Needed a mortar & pestle for the kitchen so decided to practice on the lathe. Anxious to see how the cherry will darken with age.

The mortar is black walnut approx 5” in diameter by 2.25” tall. The pestle is cherry approx. 1.75” in diameter by 7” tall.

Soaked in BLO and rubbed with badger wax.

Completed October, 2011.

My first turned bowl out of black walnut.

Protected with a few coats of Arm-R-Seal varnish. Approx. 5.25” in diameter by 1.75” tall.

Completed December 2011.

One of my first turning projects. The mirror was salvaged from a dollar store plastic thing.

Made out of black walnut with a few coats of Arm-R-Seal varnish.

Approx. 5.75” in diameter by 1.25” thick.

Completed January 2012.

I play Texas Hold-em poker with some friends occasionally. While playing, it’s important to protect your cards so they are not accidentally swept up by the dealer. Setting this on top of your cards is what that tries to accomplish.

The disc is made out of black walnut with maple and purple heart for the inlay. A few coats of spray-on Deft lacquer for protection. Simple wood burning for his initials.

Sorry for the terrible pictures – didn’t realize it until I already gave it away.

Completed October 2011.

I made these as Christmas gifts for friends this year. Unfortunately, they were late in being completed because I kept cutting thru the lacquer finish and had to make some repairs. They hold three darts with an elastic band that fits into a length-wise groove. Two darts fit into holes from one end while the third dart nestles in from the opposite end.

The main body is alder with the sides being black walnut, purple heart, and leopardwood respectively.

Approx. 6.5” 3” 1.5”. If making your own, make sure you account for the length and shaft diameter of your particular darts. For long sets, 7” would probably be better.

I got the idea/plan out of the Woodworkers Journal, Summer 2011.

Completed January 2012.

A few fellow lumberjocks have posted these puzzles. I decided to join in and make a few copies. Also check out
http://lumberjocks.com/projects/17040 and http://lumberjocks.com/projects/28729

Woods used include black walnut, maple, spalted pecan, and poplar for the dowels. Finished with Deft lacquer.

Completed 12-2010.

I wanted somewhere dedicated for keeping my keys. I bounced several ideas around but finally settled on a Greene & Greene-influenced, tsuba-shape design with extended plugs to serve as hooks. The toughest part of the construction was by far routing the 4 small frame pieces from a template. Last word of advice – make sure you mount it to the wall from the sides instead of the center because the weight of keys will make it teeter-totter.

The frame is primarily out of black walnut with macassar ebony plugs. The frame pieces are joined with floating tenons. It is finished with several coats of Deft lacquer and rubbed out with wax.

BTW, the picture is looking down from the Blarney Castle in Ireland. I would strongly suggest visiting the island if you ever have a chance.

Completed 12-2010.

I had a few board feet of spalted cottonwood and so I decided to build a knife block holder. I contemplated several designs but decided to use skewers because I like the flexibility when arranging the knives. I was also inspired by … http://lumberjocks.com/projects/8836

Dimensions for the large box are 10.5” tall by 6.5” wide by 7” deep. The small add-on is 6” tall by 6” wide by 2.5” deep. Poplar was used for the bottom.

Anybody have an idea of how many skewers I used? I used all the same diameter but just cut to length. They are left loose in the container.

Completed 9-2010.

Simple turning project – a pair of drum sticks out of black walnut. Approx 16” long. Finished with a few coats of Watco Danish Oil. Guitar Hero – rock on!

Completed 9-2010

Trying to use up a few scraps, I made a couple bookmarks. One is black walnut with wenge and the other is cherry and bloodwood. The purpose of the slots in the cherry one was so it could slip over a page like a paperclip. However, in hindsight, I would make the grooves wider next time to avoid pinching the paper.

Finished with a coat of shellac and a couple coats of deft lacquer.

Completed 9-2010.

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I made a second batch of bookmarks from black walnut, wenge, macassar ebony, cherry, and maple. Finished with lacquer.

Completed 12-2010.

I have been starting to practice with the lathe so I made myself a small hammer out of scrap wenge and African mahogany. The final product ended up being a little smaller than intended due to a few catches while turning. Dimensions are 9” long, head is 4 1/2” wide, and 2” outer diameter for the wide end. Finished with Watco Danish Oil.

Completed 11-2010

I made a unique picture frame with various angles. Woods included black walnut and purple heart. The “triangles” on the back were a last-minute decision to help keep the miters tight.

Finished with a couple coats of shellac and Arm-R-Seal varnish.

Completed 11-09

I made this desk valet to help organize my devices and keep the cords hidden.

The sides are finger-jointed and pinned together. This was my first attempt at a greene & greene style, which was fun to do. The lids are book-matched maple with some figure that I tried to enhance with dye. However, I was not pleased with the result so I decided to stick with shellac. Like always, pictures don’t do justice to the figure.

The pins at the joints, handle, and small lid supports are all purple heart. The leather wraps a piece of mdf with an inset curve on each edge to allow a hidden area for the cords to squeeze by.

The finish is a coat of shellac, a coat of general finishes seal-a-cell, and a couple coats of general finishes arm-r-seal. I finished it off with some wax.

Completed 2-09

In addition to the urn I made for Surge, the greyhound I lost last month, I also made this one for my other greyhound named Candy. This urn is out of tarara canarywood with bloodwood for the accents. The bottom panel is alder.

The lid is slightly rabbeted so the box can be stacked with similarly sized urns. The hole near the top lip on the face of the first picture is for a sliding dovetail “key” that locks the lid down. The last picture provides a better detail image of how it works.

The finish is about 3 coats of shellac wiped on and then buffed with wax.

May Candy have many strong, healthy years before this box sees any use.

Completed 6-08

The image that appears for my jock is that of my black greyhound named Surge. This last month, Surge passed on to pet heaven and can now run free to chase birds and explore whatever he wants. For his ashes and some various memorabilia, I made this urn out of wenge and maple.

The lid is slightly rabbeted so the box can be stacked with similarly sized urns. If you look closely at the maple as it wraps around the corners, you might be able to tell that it’s all edge grain (except on the top). This proved to be a significant challenge because some of the pieces were so small, had multiple angles, and had to fit perfectly.

The hole near the top lip on the left side of the first picture goes thru the case and into the lid about an inch. There are two square pins that fit these holes and seal the box once the contents are enclosed. I wanted Surge to rest in peace so I did not intend for them to be removable.

The finish is about 3 coats of shellac wiped on and then buffed with wax.

Completed 6-08

I crafted a couple more boxes as gifts out of maple, paduak and wenge. I look the contrast between paduak and just about any other wood. The boxes were good practice for executing box joints on a small scale and I was able to have some fun with the different knobs. The lids are rabbeted to fit into the boxes. Both are about 3 1/2” by 4 1/2”.

The finish is a couple coats of shellac wiped on followed by Epifanes spar varnish and finally buffed with wax. The spar varnish provides UV blockers to help protect the vivid red colors of the paduak.

Completed 5-08

I created this unique combination triangle for entering into a tool making contest hosted by WoodCentral. I designed it accomplish three tasks that are common in my shop including accurate 45 and 90 degree angles, a ruler for measurements, and a marking knife for getting a precise line. The triangle is wide enough at 3/4” to stand up by itself so that it doesn’t need a third hand. The back of the triangle contains an elongated slot for storing the marking knife to protect the tip when not in use. A magnet is inset in the slot to keep the blade firmly in place. The knife was made from wenge and a polished reciprocating saw blade. Thin wenge wafers cover four ¾” magnets that are inset on the perpendicular sides of the triangle. The magnets allow the ruler to be interchanged as needed.

The ruler is quarter-sawn maple with macassar ebony inlays for each of the 113 individual markings at 1/16” intervals across the rulers length. A thin strip of the reciprocating saw blade is inlayed into the back of the ruler so that it can attach to the magnets in the triangle. The ruler was designed to be detachable so that it could swapped between two positions on the triangle or used independently.

All three corners of the triangle have paduak dowels that were specially turned on my lathe to provide added joint strength besides visual interest. Strips of 1/4” paduak were inlayed into the interior triangle edges for additional appeal.

All pieces are finished with a few coats of shellac followed up with spar varnish to provide UV protection and hopefully preserve the colors.

Completed 3-2008

I made a few pencil holders for gifts that were inspired by The Wood Whisperer (http://thewoodwhisperer.com/episode-31-pencil-holders/). Woods included african mahogany, black walnut, maple, bloodwood, ebony, rosewood, purple heart, zebrawood, poplar, ash and a couple unknowns that were in the stack. The black ebony star was to fix a slip with the router. Pictures can’t truly convey the beauty of figured wood, such as the walnut.

Finished with a couple coats of shellac and Arm-R-Seal varnish.

Completed 12-07

It may not be much to look at for most people but this box holds seven of my most treasured possessions. . . my chisels. ;) Since my current woodworking opportunities are almost entirely limited to hand tools, I decided to practice some box joints while building a container to keep my favorite set of Ashley Iles chisels protected. I will admit that I did cheat and purchase pre-surfaced poplar but all the other cuts, including the grooves, were by hand. The box is solid poplar with a small cherry nob on the lib. The dimensions are approximately 11 X 10 X 2.5”.

While I especially enjoy making those “pretty” projects that visually appeal to everyone, I would none-the-less recommend that WWs should build a core project like this occasionally. It really reacquaints you with wood and the tools you use.

Completed Sept. 2007

I created ‘Slope’ as a gift for a really good friend because I was amazed that she had so much jewelry yet no where to keep it. I quickly remedied that situation. :)

As far as the name ‘Slope,’ it essentially came about during the construction since every side of the box has some curve or angle to it. Both sides have curves plus the bent legs, the front has the curved pulls, and what isn’t depicted in the pictures is that the box is deeper on the left side than the right side by about 1/4” thereby imparting another angle. Not to mention, the box itself sits at an angle to the left, which in turn focuses the weight onto the right leg.

It is primarily out of air dryed black walnut that I acquired from a trip to Idaho. The legs and laminated segments in the drawer pulls are from purple heart. Since this was my first attempt at laminated curves and I was worried about glue creap, I turned some ebony dowels that I installed in 3 holes in each leg that you can see in the middle picture as black dots. These plugs proved additionally beneficial by allowing me to attach the legs at the center points with longer dowels that fit into holes drilled into the walnut case.

The main walnut box is approx 12” tall by 4” wide by 2 3/4” deep at the widest point. The spread between the purple heart legs at the widest is about 7”. The box was finished with several coats of Zinsser SealCoat shellac that was hand rubbed and then a couple applications of paste wax.

Sadly, this is the last project I will be able to make until my house is sold and I can find a new location for my WW tools. Putting my contractor TS into my apartment just isn’t going to work ;)

Completed 7-2007