This is a project I finished up a while back, but due to a recent illness I am just now getting around to posting it up. Its crazy how many times from the very start to right now this project has started and stopped… then started again… then sat on a shelf… then… Well you get the idea…lol

I seen a box somewhere (I think it was in the 400 boxes book… Thanks again for the heads up Jeff) and made me think of this design. I actually started this box over a year ago with the idea of entering it into last years local fair. Things and life happened and part way through the build it wound up sitting on a shelf for months and months. About 3 months ago I got into a creative rut with the shop and I took some wonderful advice from our very own Sheila Landry. Her suggestion was to find an unfinished project laying around the shop (which we all have…lol) and just do something with it in stead of stressing. Well, that’s what I did and her advice was exactly what the doctor ordered. Thanks again Sheila!

The body of the box is quarter sawn white oak with walnut legs and drawer facings. The drawers are made of sycamore. All the dovetails are hand cut, and the legs are mortised into the sides (that too was done by hand). The back is a pretty piece of book matched walnut that had one birds eye looking spot on it. My thought process was seeing this on a dresser a person could look in the mirror and see the back… Wanted something neat to be in the reflection. Cant really tell by the pictures, but it does have a pretty almost hourglass look to it…. I thought it was kind of neat. I finished it out with Danish oil and Renaissance wax…

I am almost embarrassed to add this last tidbit, but as fate will have it I did end up entering this piece into this years local fair. So it was a year late… It eventually made it…lol. This was the first of any kind of compitition I ever been in with my work. I must admit it was a very cool experience and actually enjoyed getting some feedback from folks who didn’t know me from a hole in the wall…. I will definitely do it again..

I was really shocked and tickled to see these hanging off my work….

Thanks for checking it out and listening to me ramble on…lol

This was a last minute project I made for my good friend, and fellow Lumber Jock Mike (Cozmo35). I came up with the idea after seeing a few of these posted up here on Lumber Jocks and thinking “I know I want one… Im sure Mike would too”....lol

We made a special road trip last Saturday (I have a blog up My North East Texas Lumber Jocks Tour) to visit him and his family and I was able to personaly hand it to him….

The entire tote including the mortised in bottom is made of cherry. The shaped handle grip and center divider is walnut. The dovetails are mitered on the bottom and all hand cut (I am really beginning to like these hand cut dovetails). Due to time constraints the finish is simply two good soaks of BLO then buffed out.

Im sure Im missing something, but I just wrote a mile long (at least it seemed that way to me) blog about the trip and I’m used up….lol

Thanks for checking it out… I got to say this was one of the more enjoyable projects I have done in a while.

I was asked by my good friends and neighbors if I would mind building their young son (and my little buddy) a step stool. They said “Nothing Fancy” just something to help him overcome his height disadvantage for things like reaching the sink and bathroom breaks. Well, I couldn’t turn down such a cool opportunity to build something special for my little friend.

I had the project on my mind while walking through the mill and found a beautiful piece of black walnut. I thought “Heck Yea!... lets make it nice!” Then I got to thinking that if I was going to make this stool from such dignified stock… It needs dignified joints as well. Then I got to thinking… If Im making dovetail joints… Why not hand cut hounds tooth dovetails? Then I got to thinking that this was not going to be an ordinary step stool…. I was in fact building my little friend an heirloom. So of course I had to inlay his name and a tractor (the boy flat out loves tractors) with nice curly maple.

I got in the middle of this project and started getting a few phone calls from folks asking if I could make more. As you can see… I did….lol. Now on the Parker and Jamisen stools I used my Leigh dovetail jig (yea I know… cheating right?...lol) for the joints instead of hand cutting them. I really enjoy cutting the joints by hand but I wanted to be efficient with my time on the other two.

All in all I am pretty tickled with these little jewels. I learned me some new techniques, played with some gorgeous lumber, and was able to create pieces that I hope one day will become very important to a few folks. Yea, I’m a sap… I really enjoy building meaningful stuff like this.

Thanks for checking them out…

I been wanting to try my hand at these neat little palm boxes since I seen Andy's project dubbed “Radio Days”. Not long after that he went through the trouble of creating a tutorial on how he did it. Although I will be honest in saying that I didn’t read or follow his exact directions to the “T”, but I owe so very much credit to one of my personal favorite box builders here on LJ. Thank you Andy for the inspiration my friend….

I debated splitting these up seeing how the crown jewel of this collection was a special one I made for my bride for Mothers Day. Without boring the fire out of everyone I will just say the pin was made on my bench top drill press due to lack of a lathe at this moment. I also went with a false pin latch to keep it from getting to bulky on the front. most definitely a fun little box to build where I got to try and experiment new techniques.

The other three where just flat out just fun simple boxes. I went with the finish as Andy recommended in his tutorial to keep these fun and easy (awesome way for an uptight woodworker to unwind in his/her shop). I also went by my local leather shop and dug through his scrap bin to pick up some leather to line the bottom.

Please heed my warning thought… These little dudes are addictive to build. I can easily see a guy going nuts building these little neat boxes….lol

Im adding a few more pictures with them open…. Thanks for looking….

A little over a year ago when I first got into woodworking I stumbled across a video series describing how to build a Super Sled. I was so impressed with its function and knew it was a must for my shop. Well, a couple weeks ago I took the plunge and built the shop tool I been wanting for a long time.

First off I got to give massive amount of thanks to John Nixon for his extremely useful video series he has posted on his site Eagle Lake Woodworking. After watching the videos (a couple times to be honest…lol) I was able to fly through this project in one weekend. It was a busy weekend, but i got it done.

I built the standard sled as John explained on his site, but also Incorporated another idea I seen from Mark Whitsitt & FreddyS... A jig to cut 45’s without having to change the blade angle. I like many other chase after the ever elusive “Perfect 45”. I can say after my first test box I am now closer than I ever have been before. It is definitely a happy place to build a dream tool… and it actually working!....lol

Thanks for taking the time to check out my Super Sled. Hope maybe it sparks a light in someone else’s eyes like it did mine over a year ago. My one word of advice…. If you think you could use it… You can! I should of built this a long time ago.

This is a piece I made for a coworker to give to her daughter. Her only request was a nice jewelery box with “J” on top. I honestly struggled with the “J” part. I racked my brain on how to do it, make it timeless, and not be cheesy. It took me a bit but I finally decided on a design.

Once I figured out what I wanted to accomplish I stewed on how to pull it off. I came up with this idea “Uncharted Territory... My First Inlay & How I Did It”. Basically I used clear epoxy with purple heart saw dust to get the exact color match. I was really tickled how it worked out. I will also note…. It wasn’t a quick process…lol

The main box is purple heart with some very pretty figured maple as my accent. I left the right side of the box open to accommodate things like large bracelets or what not. I also went back to the ever fun quadrant hinges (I just thought they where fun in walnut… They are a blast in the super dense purple heart….lol).

Once the piece was just about right I put one coat of finish on it then took the box down to my local leather shop and was able to match up some nice leather. I really enjoy my trips to the leather shop. Really good folks there.

I finished this piece up with 4 soaks of Danish Oil with light sanding between coats. Then let cure for roughly 2 weeks before adding “Many” coats of Renaissance wax.

Thanks for checking it out.

Its crazy how time flies when your busy making sawdust and enjoying good friends here on Lumber Jocks. This project was officially completed last week, but I was so close to my one year…. Well, I had to save it for the occasion. We all have had those projects where we where are like “Humm It’s Ok”. Then we have a project that we can see clearly progress in who we are in our shops. I personaly look at this piece as a big step for me as far as my work goes. My oh my…. what a wild, fun, and educational year it has been.

This was originally going to be a gun box for my Father In-Law, but it evolved into something else (it is still big enough to fit his Springfield 1911 if he so chooses). The main box is walnut, and the stones & lining are from a killer piece of curly maple that my bride helped me pick out. I remembered seeing a cabinet that had stone like pieces in it a while back. That made me think to make the center of the box have the feel of a stream or a creek running through using similar “Stones”. My big disappointment was not popping the grain on the maple to enhance the feel of water running over stones. We live and learn… I am definitely trying this again.

The rest is sort of cut and dry as far as lining the walls and the pain in the butt hinges. I really love these hinges, but let me tell you… “They Fought Me All The Way”...lol. The bottom is lined with a leather matched up from a local leather smith shop. I have a funny story about my new friends down at the leather shop I will have to share later. I finished the box out with 4 soaks of Danish oil, and a ton of hand buffed Renaissance wax.

I am going to wrap this one up with the reason I named the piece “Cornerstone”. I was in a pickle as to what to name this piece when I happen to see a documentary of sorts about cornerstones, and their structural importance. I reflected about who I was building this piece for…. My Father In-Law. I will have to say he is one of my biggest fans and supporters. When I felt I couldn’t cut a board straight to save my life he was telling everyone I could build anything. Every time he comes over we always have shop time to go over what all I have my hands in. He is truly interested, and cares about what I do, and how I do it. When most your friends think you are nuts for the countless hours in the shop, constant rambling about wood, etc…. It is good to have a “Cornerstone” of support. It is good to have people believe in you…..

Thanks for checking out my latest project, and reading my ramblings…..

This year I decided to build gifts for all my nieces and nephews for Christmas. They all know that Uncle Dan and Aunt Randi are big into being wise with our finances, so building them a piggy banks for Christmas was a logical direction to take. To make things go faster I kept the one design, but wanted each to be unique on its own. So all 9 piggy banks are in fact different, but yet they are all the same….

The woods used are maple, cherry, walnut, and sycamore… In no particular order…

Not a whole lot to say about this simple project. I was shooting more for having something I made in the hands of all my nieces and nephiews more than trying to wow anyone. Hopefully, many years down the line they can look at their banks and think of their Aunt & Uncle.

Merry Christmas!

This is a simple little box I actually started about 4 months or so ago. After glue up and a little cleaning I realized my original idea for a handle just didn’t seem to cut it. Long story short I basically got a woodworkers case of “Writers Block”. So I put the box on my mantel and stewed on it for a while.

What really hung me up was the top being so square and my first attempt at scalloping the bottom to show feet of sorts didn’t fit together well in my eyes. Well, after my bride put me under the gun on finishing this one up to give to her personal trainer at the gym (a very sweet woman going through some tough times). I had no choice but to come up with something…. Because Momma said so….lol

I knew what my hang up on the box was the square top with curves on the bottom. So the first thing I did was round the 4 corners of the curly. This seemed to soften the box a good bit, and make it easier on the eyes (at least to me). I opted to leave the purple heart as I originally set it because… Well, it looked right to me….lol

After rounding the sides it made it much easier to come up with a handle. After seeing the pencil box that Triumph1 posted I knew I wanted to laminate the handle to add a little something. After that I just accented & exaggerated the curves on the bottom, then rounded the top to match the softness of the corners. I also tried my hand at a little carving to add the “medallion” (or what ever you want to call it) on the sides of the handle.

I also took a different approach to the finish for this one, and tickled to death with the outcome. This was finished out with 3 soaks of danish oil. Once I was sure it was good and dried (about 2 weeks I guess) I gave it many hand polished coats of Renaissance wax. This project was my first ever real attempt at the use of waxes and now I am wondering what in the world took me so long. I can honestly say this is my favorite finish I personally have done to date.

Sorry for being so long winded about this very simple box. Been looking at this thing for months now and tickled to death I finally got it labeled “Finished”.....lol

Thanks for checking it out!

I was hit up by a coworker a couple of months ago seeing if I would be willing to build a urn for her 17 year old feline when I had some time. The cat is still doing good from what I understand… She just wanted to be prepared. Well, my bride gave me a cut off date of Oct 1 to finish up all my “Friend” projects so I can go into full fledged Santa’s Workshop mode. So I jumped on this one and had it done fairly quick.

I made this to be simple and tasteful. You know… Something you can just sit on a mantle and it will look like some sort of decor instead of…. Well, and urn…lol

Made from local cherry and maple. I left a small area at the top for one collar or what ever she felt was best. There is a 4 1/2” x 4 1/2” x 4 1/2” area chamber inside. I really hope that is enough room because to be honest…. I have no idea how much room is needed (I’m crossing my fingers it is big enough). The finish is BLO with 3 coats of wipe on polly. I personally like the danish oil and wipe on polly best, but the BLO is much faster it seems.

I got to deliver the work last Monday. The new owner and her husband seemed very tickled with it, and now have it displayed in their living room. The only catch was if we could just call it a “Keep Sake” until the time comes to call it an urn. She was afraid the cat my catch wind of it…lol

Thanks for checking it out!

Nothing really fancy here, but I cant help but really like this little project. I was asked by a coworker if I would build a special box for her grandmother. Her Grandfather passed away some time back and she keeps his small personals in a shoe box. Well, that tugged at me heart strings a bit and I couldn’t say no.

I asked what her Grandmother liked, and what kind of woman she was (I like to “Try” and match the work to the person). Her answer was “A simple country woman who holds her family and faith close.” I sure hope I got close to the mark….

The box is cherry with walnut accent pieces. I carved the cross and inlayed it (first try at that…) and added a little walnut for the lid handle. I finished out the box with 3 coats of danish oil and topped it off with one light coat of wipe on polly for added protection. I really like how the finish came out. Although you cant tell by the photos it has a very natural and warm feel to it.

I left a spot for one last picture in the post. I was asked what I wanted for the box and my reply was “A picture of the box with your Grandmother”.... To me… making something like this that will become a treasure to someone…. Well, that is just priceless in my book.

Thanks for checking it out….

Well, I was giving hand cut dovetails a go this weekend and broke out the marking gauge I bought from Rockler to mark my depths. Long and short I was not thrilled with the roller marking gauge I had in hand, so I decided to throw an “Old School” one together.

I used some scrap purple heart (since it is so dense and heavy), as the lumber of choice and screws I found in the ole “Bucket Of Goodies” that I throw odd and end in. I used a nail that I cut down and filled as the actual scribe.

Nothing fancy, but I found it to be much more accurate and easy to use than the shiny one on the shelf. I was so tickled with it I wanted to post up here so maybe this will help someone else out if needed. I plan on making a nice one down the line with the brass and everything, but I cant complain at all with my quick throw together marking Gauge. It got the job done… and that is what matters…. Right?

I been debating posting last weekends project up for a couple of days now. Every day I go out to my shop and cant help but grin a bit seeing this new addition so I figured maybe I can inspire someone else. I been debating peg board over french cleats for about 2 months now. I finally got irritated at the mess on the counter top and decided to tackle it that very moment.

I had a small mess of poplar in the rack not being used (I had bought it for another project and decided not to use it for that) so I went with that as the cleats. I purposely left an empty spot in the middle top for my clock even though I tend to forget it is up there most the time…lol

I also threw together a first couple of things to hang up. Built a small shelf to hold the radio and what not. I threw together a chisel holder that I have nicknamed “Spike” (don’t laugh at my pathetic little big box clearance chisels… we all have to start somewhere…lol) and a board to hold a few of my small spring clamps. I also threw together 8 super quick peg hanger – hooks – or what ever you want to call them for other stuff.

All in all I am really glad I went this way and have tons of ideas for all kinds of helpful hangers in the future (another perk of french cleats…. more “Fun” projects).

While posting this up I found an old pic I took about a year ago so I had to add it in as well. It is weird how in one year my shop has evolved. I honestly owe the inspiration mostly to my fellow Lumber Jocks. I hope this little projects helps and inspires another green horn (like myself) in some way….

Thanks for checking it out….

A while back I was able to head down to Sulphur Springs Texas and spend the day with Rsmith71. Talk about an awesome day! He showed me around a “Real” shop and was so full of info my head was spinning when it was time to leave (Robert really knows his stuff). I also was given a massive parting gift. All kinds of scrap lumber ranging from cherry, walnut, mahogany, ceder, and lyptus. I drove my wives PT Cruiser to visit and I think he was hell bent on cramming as much lumber in that little car as he could…..lol.

Well, I realized I built a few boxes for other folks and have yet to build one for my bride. So I picked the newest and coolest lumber I could find in the pile and commenced to build this lyptus box. I have never seen lyptus before much less built anything with it, so this turned into a fun “Learning Experience”...

As far as the box goes the entire thing (except the pull) is lyptus. I came up with the maple pull on the fly and liked how it added contrast to the box. I started off the finish with two coats of danish oil then got to worrying about ware and tare. Seemed lyptus splinters easily so i wanted to add the extra protection of polly. So I waited two weeks to make sure the danish oil cured out then gave it a wipe on polly coat (just for good measure…lol)

Ohhh and about the lining…. I am blaming that 100% on my 7yr old daughter. She thought it would be perfect and there was no way I was going to talk her out of it. I surprised my wife and oldest daughter with it and they went nuts over it….. I guess I did good? .....lol

My bride and I where in the kitchen a couple of weeks ago and she mentioned “You need to make me a cutting board”..... So I did what any good husband with a shop would do…. I went had fun in the shop….lol

This is my first stab at a cutting board and found it not near as bad as I first thought it may be. It isn’t very big due to I didn’t want to waste much lumber on a “First try” so I just used some scraps I found in the scrap bin. It is made of maple and cherry.

I did come to the realization that I want a drum sander more than ever now…lol. The top and bottom are not near as perfectly even as I would like honestly. I used a straight edge and sanders to get it as even as I could. Not perfect, but nothing noticeable at all. I also learned that maybe only two coats of salad bowl finish would of been better than three. I sanded between each coat, but found the last coat streaked on me some. I just cleaned that up with steel wool.

Not to much to say about this board. I tried it, had fun making it, bride is tickled, and I will make more…. Good fun….

Well, I finally finished up my second keepsake box yesterday. I have found I am fascinated with boxes, wooden hinges, and good reasons to make them. This box was built for a very sweet coworker of mine who recently lost her mother. After first hearing her mother was given a short time to live I had the idea to build a “Memory Box” (something for family members to write down fond memories of her mother and the box would be given to her). Alas I was to late. So I changed up the plan somewhat and just went with a keepsake instead. It broke my heart to see her go through this loss. Seeing the tears of joy and the smile on her face made every hour well worth it in my book.

The box is made of cherry and maple. I hand cut the hinges and used a dremel tool to carve all the curves in it. I build my “Miter Key Jig” and this was the first project I got to try it out on. I personally found making the jig was a lot easier than installing the splines….lol. (I learned some do’s and dont’s while ruining a box…). I had a local shop make the sign that reads….

”A Mother Holds Her Child’s Hand For A Short While, But Their Hearts Forever”

I used linseed oil and wipe on poly for the finish. Then ran up to the craft store an picked up some felt. My oldest daughter recommended black and I think she hit the nail on the head.

One last comment…. I have to give Triumph1 thanks again for inspiring me in creating this box. I am fascinated with his “Box Of Chocolates” and after I finished there is no doubt what I was thinking about while building this one….lol Thanks Jeff!

Thank you all for checking my second box. I enjoyed building it almost as much as I did giving it to its new owner.

Just a quick post of a couple of bandsaw boxes my daughter and I built today. We where talking over breakfast about what to get her mom for Mothers day and decided to head out to the shop and see what we can come up with.

We decided to give a couple of those heart bandsaw boxes a try. The larger of the three boxes is my daughters. She designed hers around a knot she seen in a 4×4 cedar plank. I think it turned out fantastic! On top of that I got the chance to spend a day with my teenage daughter… How often does that happen?...... Like Never! (sorry I’m trying to be hip here…lol)

What a great day!

Just finished up this little jig earlier today. Been wanting to incorporate miter keys into future projects so I threw this together. Nothing really to say about it… It basically is what it is.

I did use MDF for the majority of the project. Had a bunch of scraps laying around and figured “Why Not?” I also wanted some sort of handle that will keep my hands away from the blade while pushing the jig through the blade. That is just plywood and an old piece of a broke rake handle (glad I hung on to that…lol). I also added the old tape to the top as an extra cool little feature. My Father Inlaw dropped some cut off pieces of an old tape a while back and thought it would be a cool little perk to add on.

All in all this was very easy to make and it works “Perfectly” .... I was surprised…. Cough!... Cough! I mean I knew it would….lol

Thanks for checking it out.

This is a project that has more hours than you can count and more meaning that I could even put into words. This is my first real stab at a keepsake box and I picked a few things on it that would challenge me (I’m still new to the whole woodworking scene…lol). Like the corners and wooden hinges. Both gave me royal fits…lol

This box was built for my wives Grandfather. A man whom over the last 10 years grown to respect and love so very much. His wife for almost 60 years passed away not to long ago. Preceding that their family home for 30 years burned to the ground. The picture I showcased in this box is one of the few photos that survived the fire. If you look you can even see burn marks on the picture.

I originally wanted to construct this box with lumber salvaged from the burnt house, but things never panned out. So I went with my two favorite woods instead ….. Cherry and curly maple. I don’t want to bore anyone with all the this and that. Just wanted to show a very special project.

By the way… I did name the box “Triumph” for 3 reasons. First I didn’t think I could build this… I did. Second I spent a lot of time looking at a certain persons work here on LJ. I got an immense amount of inspiration from him (Thanks again Jeff). Thirdly (and most importantly) this box represents a “Triumph” that does not get noted nearly enough. The success of a long and loving marriage that stood the test of time. That to me is a triumph….

Thanks for looking….

This is the newest addition to my collection of jigs. I seen a few videos and looked at tons of designs and came up with this. I wanted something that is adjustable so no matter what size I set my dado blade I can set the jig to accommodate it.

The key (what I call the piece that fits into the dado cut to align the next cut) was made out of an old small square my employer was going to throw away (the handle broke… making it not a square anymore…lol). I cut, ground, filed, drilled, and cursed both pieces until I got it where I wanted it. The inside (closest to the blade) part of the key is adjustable to match the thickness of the dado cut. You can see in picture #4 the adjustment for it.

I used a small section of T-Track I picked up on sale from Rockler to make the right side of the base movable then tighten down when the desired distance from the blade is achieved. What I found works is I measure the cut of the dado. I then multiply by two, then measure from the edge of the inside key to the edge of my cut line on the left base. Seems to work pretty good so far.

I used hard board on the face of the fence to make it easier to replace the middle section when it gets wore out. You can see on the first pic how the fence has 3 pieces on the fence. Two are there to stay… The middle is replaceable.

I did have to make a few changes… First I used my miter slide that came with my table saw as I have seen on many other similar jigs. It didn’t work out to well for me. It tend to move around making it hard to make perfect cuts. So I made a miter slide out of red oak scraps I had around the shop and that fixed that. No movement at all in the jig now.

The only other thing I think I will do is figure out a way to make the left side of the base easier to adjust. It isn’t hard now, but I have to bump and tap it to get minute movement. I have something in mind, but ran out of time to give it a try… Maybe later….lol

Thanks for checking out my jig.