Greetings Jocks!

These are two Bar Tap Handel’s I made for friends of mine who just opened a bar on Long Island.
They were turned from 8/4 Purpleheart. One has a Celtic Knot design which is Sugar Maple.

What made the turning easy was that the thread size of bar taps seems to be the same as wine bottle stoppers, so I used my wine bottle stopper mandrel to mount the blank to the lathe. Very easy.

The finish is EEE Polish followed by EEE Shellack.

Thanks for viewing!

Greetings all;

Well I have been turning since I was a kid. My father had an old Beaver Tools lathe. I was self taught, which means I had a lot of bad habits, and really did not get good results with my modest turnings.

For years, I never sharpened a single tool. I simply didn’t know as a kid.
Last year, I bought a new lathe from Grizzly, the GO462. Wow, what an upgrade from that old Beaver. (No jokes).

Anyway, knowing that I had no real skill in turning, I went to the library and took out every book I could find on turning. I watched every video I could stomach on YouTube. Read the blogs, and of course turned to the LumberJocks for advise.

Here is a small collection of the results.

Thanks for viewing!
Wes

P.S.: Pen turning is very additive!

Greetings all!
This was a project for friends of mine who are opening a bar with an 80’s theme. They asked me to build a light bright table. I have seen these online, but the plans were, well, not up to Lumberjocks standards.

I made the table with mortise and tenon joinery, tapered legs, removable peg board to allow the pegs to be changed, watertight top in case a drink is spilled, hidden door to remove the peg board, ect., ect., ect..

Not a screw, or tool mark on the thing. Then, they wanted me to paint it metallic silver.

In hindsight, I should have used the rudimentary plans I found online, plywood, screws showing, stock 1x legs ect..

Instead of using “Peg Board” for the peg board, I drilled my own. Why? I didn’t like the way the pegs sat in the store bought peg board. You know what I’m talking about, If you feel its not right, than its not, and we then make a jig, buy a tool, invent a process, to get the look we know we want. 750 holes, hand drilled, then re-drilled after painting because the paint made the pegs too tight. Ugh.

All in all, I loved making this thing. When I first lit it up, it was really cool.

Thanks for viewing!
Wes

First Commission.

Three, cherry eyeglass display cases. Two with piano wire to hold the eyeglass frames, one with rails and dowels.
The piano wire cases were tough. The mirror is from a plan in one of the mags. Everything in 3/4 cherry, cherry stain, three coats of poly.
The piano wire cases were tough. They are actually two cases. Outer and inner. Then inner cases, which houses the wire, have steel rods embedded into the sides to hold tension on the wire, and prevent the sides from bowing.
Lights complete the cases.
It took me a year, taking off during the hot summer, working on the occasional night, and weekend.

Made this mirror for an Optometrist friend, and it hangs in his eyeglasses display room. It has a small holder for business cards.
Made from one cherry board.
Not my design, got it from one of the many woodworking mags I get in the mail. Some of you may remember the article.
Thanks for looking!
Wes

This patio cooler stand is made from cedar decking. 62’ to be exact. It holds a 48 quart Igloo cooler. The top is hinged, and the cooler cover is mounted within the top. Bottle opener, and cap catcher complete the case. The cap catcher was made from some scrap tin I had, and assembled with rivets. Its lighter than it looks because of the cedar. This puts your cooler at a perfect height, and comes in handy for BBQ’s. I must admit, this is not my idea. I saw an ad for something similar, made of reclaimed pine, for $200 plus shipping!. I saw a slightly larger one online, made from composite decking, (I think), for $1500.00!!
This was a one day project, with very simple joinery. Biscuits, and pocket hole screws, then a can of spray on Thompson Water Seal.
The cooler, lumber, brass handle, brass piano hinge, screws, glue, water seal, bottle opener, scrap tin: all in for about $145.00.
After the BBQ, I had a half dozen orders for them.

Material list:
1×6 8’ Cedar decking from Big Orange 4pcs $38
1×6 10” Cedar decking 3pcs $36
Igloo cooler 48qt $30
Water seal $5
Handle $4
Lid support $6
Piano hinge $11
Bottle opener $5
Misc: glue, screws, biscuits, tin $10
One day to construct, one day to sand/finish

A pair of inlaid frames for my boss. He had these two granite tiles, but no frames for them. So, in standard woodworker fashion I declared, I’ll make ya something boss. Two months later, here they are.
It was my first attempt at inlay. I had some purple heart, and rock maple scrap from a cutting board project which became the herringbone inlay. Some scrap cherry from a display case project made up the frame. My first try at inlaying the inlay, I just wrapped the frame with the inlay in one direction. I just didn’t look right. Then I referred to one of the many magazines I had laying around to discover that there is a method to the madness. So the second frame came out much better. Alternate colors at the miters, then split at the center-line of each side. “Oh, that’s how you inlay herringbone.” For a first try, I was pleased, and so was my boss.
Beaded 1/8” cherry wraps the frames to hide the french cleat from the side. Biscuits at the miters of the frame for strength because the tiles are 12”sq granite; heavy.

This was a favor for a close friend who needed display cases for eyeglasses. Four foot square. Solid cherry. Piano wire holding the glasses. Working with piano wire is like working with a two year old, you think it will be easy, then all hell breaks loose. The coil of wire will quickly fill a room if you let it get away from you. This is the first of three cases to be made. Cherry stain, then three coats of poly. I had to make an inner case, and an outer case to conceal everything going on in between ie. the sides had to be reinforced with 1” plywood strips embedded with steel bars, and the eye hooks holding the wires. The reinforcement was to prevent sagging when the wires were pulled taught.
The end result was you can actually “play” this case!
Thanks for looking!

This was a DEFCON sign I made for work, sort of. As my boss gets more and more frustrated throughout the day, we raise the DEFCON level.
Made of oak, with plexi for the front. On the plexi are stickers printed from an inkjet. The signs are lighted from behind with led’s, and is controlled by a switch box with a six position rotatory switch. Defcon 1,2,3,4,5 and off. We get lots of laughs from it.

Holds 90+ bottles, made from oak. I made the wine as well.

This knife was a gift from a good friend. I could not bear to use it, so I made this shadow box for it instead. Wow, compound miters on a Radial Arm Saw is a snap. Try that with a table saw. The knife was custom made, and the only markings on it, are on the blade, “BERRY”. I tried to Google this name on knives, but no luck.

This was a memorial for my Father. It contains the flag that draped his coffin, some bills he brought back from China, and his medals and dog tags from WWII.
Made of maple, with a glass front.
20” wide, 15” tall, 4” deep.

This was my first try at a cutting board. It is from TWW podcast. Thanks Marc! Started with the boards you see pictured, Hard Maple, and Purpleheart. Man, this stuff puts the hard, in hardwood. My 1952 DeWalt Radial Arm Saw just barely got through it. A ton of burning. This project prompted me to buy my first table saw. A Grizzly G0690.

Wall hung display case of Cherry, with sliding dovetail joinery, and router table moldings.

New drill press=new drill press table. The table itself is 24” wide, and 15” deep. It is two 3/4 ply, flat glued with Gorilla Glue, and a 1/4 MDF top. MDF inserts the depth of the table,(it was easier to do it this way). Attached to the drill press table with four bolts and hardwood blocks underneath. The bolts and new table were secured before the 1/4 MDF. The MDF is only brad nailed to facilitate removal of the bolts, and replacement.

This was a custom bat rack for a friend. It holds one signed MLB bat, and one Irish bat. What an Irish bat is I dont know, but the rack was designed to hold it.

This is my cutoff bin.

Couple of Adirondack chairs I made for the backyard. 3/4 Mahogany.

The wife wanted a small table to put her coffee on when she is out sunning in the lounge chair. Mahogany with oak inlay. Mort-is and tenon joinery.

My first wall hung plane cabinet.