Not the most exciting project in the book, but it was good practice work for my hand tools journey.

Hand sawn and planed. Cherry with ebony and poplar contrasting strips. About 20” or 50cm long.

In addition to making sure my wood is flat, they are just the right length for chasing wild animals out of my shop :-)

Or should I call it a Porcumaple?

Three layers of figured maple. All done by hand – this was one of my hand tool projects. Various saws, chisels, planes, rasps and most of all my now beloved spokeshave! Oh, and lots and lots of sandpaper.

About the time I thought I was ready to finish, I decided he needed an ebony nose, so it was easier to tell his tip from his tail. So I chopped of the end of his nose and grafted on a new one.

Huge shout out to Woodpezzer for the porky inspiration:

The spines are now only oak, cherry and birch. I will replace those with other woods as I acquire them, as Woodpezzer did in her cute porky.

ETA: I forgot to mention the hardest part! I drilled all of those silly holes with my brace and bit. A few were not too much trouble, but by the time the 40th was done, my arm was pretty tired!

A place to keep my bottles before I drink them – sort of a bus station for wine!

Cherry, cherry ply and figured maple.

Drawer handles and all sliders from Rockler.

If I were to do it again, I would dovetail the sides of the racks and drawer – these are mortise and tenon.

Inspired by mafe’s pencil box

which was in turn inspired by vipond33

I decided to try my own hand at a pencil box. It turned out larger than I had originally planned, so it will now be used to hold my rulers. The inside is lined with felt and I added a second round of pencil segments around the top to increase the strength.

I really like the bottom view, so I might just glue up a bunch of pencils and make some trivets!

Ingredients:
Lots of colored pencils
Lots of CA glue
Black felt
Varnish

This was a fun and quick project. I am traveling a lot these days and have not had much shop time. Plus it is hideously hot and my shop in in the garage, so not so much fun to be out there.

Lots of new things to learn with this project. The bowed back stretchers, the hinges, and the through tenons – all new to me! And it is comfortable.

Quarter sawn oak throughout.

This table is about 40’ long and 30” tall. This was my first real wood project and I am very happy with the results. Making this made me believe that I could actually build something nice enough to use!