The barn at my friend’s family farm collapsed 70 years after it was built. I took them up on the offer of a truck load of wide planks and beams. The wood was extremely weathered, and it took several passes through the planer to clean up it up. It turned out to be cedar. In the end, I was left with a few beams and a lot of ½” thick stock which dictated this design. I had enough to build the set shown and a matching bench that I gave back to my friend’s family. My wife put the birds and candle on there –so now she says that she helped!

I built the bed and chifforobe for my daughter’s doll this Christmas (2008). My wife made the linens for the bed. I included a secret compartment that can be accessed by pulling out the bottom drawer and pushing out the left back panel. The idea was to give my daughter a place to hide her diary or toys from her brother, but she has since shown the “secret” compartment to anyone who will listen.

I built this for my niece. It was my first attempt at an inlay. It turned out ok, but I think I could do better next time. The chair design was modified from a David Marks design. The front chair legs are dovetailed into the seat and the cove in the chair back was done on the table saw. The cherry and maple were stained separately before assembly and it was finished with several coats of water based poly.

This was a “commissioned” piece for my inlaws.
I ebonized the poplar using black TransTint dye and India Ink.
First coat Dye/ink in Zinsser Seal coat.
Second coat Dye/ink in 50% ethanol.
Third coat Dye/ink in seal coat again.
I ended with a few coats of Arm-R-Seal.

I needed something to bang chisels around with.

I put this together with scrap walnut, cherry, and maple after seeing Dan’s prize winner this summer.