This hall table was a commission. It is 52” long and 34” high. The one board top is 12” wide. I used mortise and tenon joinery. It is made from ash with a golden oak stain. It has 3 coats of wipe-on poly on the whole table and an extra 3 coats on the top and shelf with a 320 grit light sand between coats. This job enabled me to purchase a much needed hollow chisel mortising machine.

I liked the pagoda box, but wanted to enlarge it. This is my attempt. The box is 11” x 5” x 4 1/2” high. The lid overhangs about 1” on the long sides and 1 1/2” on the short sides. The box is curly maple with a cherry top and cocobolo handle. It’s finished with wipe-on poly. I’ll probably use Danish Oil to pop the grain the next time I make one from curly maple, then finish with poly.

Client ordered a pine bench with doors. This piece is more decorative than functional. Built to hide the exposed lower portion of the back of a couch that has a recliner in each end. The back of the couch has two gaps that she wanted to hide. The bench is 48” long and 18” high and the seat is 9” deep. Doors are faux raised panels with a routed groove. Sanded to 180 with drum sander, then 180 with random orbit sander. Stained with the stain mixed for the wormy chestnut dinning room table I made. and finished with three coats of satin poly.

A client brought me an aquarium stand he made from construction grade 2×4’s and 2×6’s. He wanted three sides covered with birch plywood to make it look like a piece of commercial cabinetry. I started by leveling the surfaces with a belt sander, then cut and attached the pieces with screws from the back. I used washer-head screws of varying lengths so as not to pop through the surface. Several places I had to go through laminated 2 x ’s. I didn’t have any screws that were 3” + long. After careful calculations I used a small Forstner bit to get flat bottomed countersink holes. I covered the edges with iron-on edge banding. The client was pleased with the result.

Two of the photos are the front and back after completion in my shop. The other two were taken by the client after he finished it with three coats of satin poly.

I made several of these for Christmas presents. They were fairly easy and quick. These were made from ash with a chestnut stain and polyurethane. If you want to check it out it’s Episode 71 of The Wood Whisperer. Enjoy and Merry Christmas.

This is a commission piece that was made from the picture shown. The picture came from the website of an antique shop. I was given the picture and some measurements of height, length, and width. It is made of poplar (her choice) and stained with a stain I had professionally mixed for the wormy chestnut dining room table I made. The owner is calling it an antique reproduction, but I wouldn’t. You will notice that she asked for several changes from the original. I used 1/2” finger joints at the corners. The poplar came from a tree I had cut down and milled from my property. I turned the 1 3/8” legs myself, and made the drawer pulls too.

This is one of two identical ash frames commissioned for 11×14 documents. They were made to the clients specifications. The splines are mahogany. I’m not sure if they are still splines when they aren’t buried in the corner. Whichever, they were cut with the table saw the same way you would cut a buried spline. Note to anyone trying this for the first time: use a blade that cut a flat bottom slot. The first cut I made with my alternating beveled teeth blade took a while to clean up. It would have been even harder if the spline was buried. The edge treatments were done on the shaper. No stain was used, just two coats of clear lacquer with a light 320 sanding between coats. I didn’t notice until after I took the pictures that the third one looks like a framed picture of my blade guard.

Every year the woodworking club I belong to, Valley Woodworkers, makes about 300 toys and donates them to the local Salvation Army. These toys are then distributed to families that can’t afford them so that the kids will have something under the tree at Christmas. Part of that are these 108 doll cradles that were made in my shop. Other toys include child sized puzzle rocking chairs, small cars and trucks, pull toys and rocking horses. The Salvation Army puts a doll or bear in each cradle.

The kiln dried rough lumber for these toys is donated to us by several sawmills through the state Forestry Association. One of the pictures above shows about 200 bf of the 450 bf of Ash that it took for the cradles. After dimensioning the stock to 5/8” thick we use a host of templates and jigs to not only make the parts, but also assemble the cradles. Most all of the machinery is my shop was used, but the rounded over edges were done with pattern jigs on the shaper. It took two club members and myself about five weeks, working three days a week, to go from rough lumber to the 108 cradles in the above picture. It then took two days in another members shop that has a spray booth to give them two coats of pre-catalyzed lacquer, with a light sanding between coats. The finish is also donated by a local cabinet supply house. The blanket and pillow sets seen in the picture of the finished cradle are made and donated by spouses and others that want to contribute.

The club has been making and donating toys to the Salvation Army since the club was formed in 1991.

When I’m not making sawdust, I like to practice Tai-Chi with my wife Cat. Recently we started learning a new form of Tai-Chi practiced with swords. Although Tai-Chi is a martial art, this form is done in a slow deliberate manner. We do not strike at each other with the swords. I purchased a traditional Tai-Chi sword which turned out to be a little too heavy for Cat. I decided to make one from, you guessed it, wood. They sell wooded practice swords, but why would a woodworker buy a wooden sword?

This sword is made from a single piece of Cherry. After making it our instructor said it was a little too light to make it a useful practice sword. In an effort to increase the weight I added a strip of Lignum Vitae to the blade portion. The strip goes all the way through, so I don’t think you would call it inlay. I also drilled a 3/8” hole down through the handle and inserted a piece of steel rod.

After sanding with 220 grit and woodburning the traditional Ying-Yang symbol I sprayed it with clear lacquer. Now we both have swords to practice with.

I made this cherry table a while back. It is 30” x 17” x 27” high. The top is 7/8” thick, but with the routed edge treatment to the bottom it gives it a more delicate look. I thought the bead on the bottom edge of the aprons helped also. The legs are tapered on the two inside faces. I gave it a light cherry stain with clear lacquer top coat.