My nephew retired from the Navy last year. I made this plaque to recognize his service.

When we decided to install a gas fireplace I needed to come up with a design for a mantle. I got lucky with a find that worked out nicely. At an auction I bought an old cast iron fireplace surround. I shopped for a gas fireplace unit that would fit into the the opening in the surround. I built the oak mantle and added the stone between the cast iron and wood. The corbels are help up with magnets and drop down on dovetailed brackets to access the ON/Off switch on the left and the fan speed control switch on the right.

This photo shows my grandson on a recently completed carousel horse.
I am a member of the Berkshire Carousel. http://www.facebook.com/berkshire.carousel We are a group of volunteers who have been working for over four years to build 33 hand built and hand carved carousel horses. The completed carousel will be a working carousel open to the public. It will be in operation at Berkshire Mall in Western Massachusetts.
The lead carver on the project is Walt Ruess http://www.waltruess.com/. Without Walt this project would not have been possible.
If you are ever in or near Berkshire County stop by for a visit. Our shop is in a storefront at Berkshire Mall in Lanesborough, Massachusetts and is open to the public. The horses are beautiful.

Phil

Now that I finally bought a good band saw I’ve decided to treat it better than my old one. It’s recommended that the blade tension should be released when it’s no in use. My solution was to make a knod that would be easy to adjust. This knob has a recess that fits the tension knob on the machine. I placed a reference mark on the edge of the knob. To release the tension I rotate the knob counterclockwise 4 revolutions and clockwise 4 revolutions to retension the blade. It works fine.

The latest issue of Woodworker’s Journal has an article with plans for a Civil War Chair. This is a folding chair that looks like a nice piece of furniture and is comfortable. I made one out of cherry. I decided to use my Shopbot for the mortises on the curved back pieces for accuracy and perfect alignment.
I also did the upper back concave curve on the Shopbot so I could add the “1862” to the part. I really like the chair. When I make another one I will do the other parts on the Shopbot too.
The picture shows the chair ready for the cloth seat.

When I finished a space in my basement for entertainment the centerpiece was a pool table. I wanted to add a bar but I had limited space. I decided on a service bar. I used the Jessada 3D router template for the carvings. I acid etched the mirror, first time for acid etching for me. The bar is mad of solid cherry with a green marble laminate for the bar top. The columns were made from split turnings.

I just completed this kitchen island. The customer is supplying a granite countertop. The pictures that show a wooden top are the pictures that the customer sent me to work from. I did a Sketchup drawing, last image.
Most of the island is birch plywood and some of it is poplar.

The tiny hose port that is part of the Delta band saw doesn’t collect much of the dust created when using the saw. I cut out a 4” hole in the door and made an adapter out of 3/4” MDF to connect a 4” hose with a PVC elbow. This was an improvement but some dust was still escaping. The second improvement was made from a collection of piping parts that I had in my “I’ll find a use for it eventually box. I had to drill a 2 1/2” hole in the PVC elbow with a hole saw.

A while ago my sister gave me a beautiful chess board and pieces from Mexico. I’m not much of a chess player but I really liked the board. Our old coffee table was in need of replacement so my wife and I designed this table. It’s loosely based on the Craftsman style. The drawer is a perfect place to store the pieces. I also made two matching drop leaf end tables.

I made this angle gauge because I never liked using a protractor with a bevel gauge. Most protractors are too small and difficult to read and not all that easy to get a bevel gauge to align with properly. This angle gauge is large enough to handle and read easily. I made it out of MDF on my Shopbot.

I designed and built this mortising jig to cut mortises for bed hardware. The jig works fine. easy to set up, easy to adjust.
I posted this blog http://lumberjocks.com/Phil277/blog when I was working on the jig and I am greatful for the suggestions made by people from this forum.

Phil

This jewelry box is made of cherry. The inside is lined with green flocking. All of the parts were made with traditional woodworking tools and the decorative carvings were done with a CNC router. The design was inspired by a famous chip carver, Wayne Barton. You might notice that there is more than one version pictured, I’ve made two of these.

Phil

My grandson turned three in November. He is a big fan of superheroes, Thor is his favorite. I made this chair out of mahogany. I carved the Thor and Viking shop panels on my CNC router. All of the chair parts were made with traditional woodworking tools.

I made this for my brother for a bedroom TV. It is made of oak. He will do the finishing so I don’t have a picture of it completed

When my brother turned 70 I wanted to make a special gift for him. Instead of the usual trappings displayed on a family crest I replaced them with some of his favorite things – a lobster, a beer mug an Irish hat and a shamrock. This was carved on my CNC. The wood is mahogany