I decided to try a Celtic knot rolling pin, after seeing Lews instructions, my first try was of Maple body with Walnut Cherry, and Maple as the knot, it didn’t turn out too bad, my daughter has it now, my next attempt was a Walnut body, with Cherry, Canarywood, Sycamore, Maple, and Bloodwood as the knot with a different twist, I cut the corners off the blank so I had an 8 sided piece then using Lews method I cut 8 slots and had to do 8 separate glue ups instead of 4 to get this effect, I made a single slot for the Bloodwood,instead of the usual 3, it is kind of hard to get your head around it, but it does make an interesting looking rolling pin. thanks to Lew for his blog on this.

thought I’d try something a little different, in the cutting board build, saw this somewhere, I think in Wood mag finishing tips booklet. glued up the strips, then cut at around 45deg reversed one side then glued it back together, made a pattern, in a leaf shape, cut it out on band saw, sanded, then finished with Watco Butcher Block Oil. the wider strips are Cherry, and the narrow are QS Sycamore , I may place this in the sun for a while, just to darken the Cherry a bit.
Thanks for looking.
Smitty

I was visiting my wife’s family last weekend, while there our niece was using of all things, a “PLASTIC” cutting board, I decided she needed an upgrade badly, so after getting home, I was trying to think of a design for her new cutting board, I came across a plan for a fishing net in Woodsmith Weekend Woodworking book, I got the bright idea of using this method to make a cutting board with bent lamination border around it, the idea may or not be original, but I have not seen one like it,this board is smaller than the plans called for, I did not feel the need to make one as big as what they did. I made the board separately, then made the jig for the lamination, then made the lamination separately, I used titebond lll for the board and lamination, then used the lamination to trace its’ shape onto the board then cut it out on the bandsaw, then trimmed with a router using the jig for a template, next was glueing the lamination to the board, I used gorilla poly glue, hoping for more open time and easier cleanup, the board itself is not an unusual design, mostly because if I screwed up I didn’t want it to be too big of a loss, the glue up went pretty easy, my next one I will cut out the board then laminate directly to the board, I think that may work out better. as you can see in the photos I used Watco butcher block oil.
I think it turned out pretty decent, and I intend to make more like it. made from walnut, cherry, and maple, with 9- 1/16” thick strips for the border.
now you know why I call it a fishing net cutting board.
thanks for looking

this clock is the same basic design I have been building for a few years now, except it does not have shelves, I used a quartz clock with chimes and pendulum , the last picture is after aging with tea, steel wool and vinegar, it was a little too dark so I bleached it out and used a golden oak and walnut stain mixture that a lot of antiquers use, then 3 coats of amber shellac, and 2 coats of Crystylac water bourne lacquer the customer wanted it to look old, in these pictures the sun washes it out some, but indoors it does look old. I like the look with the pendulum, and the chimes give it a nice sound.
thanks for looking.

another simple design, an equilateral triangle, walnut body and 1” dowels unknown wood for legs, it is what the lumber yard had, I could make the legs on the lathe with whatever wood I choose, but I thought I would see how quick and simple I can make it. shellac, and water based poly satin finish

this is a very simple oval design, the main body is 13/16” x 8” x 13 1/2” black walnut, the legs are1”x 2 1/2”, I don’t know what the wood is, but I stained it with Zar Brazilian Cherry, 2 coats of shellac, then 3 coats of Minwax satin water based poly to finish it off. I am working on a triangle design now to see how that will work out, will post it when done if it works ok.
thanks for looking.

this center piece was inspired from Huckleberrys video and from woodsmith magazine issue # 173. I did change things a little bit, I did not have what I wanted to use any thicker than 13/16” so I made a split level, it gives an appearance of floating, all edges of the upper board were bevel chamfered, the gap is held together with 5/8” cherry dowels the legs are laminated cherry, the top and bottom boards are qrtr sawn sycamore, I only made 5 holes for candles, as in photography, an odd number works best usually, it helps to draw the eye to focus on the main subject.
no stain was used, I used Charles Neils sealer, then Formbys Low Gloss Tung Oil.
thanks for looking.

this is the latest cutting board I have made, it is Maple, Walnut, Cherry, and Bloodwood, 20”X 12”X 3/4” I still can’t imagine using something like this to actually cut on.
Larry and many others are creating works of art that will last much longer than a painting or photo, so I am still trying to learn, and maybe one day I can put mine next to theirs.
thanks for looking.

I built a chest of drawers for the wife this past Christmas, seeing as how our bedroom is not very large, I decided to make it tall and narrow, it is a little over 6’ tall and about 28” wide, the drawers are all the same size, 10” high, the drawer pulls ( walnut) are recessed into the drawer fronts, and stand proud about 1/4”, same with the door pulls. because of the height I put 2 shelves at the top instead of drawers, then lined the inside back with red cedar, the legs are ash, ( the thickest wood I had) the side panels are cherry ply, the rest is solid cherry except for the raised panels, which is quarter sawn sycamore, all topped off with cherry crown moulding I made on the router table. I used Zar Brazilian cherry stain, and sprayed on Crystalac water based poly. this was my own design, with ideas from many others.
thanks for looking.

these are further pictures of my shop, there was not enough room for more pictures the first time.
first shows some of some of my lumber
second, drum sander
third, Kreg pocket hole jig
fourth, tv and fridge in the cave
five, computer area, reloading bench, and lounge area
six, kitchen area

I did get my first board done before the end of Sept, even though today is the last day.does that mean I beat Larry? LOL, it measures 9 3/4” by12” with handle it is 18 3/4” long 3/4” thick, the wood used is from the middle out is black walnut, black cherry, osage orange, birdseye maple, black walnut, glued up with Titebond III. the design took longer than making it, I am looking forward to making more, I know I’ll never get as many made as Larry, but it is fun and they do seem to be very popular now.

any comments good or bad are appreciated.

this is the jig I used to make the outside splines on the clock doors I made for my brothers, it is a very simple jig,I set the blade so it is just barely touching the piece of plywood that is against the fence, set your blade height to whatever depth you want for your frame, set a corner of the frame into the jig, and clamp it to the plywood, I used a mag jig to hold the jig against the fence, push the jig through the blade and do not pull back into the blade, you can set the jig so that it cuts in the middle of the frame also. I am sure most of you have seen a jig like this before, and you probably have one already, mine looks crude but it works. when attaching the legs to the ply make sure any screws are above the blade.

these three clocks were made for three of my brothers, having made one for my youngest a few years ago, and for all my nieces and nephews when they get married, I felt it was time to make one for the other three, two are quarter sawn red oak, the other is walnut. the doors are mitered with outside splines ( I don’t know what else to call them) instead of splines on the inside of the corners, this is the first time I have tried the outside spline, I think it adds an interesting feature to the doors.
I only had 2 each of the dials, so I used 2 of one kind and one of the other.
I just did get these finished in time for our family reunion this Sat. I was pressed for time because of my accident, I wanted to make sure they were done because one brother lives in Colorado, so he will be able to take it back with him now.
any comments good or bad are welcome.
Thanks

this black walnut clock is the latest project I have finished, it is a wall clock, 27” tall by 11.5” at the widest point, I found that a french cleat is the best way to hang them, easier to level the cleat on the wall then hang the clock. I use a battery run quartz clock, rather than a mechanical clock. I build these for my nieces and nephews when they get married, I only have one more to build, until the next generation comes along.

this project was taken from plans in the May 2008 issue of Wood magazine, I made a few modifications of my own the main one being that I used 5/8” Shaker Tape for the seat, instead of wood, it makes it more comfortable I turned 1” spindles for the seat stretchers, to accommidate the Shaker Tape, I did make the narrow rockers for this chair, the other rocker I made has the wider rockers on it, and I have found that they rock better on carpet than the narrow rockers, so if I make any more I think I will laminate and bend the rockers, also I think the bent lamination provides a stronger rocker. they may not be historically correct, but, I go more for comfort anyway. it takes about 75 yards of 5/8 Shaker Tape for a chair this size, the seat is about 19” X 17”, it would take around 36 yards if using 1” tape. this is only the second rocking chair I have made, but most likely not the last. this one was made from Red Oak, I used Zar Brazilian Cherry stain, and Titebond III, the only metal in it, is the staples to hold the start of the Shaker Tape. I have enough mistakes in this that I will have to keep it for myself.
now two of my grandaugthers are fighting over it.
any comments good or bad will be appreciate it.