench that I saw. Not a very good copy. I still have some finish sanding to do and finishing. But I was limited by materials from the Home Depot 70% off bin.Second picture is the inspiration.
Expert craftsman Tom Donahey shares his plans for an essential tool to work green wood. Few woodworking experiences are as sweet as working wood that's just been split from a recently felled tree. Green wood is much easier to shape Source
This is the Wedgie Sled, (Jerry Bennett video), I put together today, 12” x 20” with 1-1/2” fences. Base is 3/4” plywood with a oak runner on the bottom for the miter slot. The fences are Oak, and I made the star knobs with layered 3/4” plywood with a “T-Nut” barried in the layer, cut with hole saws. I also cut up card stock to create the wedges, (from 8 to 40 sides), only thing left is to cut some samples to ensure the angles are correct. Then I can make some from 1/8” hard board. At some point I will make a stop guide to fit into the other miter slot of the table saw.The last picture shows a zero clearance plate with an angled piece of Oak to allow the small pieces to fall away from the blade. Safety thought, keep them little pieces from getting launched back at me.I will use this for my next turning project, segmented bowls.Thanks for looking.
My father in law (87 years old) fell and hurt his shoulder, and has trouble getting around any way he was unable to get into his regular bed. So we installed a small full size bed but it seemed naked compared to the large bed they have. I came up with this simple design for a headboard that reasonably matches the original.The bed frame was not designed to have a headboard, hence the brackets that attach to the bed via hose clamps. It does a great job solid and secure, if he needs it for support it will handle it.Thanks for looking.
Practical solutions to common plane problems. When a plane is working right, it can produce a silky-smooth surface that absolutely glistens. When it doesn't work, you get an ugly surface covered with blemishes. The problem can be your sharpening, your Source
Here is another Toys and Joys build. This dozer is white hard maple with cherry tracks and walnut as the seat.This one involved cutting a cove on the table saw. I haven't done that for years so it was fun making the blade using that method. I enjoy making the track pads and seeing the result when the pins are installed. That is the point when these come to life.
I have a humble number of bar and pipe clamps and no time or desire right now to build a dedicated clamp rack for them. Instead, I installed a standard closet bracket on my shop wall for the purpose. Now Source
Getting ready for summer fun. I welded up base and benches got them powder coated. Built table top and bench slats all made of Ash from my buddy Scotty's property here in Tennessee. Bread board ends, 7 coats of Total boat finish. This thing weighs a ton. Ohh, we built a cedar wood picnic table for neighbors Mike and Carrie made him do most the work lol.
I did this project for my friend who lives in a condo with very limited space. This was my first go around making a floating panel type door, I also used a tongue and grove technique for the cabinet corners. I used pocket holes & glue to make up the face frame and used prefinished 3/4 ” plywood for the box. The cabinet was installed above, near the ceiling in the bathroom sink area so I never concerned myself with the top. I also attached a surface LED light to take the place of the ugly hanging light. SO, the precious wasted space is now available even though it's kind of high, it is still available.In picture 5, I finally realized why all you wood workers have so many clamps. LOL!—— Yolandaled
Back in 2019, I created a thin strip jig as a way to cut thinner stock in a repeatable fashion. Thin strips might not seem desirable until you need one. The one I originally made wasn't well documented, so I started a new one. I'm going to run through it here.
My version of a valet stand. Something to dump my clothes on at the end of the day. I rarely wear a suit, so didn't need the traditional type hanger in the back. Also designed to match 
My latest Build out the door. 
The hardest part in building this was handling the parts. 77 is really big. It tips the scale at an estimate 450 lbs. Roughly 60-70 bolts hold it together.Not a real hard build from a joinery standpoint. But my area/benches/press are set up for dining tables that are rectangular or round. Something of this size sucks.The wood/finish is not my cup of tea, but it works decent and finishes well.Thanks for looking.
This is a oak veneer box with walnut edging and a fedora wearing girl who I will call Faye. The interior is black velvet with brass quadrant hinges.
Well, LJs, I've been absent for awhile because I decided to take on a home improvement project. We have a little bathroom off of our kitchen, and it's always been a bit of a wreck.I did the demo this past Saturday:
Then I put in about 12 hours each day through Wednesday… replacing the toilet flange (nightmare that lead to me putting in some new plumbing in the basement), replacing the toilet, painting, tiling the floor, installing new baseboard, installing a new vanity, and replacing anything that didn't have a brushed nickel finish.It turned out pretty good, and I even managed to get some Ambrosia Maple into the design (one of my skinny clocks hangs on the wall next to the door too, but you can't see it in this pic):
But then yesterday, looking at my Ambrosia Maple pieces, I got an idea for a new clock (partly because I finally got an idea for these turquoise legs I saved from a stool my wife was throwing away).I had some fun putting the pieces together, and I think the hints of turquoise throughout look pretty good.It's about 25 inches tall and 8 inches across.
Made a bunch of oven squirrels using some boards I had in my shop.Wood used was maple from Lowes, what I think is cocobolo but the sticker was unreadable after spending near a decade on a shelf and getting mostly worn away. The smell when I was sanding it made me think of when I was doing pens and other turnings out of cocobolo. I also have one made of pear from some logs a friend gave me and I milled into rough boards after his ornamental pear tree got taken out in a snow storm in Oct 2021.There is also a squirrel made of oak that came from my firewood pile about 10 years ago that was cut into a rough board and only recently milled into a finished piece of wood.I also have some squirrels made of what could probably be called spalted maple. The maple literally grew in the swamp behind my house and was dying thanks to the amount of water in the ground and was in danger of hitting the barn in the back. We cut down the maple trees which maybe 5-6 inches in diameter and I had been playing with milling rough stock from logs on the bandsaw. Those got stacked and forgotten about for about 10 years. The boards I have left have the insect holes and the coloring on some of them squirrels show where the wood starting to go soft and rot from the inside of the tree. Tried my best to stabilize with some thin superglue on the spots that seemed more punky.The finish is Odie's Wood butter rubbed in, let sit for 2 hours, and then buffed out.
My new F-clamp rack, made of solid red oak and an oak veneered plywood back. It doesn't have a finish yet because it's still to cold out to put one on but in about a month I plan to hit it with some semi gloss lacquer.It may seem like a bit of overkill to make a shop project out of a solid hardwood but, at the time, I happened to have a lot of oak on hand and plywood had close to tripled so I just decided to make it out of the solid hardwood instead of ply, it wasn't really that much more in cost.It is also hanging on a French cleat. Thanks for looking.
I received a request for a Queen Size headboard, but due to the size it needed to be easy to breakdown to sizes portable in a car. My grandson recently graduated college and has gone out on his own. He purchased a Queen bed, which was delivered to his new apartment, but my limited transport via an SUV required it be assembled on site.I considered all the possibilities, was considering using standard bed bolts to hold the two sides to the main structure, but I came across something called a Joint Bolt on Amazon, which seemed to fit the need.Photo 1 shows the headboard after finishing, which pretty much takes up the full width of my shop – a single car integral garage.Photo two shows the mortise & tenon method I used for the assembly, making sure the tenon was a press fit into the mortise, allowing about 1/2” of room both top & bottom for the large panel's wood movement.Photo three shows the specialty fastener I used, something called a “Joint Bolt” on Amazon. This didn't require all the necessary additional mortising into the main pane that a bed bolt requires, simply a bronze threaded insert in the panel, and no need to sink the head of the Bed Bolt into the side member. The Joint Bolt provides a finish appearance with it's flat head.Photo five shows the details for the items discussed, the Joint Bolt, the bronze threaded insert, and the mortise & tenon.I'm thinking the headboard secured to the bed frame with 4 bolts toward the bottom of the side members, and reinforced in the middle of the panel via the Joint Bolts, will provide more than sufficient structural support. Only time will tell.Thanks for viewing.
Nothing new or fancy, just using up some scraps of walnut, cherry, and jatoba.These items sell quickly, good inexpensive gifts I figure. Fill some down time in the shop.3-3/4” square, 3/8” thick, “juice grooves” routed in with a small round nose bit to keep wet glasses/cans from lifting the coaster due to the moisture seal.A set I made for home suffer this problem with a dewy can. 
Thanks for having a look-see!
toy
I have built this candle stand for local church. It is 8' long and about 5' tall. 16 drawers with soft-closing slides, cam locks on the top drawer and donation box, the whole thing is on the locking wheels, so it is movable. Materials – cherry and cherry plywood, birch plywood for drawer boxes. Finish – boiled linseed oil, 5 layers of wipe on poly, sanded to 400 grit.By far, this is the largest piece of furniture I built – took 3 months to finish.
This was a fun quick project requested by my wife. The original design was by June Taylor in the 50's. It is used for ironing different seams for sewing such as pointed collars. There were a few pictures online to use for a guide. Took a few adjustments to make sure that it sat level in all 3 ironing configurations. Reinforced it with dominos. Made from unfinished scraps of cherry and maple.
I had a little time on my hands.Woods: Red Oak, White Oak and Sepele.Finish: Boiled Linseed Oil.The chatoyance of the Sepele is incredible.
Made floating Night stands from Solid walnut- came out ok – except never perfectly square – and i tried every square i had…..
This is the projects entry for the 
and of course some splines for the upper/lower frame corners
The blog hopefully spells out any details, but feel free to question/comment!
Retro train – Wooden wall art, wooden wall decor, wooden wall art, wall decor interior, gift , wooden train wall decor from mdf wood
This is a project that I began in the winter of 2005. The big leaf Maple grew in my yard and is estimated to be 250 to 350 years old. The poor health of the tree was evident as it was rotting and dropping dangerous branches. 
I had this cut-off from a board of maple that had an ugly knot that didn't go all the way through the board. The other side had a lot of character so I decided to make an Andy style art box and use it. The plan was to mount the medallion with the knot down and be careful not to sand down to the knot when sculpting the box. Then I got the bright idea of mounting the knot side up and sand down through the knot, removing most of it. This box was the result. The pattern around the knot was way more interesting than the other side of the cut-off with much more chatoyance.So be careful with that piece of wood with the ugly knot. The box is sepele with all other parts maple.
This project was inspired by 
A 
This was for a granddaughter becoming a Registered Emergency Room Nurse, or something with a special name like that!!!!!! about three or four months ago!
Simple project I originally was not going to post but I'm so proud and happy with it since it's something for myself and I can use it every day. It's from a Penn State kit. (pic 3) Made from a piece of Osage Orange. Just make a tenon on one side and drill a hole on the other. Shape and length to your liking's. This is about 16'' and custom fit for me. Finished with Danish oil and waxed. Such a pleasure using it instead of struggling getting on those certain shoes. 
Last night I installed the last 4 door knobs, which officially finished my dual vanity project. This is the permanent fixture that replaces the ”temporary” one I built in January of 2019:
It took a little over a year from the original plans, which started with a digital CAD model using Autodesk Inventor.
This wasn't my first time doing inset doors, but I learned a new trick to help keep the spacing even using a deck of playing cards, which also proved helpful when attaching the drawer fronts.The casework is all oak, interior is Baltic birch plywood, and the dovetailed drawers are made from maple.Considering the number of pieces that are included in this vanity, this has been one of the most extensive projects that I've attempted, and I'm so stinking proud of how it turned out.Side note: thanks to my lovely wife for her patience throughout the build.
This is an oak paperweight I made a while back. I just liked the coin with an elk or buck deer on it, so I counter sunk it into a nice piece of oak I had laying about just waiting to be made into something.
Walnut tv stand. It's really a credenza with a tv on top of it. Most challenging part was flattening and thicknessing the top and the sides. They are made from one 19” wide, 8.5' long walnut board. I didn't want to cut it so it would fit my planer so I built a router sled. My kids love the new tip-on Blum hardware. I have to chase them away from clicking the drawers open and closed all day. Thanks for looking.Credit to YouTuber woodworker Kobeomsuk for the idea.
I've been fascinated by tensegrity structures, particularly tables, since I first encountered them on the web. I've also seen tensegrity projects here on LumberJocks. At first glance, they look impossible, but they make sense after you study them for awhile. In a nutshell, tensegrity tables are composed of two structural assemblies. The top assembly hangs off the bottom assembly by a wire, and wires connecting the outer edges of the two keep the top assembly from tipping over. If the top starts to tip in one direction, the wires on the opposite side stabilize it. As a result, it can't tip over in any direction.Tensegrity stands for “tensional integrity.” I won't try to explain the concept further here, but the YouTube video 
One of the first steps on my woodworking journey was to organize our garage. Otherwise, I had nowhere to work! We have a large two car garage, but it was stuffed with… stuff. I moved everything around, found space for a bench and got to work.Now that I've worked in the space for a year-plus, I realize it's not working. I also have realized that while I like the idea of putting all of my tools out and open on shelves, that's not a good solution for a space that is routinely covered with sawdust. I needed a tool cart or cabinet.I looked at dozens of plans and came up with a simple design. The biggest challenge was that I decided I wanted to use only supplies I already owned. I would save money for more interesting projects and make a dent on the scrap pile. That meant using a collection of plywood that ranged from “Good, if a little shopworn and slightly warped,” through “Eh, OK” to “Lordy what happened to this stuff?”I made So Many Mistakes. The worst was completely miscalculating the width of the drawers and cutting my very limited supply of plywood for the drawer bases too narrow. I realized this just AFTER gluing and nailing the cabinet carcase. I frantically pried out the nails before the glue dried and took it apart, thank goodness. Then I recut the back, base and top so the drawers would fit.I also realized, after two drawers were complete, that the sides were bowing out partly because they were already warped and partly from the weight. So I turned one drawer base into a part of the carcase and glued and nailed it in place.That means I'm short one drawer base and will have to break down and buy plywood! That's OK, I won't need a full sheet. And anyway I think I'm going to put some kind of thin plywood facing on the drawer fronts. I don't mind it looking functional, but the contrasting plywood is a bit much.I worked very hard on the dividers for the top drawer, and while it's in no way perfect, the tidy little spaces bring me great joy.In the next week or so, I'll buy drawer pulls and locking casters and finish the last drawer. It's not glamorous, but it will make my space much more functional.
This seemed like an easy project. I even had my mother in law's vintage 1960's wood trivet by corningware to copy. Over the years corningware switched to steel trivets and dropped the wood ones. They also changed the sizes of their dishes and started making round dishes. I should have just started from scratch. After several fails and lots of leg modifications I finished them. Never again.The tricky part was making the legs a close enough fit to the sloped walls of the dish to keep it in and not let it slip out the side. These are made to carry the hot dish from the kitchen to the table. I switched out the original design's brass pins for dowel joints and brass screws. I also made the handles larger. I have burned myself numerous times on the original carrying hot dishes to the table.Cherry and maple with garnet shellac finish.PS My wife just gave me a history lesson. The trivet I copied is from Pyrex circa 1970. Corningware made mostly steel trivets.
A small Pill Bottle, 4” x 7/8” Dia, Leppordwood finished with a friction polish.My better half uses a small plastic baggie to keep one of her meds in her purse. So I came up with this as one birthday present next month.I had recently picked up some Leppordwood turning blanks, milled this down to 1” square x 6” and started with the turning. After I obtained a cylinder (between centers). I sat back looking at the grain and figured out how to finish this thing. I laid out a tennon on each end and where to create the cap. (Which is a friction fit). Back to turning to finish the outside.After cutting the cap off I placed it in the chuck and used a 3/4” fostner bit to create the lip, then a 5/8” fostner bit to make the cap a bit deeper, and softened the edge. Then chucked up the bottom and used a 1/2” fostner bit to clear out the inside. Then softened the cut and sneeked up on the fit for the cap.While I still had the tennons on I pushed it together and sanded to 220 grit, stopping after each grit and sanding with the grain. Then finished with BLO and Shellac for a friction finish (thanks Dave P).From there separated the two halfs and chucked each one up, cut off the tennon, sanded and finished the ends.Fun little project, while turning a couple of other things. And I managed to get a good friction fit for the cap. This could also be used for a tooth pick holder, (not those Texas sized ones),since you don't see tooth picks in restaurants anymore.Still learning how to turn, getting better controll of the tools and better at sharpening them too.Thanks for looking.
Hi fellas,Check out this latest video where the NJ Woodturners got together at a members shop with 5 lathes. We had a great time turning tops for donations to the Childrens Specialized Hospital of NJ.Check out Gil's awesome shop also.
I pulled My useable scraps out of the scrap bin and created these red grain chaos pattern cheese boards. Woods used are maple, walnut, cherry, bloodwood and wenge.
My sister wanted a specific gardening tool for Christmas so I got it and I hated the handle. It looked like it was turned then run through the table saw to create a slot for the tool's tang to sit in. It was also very bland and fat (my sister has little hands). I carefully cut off half of the wood holding the tang, being sure to leave the side for the pin intact (in hindsight I don't think I needed that but, hey, I was winging it). 
Built a coin bank from scrap red oak (actually found layed out by a neighbor on trash day), and some scrap walnut from my fireplace build.Cant seem to get all the pics loaded like I used to be able to, so oh well.Only way to get it open is when its full, and we saw it in half!-that'll force the little guy to save
This was a custom entry door that I constructed for our new landscape wall into a courtyard. Made from solid Sapele lumber, self closing with a biometric lock. The upper image shows a rendering of the original design I came up with. First time gate building for me with lots of fun challenges. Very heavy! Bank door heavy….Construction is loose mortise and tenon throughout. Finished with spar varnish.
Years ago I took liberties with a design credited to Rogue Engineer for a wooden star. I thought it would serve a dual purpose if the wall hanging could be used as a trivet. I've made them in different thicknesses over the years. They make good gifts, and to improve the angle precision I created a table saw sled. The latest batch are thinner, made from sugar maple sandwiched between hard maple. The maple was too hard for Brad nails, so I made a set of glue jigs from 2×4 stock for the 54 angles to clamp until the glue set. Finished with danish oil and polished with wax. (Polyurethane will leave burn marks from a hot pot.)
This is a custom designed low hutch for storing books at the foot of a bed in a small space.Solid white ash case with mahogany stand and accent drawer. Adjustable shelving and sliding doors with polycarbonate panes to avoid breakage as this will be at lower leg level.Custom design (see photo #5) but based loosely on a midcentury modern liquor cabinet by @libbyschrumdesign and published in finewoodworking magazine. The design was refined and rendered in Fusion360.
On the 14th of this month I posted a left over box – The left overs was from the box in picture #1. There's not too much to say about the larger box other than the fact that I don't do schetchup or even a hand drawing of a project. I just start cutting and hacking away usually with the intent of saving as much precious wood as I can.
Yesterday, looking over my 5 1/2” Ambrosia Maple, I was thinking of doing another skinny clock, but then saw the potential for a different kind of clock. The three boards I recently bought are highly patterned, and I think the wood speaks for itself over any fancy design.I might do another of these today!A few things I did. I did round the corners. I also applied a black stain to the edges and, though it wasn't the intent, the black sides seem to accentuate the “floating” effect that I was going for (similar to what I've done with the skinny clocks).It's about 14” by 5 1/2”.There are no embellishments to this board… no “extra” patterns drawn in with touch-up pens or pencil.Everything you see was in the wood.Sometimes staying simple, when the wood speaks for itself, is the way to go.
So, there were a few ideas I've been wanting to try for some time. Now, most people are going to either dislike this clock or hate it. That's fine. I've decided that I'm going to make what I want to make and not worry so much about whether or not it will sell. I want to let my creative side make the decisions.I've had this idea for a deconstructed clock and, so yes, this does take three clock movements to make… and three batteries. That doesn't worry me… I just wanted to try it, and the post modern English student in me kinda digs it.My favorite artists were always the Jackson Pollocks… slapping paint on a canvas on the floor and pushing the limits on the idea of what can be considered art.I've been watching the clock for the past 20 minutes, and it is keeping accurate time.Also, I think a few people on here mentioned the idea of doing one of these clocks horizontally… so I tried that with this one. I think it works with the clock's concept.Like the other clock I posted today, I rounded the corners and stained the edges with black stain.Because of the three clock movements, the “clock” has my desired “floating” effect.One of the things I noticed is that this Ambrosia Maple often darkens up a bit when the poly is applied. (See today's earlier clock).So, I applied two coats of Dead Flat Varnish before applying anything else. If you want to keep a piece of wood from darkening from a polyurethane application, you should get some of this stuff. It really helps the wood keep its original color during the finishing process:
The clock is about 15.5” wide and 5.5” tall.Don't beat up on me too much!
This is a box clock (or maybe a clock box) I completed today.
I've had the opportunity to build 8 of the Hal Taylor-design classic rocking chairs, and then left behind rockers for perhaps 5 years now. Several contemporary desks and side tables later, I wanted to revisit the rocking chair from a different, non-classical, perspective.This is a prototype, and while I started with a full-scale drawing of a rocking chair, the end-result bears little resemblance to the original design. As everyone knows, design-while-building is both fascinating and frustrating.
In the past, I did a wall clock that had more of a star shape, and I really liked the look:
However, the circles made for little gluing surface (and were a pain to assemble… next time I'll use dowels!). In fact, this clock is so fragile that I've decided to keep it for myself.But, I liked the star shape of it, so I decided to try it again. I ended up using the last of my 1.5” Ambrosia Maple (at least the AM with any fun grain to it). This design gives much more surface to glue, and overall it feels pretty sturdy. I wasn't able to get the miters perfect (the angle pieces were almost impossible to clamp), but overall I was pretty pleased with the look.It's about 14 inches tall and 11 inches across.Rummaging through my scrap burl box, I stumbled on a piece that I felt made a perfect centerpiece. It's finished in a wipe-on gloss poly with two different color end caps on the ends of the “spokes.”
A 48” long wine glass shelf. Made of alder, stained with General Finishes Java Gel Stain and finished with General Finishes Satin Top Coat. It attaches to the wall with a French cleat. I pre-stained and finished the inside of the all of the wine glass moulding pieces and the bottom of the shelf where they were screwed on.
I was asked to make 16 pinewood derby trophy bases for the derby which took place recently. So, there were 2 classes of 1st, 2nd and 3rd place winners plus a number of other classes for fastest wolf cub, bear cub etc.
When your 8 year old granddaughter asks you to make her a checkerboard, your 8 year old granddaughter gets a checkerboard…..plus a box to store her checkers. A joy to see her wanting to play with something that doesn't plug in or make noise. The same joy you get when you use hand tools.Woods: Cherry, Ash and Walnut.Finish: Tru-Oil.
A platter made from Manzanita root. Approximately 10” x 7” x 2”. Finished with several coats of wipe-on gloss poly. Turned entirely with Easy Wood Tools.
My take on a jewelry chest for my sister's 50th. African mahogany and Purple Heart. Personally I love the shitoyance (?) of the mahogany
Well, as I continue to practice on the lathe, things are starting to spin a little faster. Here is the latest progress photos.All and all, I think they came out nice, even the ones I added a splash of color to.Starting to understand what a few of the tools do, and, more importantly, what they don't do; although I only have three tools thus far.So, yes. The designs remain similar, but progress nonetheless.Maybe a bottle opener is on the horizon. Then of course, a pen.Thanks for looking.
While at it, I made some matching covers for my blum minipress and line bore machine tables.
My wife wanted a card holder to pass the decks of cards around when playing pegs and jokers. We had a bowl but she saw someone with a rectangular holder and wanted one…so I designed this one to fill the order.
This similar jig was originally made by one of my co workers and myself from metal and used on inserting wood inserts for wood floors and other materials while I was still in the trade. I passed it on to my son after I retired 10 years ago. We called it the adjustable framer or GIG. Later It was nicknamed by the guys as the GIGGOLO.I made this jig about 8 years ago while I was setting up to do sign making. Remembering the giggolo I thought this could be something that may come in handy. I can set the wood in the frame clamp it down and by using different bushings on the router I could change making a border around the wood. 
Then the end caps which have the tightening knobs also. At this point I made my own knobs and threaded them with a wood threader but you can also buy knobs if you choose These are for 1/4-20 bolts. Keep in mind the knob can not be thicker than the thickness of the rail or it won't sit flat. There is a small spline inserted as you see in the next pic. It goes in the groove of the adjacent rail and aids the sliding and also keeps the rails from going willie wonky.
That's pretty much it but if you have a question please ask.
Hopefully this can be useful to someone. I use it quite often and it's one of the many jigs that didn't get thrown out a few months ago.
Quick & dirty. A case of it's quicker to make a tool than clean up the shop to find the one that's buried somewhere.A piece of unused white oak, a couple small pieces of walnut with a 5/16 hole drilled in them, and a little glue. Plus a level tube I bought a half-dozen of just to have.Drilled holes, cut notch, planed and checked for level, putting the level down both directions (picture 3). A couple coats of tung oil once the glue had set.Good enough for hanging new cleats on the wall, but I should've made it a little thicker so I could plane the sides flat. Oh well.
This house was finished in July 2018. After less than 3 years the shutters started rotting, as well as those on the other houses. The construction was crappy, as well as the materials – who would use finger jointed lumber for panels outdoors?I made a set for our house and another set for a neighbor.I used 5/4 poplar for the frames. after routing the dadoes and mortises, I painted (soaked) them all with 2 coats of very thin primer loaded with M1 mildew treatment. Then painted all end grain wood with several coats until no more would soak in. The dadoes in the horizontal members have drain holes to the rear sides. The paint was loaded with M1. I don't know anything else to do to prevent rot.You can see some deterioration on the left side of the window frame; a springtime project.Its truly a shame that construction quality is this poor even on higher end homes. My only advice is to avoid Patrick Malloy homes.
Stanley Steamer model. I'm fascinated with these brass era cars. Body is Bloodwood, and curly maple stand with cherry frame. The tires are katalox (no paint), wheels are painted, springs are walnut dipped in a vinegar / steel wool solution to ebonize. Some copper and brass covered pieces. The Stanley logo on the front is a thin strip of brass cut with a scroll blade on the band saw. The seats are pine upholstered with a piece of scrap leather and brass pins. Plans are from Forest Street Designs but with some of my own preferences. 
Was in a “let's see what I can come up with from various cutoffs and odd pieces” type of mindset. Got rolling with some business card holders. Gave away most to faculty in my department. Various wood types – walnut, cherry, oak, and mahogany. Glued them up with blue tape to hold in place and then did some trimming at the bandsaw to refine the shapes.
Sorry to bore some people with another grade, however the first two were sold to raise $1800.00 for a children's hospital appeal here in Auckland New Zealand.
Sorry for not posting again for awhile and thanks to all for all you that have reached out….appreciate it!Forgot to grab the photos of the old way this was organized, but for sure this is better….The goal was to get all the drill press / bit stuff somewhat organized and the timing of this seemed to work out. A coworker had a bunch of Poplar tongue and groove cutoffs (pic 2) and I also had a bunch of free to me Oak narrow strips (8-10' long) that had no apparent future….....(pic below).
These worked out to be the slide-out shelves.The things I did buy for this build was the drill bit organizer:
From a distance…this is the new addition (RED BORDER):
Thanks for looking.
This project started as an natural stain grade oak kitchen with a drywall stub wall . I was asked to replace the stub wall with a design of mine for a curio cabinet with lighting and top ,and a L-shaped breakfast nook on the other side , Then i changed hardware and hinges out to new softclose, and my painter stepped in and repainted and glazed all the old and new . Turned out great ,I think , they loved it .I also removed old built in hood added the missing crown , and changed it out with new SS, and my tile guy did the tile. hope you like it .after i did the kitchen across the street , from old to new shaker style .
Bought a Delta 33-890 12” Radial Arm Saw, came without a table.I despise MDF, but that is the ideal material for the table, so I went with it, and then edge banded to make it more acceptable. :)Glued 3/4” walnut and oak dowels through the MDF where the hardware mounts, since MDF tears, cracks, or wallows out so easily.The hardest part with no old table to work from, was figuring out the sizes. The manual shows that the tabletop is one main piece, 4 varying size insert panels, and the fence. But I could only find the sizes for the main panel, not the insert panels. Finally found someone right here on LJ's that took a guess at them. Used the same sizes, and it worked!The way it works, you install the main panel, which screws down, then using the table clamps on the front of the saw (those two knobs), you clamp the insert panels between the main panel in front, and the clamps at the back of the saw. Really ingenious design. Point of so many sized pieces is you can reconfigure the fence and panels for any number of cut angles and sizes, in less than a minute.Panels and Fence – 3/4” MDF
I randomly bought a piece of flame birch and it looked like a waving flag. Added some curly maple and some highly figured shedua for the red and yellow. The star is shedua, I had made another star out of tropical walnut embedded with copper, but changed my mind. It's an available option. I had fun at the Arizona historical society archives, where they allowed my to see the original draft of the official flag. Took all of the measurements down and scaled it down Autocad. The frame is shedua with curly maple. I hope the pictures are good enough. They were the only ones small enough to upload
Finally ready to go!! I purchased this new Stepcraft 840 about 2 months ago. As everything typically goesI buy new tools and have every plan of giving it a home prior to use. Then I end up just breaking into it and having to re-adjust my plans later. This one was different, I waited to use it till the cart was done. Wellhere it is! 42×36 top to support the machine and also to keep the footprint at the bare minimum, including enough size to support any hanging wires in the back and to support the access panels on each lead screw without having them dangle in the air. Added storage, a drawer for keyboard and mouse. The monitor stand will be done on the CNC so I had to get it to this point to begin that process. And of course the first project was the logo accent light on the side. And the filling of the lines in the drawer faces in the orange. Mobile base allows me to move it super smoothly and out of the way! Cannot wait to really get this dialed in and assist with jig making or patterns for bigger projects, (really the only reason for purchasing). Thanks for looking!!
Somebody said that we needed to try something new with this swap and really push ourselves. I may have taken it too far.I got the inspiration from a few youtube videos and a website (www.marchland.org/woodturning/list.htm) that explained how to get a twisted tapered turning. Given the amount of time we had to work on our projects, I figured I could give it a try and still have time to do something else if it failed.I began with three glue-ups, walnut, maple, and cherry, with the idea that I would have multiple attempts and that I may want to mix-and-match the species to create different sets. Each blank would yield two shakers and I figured the maple would be my prototype and the cherry and malnut would be the final products.
I turned the blanks as identical as I could, with matching tenons in the middle and on each end.
Next up was the jig to hold the blanks. It consisted of two 10” circles from 3/4” plywood which would be endplates for the jig. Each endplate was marked up for three equidistant holes sized to firmly hold the end tenons on the blank. In the end I didn't use the whole 10” capacity, keeping the holes as tightly spaced as I could while also getting the max twist from the blanks.
I was only 6 holes so I planned to simply drill the holes on the drill press by eye, but I realized that the holes actually needed to be tilted and a jig was preferable to make sure the holes were indexed correctly. I used a faceplate and a centering pin to locate indexing holes where the screws go, and then those holes could be used to space the mortices for each tenon. Clear as mud?
Once I got that thought through and made (and it took awhile as I'm no engineer), I put it all together and got it on the lathe without too much trouble. The tenons are screwed through each endplate to secure everything. I didn't put any thought into how I would index each face on the blanks, but I should have at least marked the endplate and blank in their starting positions.
It didn't take long for me to realize I had a long, slow process ahead of me. Me and my old Craftsman lathe really took a pounding with the interrupted cuts and it was a slow slog. 
After awhile, I realized that the pounding had actually caused the blanks to rotate slightly, which caused a slight misalignment. I ended up adding additional screws but since the diameter of the tenon was relatively small they couldn't be spaced apart very far, the rotation was something I had to keep checking for.
The fix was to cut deeper than I originally wanted, but I made it work. After the first half of the first face was done, I created a template in a peice of scrap to repeat it on the other half and on each additional face.
I created a mirror image of the template and rigged up a holder so that I could do the rough shaping by eye.
I spent all day on the first face and I was spent. I knew I needed a better way to at least get the rough shaping done. I improvised a sliding trim router holder and using a 1/4” ball-end bit I freehanded most of the rough removal. The lathe was not running, just the router. I positioned the router and then rotated the blank jig manually to bring the blanks into contact witih the spinning bit. No CNC here! Ideally, I would have rigged up a way of using the template and a follower to guide the router, but that's for later.
After each face was roughed, I followed up with regular turning to bring it to final shape.
After a very long time, I had all faces turned and it was time to remove the jig and cut each blank into its two items. This is where those middle tenons come into play. I was able to use those to drill the center from either end.
Now that the bodies of the shakers were roughly done, I stared with the bottom plug/base. I was thinking wenge and maple for salt and pepper, but the walnut was suffering from alot of tear out and I was really liking the maple, so that called for a rethink. Instead I opted for the same contrasting wood on each, wenge for both maple and cherry, maple for the walnut “prototypes”. These were just 3” squares of 4/4 material on which I turned a tenon with space for a rubber o-ring sized for the bored holes.
I traced the outline of the main body on each to match, then trimmed to within about 1/4” with the bandsaw. Final shaping was with the belt sander and hand files.
Final hand-shaping and sandiing was done mostly on the lathe to use it as a rotisery. I finished the bodies with simple wax and alot of hand buffing.
The last touch was the matching black and white buttons that were glued into a small recess on the top with 5 minute epoxy. I will say that I should have partially bocked the holes for the salt and it pours out too easily.
I ended up selecting the maple shakers for Bill. The walnut shakers need loads more sanding due to the tearout and the cherry set needed a repair to one of the bases. Overall, I like the results. I've never tried to make anything this sculpted before. I would note that cutting the blanks in half resulted in less twist for each half, so the effect is a little underwhelming and may not even be noticed at first. I definately achieved the goal of trying something new and having fun while doing it. Swaps are a great place to interact other LJs and I highly recommend joining the next one!JD77
Bud vases (both wet and dry) have been good sellers at craft shows.This year, I'm adding a little different take on them. This design was inspired by a demonstration given by 
Cutting boards bowls vases
Hello everyone. Hope you are all doing well.My latest project was this adjustable cell phone stand.I've made stands like this one before as Christmas gift in 2019. Those were made out of some pallet wood. This one was made from quarter sawn white oak that was probably 35-40 years old.I can't take credit for the design. I saw it on Pinterest and thought it would be fun to make.As usual there is a 
So, I had a long piece of wild cherry gall out in my crates. I took the pruning saw to it (which is probably the majority of the work) and cut this piece. Then I ground it and then sanded it.I decided to go with off-center placement of the clock hands.It sits really nicely against the wall and has a floating effect to it.My guess? This thing is going to do some warping… but maybe that will add to its charm.It's a really beautiful piece of wood! If you look at the dark part of the grain, it almost looks like a duck-billed platypus diving down toward the bottom of a lake.(And, yeah, these things come together even faster than the skinny clocks!)
This guy has a bit of spalting but the real challenge was the knots and splits. CA glue was needed in a couple of spots to keep it together while the larger holes and gaps were filled with clear epoxy. Finish was multiple coats of Wood Turners Finish with sanding between coats with progressively finer grits to achieve a high lustre finish.Thanks for checking it out. Appreciate any and all comments/suggestions.Cheers 
Picture #1 is original box – the rest are pics of the new box
i had this bench i got from my dad for many years and i always looked at it as a wasted space under the top.now we never have enough storage space especially in a shop so it was time to fix that problem.cabinet is just a simple box made from melamine.drawers are baltic birch and drawer fronts are clear grain doug fir which has gotten quite expensive at 11.40 a board foot.full extension slides with wire pulls.just a stain for finish.last pic shows the wheels i had on it.they were a big POS ! id be moving it and they would drop.adding the weight i have they had to go.replaced with 3” poly wheels which sound small but i dont want it rolling too easy.they work fine.
Kudos to Mother Nature again.The objective here was to pick a shape to display as much of the burl as possible. Any of you who tackle burl know how tricky it can be to get a 'clean' surface. The amount of sanding required with this was best measured by a calendar – not a watch. In the end I think it was worth it.It's 8 wide at the top tapering to a 3 wide base by 2 high. Finish is Shella Cream and Shella Wax followed by time with the buffer.Appreciate any and all comments/suggestions.Cheers
I built the lager child size Rocker using a photo that I got off of Etsy. 
I had a lull in projects so I planed down some of the extra mesquite laying around and made some more hangers. I made these out of 3 pieces instead of 4 like last time. they are doweled and glued together. They finished up at 7/16” x 9” x 16 1/2” and they are coated with Boiled Linseed Oil and semi gloss lacquer….....................Cheers, Jim
The origin of these is, I'm sure, the same as others: have to find a way to use up some of this scrap material.I still haven't learned how to visualize in 4 dimensions (ala MTM woodworks) to see the pattern I want in the finished board and then know how to glue it up, cut apart, flip and rotate, re glue, recut, etc in order to get it. So mine are more of the variety here's what I have, guess I'll put it together this way, maybe if I cut here and flip these 4 strips and re glue before I repeat the process and look it turned out this way. That's just how I roll.If anyone has cracked the code on this visualization translation as it relates to cutting board design (ie those amazing geometric patters I often see) please pass them along.These 2 are of the smaller variety; the smaller one being more of a cheese board size. Our daughter is my board tester. Every once in a while I'll send her a board or 2 to use (and abuse) so I can see how they hold up and what I can learn to apply to the next build. She has these 2. I've had to touch these up a bit with some re sanding and refinishing but other than that they are holding up well. Her preference, from trial testing different sizes of cutting boards, are smaller ones: easier to store and move around.The larger one here is 13 x 10 and the smaller one is a tad shorter, both are 1 thick. Woods used are oak, maple, cherry, ash and walnut.Appreciate any and all comments/suggestions.Cheers
Here are a few of my recent turnings that keep me occupied in the cold winter weather.The larged bowl is Apple wood as are the two smaller bowl in front of it. The bright bowl in front is maple but the camera flash washed out the color. The two shallow bowls are walnut the boxes above are big leaf maple on the left and on the right apple wood with a Madrone lid. All have walnut oil for the “bling”. The apple bowls have a salad bowl finish and the rest are just polished with a paste wax over the oil. The apple bowl is 10” in diameter.
This is a fun little project to finish on the lathe. It would be a good one for those folks who have small lathes. They make great gifts. Pictured on the right are Myrtle wood (Calif. Bay Laurel), center apple wood, right plum wood. I made sets of 8 of each.First I made a pentagram template piece so I can mark off the blanks on a board. Then I cut them free with the band saw and sand the 5 flats on a belt sander to remove the saw marks. 
Playful Dalmation puppy. About 4 inches long. This was a piece of Southern basswood that I had. Got it started and immediately ran into trouble with the wood splitting. Started to throw it away, but decided to go ahead and finish carving. The grain is vertical, and the tail is a dowel that was added on. You can see places where the wood split off. After attempting to smooth them out, I finally stopped as it would cause the shape to change too much IMO.Claude
You know when you're working on a turning and get that feeling of this needs something. This was one of those.This piece had some interesting figure appear as I turned it. Before I started hollowing I got that feeling: this needs something to set that figure off. I glued on pieces of rosewood to the bottom (which you can't see in the photos) and the top, blended those into the profile and hollowed out the bowl. It's 6 wide by 3.5 high with a 1.5 opening. One day I'll get brave enough to attempt a small opening hollow form (not there yet). It was finished with Shellawax and then buffed.I was pleased with the end result but all comments/suggestions are welcomed.Cheers
These are some rings I made from the scraps laying around the lathe. The one on the right is Osage Orange and the other two are 2-tone Acacia ( some heart and some sap wood in them). One is a size 4 1/2, one is 4 3/4 and one is a size 5. They are finished with clear gloss lacquer.I met this little girl named Harley whose mother had the booth next to mine. Harley wanted a ring but the ones in the shop sponsoring the craft sale were all too big. Her mother said she was a 4 1/2 size. I have never made one that small back home and my mandrels don't go that small…..so I made a wood mandrel last night to get by.They are coming to the sale in our park this Saturday and she can have all the rings for herself and some friends.Cheers, Jim
Quick and easy turning from a scrap of Piquarana, which is a straight grained wood. Sanded through 220. Finished with shellac, about 6 coats, sanding to 400 then 0000 wool and buffed. The finish took longer than turning the blank, waiting for it to dry.But that gave my time to clean the table saw and way tubes on the shopsmith, then wax and buff.Thanks for looking.
Looking at those boards of Ambrosia Maple while drinking my coffee this morning, I was curious how long it would take me to do two skinny clocks. Turns out, about three hours… and much of that is finish drying time.One is end capped in red. The other is end capped in silver with clock hands spray-painted the same color as the end caps.Nothing super fancy about these, but I did stain the sides rather than monkey around with paint. The sides are stained in a “honey” tone (next time I may go darker).I know, not much new to see here, but the clock wall is getting pretty full!
I tried to make a copy of a child's bench that I saw. Not a very good copy. I still have some finish sanding to do and finishing. But I was limited by materials from the Home Depot 70% off bin.Second picture is the inspiration.
Gift for a Roman loving friend on her becoming free of her past life …the sword was a sign of freedom being granted to gladiators
This is the Wedgie Sled, (Jerry Bennett video), I put together today, 12” x 20” with 1-1/2” fences. Base is 3/4” plywood with a oak runner on the bottom for the miter slot. The fences are Oak, and I made the star knobs with layered 3/4” plywood with a “T-Nut” barried in the layer, cut with hole saws. I also cut up card stock to create the wedges, (from 8 to 40 sides), only thing left is to cut some samples to ensure the angles are correct. Then I can make some from 1/8” hard board. At some point I will make a stop guide to fit into the other miter slot of the table saw.The last picture shows a zero clearance plate with an angled piece of Oak to allow the small pieces to fall away from the blade. Safety thought, keep them little pieces from getting launched back at me.I will use this for my next turning project, segmented bowls.Thanks for looking.
My father in law (87 years old) fell and hurt his shoulder, and has trouble getting around any way he was unable to get into his regular bed. So we installed a small full size bed but it seemed naked compared to the large bed they have. I came up with this simple design for a headboard that reasonably matches the original.The bed frame was not designed to have a headboard, hence the brackets that attach to the bed via hose clamps. It does a great job solid and secure, if he needs it for support it will handle it.Thanks for looking.
Here is another Toys and Joys build. This dozer is white hard maple with cherry tracks and walnut as the seat.This one involved cutting a cove on the table saw. I haven't done that for years so it was fun making the blade using that method. I enjoy making the track pads and seeing the result when the pins are installed. That is the point when these come to life.