Knocked out this little project last night. I had some cut-off scrap from the cutting board I posted yesterday left over and thought it would make for good handle material for a small knife. stopped by woodcraft and they had their knife kits on sale for $10. So for $10 and some leftover scrap glue-up I figured i couldn’t go wrong.

And now i have a little set for the kitchen. Tried to sale it to the wife as a “cheese set”, small board, small knife…it works! She thought it was a pretty intense little cheese knife, but hey, all the cheese connoisseurs are using mini-skinners now-a-days, right?!

I think this will complete my maple and walnut series for a while, time to move to a new variety….

My first cutting board attempt. Another walnut and hard maple project. Finished with butcher block oil. Turned out fairly small, my goal is now to make a “cheese knife” with some left over glue-up of the maple/walnut for the handle. It is the perfect size for a little cheese board.

Only real issue I had with this was a little burn from my router bit on the edge. First time I had used the used table/router/bits I picked up, I think the bit just needs some good cleaning after further inspection. But not bad, adds a little character!

After this little experiment, looking forward to making a full size board down the road….

Ok, so this was officially my first turning on the lathe. It started as a 3.5×3.5×10 inch hunk from woodcraft. Again, i forget the variety….I really need to start documenting that!

This just gave me a chance to experiment with the different lathe tools and get a feel for the machine. I sanded to 600, then finished with Mylands High Friction, and a coat of Johnson’s Paste Wax.

So here is a salad set, spoon and “fork”, that I designed and made over the last week. Its a glue up of maple and walnut, free-handed the design, cut it out on the bandsaw, and then worked the shape with the belt sander and my dremel.

I am very pleased with the way they turned out. Finished them over the last three nights with General Finishes Butcher Block Oi.

Here’s is my only frustration, and perhaps ya’ll can shed some light on this subject….

After three days of coating liberally and allowing to soak in the oil, last night I went to rinse these off with warm water and dish soap to put them away. When I did, the water raised the “hairs” of the wood. Before going under the faucet, the pieces were smooth as can be. After I rinsed and dried them my wife picked them up and said “now they are rough”.

So what gives? I did sand (by hand) up to 600 grit. Did I close the pores?? I also did not sand at 320 between coats of oil.

Any tips would be great! And thoughts on overall design would be nice too.

This is my first ever bowl turned on my lathe (shopsmith) about a week ago. And only the second thing I have turned yet. It started out as a bowl blank I picked up from Woodcraft, pulled from the “discount” bin so I am not even certain of the variety.

It is finished with Mylands High Friction Polish and Johnsons paste wax.

I can tell that turning will be quite addictive!! Can’t wait!

I am really enjoying this website and wanted to get some of my projects up so I can begin to post the new ones that are coming along.

This is a project I designed and built a couple of year’s ago at our townhome, which is now a rental property of ours. The most rewarding part of this project is that I got to do this with my Dad. He came up from Georgia on a Friday, and we set the posts that day. Then, on Saturday we basically knocked the entire pergola out. It was such a cool deal to be able to do this with my Dad. The time spent together swinging a hammer was just priceless.

After the structure was complete, I had power run to it for the ceiling fan and light, and had a dual switch installed right inside the doors. We also added a drop down shade which really made it seem like another room off the house. New Years Eve of the year we even put down a dance floor on the patio, hung a disco ball and some lights, and it become our dance floor!

A fun project, a great experience with my dad, and an added value to our townhome. It was a great weekend!