I took my inspiration from Doug for this coaster set. What I did differently was chuck my ~5×5x16 “blank” on the lathe and turned it round before slicing into 5/16” thick costers. I was going for a modern look with the holder. It’s tapered so the costers “slide” in, are held securely but still easy to pull out. I made six sets of coasters in total and this is the first one that will be sent to my sister. I plan on trying a few different finishes on the other sets. This one is finsihed with Emmets Good Stuff wood finish.

Thanks for looking and a big thanks to Doug for the idea!

I was commisioned to build this last month as a birthday present for a friends wife. I nearly missed the deadline which was November 21st. I learned entirely too many things on this project which were all rookie lessons. Not “oh that’s good to know” or “I will do this better next time” but lessons such as don’t let anyone else pick out lumber for you (especially the client). Additionally, I moved to a new house at the beginning of Novemeber, so the garage was a total train wreck while I was trying to get this thing finished up.

Anyway, It turned out well, my friend and his wife immediately fell in love with it and my new favorite finish is clear lacquer. The dimensions are 48”L x 24”D x 20”H. Built from Black Cherry and Curly Maple. No fancy joinery just lots of gluing, clamping, countersinking and plugging. By the way, the new self centering, tapered Hitachi plug cutter my wife bought me works great!

I plan on building another one of these for myself soon, so any advice on making it better would be appreciated!

Thanks for looking!

My friend Mike wanted to build a train table for his daughter. My son had received one of the Thomas and Friends tables last Christmas so we used that as a basis to start from. It is made of Poplar with a removable MDF top and left unfinished at Mike’s request. Mike took the lead on this one and hung out while I did the dirty work, HAHA! He actually helped alot, mostly in making a mess of my garage! It has two full slide out drawers, and for some reason seemed like a real pain in the butt to build. Maybe it was just the pressure of it’s owner watching over my shoulder.

I made this a while back for my father for Father’s Day. If it weren’t for him I would not even know what a scratch awl was let alone it’s many uses. Thanks Dad!

Kingwood and the scratch awl kit from Rockler were used on this project.

I have a LOT of friends from Texas. It’s interesting they’d even be willing to be associated with a Yankee such as myself. Anyway, a guy I work with asked my for a checker board in the shape of Texas a while back and this is how it turned out. The paduak was a perfect color for Texas I thought. Paduak and Hard Maple finished with butcher block oil. Figured I’d share this one with my Texan friends on here!!

I initially created an oversize squarish checker board, cut out the “main body” of Texas then glued the cutoffs on for the panhandle and bottom. I got lucky and it worked well and I was left with little waste.

Jerry came over and hung out with me for a while on Saturday and we worked on a couple of projects he had in mind. One is an early man “tool” used for the flaking of stone(spearheads, cutters, arrowheads etc..). The other is a boomerang. The tool is made of ebony, a lead filled copper cap and 1/4” copper wire. The boomerang is made of Koa. Hey Jerry whats that dust all over your face?? The boomerang will be making its short film debut in a couple of months on one of Jerry’s films. Hopefully there will be a link soon to follow!

A couple of the boards I made this weekend. The first for my sister-in-laws wedding present is Paduak, Maple, Mahogany and a little cube trick of Ebony, Maple, Holly and Koa. The second for a customer is Paduak, Maple, Tiete, and a bit of Hawaiian Koa. Comments and critiques are welcome.

My father-in-law retired in June. My wife was browsing Woodcraft with me and saw this cutlery set she wanted me to make for him. I turned the handles and lid knob out of Olivewood. The case is made of Walnut, finished with Deft spray and lined with blue felt. I can tell you that at some point I will buy a flocking kit. Much easier than hand cutting and fitting the felt I would guess. I would say the tangs on this kit are a bit short, but my father-in-law says they are holding up well.

Built and sold a slew of these back in June. Purpleheart and Maple. Trying to get caught up on project posting!

It has been a while since I have posted a project but I have been swamped making things lately. I made a post a while back about some old beams that I got my hands on. I was asked to make a frame for this Huey panel for our outgoing BC. It’s the first project I have done using the beams. It was pretty basic. 1”x2” framing with half laps and 1/2” thick “matting”. Finish is shellac. I thought the “old” theme worked well for the panel/frame. The upside is that HH6 even liked it. The downside is that someone stole my Husky 353G chainsaw from right outside my garage door (it was sitting next to the pile of beams). If you’re in SoCal or southern Nevada and someone trys to sell you one of these models, its mine. It will stand out since I bought it in Alaska it has heated grips and carburator.

-Pat

My friend Tony came over today and is an avid cook. We spent the day eating donuts, shooting the breeze, watching drivers stop and check out the Beetle that a stranger set up for sale next to my driveway, chasing my husky down the street and making sawdust. This was the result. I’d say it’s something to be proud of. Good work Tony! Tony wanted a blood gutter so he bought me a new bit. BE Maple, Purpleheart and a Macaasar Ebony Edge finished with Butcher block oil.

Thanks for looking!
Pat

I made some other cutting boards and decided to continue on the scrap pile. This one will be for my mother. I had enough left-over strips that I plan on making a cheese cutter to match. I hadn’t made an end grain one yet so figured I’d challenge myself a bit with this one. The lines came out almost perfectly. A hair under one inch thick. It’s made of Maple, Purpleheart, 2 different sticks of Cocobolo and Zebra. Finished with butcher block oil. I admire those of you that make these on a regular basis. My hands are still vibrating from all the sanding. Thanks for looking.

Don’t forget- Mother’s day is on May 8th!
-Pat

Edit: 4-6 added pic of cheese slicer.

First couple cutting boards made for friends with their wood preferences. I created the center squares first, then built the rest of the boards around them. Finished with just butcher block oil. Thanks for looking.

-Pat

This is a clone of a bench household 6 saw in a catalog. Its entirely poplar and the baskets I believe HH6 bought from Target. The height of the bench I based off of my sitting profile….. HH6 is significantly shorter than I(lesson learned). Oh well, at least it’s comfortable for me to sit on. I practiced my Dados and Rabbets on the back of the bench, where the partitions attach to the vertical back. It worked out well using my Bosch router. That thing is definitly a tool I need more work with outside of its table. I was a first time go on all of the joints, but I spent a rediculous amount of time measuring and remeasuring making sure I would be lined up properly. I also used a traditional bit around the top portion of the base and around the undersde of the top. I used a 1/8th roundover bit on the very top just to ensure there would be no accidental splinter in an unwanted area while sitting. The finish is just plain ole’ semi gloss latex black. Any comments or suggestions for future bench/tables is appreciated. HH6 already wants a new coffee table. Thanks for looking.

Household 6 had this really neat folding rought iron Shelve system that was destroyed in our recent move from Alaska. The wood shelves were made of MDF and were exposed to some moisture along the way. She wanted to throw the shelves out but I thought it would be a great opporunity to use up some scrap Red Oak I had in the garage. This thing looks nothing like it did before I started. It looks so great now and the folding function is still intact. If I ever see another set of shelves like this again, I will buy it in a heartbeat and swap the wood out. By the way, if any of you happen to know of a good place to buy Exotics, rough cut or other great woodworking shops in the southern California/LA area/Inland Empire I’d love to hear from you!

Thanks!

Household 6 wanted a place to hang her jacket in the foyer. I drew some sketches and had her pick one. This is what I ended up with. It was a fun poject since it didn’t take much thought to build and let me use several different tools is the building process. I initially want to use oak, but hate to paint beautiful hardwood so I went with poplar instead. Besides, Poplar paints smoother as well. The hooks I found in my local box store hardware section. I also installed leveling feet on the bottom to get a perfect footing on our sometimes imperfect tile floor.