| Project by Paul | posted 252 days ago | 751 views | 6 times favorited | 26 comments | ![]() |
I’ve been admiring all the wonderful business card holders that have been posted recently.
So, with some trepidation I post these pictures of a card holder I made over twenty five years ago – I believe it was in my late teens. In those days of youth, I loved going to farm auctions almost every weekend if possible, trying to buy old woodworking hand tools (many of which I still have) and day-dreaming of making fine hand crafted furniture. I was even an early subscriber to Fine Woodworking magazine in the black and white days. Yet, I never stepped out in that direction. Long story, but when I stepped in the direction of another call, doors flew open and I was swept along in Christian ministry. I joyful and meaningful life.
My sister-in-law at the time brought me some black walnut scraps from her uncle’s mill. I set out to make this holder that I believe is in a black and white issue of Fine Woodworking. I made it in a corner of the basement of my boyhood home with a belt sander, handsaw, chisel and probably my Father’s old scarey-dangerous Craftsman table top table saw. A bit dusty in the pictures, you can see the “hand-tooled” interior. Every once in while I think I should find that article again and “do it right.” But on the other hand, every once in a while I also think, “Not bad considering the tools you had.” It reminds me that I don’t absolutely have to have all the bells and whistles and shop space I have now.
It has sat on my desk for the last twenty years.
-- Paul, Texas
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26 comments so far
DAN
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2627 posts in 383 days
posted 252 days ago
Very nice. I like yours the best.
-- I made a cool back scratcher !!
MsDebbieP
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11011 posts in 561 days
posted 252 days ago
how wonderful – and the story makes it a treasure
-- "Functional WoodArt" by Debbie, Canada (http://www.execulink.com/~yohan)
CharlieM1958
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3635 posts in 619 days
posted 252 days ago
Quite an accomplishment all things considered!
-- Charlie M. "Woodworking - patience = firewood"
mrtrim
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1480 posts in 281 days
posted 252 days ago
looks like a future family hierloom ! great job and great story
-- if you aint the lead dog the scenery never changes
Douglas Bordner
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2286 posts in 464 days
posted 252 days ago
I echo Dan’s sentiment, although his are pretty nice. Now Paul, here is the toughie. Do you think you could lay hands on that FWW plan, or draw/type your way through how this was made? I think this is the sharpest looking card holder I’ve seen. I’d love to make a batch…
-- "Bordnerizing" perfectly good lumber for over a decade.
Bill
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2508 posts in 562 days
posted 252 days ago
I agree, I would like to make some of those business card holders as well.
-- Bill, Turlock California, http://www.brookswoodworks.com
mot
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4830 posts in 437 days
posted 252 days ago
I’m not sure why you’d post that with trepidation. I really like it. I can see making some like yours.
-- You can discover more about a person in an hour of play than in a year of conversation. (Plato)
Paul
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576 posts in 493 days
posted 252 days ago
I’ll look for the article. I’ve built a pretty large magazine library over the past 25 years, so I hope my memory is correct – narrowing my search to the B&W Fine Woodworking issues.
-- Paul, Texas
relic
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276 posts in 337 days
posted 252 days ago
That is a great looking business card holder.
-- Andy Stark
Karson
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11919 posts in 801 days
posted 252 days ago
I went looking on the Fine Woodworking web site and on the 2nd Edition of Fine Woodworking DVD and I could not find anything for business card, card holder.
Sorry about that.
-- Karson Southern Delaware karson_morrison@bigfoot.com
Jojo
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313 posts in 373 days
posted 252 days ago
I can’t see nothing that indicates the need to be remake again. The lid and all the pieces fit perfectly and it looks sharp and neat. It is a truly craftsman’s piece, Paul.
-- Jojo, shopless in Kyoto · [http://www.japanese-woodworking-tools.com/]
DAN
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2627 posts in 383 days
posted 252 days ago
will sketchup this piece when I’m done in the shop this evening. my wife gets off work late, so I’m taking advantage of my personal time.
Paul this is a really nice piece. I have a memory of this one somewhere too. You might be right. I have a large collection of FWW mags and recall the design from somewhere. Terrific piece to use up those little shorts that any project seems to create and we always hate to through away !
-- I made a cool back scratcher !!
Douglas Bordner
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2286 posts in 464 days
posted 252 days ago
See the buzz your old piece has created, Paul! I hope Dan will link to this with his sketchup entry. I’m excited about trying these.
-- "Bordnerizing" perfectly good lumber for over a decade.
Todd A. Clippinger
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2460 posts in 500 days
posted 251 days ago
Love the project and the story!
-- Todd A. Clippinger, Montana, http://amcraftsman.com
Andy
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296 posts in 309 days
posted 251 days ago
Great story! This proves that we dont need Norm Abrahms shop to make nice things.There are many ways to tackle the same task. I made this same design for my dad,about 20 years ago,from plans in a book of projects by FWW. I will look around.
Very nicely done Paul.
-- " Stubborn tenacity substitutes for natural ability" ANDY
miles125
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842 posts in 406 days
posted 251 days ago
Nice indeed Paul. Your limitations with tools at the time allowed you to make it perfectly imperfect.
-- miles125, Alabama.."Architecture is frozen music""
DAN
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2627 posts in 383 days
posted 251 days ago
Reverse engineered the design from the photo using my business card and a scale. The jpeg below is the design without any curves or textures. Figured it would be easier to dimesnion in sketchup and make a cut list that way. If anyone wants the model send me a email and I’ll attach the file and return it to you.
Will fiddle with the model and add the curved edges, but starting out square is where I’d make it anyway. Probably hand forming the edges on a belt or disk sander etc.
-- I made a cool back scratcher !!
Karson
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11919 posts in 801 days
posted 251 days ago
Thanks Dan.
3/4” thick might be a little thick if you wanted to carry it in your pocket or purse. You could probably get by with a little thinner pieces I didn’t see on your drawing if it was 1/4 – 1/4- 1/4 for the 3/4 size.
If it was a desk model then the thickness would be OK.
The 1/2” on the sides could be the 1/4 dimension.
-- Karson Southern Delaware karson_morrison@bigfoot.com
Paul
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576 posts in 493 days
posted 251 days ago
Been sanding and attending an auction all day. (Sand a couple hours, take a break, sand a couple hours, take a break, etc.) No luck at the auction. Kept checking on a Stanley 7 plane I didn’t need, and then it got thrown into a box of stuff I didn’t want – so I ended up passing and coming home with nothing to sand some more.
But I did find the article when I came in for the day. Article written by Daniel Mosheim in the November/December 1980 issue of Fine Woodworking pg. 63. Entitled “Flip Open Box from One Piece of Wood.” Sam Maloof working on one of his chairs pictured on the cover.
I’m not sure about copyright and posting plan drawings/article on Lumberjocks. So if you e-mail me, I can scan it and send it to you. I’m going on a mission trip tomorrow after lunch so I might be a week or so before I get you a scan.
-- Paul, Texas
Douglas Bordner
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2286 posts in 464 days
posted 251 days ago
Sadly the article is out of print and not indexable from FWW.com either.
-- "Bordnerizing" perfectly good lumber for over a decade.
mot
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4830 posts in 437 days
posted 250 days ago
It’s a great project, for sure! Nice find Paul! I get some shop time today so I’m going to take a run at it.
-- You can discover more about a person in an hour of play than in a year of conversation. (Plato)
Douglas Bordner
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2286 posts in 464 days
posted 176 days ago
I sent an email to Mr. Daniel Moshiem, regarding the out-of-print article, and he promptly replied and promised to see if he could scare up a copy of the original article. He was “humbled” that something he committed to print nearly 28 years ago was still causing a stir. His website has some wonderfully designed and made studio furniture.
-- "Bordnerizing" perfectly good lumber for over a decade.
rikkor
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6604 posts in 275 days
posted 176 days ago
Your card holder is a wonderful keepsake just the way it is.
-- Maplewood, MN
dan mosheim
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11 posts in 89 days
posted 89 days ago
Hi … Dan Mosheim here …. I have retrieved a box that i made around the time of the article (1980), located the original article and posted it all to my blog … http://dorsetcustomfurniture.blogspot.com/ .... I think it is just fantastic that there are so many of you interested in this tricky little project. Keep at it. If you have an improvement to my process, please post a comment to my blog or email me and I’ll post it to mine with the orignal stuff.
-- dan,vermont,http://dorsetcustomfurniture.blogspot.com/
Douglas Bordner
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2286 posts in 464 days
posted 89 days ago
Yippie!
Now if I shank this project, I will have no excuses. Thanks again, Dan for taking time out of your schedule to find this material. Let me say that I’m thrilled to see you joined up here, and hope you find the site as enjoyable as we all do.
-- "Bordnerizing" perfectly good lumber for over a decade.
Bill
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2508 posts in 562 days
posted 89 days ago
Thank you Dan. I am sure a lot of people will be looking to try this out.
-- Bill, Turlock California, http://www.brookswoodworks.com