Believe it or not, this bowl was a mistake. What I mean is, that it is critical to get the angle of the Ringmaster set just right for the ring segments to align properly. What happened here is that I set the angle too sharply thus the misaligned rings. I figured I would just turn this screw up into an experiment. Fortunately, I was cutting 3/8” thick segments thus allowing me to turn the inside of the bowl true.

What happened next was also just an idea. Usually the first cut from the blank is just scrap but as I looked into the trash I thought, I wonder how the hexagon piece of scrap would look glued to the top of the bowl. Since at this point I was just experimenting I figured, go for it!! After the glue dried, I took the bowl to the sander and sanded the hexagon sides down to where they met the bowl diameter. I then mounted the bowl back on the lathe and sanded the edges until the scallops appeared.

The result of this mistake is a pretty unique looking bowl. It was however a lot of work. My wife likes it so I guess all is good.

The bowl is made from English Walnut. I finished it with three coats of “General Finishes” Salad Bowl Finish.

P.S. I did correct the angle on the next several bowls, but I liked the hexagon top so much I incorporated it as a design feature

I made a total of ten bowls out of English Walnut

Thanks for looking!!

My neighbor, who owns a portable saw mill asked if I would build him a big game processing table if he supplied the materials. I said sure! The materials he gave me for the project were walnut and birch. The base is entirely made from walnut, the top from a combination of birch and walnut laminated together. The top is 2 1/4” x 30” x 71”.

I came up with the idea of making his table as versatile as possible. Searching the internet for ideas I came across plans for a trestle table. These plans were originally published in Volume 8 Issue 1 of The Woodworker’s Journal (Jan./Feb. 1984, pages 56-58). I modified the design some to suit the materials at hand.

Trestle tables can be disassembled and stored, or moved, with a minimum of effort. Since my neighbor does a lot of entertaining outdoors I built the table to a standard height of 28”. He can seat eight folks around it.

This however is too low for a person standing their butchering a deer, elk, or moose. So, I made him four 2”x4”x7” walnut blocks on which are mounted 4” casters. These blocks, with their casters attached, can be mounted to the base of the table and raise the height of the table to 36”.

The final sanding and finishing of this table is up to him to do so what you see is an unfinished project. I am sure however that the grain of the walnut and birch will pop when the finish is applied.

I never built a table before but then again most of the things I build are firsts for me. I enjoyed the challenge and got to make mistakes with his material. He is happy with the end result and I am too.

Thanks for looking!!

As some of you my recall I started my 3-in-1 drill press upgrade by building the mobile base Next, I built the hybrid drill press/downdraft table. I saved this nesting storage cabinet for the last of the upgrades.

I got the idea for this series of projects from ShopNotes magazine, issue 128, Vol.22. The three drawers are already full and I plan on modifying the cubbies a little more. This has been a fun project to do and it has allowed me to consolidate my various bits, cutters, sanding drums, etc. I plan on adding some more accessories to the cabinet since I still have more drill press related items that need a home.

Thanks for looking!!

This bowl was made from one 3/4” x 10 1/2” x 10 1/2” laminated board. The woods are walnut, oak, and butternut. The finish is three coats of General Finishes “Salad Bowl” finish. The bowl segments were cut using my Ringmaster lathe tool.

Thanks for looking!!

I like my 10” Jet contractors saw but the fence leaves a lot to be desired. It’s just plaino-plaino(See Photo #6). So, today I got fed up and decided to give it a facelift. I added a D.I.Y. double T-track piece to the top of it. Now I have a little extra height to the fence and I can add some accessories. I saw the feather board in one of my woodworking magazines and liked the idea so I gave it a shot. I like it!! The other jig is sort of a sled for taller materials. I have used it to make tenons.

Thanks for looking and I will gladly accept more accessory ideas.

I didn’t have a height adjustment gauge to set the height of my table saw blade or router bits. I got the idea for this one from John W. Nixon of Eagle Lake Woodworking I was looking at his Super Crosscut Sled build as a candidate for my next project.

I know that it isn’t a fancy digital gauge but for now it gets me close and is good enough, better than the tape measure I was using :). I chose the gantry style so that I could bridge the inserts on my table saw and router table. I imbedded rare earth magnets in the bottom of the legs.

Thanks for looking!!

This is the second of three upgrades to my drill press. The first was to build a mobile base The idea for a dual purpose drill press table was born when I built my scroll saw downdraft table The table measures 12”x30” and is 2” deep. The frame is 1/2” Baltic Birch plywood. I inset the bottom panel which is 1/4” hardboard finished on both sides. The top is 1/4” pegboard also inset and left loose. The replaceable insert is 3/8”x4”x4” particle board that is finished on one side. I routed T-slots in the two birch 7/8”x3 1/2”x11 1/2” ends. I glued and doweled all the support pieces to the frame.

The next step was to find a way to attach the hybrid table to the existing drill press table. I wanted the hybrid table to sit snugly with no wobble on the existing table without having to fasten them together. The 1” centering dowel and the four hardwood slot inserts worked beautifully for this purpose.

The last thing to do was to make a 2 1/2” hole in the right end of the table to insert the dust collection hose. After the hole was drilled I glued two pieces of 1/2” plywood on each side of the hole at a 45 degree angle to funnel the dust and chips to the port. Does it work? You bet it does. If the chips are too big for the peg board holes I simply remove the insert and sweep them into the table.

The fence is 2” thick by 3 1/2” tall by 30” long.

The last phase of my drill press upgrade is to build the storage unit under the table.

This is the first phase of a three phase upgrade to my drill press. The plans for all three phases can be found in ShopNotes Magazine vol. 22 Issue 128.

I went to a thrift store a bought a set of roller blades for $5.00. I took the 8 wheels and trashed the rest. I mounted the wheels with 5/16” x 2 1/4” hex head bolts drilled and taped into the frame. I made my own knobs and stops as you can see in photo #3. Those are water hose washers super glued to the bottom of the stops. I cut four pieces of 5/16” x 4 1/2” long all thread and super glued them to the knobs and the stops. About a turn and a half of the knobs is all it takes to steady the base and keep the stand from rolling.

Next is the storage unit and then the table.

Thanks for looking. Your comments are always welcome.

This frog is a Kathy Wise design from her book “Intarsia, Woodworking For Beginners” Also, fellow LJ koryk has an excellent blog of this build koryk blog if anyone is interested.

A portion of the body and eye of the frog are made from yellowheart, the pupal is painted black. The green portions are a mystery wood. It was some that I was given. It is very soft almost like balsa wood. The tree branch is butternut. Overall, it measures approximately 16” tall by 9” wide.

I really like the art of Intarsia but I need to move on to some other projects still waiting in the wings. Thanks for looking!!

A couple months ago I bought two Intarsia books by Kathy Wise. This pattern was in her “Woodworking For Beginners” book. My wife fell in love with him. So, even though it wasn’t the first project in the book I had to try making him. He is about 19” tall and 14” wide. His body is walnut with cottonwood accents for the muzzle, eye brows, tail rings and ears. The tree limb is hickory and the leaves are yellow heart and blood wood. I applied black walnut stain over the walnut to get the darker look around the eyes, feet, and tail. The eyes and nose were painted black. I am not really sure what species of pine, or perhaps fir, I used for the background. The finish is three coats of satin lacquer.

This is my forth piece of Intarsia. It really is a fun art form and I have learned a lot from the more experienced LJs. Thanks guys!!

Yesterday I posted the Roubo Style Trivet I used my Thin Rip Jig to ensure that all the pieces were ripped to a uniform width. It dawned on me that perhaps some of my fellow LJs would like to see how this simple jig is built. So here it is. I built this a few years ago.

I got the plans from one of my woodworking magazines but I don’t remember which one. It was either Woodsmith, Shopnotes, or American Woodworker. As is usually the case I used scrap material on hand. The base and slide are made from 3/4” particle board with a melamine finish on one side. It is approximately 10 1/2” x 16”. The guide for the table saw track fastened to the bottom of the base is oak. I used a recessed 1/4”x2 1/4” carriage bolt to keep the sliding portion of the jig secure to the base. The top of the base and the bottom of the slide are dadoed to accommodate two oak alignment rails.

The reason the bed of the jig is so long is because I used to have a stamped steel extension wing on my table saw. The end of the sled aligned with the end of the steel wing. All I had to do to secure the jig was to clamp it to the extension. I have since replaced the steel extension with a wider wooden one so now I have to use hold downs to secure the jig.

There are no hard, fast dimensions to this jig, just build it to fit your saw.

Thanks for looking!!

They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. Three days ago fellow Lumberjock DBB posted a Roubo style folding trivet It was a hit with me and a lot of you also. I saw it as a great space saver in an already crowded kitchen. I favorited his post and the link he referenced for the idea.

I am not a carver, and the original plans showed the notches for the trivet to be carved. So, I took a different approach to the build hoping I could achieve similar results.

First, I ripped 1/4”x3/4”x15” strips of purple heart and oak.

Then I used double sided tape to temporarily hold three of the 15” long strips together. This is enough material to make two 7 1/2” long trivets.

Next I laid out for the notches and cut them on my scroll saw.

I then took the pieces apart, removed the double sided tape, flipped the center piece end for end and glued the three pieces together making sure I didn’t get any glue in the hinged area. Make sure your lay out lines align across the top of the tree pieces.

After the glue set, I took the piece back to my scroll saw and made the linear cuts to the notches. this freed the piece to hinge.

Be very accurate with your layout and cuts or the piece won’t open fully.

Thanks DBB for this great idea and thank you all for looking!!

So, I made a frame for an upcoming project that had mitered corners. The frame was tight to the piece it went around and when I tried to force it a little one of the glue joints failed. Frustrated, I decided to take a break and walk down to the mail box to get the mail. Behold, a catalog from Eagle America and on the front cover was a picture of a Spline Jig. It was on sale for $89.99 plus shipping. It was slick, with all the bells and whistles.

Well, that jig would certainly solve my weak miter joint problem and dress up the frame to boot. The problem is I am a cheap skate. Back in my shop, I started looking for materials in the scrap bin that had the potential of being transforming into my very own Spline Jig. I had two left over box joint corners that I had made with my Pantorouter. These became the cradle for the jig.

I used strips of oak for the runners. The cradle supports, base, and stop were left over materials from building my lathe stand. The jig in the catalog had T track with knobs holding the stops in place. I didn’t have any T track so I slotted the sled front and back and made my own knobs.

Well, the frame is now complete with fancy splined corners and I have another jig and a little less scrap in my shop.

Thanks for looking!!

About six months ago I posted a project Basket Weave Design Heart Boxes. The cut outs from that project laid on my work bench collecting dust since then. Like most of you, I didn’t want to throw them away. I figured I could find a way to re-purpose them. This is the idea I came up with, just in time for Valentine Day.

These are made from maple and finished with high gloss lacquer. I used wire designed to hold roll batting between floor joist to join the two hearts.

As always, thanks for looking!!

If I were an auctioneer or a judge I guess this would be called a gavel. But, since I am just a happy old woodworker I will call it my first ever mallet. The handle is oak and the barrel is birch with walnut end caps.

Have a great day!!

For those of you who have been following my woodworking adventures you know that I have been making wooden bowels (photo 6) using a Ringmaster. Well, wooden bowls call for wooden utensils so I wanted to try my hand at making a few. This was a first for me so I kind of winged it.

Then, for the first time since my high school wood shop class ( 1958-59) I turned my first project using my newly restored 1947 Craftsman lathe. This is what some call a French Rolling Pin. It is 20” long, 1 1/2” dia. tapered to 1 1/8” on the ends. It is supposed to make better cookie dough and pie crust. We will see :).

The rolling pin and spoons are made from birch. The spoons are unfinished but I plan on giving them a coat or two of walnut oil. While the rolling pin was still on the lathe I rubbed it with paraffin wax then while spinning, heated the wax with my heat gun and removed the excess with a cotton rag.

The other night my wife and I were watching a half hour sitcom called The Big Bang Theory. On the kitchen counter in one of the shots was a thing holding a bunch of bananas. My wife says, see that thing holding up the bananas on the counter, I want one of those. I said what is it? She said, I don’t know what they call it, I just want you to make me one. So not knowing the proper name for it, I Googled Banana Rack and behold it gave me several pictures of a Banana Stand.

I made this out of some birch my neighbor gave me. I haven’t had much experience working with birch but I like it. I finished it with three coats of high gloss poly.

We are up town now!!

Thanks for looking.

So, for my second attempt using the Ringmaster I wanted to make a bowl with contrasting woods. I used two strips of maple, two strips of oak and purple heart for the center strip. I finished the bowl with three coats of General Finishes Salad Bowl Finish. The bowl is 10” at the top and is 3 3/4” tall.

Thanks for Looking

About a year and a half ago I got a smoking good deal on used Ringmaster. This week I finally got to set it up and use it for the first time. I started with a 10” diameter blank of 3/4” thick glued up poplar.

Each ring is cut on a 22.5 degree angle and the Ringmaster is progressively moved toward the center 5/16” at a time. I chose to stop after cutting six rings. The remaining part of the blank is used for the base. I finished the bowl with three coats of high gloss poly.

The glue up is accomplished with the use of a jig to hold the rings tight until the glue sets.

Being my first time using this machine I didn’t get the cutting angle just right so the rings were misaligned slightly which resulted in my having to do more sanding than I had anticipated. All in all I think the bowl turned out relatively well. I really like the patterns in the wood grain. I also like the fact that there is virtually no waste.

Thanks for looking!!

A couple of years ago I was surfing Youtube for some bowl turning videos when I came across a video demonstrating a wood lathe accessory called a Ringmaster. This tool cuts angled concentric rings from a wood blank to make all sorts of cool projects like bowls, lamps, vases, etc. I was fascinated by this tool but not the cost for a new one. As luck would have it, I found one in mint condition on Craig’s List for less than half of what they were asking new. I bought it!!

Now, here was the problem, these Ringmaster machines are made lathe specific. The one I bought was for a Jet JWL-1236 with a 12” swing. My lathe was a vintage (1947) Craftsman with an 8” swing. All I had to do was to make my 8” Craftsman lathe into a 12” swing Jet lathe. No problem, I made the 2” oak riser blocks to go between the head and tail stock and the lathe bed. That created some minor attachment problems but nothing too serious. Fortunately, the way the Ringmaster attached to the bed of my lathe was almost identical to that of the Jet lathe and with some more tinkering it was a done deal.

Today, with my lathe stand completed I got to try out this cool tool for the first time since I bought it over a year ago. As the old saying goes, “where there is a will there is a way”

Enjoy!!