I wanted to try a large bowl so I thought I would practice on an old dug fur 6×12 header I had. It came out better than I thought it would, but I still had a few problems. It had a few cracks but it was just practice . It also had a knot that I worked around and put a little inlay in, that came out pretty good. I put in some butterflies on the bottom to see if it will stop the cracks. On the sides I added a little texture by bringing up the grain with a nylon brush on a drill. Overall it came out better than I thought it would . Finished out at 23×5 1/2×3 1/2 .

A few more bowls and spoons . I’m still not sure why I like making these so much but I’m having fun.
The first bowl is Avocado wood that I helped myself to from a friends firewood pile ( wish I would have gotten some larger logs ) . The 2 smaller ones are from Oak branches from another firewood pile.

The spoons are from some Maple branches with some Manzanita burl buttons . The one on the left has a face that most people are saying it’s an alien ,but my granddaughter says it’s a bunny so thats what we are going with.

The last one is my Egg tray . We have 5 hens and get 4 or 5 eggs a day so I like to show them off on the kitchen counter.

As always thanks for looking and let me know what you think.

Some of the small bowls I’ve been making mostly for presents . The larger ones are Avocado wood with a tad bit of inlay, 14×5 x 2 .

The smaller ones are 11×2 x 2 … not sure what you would call them cracker bowls or serving bowls or maybe jewelry trays. They are from Oak branches .

I’m not sure why I have caught the spoon bug … but I have it bad. One day I drove by some wood on the side of the road that the power company had left there. I wasn’t going to stop because it was fresh cut green wood but I have a hard time passing up free wood. Then I got to thinking those spoon guys use green wood , maybe I’ll try and make a spoon. Now I can’t stop.

I want to thank Spoontaneous for all the info. he has put into his blogs . I didn’t fallow his classes at the time but he has some great stuff that I have been using. And the best spoons on LJ.

I have used a lot of different woods and some I just don’t know what they are. Like the duck one not sure what it is but it really finishes out nice. The finish I used on all of these was my new Beall Buff System ( basicly wax ).

Let me know what you think good or bad.

Thanks Paul

Another Andy type Palm Box. These are a fun and fast to make little boxes . I have a harder time picking my wood combinations then building the box. On this one I changed the lid hinge point and added some inlay.

The wood is . . . Avocado wood top and sides.

Redwood front and back.

Inlay . . . Turquoise and Malachite

Thanks for looking and your comments.

I made a couple of Thumb Pianos for the kids. But being a non- musical guy I now have to figure out how to tune them , not that they care. They are easy to make just a box with some hardware on top.

One is Walnut with Oak sides and Cypress on top , its 5 1/2×7 x 1 1/2 , this one has a nice deep tone to it.

The other one is Walnut with western cedar side , it’s a little smaller with a bit of a tapper. This one doesn’t

The metal key things are from an old lawn rake , after I’m done trying to tune them I’ll cut them to look a little better.

Please comment even if I did it wrong.

I had a few pieces of wood sitting on my bench for a while now that were a little to small to use but I knew I would be able to work them in someday. Well the Andy style Palm Box was just about the right size.

The top on the first box came off of a piece of firewood that I’m not sure what it is. The front and back is from a nice hunk of old redwood , I love the grain in it , almost looks like an import wood. On this box I was having trouble keeping hinge pins from rotating so put some caps on them , I think they look funky but the kids like them.

The lid on the second box was from another box I was making one of those that I cut twice and it was still to short. The inlay is Turquoise and Malachite . The front and back is Avocado Wood , a very soft wood but pretty.

These are fun to make because they are fast ,easy and use very little wood. Thanks to Andy for the great tutorial on how to make these. I’m sure I’ll be making more. If you haven’t made this style box before check out Andy’s tutorial http://lumberjocks.com/Argyllshire/blog/19800 it’s good.

Thanks for looking , please leave a comment good or bad I like them the same.

These are pretty easy to do and the women like them. On this one the inlay came out really nice , it helps that the log was cracked just right. The inlay material I used this time was a little different . I used Turquoise , Malachite ,
Red Coral and few pieces of Jade. What I learned is that using a better mix of larger chips looks better and Jade is to hard to sand easily. The wood …Oak , the base was from the fire wood pile, it’s heavy enough to make a nice base. On others I have made them with brass rod and copper but the copper is much easier to work with.

Please take a look and let me know what you think even if its not your style , I like the feedback.

This is another kinda large box for me , 14 1/2×7 1/2×5 1/2. I try and keep my boxes a little smaller I think they fit better on shelves better and friendlier to pick up. The reason I made this one is because a lady bought another box of mine at a gallery I had it at and wanted another one similar in size and style. I didn’t have any of that wood left so I dug around and found this Red Wood from an old potting bench and a piece of Cypress from a firewood pile I helped myself to. This is not a style of box I though I would have returned to but for money its not so bad. I’m very impressed with how smooth the Cypress sands to it feels like glass.

I used Malachite and red Coral for the inlay. Also replaced a knot that fell out with a piece of Manzanita burl.

Please take a look and let me know what you think… it’s ok to be critical I’m not that attached to it.

Thanks Paul

This box was a bit of a rush job, one of my kids came over today and wanted a box for a birthday present , and could they have it by tomorrow ? Well working fast isn’t always a good thing for me ,but I did already have the wood chosen and cut and started for a small box so here it is. It came out pretty good except I’m not totally happy with the handle on the lid.

The oak on the top and ends is a piece of fire wood that had bin split and after I cut that off I was amazed at how pretty it was. I used the rest of it in another box but couldn’t make myself throw away this piece . The front and back is one beautiful piece of reconstituted Redwood . I have never seen Redwood with grain like this, I will be doing more with this stuff. The handle is some new redwood that I found some small knots in it. Also did a little inlay with Malachite for a little pop. The one thing I haven’t found yet is a !950 penny , guess I’ll go dig in the old change jar. It is 8×5 x 3 1/2

The last picture has our new kitten ( pain in the ass ) checking out my new photo cube . I have to work on the lighting or maybe white balance.

As always please let me know what you think.

This box started out as a quick and fast throw together project and it actually went together pretty well, unlike some of my other boxes. I really like the lid on this one , the shape and it adds a different look to the box. I will be trying more with this shape. It is 9 1/2×5 1/2×4 1/2 and the end caps are redwood ,the front back and bottom is some of my bug eaten oak , lid is maple with a manzinata burl lift. Thanks for looking.

And as always leave a comment or question.

I’m posting this because I’ve had good success in selling these in the spring and summer months. For some reason I have gotten a following for them. I have to thank my wife for that she has lots of friends and is always talking up my stuff. I make them out of scraps and cheap materials and they are very simple to make.

Thanks for looking and please let me know what you think.

Paul

The wood for this came from the pallet that my TS was on , straight from China. The lid is an oak but I’m not sure what the box part is ,it has kind of a metallic shine to it with the finish on it. I was going to make a quick little box to try out my hinge idea,so I used the pallet wood not thinking it was much, but I really like it. I added a little Malachite inlay and some Manzanita details. The box is 11×5 x 3 . It took a little longer to make than I planed but they always do.
And as always please let me know what you think of it. ( don’t laugh to hard at my hinge , I was going to name it the chicken leg box)

In my desire to make my boxes without having to buy hinges and try to install them , I’m always doing different hinge concepts. On this small Avocado wood box I wanted to try my idea for a new hinge system. It is a good working system , but the proportions of my available branches just don’t work on this box. This is one of those projects that was so different in my minds eye. As soon as I added the top and hinge legs it just didn’t work for me. Thanks for looking. Please let me know what you think. Paul

I’m adding another box to my collection of old fence post boxes. I don’t know why I’m drawn to these old posts, but when I find them I just want to cut into them and make something new. On this one I was surprised to see that it was redwood , I don’t know why redwood in this area makes sense it’s rot and insect resent. I guess because it costs so much now. On this I was trying to show the colors of the stuff on the exterior of the post and the beauty of the aged redwood interior. I think I might have made the side towers a little to tall .

The keys are maple and redwood
The handle is maple and Manzanita root

On the bottom is a stone to cover a knot hole

The finish is satin spray Deft that I tried because Andy says he likes it. I used Deft 20+ yrs. ago. This stuff in a can is great it goes on great and dries fast. I’m now a fan.

Please leave a comment and let me know what you think.

This box is made out of a piece of wood that i found by a river in Colorado when we were on vacation this summer.The body of the box was a very weathered 2×12 (maybe fir) and the lid and accents were some old cedar fence posts. There is also some Manzanita burl and Malachite inlay on the lid. It is a little on the large side for most of the boxes I do – 11 1/2×71/2×51/2. It was a fun build because of the wood but it is a little to rustic for my taste.

please let me know what you think.

thanks for looking.

This is another box I made out of some old cedar fence posts that I picked up on our vacation to Colorado this summer, I have to thank my wife for letting me load these in the car to bring back. The size of this one was dictated by the lid. The lid is what I had left after I resawed the post, it just had to much character to throw away. This made the box a little on the narrow side, the box is 9 1/2×3 1/2×4 1/2 . I used Manzanita burl for the hinges and keys. Also I put a little Malachite in the lid. The last picture is some of the posts and some wood i found by a river.

Please leave comments and let me know what you think , thanks for looking.

This has been a good week in the shop, i finished 3 projects and used a few different woods that i haven’t used before. This box is 13×5 1/2×4 1/2 . I started this one wanting to use curved piece of firewood without cutting out the curve. Everything was fine till I started to figure out a lid , because of time i went with lift off lids and not try to do a hinged one. The lids are Cypress also from a firewood pile , i liked working with it but i could not get very big pieces because of the splitting in the wood( I have another log i hope is better). I used an oak branch and some Manzanita root. I did some malachite inlay one the lid.

Please let know what you think about this one.

I call this little box (7×4 x 21/2 ) a fence post box because it is made from old fence posts. The lid is a 50 plus yr. old cedar post from a friends place in Colo. that i picked up this month. The box is from a redwood post from my yard. I haven’t worked with cedar very much but I like it, easy to work with. The hinge posts are some unknown firewood i picked up. In the lid is inlaided with some malachite ( i can’t seem to get away from it , i try but everyone around here wants it ). The rock in the redwood knot is a serpentine rock, the official Calif. State Rock. This box will be sent to some friends in Minnesota , i think they will like it.

Please let me know what you think.

I needed a box for my dominoes and this is what I came up with. It works well and looks good but I made a mistake and made it a bit to small, my dominoes barely fit . I’ll be making a few more of these to sell , we’ll see if there is any domino players out there.

Please let me know what you think, I enjoy the feedback.