Hey guys,

Been a while but here is some stuff I have been playing with. Lemme know what you think.

Happy Fathers Day!

Every year, the surviving Marines from this unit meet at a different location across the US. This year, one of hosts wanted a small token to give them. I used different woods for each card and each one has a strip of purple heart inlayed in the corner. All the lettering is woodburned, and the emblem is a simple transfer.

Semper Fi Gents! Thanks for looking!

Custom Picture Frame for a friend. I used ten different hardwoods, and every kind of joinery I could think of. She loved it! I used purple heart, oak, rose wood, zebra, beech, mahogany, walnut, poplar, paduk, and one other one I don’t know. I did a splined miter, beveled butt-joint, half-lap, dovetail, pocket screws, finger joints, a bowtie’d miter, and a compound miter to hold it together. It holds a 13”x13” picture.

Thanks for looking!

Well, this is news to me, but apparently turkeys have beards. Who knew…? Anyway, a good friend of mine snagged the bird this was attached to, and from what he tells me, these are kinda a prize and needed a way to display it. It is about a foot long and held in place by woven leather. He has a few dozen beards so this will be to start. Not many displays exist from what he tells me. Anyway, I hope he likes it.

Thanks for looking!

This is a survival kit I made for a Boy Scout who has been helping me with the Cub Scout group I am in-charge of. I didn’t want to do something that he would hang on the wall for a few years and forget about. I wanted to make something that he would say, “Heck yeah! This is Cool! I am gonna use this thing!”

The box is mahogany, I turned a flash light, whistle, and tinder holder (aka secret pillbox). I made a survival bracelet, and added some other goodies for him.

Thanks for looking!

I have been wanting to play with some colors for the pens I have been working on. I have looked into some of the stains, dyes, and food/clothing color things out there, but then I remembered the power of a sharpie! No mixing, no waiting, no mess, no fuss! I used mahogany in the first pic, with some teal. It mixed to a nice greenish color. The rainbow took a bit longer to do. I didn’t time it, but it took somewhere around 90 seconds to apply. Instant gratification!

Here is what you do. Turn your blank. Sand to 400-600 ish. Keep lathe on at a low speed, and swipe it a few times to get the color you want. Apply CA finish. Done. Gig-a-dee.

The last pic is a pen made with antler. I didn’t color it or anything, I just made it float for the picture.

Desk plaque made with an oak base, beech and walnut 40mm rounds, and a bomb made with walnut, rock maple, mahogany, padouk, and purple heart. Also includes a 50cal pen. The ball portion was made on the router table with a 3/4 straight-bit.

My take on an old gag…

Turned some blanks and added some stickers. Overlayed them, did a coat of spary lacquer, then some thick CA, and then thin CA. Took twice as long as a normal slim line, but they look great!

So I have been doing woodwork for a while and I have just now turned my first pens. I have no idea why I waited this long. I did 4 slims and 2 .50 cals. Awosome time. I had to grind a spade bit down to a 7mm (forgot to get one…) and my pen mandrel was the wrong size (1/4” not 7mm). Oh well. Still had fun. Thanks for looking!

Hey guys. I have been seeing a bunch of really nice brass carving mallets. Due to the fact that I don’t have access to work on that type of material, I made these. Both handles are made with beech and finished with CA. The smaller one has a scrap of galvanized fence post that I polished and fit over the handle. The larger one has some type of galvanized pluming fixure (a union maybe?) that I also polished with my angle grinder.

The knife looking thing is my new parting-off tool. The blade is an old bi-metal blade with the teeth removed and a sharpened tip. The handle is a scrap of sepele, finished with CA. I used my dovetail saw to cut the handle almost in half, and glued in the blade. After clamping, I tried it out and WOW, this thing cuts fast! Thanks for the idea goes to CapnEddie: http://www.youtube.com/user/capneddie

Thanks for looking!

Just finishing up this last minute plaque for a customer. Started yesterday as a concept, started making sawdust today, and it is due tomorrow. (I better get a case of beer for this one…) The safari hat is what the Marine instructors wear on the fireing line. I had to cut it in half at a 20 degrees (not fun…) and attach it to ply to attach it to the board. I did a split-turning for the bullets used double-stick tape to hold my blank together while I turned (I honesty didn’t think the tape would hold). I sprayed the background with high-luster black laquer. Taking the pictue was interesting trying to avoid my reflection. If you look above the woodburned oak plaque, you will see my nogin poking up. Whatchagonnado? Time for sleep…

Thanks for looking.

I made some of these a while back, and it dawned on me make some simple stands. I also made a new sphere out of scrap walnut that I had to glue together. I plan on making a bunch more as soon as I make more scrap…

I made some of these a few weeks ago and they were a big hit with the Marines. I made a few more using sepele and beech. Finish was with CA and it actually turned out really nice this time. Thanks for looking!

Hey guys! It still need the final touches (attaching weights and wheels), but here is my entery for the Open Division, for Dads. I had to go for the Michael Keaton Bat Mobile. One of my friends used to work in a car bodyshop, and told me that the finish wasn’t good enough unless you could count your teeth in the reflection. I had to go back and re-do it more times than I care to admit. Here she is and I am very happy! I have never carved a car like this.

Thanks for looking!

Desk plaque for the perfectionist.

I made this for my wife as a Christmas present. I am just now getting around to posting it. The box is Oak and Walnut and the drawer faces are Mahogany, Purple Heart and Bloodwood. This is my second one and I hope to soon make more.

Working my new lathe with some scrap (beech I think…) from a pallet. The spheres (a first for me) took a while, but I found a good way to turn one in about 45 minutes. The capative rings of three are also a first and I am very happy with how it turned out. The cannon is just cool, and being a former Marine, I had to make some ammo. Thanks for looking!

Solid 3/4” oak, handcut through dovetails, purple heart splines. Solid 1/2” oak tray with mitered purple heart splines, lined with rigid foam and felt. Spray lacquer finish. Solid brass hardware. Walnut coin display. There are sixteen total images burned by hand. Some of the pictures were provided by the customer during the recipient’s deployment to Iraq. Other pictures were picked by me for nostalgia and design. This is my most ambitious and complex project to date. This commission took over 50 hours to complete.

Commission for a Marine getting out after 26 years.