Meditation stools / seiza benches
wood, meditation and love

This post comes from my Meditation stools blog .

In this blog I turn an old roof rafter and a piece of wood from a cradle into two meditation stools.
This project starts by me meeting a wonderful woman and ending up in love with a chair for each of us.

Pictures:
1. The meditation stool.
2. Starting with an old roof rafter.
3. Boat builders adze in action.
4. Parting the chars.
5. Making the hidden tenons.
6. The architect and Line meditating on love.

Hope this can bring some inspiration, who knows, perhaps even meditation or love.

Best thoughts,

MaFe

Wine rack
For my new kitchen

As so often a small sketch of the basic idea.

Years back at a visit in Stockholm I saw a wine rack that was just a piece of wood with holes, this idea stayed in the back of my head, but I never got a kitchen where it could fit in, until now.

I decided to keep it simple, plain pine, hand planned and holes drilled with a forstner bit.
I had some old leftover tubes from a curtain bar and these became a part of the design, but you might as well just drill a hole all the way through and hang it on the wall that way.

Pictures:
1. The rack, had to drill two different sizes of holes since the bottle necks were really different.
2. Drilling the holes.
3. Remember to go only almost through and then turn the wood and drill from other side, then you get crisp holes.
4. Wine in the hole…
5. Turning rods for the mount (look at drawing).
6. And here it is in the new kitchen, happy I am!

Sorry for the bad picture quality, my camera was at home and the mobile camera become scratched.

Hope this can bring some inspiration.

Best thoughts,

MaFe

Bed Lamp for pallet bed.
for my new bed.

This post comes from my Bed lamp for pallet bed .

Pictures:
1. The new lamps on the bed.
2. Bought some clip lamps, but was not happy.
3. Strips cut up and holes drilled.
4. Detail of the turntable head.
5. Turntable.
6. Now it is time for reading and sleeping.

Hope this can bring some inspiration or spread some light.

Best thoughts,

MaFe

Pallet style bed
almost made from pallets…

This post comes from my Pallet style bed blog .

Ok, that is a little foolish, but the truth!
For the first time in quite a few years I have a real bedroom, so I wanted to build myself a really nice bed.
I had no budget, meaning it was ok if it was not cheap.
But I have been in love with the idea of a pallet bed for quite some time, and so I wanted to realize that dream.
First step was to check where I could get some pallets at a fair price since I wanted them new, and that was possible.
Next step was to make a design. I wanted it to be floating in the air and not just a bunch of pallets standing on the floor so I needed to make a frame to hold the different pallets together and so I started to design this.
It was while doing this I realized that it became so complex and the idea of a cheap pallet bed was lost.
So I tried to design my own pallet instead and then check the price for raw wood and found out it was app half the price than buying the pallets and then the system would have doubled the price.
(Read the story in the blog).

Pictures:
1. My new bed, from the eye of a fly.
2. Wood arrives.
3. Starting to look pallet like…
4. Two cuts with the plunge saw.
5. Scrap is a gift for the stove.
6. Good night…

Hope this can bring some inspiration.

Best thoughts,

MaFe

Surfboard dinner table
Waves are something we make.

This post comes from my Surfboard diner table blog .

The table is for my new home that is a symbol of me riding a new wave in life.

Pictures:
1. Ready to ride.
2. Designing, drawing and shaping the plywood.
3. it’s all in the details.
4. Sanding and making tons of dust.
5. Painting and learning from mistakes.
6. Bon appetit…

Hope this can bring some inspiration to others, perhaps to ride new waves.

Best thoughts,

MaFe

Kiri Japanese hand drill
Japanese gimlets

This post comes from my Kiri hand drill blog .

This is a Japanese inspired kiri I made some time ago for my Japanese tools.
In the blog I tell more about how and the different types of kiri.

Pictures:
1. My kiri’s.
2. Some types.
3. Making the tapered handle.
4. Handles ready.
5. Making grip on a standard drill bit.
6. The tool in action, I call it the MaFe-kiri.

Hope this can bring some inspiration to others that play with Japanese tools.

Best thoughts,

MaFe

Japanese cutting gauge
mafe’san version

Here first the drawing I made to build it after.

This post comes from my Japanese cutting gauge .

Yet another tool for my Japanese toolbox.
The cutting gauge is traditionally used to separate and split wood.

I decided that on the day of New Year’s Eve I needed to make and finish a little wood project that would make me smile.

Pictures:
1. The cutting gauge.
2. marking and making the body.
3. Sawing of the body from the board.
4. Ripping!.
5. Shaping the body.
6. Using the wonderful kiri drill.

Hope this can bring some inspiration to others that play with Japanese tools and work methods, who knows maybe a new year’s wish.

Best thoughts,

MaFe

Chainsaw heart.
Thank you for letting us stay in your house.

This summer I had the fortune to have a wonderful week in the summerhouse of some friends.
As a favor back I cut down some fallen trees and made firewood for the winter.
But I also had my first go on chainsaw sculptures, perhaps primitive, but full of heart.

Pictures:
1. MaFe trying to master the chainsaw.
2. A tour in the local forest gave a good harvest for the dinner.
3. Here the final result, I am happy and think it will bring some warm smiles.
4. Also bread by the fire.
5. And a well-deserved dinner.
6. The wonderful house in the North of Jutland

The heart seen from the path.

Evening light by the coast of Jutland.

I hope this could be to some inspiration.

Best thoughts,

MaFe

Plumb bob pocket mushroom
MaFe tired of tangled string.

Here is a little fast and easy project for those of you with a lathe.
I was so tired of tangled string when using my plumb bob so I came up with this little solution.

As often before a piece of trash… a cut off from an old table leg is the material.

Pictures:
1. Soon tangled string…
2. Naaaaa, the plumb bob is put into the mushroom.
3. Like so.
4. Plumb and string.
5. Inside.
6. And rolled up, ready to put into the pocket.

I have not been around LJ so much lately, life has been way too busy, but I soon have wonderful news to share here.

I hope this could be to some inspiration.

Best thoughts,

MaFe

W-pod speaker
from recycle parts

This post is from the blog: http://lumberjocks.com/mafe/blog/31825

WOOD-POD SPEAKER.
For a long time I have been using computer speakers as sound system at the workshop.
The speakers were playing really well, but they were as usual dead boring to look at and could need some more mass to make better sound.
Also I am a Lumberjerk so I needed a speaker that fitted this…

Pictures:
1. W-pod speaker in the new location and in good company.
2. Old computer speakers.
3. Old tabletop found in the trash.
4. Project becomes reality.
5. Glue time.
6. Party and pipe time.

Hope this post can bring some inspiration to others or even better bring some old computer speakers into a new life.

Best thoughts,

MaFe

Zen garden from drift wood
MaFe’s holydays in Jutland…

Pictures above:
1. The little Zen garden.
2. At the workshop of the summerhouse.
3. Making the box.
4. Dovetails or perhaps eagle tails due to the size…
5. I put plastic inside so the sand would not run out.
6. An old hanger became a garden tool for making the waves.

The coast by Thy, Jutland, Denmark.

So back from holydays, a wonderful time in the North of Jutland, Denmark.
Had some wonderful walks by the beautiful coast and found some drift wood there that was calling my name…
So back to the summerhouse we had borrowed from some friends.
Hmmmmm…. what does this wood want to become…
I felt in peace up here in Jutland, with the wonderful open landscape, the horizon and the silence.

A Zen garden!
Yes it makes sense, the wood that had traveled the sea, the beautiful stones we collected on the beach and sand.

A small garden where nature can be imitated and the sand becomes the waves of the sea.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_rock_garden

The house we had borrowed also had a small workshop, here I managed to find the basic tools needed.
And soon I had a moment of Zen, making this little garden!
I left the garden in the summerhouse, hoping that it will bring joy to our friends that borrowed us the house.

I hope this could be to some inspiration, who knows perhaps inspiration to some Zen time.

Best thoughts,

MaFe

Whistle with pocket knife and fresh wood.
wonderful time with my fiancées son Karl.

My daughter Mathilde and I have made these over the years in the blog these pictures come from I will make one with my fiancées son Karl and he will carve a little also http://lumberjocks.com/mafe/blog/31205

Making a whistle with a pocket knife is a wonderful way to share a good time with kids, it gives a chance to learn, talk and just enjoy life in the quiet pace, away from the modern running.
Perhaps a chance to give a son, stepson or a grandchild his or hers first knife.
Hazel, willow, ash or rowan will do the job; the important is that the bark will separate from the wood easy.
In Denmark willow is the most common used traditionally.

Pictures:
1. Whistles.
2. First cuts.
3. Making the tone.
4. The secret.
5. Karl testing and it works.
6. This is what it is all about.

Hope this can inspire others to spend some wonderful time with someone you love.

Best thoughts,

MaFe

Japanese plane wrap
plane iron protection

Since I like to sharpen my Japanese planes really well, the fact they are stored in the toolbox and I like to keep the blade out ready for use, I decided to make some protectors for the irons while stored.

Pictures:
1. Planes all wrapped up.
2. A piece of leather.
3. Cut to shape and make a hole.
4. Add a leather string.
5. Also protects the planes from each other.
6. And looks beautiful too I think.

(I know leather is not wood, so no one need to remind me).

I hope this could be to some inspiration, perhaps even protection of some plane irons.

Best thoughts,

MaFe

Japanese tool tray
for the toolbox.

My sketch for the japanese inspired tool tray.

This post comes from my Japanese tool tote blog.

To complete the setup for working with Japanese tools I wanted a little tool tray that I could use to hold and carry tools while working, especially to keep the chisels off the ground.

I decided it should be made so it could be stored and transported in the toolbox when not in use, that it should be made with the same joinery as the drawer and again no hardware.
For the beauty and the joy of the eye I wanted a handle made of a branch like I have on my tool tote , so first step was a walk in the forest.

Pictures:
1. Tool tray full of tools and ready for working wood.
2. Finger joints.
3. Japanese saw.
4. Making grooves with a Record 43.
5. Handle details.
6. Tray in the toolbox.

I hope this could be to some inspiration, perhaps some Japanese tool boxes.

Best thoughts,

MaFe

Japanese toolbox
大工の道具箱

This post comes from my Japanese toolbox blog.

The toolbox is made from reclaimed wood from a trashed pine ceeling.

In the blog i make a tour in Japanese tool boxes and my conclusion was:
Low price light weight wood: pine.
Thin planed boards for low weight.
No hardware.
Size that I can easy carry.
Proportions slim for elegancy.
A drawer for small things, and for giving myself a challenge of traditional Japanese drawer making.
Finally I choose to buy a bag of bamboo nails, this to try the traditional way, for beauty and again for giving myself a challenge – this I know is not traditional at all.

And for the dimensions 72cm long x 25cm wide x 20cm high, I think this gave some elegant proportions, but do as you want or as your wood commands you.
The boards are planed down to 0,8cm / 0,3inches thick this gives a light box to carry (it is more than enough).

It all started by me reading Toshio Odate’s book ‘Japanese woodworking tools their tradition spirit and use’, and now since I have moved to a new location where I at least for a while will have no workshop, the story will continue since I plan on using Japanese tools and methods in the meantime.

Pictures:
1. The workspace where the tool box works as a tool holder also.
2. The wood.
3. Using the kanna (Japanese plane).
4. Making a wood drawer lock.
5. Wood nails.
6. And more to come from the blog.

I hope this could be to some inspiration, perhaps some Japanese tool boxes.

Best thoughts,

MaFe

Pencil box
Gene style

This little box owns its life to Gene, he made a wonderful little box and since that day I knew I had to try the same game.

Gene’s box.

So the game was on, some packs of color pencils, super glue and patience.
The rest was just cuts and glue.

I love this little box, thank you Gene.

Colorfull cut Ofs.

Coffee and color – what more can one ask for?

Pictures:
1. Pencil box – full of things I love.
2. Glued up and cut.
3. Starting to look like a box.
4. Details.
5. Under.
6. Thank you Gene.

I hope this could be to some inspiration, it sure was for me…

This one is for Paul – Shipwright.

Best thoughts,

MaFe

Japanese saw horses
floor horses

This post comes from my Japanese saw horses blog.

It all started by me reading Toshio Odate’s book ‘Japanese woodworking tools their tradition spirit and use’, and now since I have moved to a new location where I at least for a while will have no workshop, the story will continue since I plan on using Japanese tools and methods in the meantime.

Pictures:
1. The horses ready for use.
2. Marking up for the project.
3. Using the kanna (Japanese plane).
4. Get the picture…
5. Details.
6. And more to come from the blog.

I hope this could be to some inspiration, perhaps some Japanese saw horses.

Best thoughts,

MaFe

Japanese planing board
Japanese workbench.

This post comes from my Japanese planing board blog.

It all started by me reading Toshio Odate’s book ‘Japanese woodworking tools their tradition spirit and use’, and now since I have moved to a new location where I at least for a while will have no workshop, the story will continue since I plan on using Japanese tools and methods in the meantime.

The sketch for my go on the planing board.

Pictures:
1. Me planing away on the test run of the bench – I really like using it.
2. Winding sticks to determine the high and low spots.
3. Scrub, flatten and smooth – Scandinavian, American, Japanese.
4. Using the bench stop.
5. My added shooting board feature.
6. I like it so much that it got a place in the living room.

I hope this could be to some inspiration, perhaps some planing boards.

Best thoughts,

MaFe

Japanese Kokechi
Traditional doll.

Here is a little fast and easy project. It can be made as a project with kids by the lathe or as for me simply for fun and pleasure.

As often before a piece of trash… a cut of from an old parasol stand.

You can read more about these wonderful dolls here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kokeshi

Pictures:
1. My go on the traditional Kokechi.
2. Recycle.
3. Shaping, this is where you can play with your imagination.
4. Finish.
5. Painting while on the lathe.
6. MaFe Kokechi.

For those of you who wonder why I’m not so much around LJ as usual, I have good news. I am moving. Moving to a new place where there is no workshop…
How can this be good news?
Since I have met a wonderful woman and am moving in with her.
This will not mean I will get no workshop; I’m going to rent one close to home and then build up a new workshop again.
But it will mean that for a while I will have only access to my Japanese tools and so this post will be the beginning of a Japanese tools and use post and blog series.

I hope this could be to some inspiration, perhaps even some dolls…

Best thoughts,

MaFe

Saw file holder
Jointer / Edger

After watching our LJ friend Brit ’s (Andy) blog about saws where he makes a file holder and show a picture of an old one in the comments, I fell in love with the simplicity of the old one and so decided to make one today.

Made a small blog also http://lumberjocks.com/mafe/blog/28887 .

It took an hour and works perfectly well.
Andy was concerned that the wedge could work its way out so I made it extra low, 3 degrees.

This holder can also be used for your scrapers, but I have made another version earlier for that purpose.

Pictures:
1. A selection of tools.
2. The potter tool in use.
3. Dibber in the ground.
4. Tulip in the ground.
5. Row Maker with hole in top to hold the spear.
6. Row Maker in use.

I hope this could be to some inspiration, perhaps even some holders…

Best thoughts,

MaFe