The was basically a self guided class project. I watched Doug Stowe’s videos on basic box making multiple times, made some jigs he used or at least modifications of them. The box is made from Cherry sides, birch ply bottom and an African Mahogany top. The keys are also African Mahogany but a much darker piece. The finish is multiple coats of Tung oil, and then wax.

I really like the results from the 45 degree crosscut sled, it made side fit together square and snug. The key sled was also a really nice addition to my shop. The final box is 11” x 6” x 6”.

I am not sure that that finish works for me. It is not as smooth as I usually get with Shellac, and wipe on poly, then 1 coat of wax. Think it is more me than the products. The hinges are, in my mind, a bit small for the box but they do look nice. Hope they hold up with use. The other thing I realized Doug uses a wide belt sander to keep the sides of the box flat and square during the sanding process. I can see that my lack of this tool caused my sides to have slightly rounded corners, not that the untrained eye would see but as a learning project I was being picky. Think it may be time for that Oscillating belt sander I been wanting.

While working on a small box of Zebrawood Veneer I had some left overs so I made this even smaller gift box. I needed this box quickly so I finished it before the other box. This box is about 3 inches square and is MDF with a Zebrawood veneer on the exposed surfaces. The top is an extra peice of walnut, and a Beech plywood bottem.

Nothing special but hopefully the receipient will enjoy the box as much as the silver earings I put inside. Guess I will know soon enough.

So several weeks ago when I completed my bedside table, a home for my new Kindle (working out very nicely I might add), the wife said where’s mine? Truth be told I cut two Zebra wood triangles when I made mine. I kind of figured that was coming. That’s one of those things that 32 years of marriage gives you the ability to know when she is going to do that.

I would not normally post a “me to” project but I wanted to comment on a couple of things that happened with the second table. First and foremost, I did some research here and across the web and decided that the original rip fence on my 35 year old Craftsman saw, which had to be adjusted to parallel manually for each cut had to go. You guys did not disappoint me, based on the information gained at this site. I purchased and installed a Delta rip fence and all I can say is I wish that I had done it years ago. I think the total cost was only 145.00, installation was no worse than expected. If you own an old Craftman saw you really have to do this. Only drawback is the rails are bigger and in my small shop its taking up more than its fair share of space. I plan to install the router table between the extra rails.

http://lumberjocks.com/topics/1814

The other comment I want to make here is that if you have never made something twice you really should at least once. I know that for myself I would never do this. There are so many things I want to build but my job keeps getting in the way. The joinery on the second model is so much better. The joints are tighter and the finish is much smoother and cleaner. The glue up was almost easy on the second one despite the lack of 90 degree angles. I guess all of this is why some people do mock ups.

Our bedroom is a pentagon so I made a triangular table to go next to the bed. Nice place for the phone at night. It was there about 1 hour when the wife said ” You are making another one of those aren’t you?” I responded with what all Lumberjocks should say. “Of course dear.” So back to shop I go.

Made with Maple and Zebrawood, finish is 1 coat shellac and then 5 coats of wipe on satin poly.

This project was all about learning a new skill (Dovetails). The bins will not doubt be very useful but I really wanted to make a full box with dovetailed corners. If they looked terrible well there in the cupboard who cares. I am happy to say that they are very nice. There is a scrap box in the shed full of practice pieces dovetailed together with various degrees of success. I watched many videos and read a lot of articles that explained how to fix them when they are less than perfect (most of mine were). You can see in picture six some of the repair work. I finally picked out some Maple and Mahogany and started on this simple project and was very happy with my success. It was really time consuming to make all those dovetails but the result is square and very solid.

Even my son with his one year of high school wood shop is impressed. The second box is me finishing a jig I started long ago to make box joints. It was more accurate and way faster than the dovetails. This is a great learning project, I highly recommend it.

Maple and African Mahogany, Birch 1/4 bottom. Finish is whip on poly (4 coats) with 1 coat of wax.

My first end grain cutting board, mostly just a way to use up scrapes from previous projects. The woods are Maple, Walnut, Cherry and some African Mahogany. The size is a bit smaller than most people make 9” x 12” and only 5/8” thick. The finish is a mineral oil and wax combination. The pattern was not planed but I think its really nice. It took some work but the family is actually using the board on a daily basis and we love it. It is way harder then the usual cutting boards we have had from kitchen stores. The frame was my way of dressing it up a bit 3/16” Maple and 1/2” African Mahogany (selected the darkest parts that I had).

After making the big projects its was great to step back and do something small and relatively quick. I am been reading up on some of the more complicated pattern boards, going to have to try one of those next.

Several months Mom asked me for an entertainment center. Her TV was sitting on some plastic tables and really needed a better setup. So I got to work, in true lumberjock fashion, and drew up plans (not nearly detailed enough) and started. The final result is impressive, especially when you know how many little mistakes are hidden in it (I really need to be way more careful with the biscuit cutter) . The carcase is panels of cherry and cherry plywood. Legs are cherry, top is a lamination of three pieces of African Mahogany. Drawers are maple with faces of 1/4” cherry. Back is cherry ply. I was worried about the colors not working but I am really very happy now that it is finished. Top works very well with the case.

The finish is 1 coat sealcoat and four coats of wipe on satin poly. I will be delivering it on Friday and the wife has already suggested that a version with a cabinet instead of drawers would make a great sideboard in the dinning area. She wants it in Teak to match our table. Haven’t worked with it before anybody got any warnings? To tell you the truth I would love to have another crack at this so that I could do it with a lot less mistakes and refine some of the techniques I learned on the first one. The drawers by the way are on wooden runners and actually work. I really had my doubts but I would do it that way again. Very satisfying to not have metal runners. I am working on my handcut dovetails they are not yet ready for a project but getting much better. Maybe in the next one.

Tomorrow I will start two new SMALL projects. Tonight I am just enjoying being done with my big projects.

This project is not technically mine. My part was to pick the winning score and game of the World Series as a lifelong Giants fan that really wasn’t hard. Chris and I talked and I selected the score from game 5 with the AT BAT the moment the game changed for the Giants when Rentoria #16 with a count of 2 and 0, 2 outs, hit his three run homer. The bed is for my Grandson Gavin who is just learning to read and loves the idea that there are words all over the headboard. If the first word he can read flawlessly is Giants well then Grandpa did his job, right.

The bed made that final game so exciting, again thanks to Chris and the guys at wwbeds.com for posting the contest and coming through with an outstanding bed just when Gavin was ready to get out the crib.

When my son Teddy graduated from High School we agreed to make him a queen sized bed. Ran out bought a bunch of Cherry, downloaded plans from Wood Magazine, and talked at length about how we would modify the plans. Now three years later, I have the tools to complete the project, the knowledge to do it right, and it is in fact done. The entire bed is cherry except the inside runners for the mattress support which are 2×3 poplar and the support itself is 3/4 MDF with a center support system thanks to the advise of Chris from wwbeds. In the end we are very happy with what we produced. The arch in the top and matching arch in the bottom are our biggest modification. Finish is 1 coat sealcoat followed by 4 coats of satin gel poly. Sorry about the pictures but it was hard to find a place to backup and take good pictures.

The mattress guys delivered the mattress today and we got it setup in his room. This was a great piece to learn how to deal with working with large lumber. In my 10×10 foot work area I have lots of ways to put a dado or rabbit into a 12 inch piece but a 65 inch piece of 1 1/2 thick stock was a real challenge. I did a lot of waiting until I could buy the right router bit, or chisel to get his done.

My grandson out grew the chest that we were using for his toy box so I decided it was time to make him a new one. The project as you see it contains many firsts for me. I am very pleased to say that I purchased a Ridgid Joiner just prior to starting this and the result is a box that is much straighter and more square than anything I have made prior to this. I also purchased a biscuit set for my router and this project is put together with 36 total. Thanks to the Joiner I did my first lamination of a top and I am thrilled with the results. It actually two 10 inch boards that were originally one long plank. Don’t have the equipment for book matching (Yet!).

The details: Its a close copy of Ian's Cherry Toy Box that was the design I liked best of many on this site. While shopping for cherry to complete another project our supplier had a new shipment of african mahogany with beautiful streaks of red that I thought would be great with cherry plywood. I have to say that I really love the resulting color combination. The pictures in the sun show how bold it can be but in the room (last picture) the contrast is more muted and really works well in my opinion. There are also four Rockler toy box hinges that keep the lid where ever Gavin puts it. Gavin jumped up and down on the bottom right away to test that the blind dado and 1/2 plywood are rock solid.

I really enjoyed this one. I have to say I would do this again, maybe for my niece and her to boys.

After seeing a post by ScottB for his bracelets, I really wanted to figure this out and have something to put in my boxes when I give them away. My first few attempts got to thin and broke. I found that 1/4 inch is about the right width to maintain the bracelet. The small bracelet is made from a piece of African Mahogany. I cut an oversized square of material, then trace the outer circle with a compass on it. Round it on the sanding drum on my drill press, then do an inner circle about 5-6/16ths thick. Cut out the center with a jigsaw and then using the sanding drum to clean up the inner circle I then shape the overall bracelet with hand sanding from 100-800 grit.

The African Mahogany bracelet is 2 6/16 on the inside, 2 13/16 on the outside and 1/4” thick.

The larger bracelet is Walnut on the outsides and maple on the insides. The dimensions are 2 10/16” on inside, 3 3/16” on the outside and 1 1/16” thick (from hand to elbow). The finish is 8 coats of wipe on polyurethane gloss.

I have asked several women to try on the bracelets and find that 2 6/16” will fit a small women but that the larger 2 10/16” is required for a fuller framed women.

Next time: I am planning to do the center lamination using triangles of the wood so that on all four sides there is no end grain showing. That is one of the problems with the walnut and maple bracelet the maple is much less figured and a different color on the end grain. Perhaps even include spokes of the contrasting wood at the lamination points of the triangles. I have seen this used on some rings here.

They were a big hit with both my wife and my daughter-in-law. In the process several friends who tested them have also asked for one. So I have some blocks in the vise already clued up. Great way to use up small scraps and avoid giving someone an empty box.

My son Teddy got me inspired with his walnut and maple box to do one the really shows off the contrast. I selected an Octagon with maple showing as the bottom when you open the box. The design is basically the same sliding dovetail however with the complexity of putting in a key we decided this one should have a simple catch so we put neodymium magnets in the rim of the walnut and in the top to keep the box closed.

Should I repeat this project I would have inserted a maple bottom inside the walnut so that from the outside you would only see walnut. I was really surprised at how easy the walnut ring was to make and it was very fun and rewarding when I realized that the best way to make the pieces was a back-saw and sandpaper. Being patient with hand tools can be very relaxing

In my past I was a small plane pilot, in one of the magazines I read at the time was a one page article titled ” I learned about flying from that”. It was basically a collection of stories by pilots who messed up and lived to tell the tale. Sharing the story in hopes that it would make other pilots smarter. I share this picture with the rule Never route a dovetail cross grain. Fortunately me and the dog who shares the shop with me were unharmed when the piece flew off the router table and across the room.

This was a pleasure to build hope you like it.

This project being my first picture frame I started by doing my homework on the web and building a set of jigs. The first was a jig to cut the peices and maintain a 90 degree angle in every corner, from Fine Woodworking, and the second was a really amazing jig that squares and holds the frame for glue up. Self Squaring Jig

With these completed I milled some curly maple and strips of walnut and glue then together to form about a 1 1/4” thick frame stock. If any of you brilliant woodworkers have any ideas for adjusting the first jig so that it cuts the pieces to exactly the same size on the opposing sides let me know, that was the one thing I think could be improved on in the jigs. The final frame is 16×18 (should be 16×20 for standard frame size but my maple board was not quite long enough. The picture is 8×10. Next time I will do this with a 11×14.

The finish is 5 coats of Formby’s tung oil, and then a coat of Citrus-Shield Paste wax.

Last year I paid over 300$ for two pictures frames smaller than these, that was my motivation plus the need for a birthday present for my Mother who turns 85 tomorrow. I will never buy another frame thats for sure.

OK so technically this is not one of my projects. My son Teddy created this Keepsake box, but I provided the technical advice and ended up cutting the diagonals and the inlay work for the top. It is interesting working with my son who does not have the patience that I have, only because of age. I was like him when I was 19. Not sure I could of done decent woodworking at that age because of that.

The box is 2.25”w x 7”l x 2” d. Its made with walnut and maple. The inside was finished with 1 coat of shellac and the outside is 5 coats of tung oil. It warms my heart to know that many of the tools I inherited from my Dad will have a home when I am done with them.

This project was my attempt to use up some leftover wood and actually make something for me. I rarely do that, not sure why. Its made from two pieces of Walnut sandwiched to a piece of maple. This allowed me to cut the shapes roughly to size to hold the phone and then put them together after I had the sizes I needed. They are sanded to 320 and finished with Tung oil. the box fits into a window holder that came with my portable GPS unit for my car (only use the GPS when I go out of town). Walnut matches the dashboard better than I could have hoped for.

This is a dog bed I made for my sister’s dog. Its made from Spanish Cedar, sanded to 320grit and finished with 6 coats of tung oil. She has since attached a lace canapy to the top. Her dog the little black one in the picture loves the bed.