Maple, walnut, and African mahogany. Finished with Danish oil and beeswax polish.

I made this for my cousin’s husband. Cedar with a spar varnish finish since they planned to put it outside over their entryway.

The inside angles were cut with a tapering jig, the same jig I use for tapered legs, but at a much steeper angle. I cut the first six, glued up three pairs of two boards each (using loose tenons) , then glued the three pairs together. I then cut the seventh a bit wider and shaved it down to a tight fit. After the seven pieces were assembled, I cut the outside angles on the bandsaw.

The faces are beveled to form a ridge along the centerline of each piece. I used a planer sled for the beveling.

African mahogany frame with inlaid ceramic tiles. I rigged the tiles so they can be swapped to match the room decor. These match the fireplace along the wall where the mirror is hanging now.

The base cabinets on the left side – the two doors and 10 small drawers – are from a bench that my Grandfather built around 1945. You can see that original bench in the third picture. I inherited the bench when my Dad retired his shop a few years ago. I’m short on floor space, but really wanted to keep the bench. My solution was to mount the upper unit to the wall (which you can see on my shop page) and use the base in this cabinet. This gives me the option of reassembling the original bench configuration if I move into a larger shop or to pass it further down the generations.

Top is veneered ash and walnut. “Old” base cabinets are a mix of white and red oak; new base is red oak. Finished with Danish oil.

Built in 1989. My shop at the time was a 10×12 spare bedroom, so it was interesting dealing with the large components. Not much power equipment beyond a small Craftsmen tablesaw and a router. I never imagined at that time that I’d ever have things like a jointer and planer. Good times though.

Completed in 1986, one week before our son arrived. (As I write this, he’s about to enter his last year of college. Where does the time go?).

I routed the figures with a 1/16 straight bit. The third picture shows the drop-down side with hidden hinges.

Built this for our daughter in 1986. Oak with a walnut stain. I never did figure out why, but the stain really blotched up on me. Managed to get it looking presentable at least. Seems like everything I built back then was either dark or darker, mostly stained oak. I tend to go lighter with natural finish these days.

Walnut and maple chessboard, built in 1998. I made this with and for my son, who was 12 at the time.

This is the only piece that I’ve built from a plan (Woodsmith #83).

One of my pet peeves is the disappoint people show when they marvel at the carving on the chess pieces and I have to explain that I purchased those and didn’t carve them. So…don’t ask about the pieces!

OK, this is kind of an odd project, but I thought it was pretty cool. I made these hangers for my buddy Jim to store his “spare” crankshafts for his Boss 302 Mustang.

Turns out that you need to be careful when storing your crankshafts so that they don’t warp. The hangers are made from a couple of pieces of 2×4 connected with through bolts. The slots on the top are for matching the pieces during assembly. An important part of our design was a suspension system that allowed the crankshaft to hang plumb.

Maple and mahogany dressing table built for my wife, Debi. Completed June, 2007. I plan to add a matching wall mirror and upholstered chair “soon.”

The big challenge for me on this project was the curved top and drawers. This was also my first experience spraying, which I was pretty happy with. I used a water based acrylic to reduce yellowing.