This being my first holiday season as a somewhat established woodworker, its fitting that i mass produced a set of gifts for friends and family. The wine bottle balancers (14) and candle holders (23) are based on popular designs i saw in others’ projects. The menorah (just 1 for my folks) is just an extension of the candle holders, of course. A set of heart-shaped ornaments (12) made of the same 5-ply stock will follow, with pics i hope.

Details: wood is cherry, oak (either a light red or dark white), and mahogany (reclaimed!). I used the quarter-sawn faces of the oak and mahogany for the wine balancers and menorah. Much of the cherry is also the quarter-sawn face, although that wasnt intentional. Finish is 3 coats Minwax Antique oil (wiping oil-varnish blend), followed by rubbing in paste wax with 0000 steel wool. I rushed the wax coating on after only 2 days of drying the last finish coat, which made some of the finish look odd in spots – hardly noticable, but nothing to be proud of.

This was my first time using each of these woods. Notes: I like the look and feel of the cherry more than i expected to. It’s almost buttery – almost like walnut, but with less fragrance. The oak is much nicer than the red oak i used previously, especially quarter sawn, and especially on the end-grain parts. I like how its reminiscent of bamboo. I did NOT like working the mahogany. Even that sparkly quarter sawn face to me felt very lifeless. Also, it didnt machine well – it was slightly furry feeling even at its best.

In terms of tools, this project required the purchase of a set of forstner bits (the Grizzly H6334) which worked out quite nicely, and drill press (those 2” bits have a lot of throw!). That worked out well for me, wouldnt you say? ;-)

Plant stand in poplar and walnut. built from “scraps.” the design was inspired by bud's. joinery is floating M&T with mortises made using my new router jig. finish is 1 coat minwax antique (oil/varnish wiping blend) followed by several coats of 50% wiping poly, finished with paste wax buffed on with 0000 steel wool.

some notes:

Design: I liked Bud’s design and wanted to test out some joinery, ideas, and tool skills. specifically, the shaped legs and such. I didn’t draw a a scale model, let alone one in sketchup first, and consequently i think the proportions are off a bit. I think the overhead projection of the piece is too square – making it more rectangular wouldve helped. also, i think the legs project too high above the “table” level. the little circular cutouts in the two table pieces simply result from not having a piece of walnut long enough and wanting to make that negative into a positive. I welcome constructive critisicm! ;-)

Joinery: These are my first edge and M&T joints. The edge joints came out great – i used hand planes to joint the edges and it went very well. seemless, actually. i didnt think it would be that easy. the M&T joints also – WAY WAY easy with the router. those joints are super tight, and it feels almost like cheating!

Skilz: these are my first curved pieces as well. i roughed out the stock with a jig saw (no bandsaw yet :( but it works ok, if a little slow. then i cleaned those up with a spokeshave… which was SWEET. i just love going straight from rough to finish without having to sand. also, i’m happy with how square i made it all – there was no wobble upon assembly – that felt nice.

anyway, there it is. a plant stand made from some longer lengths of scrap. in terms of the design, i dont know – experimental i guess! but in terms of technique, i’m quite satisfied with it all – it’s going faster, easier, nicer, and more enjoyably with every new project.

For my first anniversary present, a mulberry paper lamp in walnut. Thanks to Steve for suggesting something like this. I did post a couple blog posts about this, but they dont really cover the whole process – i’m a terrible blogger what can i say.

I designed it myself based on some other traditional and contemporary designs. I like to think it’s FLW meets shoji functionality. Although the paper is actually Thai… I deviated very little from my original sketchup design. the width is slightly less, the narrow design slats are not mitered at the ends, and the vertical corner pieces protrude from the top a bit, with a little bevel at the top for fun.

I learned a huge amount while putting this together… lots about dimensioning lumber, working smaller pieces, and using hand tools – no sandpaper touched this wood. the last thing on there was a really sharp block plane. Which was incredibly satisfying – once it was the right size it was done. silky smooth done. The wood was wonderful to work with – my first time with walnut. The smell and texture are inspiring to say the least. I wanted to leave it pretty natural, so the finish is a single coat of Minwax antique oil followed by another 1.5 of paste wax, which leaves it still silky smooth.

This being my second project there are of course countless mistakes in the thing. most of them are not noticable, and the ones that are are pretty minor. they stem partly from my failure to properly dimension the lumber and partly from some of the crazy grain pattern in some of the stock. like i said, there were lessons learned!

What else can i say about it… the top is cut out in the center to allow escape of heat (fluorescent bulb), the bulb socket is silicone glued into a circular mortise. the cord travels through a bored out 3/8” thick section. The paper was super easy to work with – easiest part of the whole thing. I think i might try some more paper-based constructions in the future. oh yeah, the paper came from creative papers. overall this thing took way too many hours to make. but it was worth it, my wife absolutely adores it.

some more pics:

This completes my first ever true woodworking project. (I’m not including some pine utility shelves I put up, although I did practice some finishing skills on those.) The bookcase design is the “contemporary bookshelves” design from the Popular Woodworking website. I liked the simple lines of the design, the open back, and the minimalistic two-tone contrast. However, I changed the plans quite a bit:

1. used poplar, not oak
2. finished with several coats of minwax antique oil (not straight poly). I applied each coat by rubbing in a small amount and leaving it, not flooding and wiping as instructed. It did raise the grain a little bit, but I smoothed things out with 0000 steal wool. finally, a coat or two of paste wax.
3. stained the vertical member a combination of “cherry” and “walnut” instead of ebony/black
4. most importantly, I used traditional joinery, not screws and nails. Meaning, dados, tongue/groove, and mortise & tenon.

Being a first attempt, I think I’ve made a pretty, useful piece of furniture. Changing the joinery also meant I had to change the dimensions, and I think that was the source of my mistakes. So, things I learned:

1. best to glue up narrow boards even if wide boards are available because of warping
2. work through mortises from both sides to eliminate chipout/punchout.
3. if applying multiple coats of stain, wait until previous coats are good and set first! (I blame cold weather for this though!)
4. use chisels for finishing up/planing joints, and saws for the stock removal.
5. never ever drop your chisel(s)!
6. the wood looks good in spite of your (my) ineptitude.

Some more pics:
the tongue is a little sloppy.

came out ok.

but just dont look too closely at all those grooves/dados for the shelves on the left side! they’re pretty tight in the vertical direction, but too deep horizontally. Fortunately they’ll be loaded vertically. Still, If they do come loose, I’ll have to add some metal to this project after all. At least the cat won’t mind.

finally, I had the most fun with this project when it came to the layout of the actual lumber, and I am the most pleased with and proud of that aspect of it.