I have a friend (Drema) that loves kaleidoscopes. I got the kit and bushings etc from Penn State and figured it’d be a no-brainer. I had a really hard time getting this one together.
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I turned down a block of mopani to 2000 grit and polished it with my proprietary mixture (proprietary b/c I don’t remember what it is, lol). Pewter stand took a lot of work (should have measured it before turning). It ain’t perfect but it’s the thought that counts, right?
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I thought this was a challenging project. Make fun of me all you’d like;) I just hope she likes it.
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It was a pretty fun project if anyone’s considering one.
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al

I know this is boring stuff, but I need to prove that I’m still in the shop;)
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I’m working through some plane setting gift mallets for some of my planehead friends on this great site. This one is of 3/4” brass from McMaster (who, as I’ve said many times before, has the most freaky shipping speed of any company I’ve ever dealt with; If I had three thumbs, I’d put them all up). Cheap, too.
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This is simply a rosewood spindle piece that I brought down to 3/8 on the lathe (EZwood finisher). Took is from 120 to 2000. I used a freaky mix to finish it: local beeswax, turp, and a good bit of shredded PennState PPP light and dark bars. I leave a bit cake of local beeswax floating in the mixture and over a few months, it dissolves. I’m no scientist, but it’s a really cool mixture (I actually have the actual ratio concoction if anyone’s interested). I chucked the raspy 3/8” end into my drill press and dressed the dimple left from the tail stock. I left the tenon really dirty.
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I made a pneumatic press back when I was in my pen phase and I started pressing the tenon into the brass, shaving a bit, pressing again, you know the drill. When it was well seated, I burned both sides with a Dagger and you couldn’t twist the head with all your might. This is the first time I’ve tried this.
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I like the heavier weight of the large brass rod. I can’t recall which brass I ordered, but it’s heavy. I also like the shortness of the handle. I can’t really say why, though.
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Anyway, I appreciate you looking at it.

Just a quick fun project for a gun nut friend at work.
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Kit is the bolt-action ensemble from Penn State. Pretty solid quality kit.
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Equipment is your standard JET with a Nova and morse drill chuck. Sorby HSS tools. Planning carbide.
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Wood is stabilized tinted elm burl from I can’t remember where. Go to OregonBurls, baby.
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Finish is sand to 3000 grit, 1/2lb amber shellac wash, and black BriWax.
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I never let the lathe stop turning from rough to done. It’s like Xmas with burls; never know:)
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Thanks for looking!
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I’m making a kaleidoscope (sp?) next. If a say it here, I’ll have to get my a$$ in the shop and do it;)

I made this mopani mallet for fellow Lumberjock and street rapper ScottyB, yo. It’s meant as a plane iron setting mallet and has one lucky striking surface. Thanks for looking.
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Edit: added some size comparisons. Thanks for looking!

Made a yo yo for a colleague of mine. Wood is cocobolo, 2 1/2×5/8”. Mechanism is from Penn State. Finish is sand up to 2000, 1/4lb clear shellac, and Renaissance wax. Ball bearing mechanism is pretty well made. Thanks for looking!

Upgraded from my Klein screwdriver, lol. Recommend Ron Hock’s burnisher highly; wait to need irons, as the minimum shipping is painful. Less than $20 and hard as diamonds. I’ve been using it without a handle for almost a month. Today was the day;)

I was fortunate enough to purchase some wormy chestnut from a kind fellow in rural West Virginia. He was getting out of cabinetmaking, shifting toward carving. To thank him, I figured I’d make him a simple carving knife. I ordered a blank from Hock some 4mm brass rod from McMaster. I turned it on the lathe then split it with a pullsaw (after some deliberation at handplanes-of-your-dreams. I drove the rivets, trimmed them, and shaped the handle with handtools (the future owner is a BIG man, so the handle is quite stout). I wetsanded it with dark walnut danish oil up to 400 grit but maintained some gouges and imperfections. I shaped the blade just a hair on the Tormek then sharpened it up on a scary sharp plate up to 2500; followed by a rouged stropping. Made a tiny scabbard out of leather and green twine soaked in mink oil. I hope he likes it and thanks for looking!

A little cherry frame to hold an original painting purchased from an Etsy seller. Our dog, Steak, loves to gaze out into the woods, hoping to see a wild animal. The only power used was for the miter and keys. Chamfers are handplaned; texture is hand gouged. Wedge keys are walnut from a rescued firewood log. Thanks for looking.

Handtool heavy Cherry Shaker Nightstand

I made this nightstand for my fiance’ of local WV lumber gifted to me by my friend Dale.
I wanted it to be very special so I relied mostly upon antique rehabbed hand tools
For the matching nightstand (my side), I bought a tenon jig, benchtop mortiser, new planer, and power jointer
(I love the old tools but I’m no dummy, after all)

The process run-down:

Lumber raw West Virginia Cherry handplaned from rough (Stanley #40, #5, #7, #4, #81, card)
Handcut mortise and tenon joinery (Dozuki pullsaw, T.H. Witherby, and Butcher)
Handcut 1/2-blind dovetails (Dozuki pullsaw and Ohio tools paring chisel)
Hand-cut dovetailed top rail
Handcut dados and rebates (Stanley #45, #50, #78, #71 1/2)
Full French Bottom of hickory
Lathe-turned rosewood knob
Handcut top-stay buttons (Stanley Bitbrace, #78, and Clifton shoulder)
Five screws (lid buttons and rear drawer stay)
Few air pins (drawer supports)
Titebond III for edge joints
Finish: 1lb. Bullyseye amber shellac, Watco wipe-on poly satin x 4, Renaissance wax

Thanks for looking and I have a blog detailing the process for those interested

My friend was burning walnut firewood. I put a stop to that with a trade. I needed a resaw sled to mill these logs to 1/2 inch for some scrap projects here and there. The whole sled rides on a 3/4 inch miter track made from waxed maple flooring. Base is ply with a sliding mdf fence. I routed a dado on the underside of the sliding fence to accept a t-track bolt. I marked the ply so I can advance the log into the blade incrementally. Shown are a few 1/2” planks who got planed and jointed. Free wood, man!

I needed a rack to house my powered chisel mortiser bits. So I used unpowered mortise chisels to chisel a rack for my powered chisel mortiser bits. Mouthful of irony. All cherry with a Paduak key. Tung finish.

Boring, I know. I post it only because it was built with cedar fencing from Lowes. I think the whole table cost $20. It sits in a guest loft and hosts a monster of a computer. All powertools. A cool oak chair (that I didn’t build) hangs out. So does a $10 shelving unit. Man, I’m lazy.

In honor of Wayne, that frog flat of your dreams.

When posting this, the site lecturing about wood-only, blah, blah, has put me in a bad mood, so I’ll be brief. For the purists, stop here! because there’s metal in this plane (facepalm). This was a fun project, inspired by Div, fuel-to-fire added by Mads. Iron is off an old Stanley, 37.5 bed angle, 25 primary. Wood maple from stockmaker and walnut from fire log. Make one!

Czech Edge marking knife kit (the large one) built on African blackwood. I’m a fan of the ball capital on my vintage glass cutter and copied the pattern. Roughed out with Thompson 3/4” gouge. Fought with Sorby skew. Sanded from 120 to 2000 grit, two quick washes at 3000rpm with 1# amber shellac, and a hit of black BriWax.I intentionally set the blade off-center, hence the confusing drill press photo. Bonus photo, baby bunnies in my yard. You can’t handle the cuteness!

If all your friends were doing rustic projects, does that mean you would too? I guess so!

When I bought my house, there was a curious box in the carport with a few shelves. I built a rustic door for said box, trying to match the log construction of my shop. I took a crummy piece of Lowe’s pine, jointed the edges, and glued it up. I took deep passes with a Stanley No. 5 to give it some character. Passed it over the router. I hit it with a coat of 1 lb. shellac followed by horrible tinted polyurethane. Black wax. A little carving for the better half. The handle is from a tree on my property, cut on my massive new bandsaw (first cut, smiles) and pegged in with two walnut dowels. Opening the door shows the lazy old pine. This is a warmup for some rustic stuff I’m planning. Thanks for looking!

A departure for me…Having started collecting twigs and branches for future rustic furniture, I gave my beloved niece (Caroline) her pick of sticks. Her three year old self gravitated toward this stick and I set to work. I draw-knifed it, flood with BLO, seal with amber shellac, and 1 of 4 coats of poly. It’s got an insert post to allow her 1 1/2 inches of growning room (about a week, lol, I’ don’t have kids). I was inspired by MaFe’s adze sheath & dipped into my leather stash (novice, so go gentle). It hasn’t been presented to her yet & I hope she loves it! Same warm feelings go out to all Lumberjocks from Al’s shop :)

Turned cocobolo duck call with aluminum dual reed. Very throaty.

But why I’m really here:
This is a Paul Hamler scraper plane insert that was gifted to me by the man himself (genius combination of mechanical engineer, woodworker, and artist). I would be happy to take detailed measurements for anyone who’d like to recreate this beauty.

Here’s a Shaker-inspired cedar blanket chest I made for my Sister. I built that bed too in a hurry, expecting a visit from my Mother. The bed was built out of Lowe’s fence materials as well.

The chest incorporates a molded breadboard, more because I wanted to try it than it needed it! Hand cut dovetails on the carcass/plinth. Plinth done on the bandsaw. Tongue/groove done with planes but molding done on the shaper. Thing weighs about a pound and smells glorious. Cedar was fence stock from Lowe’s.

Now that I’ve published a completed woodworking project, I can use the space to share some of my favorite tools/tool mods.

There’s my pride & joy, a slipper plane by miniaturist Paul Hamler (NOTE: I DID NOT HAVE ANY INVOLVEMENT IN THE MAKING OF THIS PLANE!!!!!). It’s my favorite plane, though. I’ve also got his scraper insert that I’ll post when I find a good plane for it (hopefully a bedrock, as Mr. Hamler would have wanted it).

There’s a Stanley No.40 scrub with a homebrewed rear tote.

There’s a Butcher chisel with a home-turned rosewood knob & brass ferrule (purchased from Lee Valley I think)

There’s a large Stanley router with home-turned redheart knobs.

Few boxes, just for fun. There’s a large figured eucalyptus jewelry box, a raised lid walnut box, a bubinga and cherry coffee grinder with figured maple insert, a walnut/curly maple letter box, and a knotty maple/lyptus match box. I like the knotty-lidded box the best: I found the knot scrap on the ground in the Woodcraft parking lot; I burnt the dovetails with a small torch before assembly, and finished it with black Briwax. Weirdness all around for me. Some of the other boxes demonstrate my early dowel obsession (?) :)