Hello LJs,
I finally finished these Everyday Ellens today. As you can see, they are made from a variety of woods: curley maple, walnut, cherry and zebrawood. They are finished with 3 coats of wipe on poly gloss. I couldn’t decide on shape and wanted to try the octagon. Remember that post on how critical we are of our own work? Well this is an example. The octagon has one edge that is slightly off… and it drives me crazy. No one else has noticed But, there is no way to fix it now! The round one with the center circle was also a “mistake” – it shifted slightly in the glue up jig I made but everyone likes that one the best – they say it looks like a flower! That one was “corrected when I cut the circle.
I still aspire to do those tumbling blocks that Larry, David and Lisa have done. That is on the list.
Thanks for looking.
Ellen
(I did consider sending one to Vivian but the shipping is worse than to Australia ;-)

Here are 3 boxes I made over the last month. I was going to wait until I had one more finished but Len (Dusty56) was so encouraging that I thought I’d post them now with the story of each. The “little minnow” is 6 inches long and is mahogany with a maple “fin” handle. The larger minnow is 10 inches long and is a combination of maple, luan mahogany and walnut – it is also my first attempt at flocking (black flock). The third box is just the right size for tea. The top is purple heart (I’m gonna hate it when that top turns brown!) with the Asian touch made using my new router table. I ended up using parts from a lamp for the spacers on the handle as they were thin and able to be screwed in on both ends – got them at my local hardware store for about .45 each! The box itself is made from a butcher block sample given to me by a friend who works in a kitchen design showroom. He has given me 3 of these so far… all different woods. I simply take off the edge, run them through the planer to get them clean and smooth and resaw them on the table saw. It is really free wood for me and I still have a very hard jatoba and a beautiful cherry to work with (and he promises more – as they replace the samples, they throw away the old ones – now recycled to me!). This box is made from some exotic whose name escapes me (and I cut it off the end before I could write it down!!). In the background are 2 cutting boards that I made.
Thanks for looking – and Len, thanks for your encouragement!
Ellen

A friend came to visit my little shop and I ended up giving her my $99 Sears router and table. So…lucky me, I decided to get a new one and build my own cabinet. I went to Rockler in Cambridge MA and purchased a laminate table and fence, an aluminum router lift and a PC router to fit the lift. The guys there were really great and when I told my salesman I was going to build the table, he asked me if I wanted a wooden table frame “really cheap” (last one, really didn’t want to put it on the floor – $33 took it away). Well, my thought was to put the wooden frame together and then build the cabinet around it. I made some modifications to the frame to make it a little lower (for us shorter folks) and put wheels on it. I bought some birch ply at the Borg (don’t even ask about voids!!) and designed this cabinet. I included only 1 drawer as I wanted plenty of room for the router and the ability to vacuum out the “router box” as needed. That’s a plexi door on the router box so I can see when it needs to be cleaned. Yes, I could do a vacuum but that will come later. I also included the 2 door cabinet on the bottom for bigger stuff. The box in there was the “mistake” on the drawer. I decided to use it for storage inside the cabinet. There is also some low flat storage on the very bottom… I have no idea what I’ll do with that now but I have never found storage that I couldn’t use! I made the face frame with my Kreg pocket hole jig and it really was pretty easy. I stained it a very light pine just to contrast the very “white” birch ply inside. Thanks for looking!
Note: That white thing in the back is my fridge but it can’t hold a candle to Degoose’s turquoise one!

These are my first Lazy Susans…aka Everyday Ellens (as in Lazy Larry…only not as intricate!). The larger one has rosewood edges with a band of walnut and a center of beautifully figured cherry. The smaller one has walnut edges, 2 narrow purpleheart strips with 3 wider maple strips. I finished with 3 coats of wipe on poly and waxed each one. I have also included a picture of the bottom of one – black felt on that. I made my jig from Degoose’s plans and cutting the circles was a breeze. I’d like to thank Larry for all his advice and guidance. I am humbled to learn from such a talented man!
Thanks for looking…and yes, constructive criticism is most welcome!
Ellen

This is a computer stand that got out of hand. I started with a little plan from one of those “easy projects” books about a year ago. I finally had some time to work on it and it grew! It is 25” wide x 22” deep x 30” high (all I can say is the plans called for one that would just about fit a computer on top and a small printer underneath (my printer is a monster!). I used maple and zebrawood to match the bookcase I built about 6 months ago. I got some incredibly hard maple 2×2s for free from my wood guy and got a steal on the curley maple for the top ( still have about 4 feet of 5/4×10” curley left over for another project). I used pocket joinery for the first time. Interestingly, I had an old $20 pocket joint jig from the Borg that was just about useless so I went out and bought the Kreg Master System…what a joy to use!
Thanks for looking at this. Any and all comments (positive or negative – that is how I learn) are appreciated!
Ellen

I made these 3 candle holders from scrap purpleheart and maple…2 of my favorite woods. The long ones are 18 inches and the short one is 12 inches. I added the purpleheart inlay detail because I thought it was too plain. The 2 woods are both cut at 45 degree angles and I think that makes them pleasing to the eye. I eased all the edges and finished with 3 coats of Watco danish oil.
Thanks for looking at my work. LJ is such an inspiration!
Ellen

These are 3 boxes I have been working on for about the last month. The first one is radiata pine with a zebrawood top and zebrawood keys. the second one is radiata pine with a walnut top, a minimally inlaid riverstone and walnut keys. The third one is radiata pine with a variety of woods “puzzled” into a top. The keys are walnut. I had all these pieces of wood left over from other projects and I wanted to try something a little “artsy” and different. I do like how it came out and hope you all enjoy it too. Thanks for looking.
Ellen

I finally had a day when I could be alone in the workshop for a few hours. I find it so relaxing to be out there. I really wanted to try a box from Doug Stowe’s book. I came out pretty well…of course, I can see every flaw! It is made of walnut and maple and finished with danish oil. I also needed more cutting boards as the 35 or so I already made have been given away as gifts. I had some jatoba, gorgeous rosewood, birdseye maple, cherry and purpleheart. The striped ones are all good wood…that “funky” one is just a bunch of scraps I had around..threw in some teak on that one! All finished with mineral oil. What an enjoyable day!! Thanks for looking!

I just completed this wood scrap box today. It is a pretty basic box with a compartment in the back for larger stock. I was quite tired of all the cardboard and plastic boxes full of scraps that I could never find. It is made out of less than 2 sheets of good quality plywood and some 1×4 pine. It is also on 6 casters and moves easily. The only problem (if indeed it is a problem!) is that it is nearly full already! I guess I’ll have to make something else! Thanks for checking this out! LJ is a phenomenal website with such a wonderful variety of skill levels on so many projects. I feel honored to be able to post here.
Ellen

I completed this project this afternoon after working on it for about 3 weeks – in between my day job responsibilities! I really liked the design in Popular Woodworking but made several changes. First of all I used dados on all the shelves except the top (rabbet) and I used narrow hard maple glued together and a single piece of zebrawood for the flat endboard. I finished it with danish oil which brought out the beauty of the wood.
I’d like to thank all the LJs who gave me advice on how to cut maple without burn and to AaronK for his hints on assembly. I really love how this looks in my office.