About a year and half ago my local Wood craft store had Banksia Pods on sale. So,I bought a couple of large pods thinking that I would eventually make something out of them. Well, they sat and sat in my shop for a long time collecting dust. I just could not come up with anything useful. I guess I was suffering from woodworker’s Block!!
A few weeks ago, my brother-in-law stopped by and as we were drinking wine he asked me if I could make him a couple of bottle stoppers . So I decided to do so using THE PODS. What do you know, I not only discovered a sickness (Woodworker’s Block) I also came up with a cure(Glass of Merlot and a slice of Cheddar).
Now the construction detail:
The top is part of a Banksia pod
The middle is made out of Cherry with a round tenon that fits into a mortise in the Pod.
Finish is CA glue with no accelerator because of staining problems
Overall I was happy with results and my brother-in-law was very very happy.
Thanks for looking all comments (good, bad, funny) are welcomed.

This natural edge bowl was made with Silver Maple, and finished with shellac. Approximately 10 in X 9.5 in X 3.75 H. The bark was included on this bowl. Nothing new except I used my power ball sander that I posted couple of days back to sand the inside. It works great.
Thanks for looking

If you hate sanding like me, this project may help you a bit. I started turning about a year ago, and I still get a lot of tear outs when I am turning bowls. So i started looking for commercially available sanding tools. What I found was too expensive specially the sand papers that are used for them. Also the manufacturers have limited grit sizes, usually up to 220 grit. So this morning one of those light bulbs went on in my head, when I saw a tennis ball in work shop(this does not happen often). What I came up with was power ball sander. First pictures shows schematic of how you could assemble one of these. Just one small hole, large enough for bolt threads to go through in my case 1/4 inch in diameter. Then drill another hole larger hole opposite the first hole. This one is to help pass the bolt head and a washer through for assembly.
After assembling the ball and and the bolt, I used double sided tape to cover the tennis ball with Velcro. And I was done!!!! genius ha?
I know it looks crude, but I used it on my cordless drill and I was able to sand inside of a bowl that I just finished real fast. I will make another one that is going to be much better looking soon and I will post new pictures. Thanks for looking I hope this could help those turners that are struggling with sanding bowls. comments and questions are more than welcomed

natural edge Silver Maple bowl 10.5 in X 10 in X 5.75 in high. Finished with Shellac.
Comments are welcomed and thanks for looking

This Silver Maple bowl is 9 in at it’s widest X 7.5 in X 4.75 high. Sanded to 600 and finished with shellac.
Thanks for looking

This lidded apple box was made with Padauk and Ebony Stem.
3” in Diameter and 3.5” High
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This bowl was turned on lathe, and legs were hand carved. Finished with shellac and buffed to a semi gloss sheen.
It is 8” in diameter and 5” high.
Thanks for looking and all comments are welcomed

his salt and pepper shaker set is made out of cherry,maple and walnut. Each one is 6.5 inches tall and about 1.75 inches in diameter.
Thanks for looking

Here is a project that I did couple of years back. It is made out of solid cherry and veneered bird’s eye maple panels. All the joints are mortise and tenon.
84 in wide X 24 in deep X 18 in high . Finished with Endoro water born with a couple of drops of Trans-tint dye.
First two pictures show work in progress and last two are the completed project pictures.
Thanks for looking

Here is a Myrtle lidded box that I just finished. The finial is made out of Ebony.
3 in dia. X 5.5 in high.
Thanks for looking

Here is another bowl that I just finished. It is made out of silver Maple and finished with shellac.
It is 8 in dia. X 5 in high the opening is 5.5 in.
Thanks for looking and comments are very much welcomed

Here is the 2nd Olive Bowl. 4 inches in diameter X 6 inch in height. Finished with shellac and some of the cracks were filled with thick CA glue and brass like powder paint additive. I still need to sand more to complete.
Thanks for looking

I got a piece of an Olive log from a friend. I was able to get 3 pieces about 6in dia and 6 in long. I cut the pith off and tried to turn 3 lidded bowls. One of the designs did not make it to the end (I was not happy with the shape). This one is the first one that I am posting. About 5 inch in diameter X 7.5 inch in height. Finial is made from Ebony. Finished with shellac and polished with 0000 steel wool.

Thanks For Looking

I made this tissue dispenser few months ago. Description:
SIZE about 5 inch X 5 inch
Material body made out of Ash Bottom made out of scrap Black Walnut
I used Trifern’s method of adding layers of water based dyes with couple of minor changes. After dye layers were put on, I used couple of layer of shellac to seal everything. Then I used water base wipe on Poly.
This dispenser uses 4 inch standard toilet tissue. The only difference is the dispensing method. For this to work I needed to remove the cardboard tube in the center of the roll, and start dispensing from the most inner layer of toilet tissue.
Thanks for looking

Well, it has been a couple years since I joined Lumberjocks, and I guess it is time for posting a couple of pictures of my shop. Not much but I enjoy spending a lot of time in there. All my large tools are on mobile bases, and I move them around as needed.
Thanks for looking

This is a 5 drawer chest that I made for my son. It is made out of black cherry frame and veneered Bird’s Eye maple panels.
Dimensions: 48” H X 42” W X 22” D.
Finished with Shellac to seal and Endurao water base poly.
P.S. Picture #5 is my son giving me approval for a job well done ($0.00 cost and free delivery!!!!)
Thanks for watching

This watch box is based on Andy’s art box design. Made out of Black cherry and Lacewood, and finished with Sam Maloof’s poly finish. The bottom of trays and box were lined suede. All comments are welcomed.

This lidded box is made out of Maple Burl and Ebony. 3.5” in diameter and about 6” in height. It was finished with shellac. All comments are welcomed. Thanks for looking.

This lidded box is made out of Ash and Cherry about 6” in diameter and 4” in height, and finished with shellac.
All comments are welcomed. Thanks for looking.

This lidded box is made out of maple and cherry about 7” in diameter and 5” in height, and finished with shellac.
All comments are welcomed. Thanks for looking.