Christmas Gifts

Here are my latest creations, four book holders. They were made for family and a friend. I used Birdseye maple and protected them with tung oil only, this really brought out the beauty of the wood. The four themes reflect each persons interests. The sail boat, star fish and seahorse is for my wife's Aunt Leona, the motorcycle, helmets and Harley logo are for my sister-in-law Diane. The horse, saddle and horseshoe one is for another sister-in-law, Melinda and the fourth, with the light house, maple leafs and star is for our friend JoAnne.














Diane's motorcycle theme.



Melinda's horse theme

Leona's beach theme.

























JoAnne's lighthouse theme.

Murratte's Book Holder

For my Sister-in-Law's retirement I made this book holder. It was inspired by one we found at our giant flee market, I made a few alterations to fit my design. It is made from Birdseye maple, first after a bit of chisel, work the hinges were formed, then I scrolled out the design, and then carefully cut it in half. Finally after a bit of sanding to remove the resaw marks, a bit of poly to protect it, and it looks great.

A Custom Box

This box was made for our friend Kathy, she has finally retired, we gave her a bottle of Ice wine and Brandy, along with a couple of fine glasses to enjoy the wine. And what better way to protect them, than in a custom box. This box is made from birch, with mitered corners and a couple of supports inside to keep the glasses steady.

Nothing To Sneeze At

Well I got tired when I would pull out the Kleenex, I get the box as well, so I thought I would build a little Kleenex box, box. It is made from re-sawn birch, mitered corners and no bottom. They fit nice and snug, easy to pull out a tissue and only a tissue comes. Just a weekend project, while the glue dried I got to cut the lawn.

Tapestry Looms

Here are a couple of Tapestry (lap) Looms I made this weekend. They are for a friend of my wife who asked if I could make them, they turned out rather well, I think. They are made from Ash, with a simple half lap joint on the large one and a rabbit joint on the small one. I pre-drilled the nail holes, the large on has 49 and the small has 27. There isn't any finish on them, to prevent anything that might transfer onto the finished work.

The Summer Deck Project

With summer here it was time to build our new deck, it's between the house and the shop set close to our fence, giving us a little more privacy and a better view of our hill side back yard. It is 12 x12 on 2 x 8 lumber, set on deck blocks. The deck is 5/4 x 6 pressure treated lumber and screwed down every 2 feet. I don't think it's going anywhere and it's very sturdy. My wife also wanted a planter box in the corner with lattuis and I topped it off the same way our fence top was done. A great place to sit in the morning with a coffee. It only took 17 hours to build over 2 ½ days.

Large Cedre Dragon Fly

I try not to waste too much lumber. This large dragon fly is 18 inches long and has a 24 inch wing span. It is make from old ceder posts, milled down, glued up, turned and voila, you have a large ceder dragon fly. This was made for my sister-in-law Murratte, who like a few people I know like dragon flies. This is an addition to the three blood wood dragon flies I made for her last year. A fun project that goes a long way.

Felting Table

Another project off my list of items to build. There is an art to felting and my wife is becoming very talented at it, and she requires a place to create, and I wanted my shop back becasue she was using my work table for a while, thus the need for this protable felting table. This table was made to set on another table or flat stable surface to create on. It is made from ¼ plywood and oak edging and a piece of formica/arborite, and of course a bit of silicon to keep it water tight. It has a ¾ inch edge for strength and to keep the water controlled, along with a drain hole in one corner, I have been told you don't want alot of standing water. It mesures 71" x 43", just right for our kitchen table.

Berry Pickers

Here is my version of a hand held berry picker, the original was made by me wife's grandfather, many years ago. The new version is basically the same except for the obvious modification, the good thing about this modification is that if it doesn't work it can be easily adjusted to the original style. I made it out of yellow birch, a good sturdy wood as the sides are only ¼ inch and the ends could get a bit of abuse from the scooping up things.

Printer Stand

As things get moved around every once and a while there is an opportunity to build a new piece of furniture. In this case my wife needed a stand for her printer and other items. This is a simple side table made of oak, the top and legs panels glued with biscuits, the legs set in a 1/4 dado, with an upper and lower support on the back for stability. A little golden oak stain and a coat of poly for protection finishes it off.

Umbrella and Boot Stands

A few years ago I made a cedar umbrella stand, for what else umbrellas and walking sticks. Recently I make this boot stand, also from cedar, it should wear well in the winter and wet days. The sides are half lap joints and mortised into the corners. The top level of the boot stand is a cedar panel I glued up, I thought it better to have a sold top, keeps the debris from falling to the boots.

More Hat Blocks

Well, when you make one hat block, you'll always need another, so here is the original with two more I made, also from yellow birch. The two new ones have a better shape, I was shown what one looks like and I improved on the original block. They are rather tall for an average hat block and are hard wood, which is good for pounding on them but not very good if you want to stick pins in. So I think I'll be tasked to make another one, this time from a softer wood. Good luck to me.

Hat Block

My latest project was to make a hat block, that was needed right away. I used mostly yellow birch and a bit of ash, it is large and a bit heavy, but this is what she wanted, if I am to make another one it might be a little smaller. It was a good project, a few board feet needed to be dressed, cut and glued up. I also put four 7/16 dowels inside for strength and help bind the boards together, probably not needed but it doesn't hurt because she will be beating it with the paddle I made earlier, to make the hat.

Screen Printing Squeegees

These squeegees are made from yellow birch and are used to spread ink during screen printing. Because the frames I made earlier are a bit larger than what was being used, making proper fitting squeegees was only natural.

Felting Tools

I was asked if could make a couple of tools that are used to manipulate fibre for felting, I was given a picture and rough dimensions and this is what I came up with. The board is made from ceder as the fibres are wet when felting and the paddle is from yellow birch, I'll see how it hold up before I make another. The Board is from a ceder post re-sawn, glued to make a panel blank, is only a prototype because it has too many knots, if this is what she wants I'll use better material and refine the work so it doesn't snag the fibers too much.

An Old School Laptop

I was calling it the original lap top but June called it an old school laptop, a little more fitting I think. June Cable is a Fibre Artist, ‘The Wizard of Felt’ (http://www.wizardoffelt.com/ http://wizardoffelt.blogspot.com/) and a friend of my wife. This laptop/writing slope was made from cooked curley maple and the inside is lined my wife’s hand died material. The corner wedges are hard maple, it’s finished with 5 coats of polyurethane, sanded with 1200 grit paper and finally with bees wax polish.

New Mantel

I finished the new mantel for our fire place; it is from an 8 foot long 12 inch wide and 2½ inch thick piece of maple, my father-in-law had milled 3 years ago. It had a long twist in it and after a bit of hand planning, re-sawing and glue up I finished with a 7 foot long by 7 inch deep and 1½ think mantel. We wanted a bit larger look so I added a face to make it 2½ inches deep. The front and sides are mitred cuts so there are no end grain showing. It has a few coats of red mahogany stain and several coats of polyurethane.

Here is a picture of the old oak mantel to give you an idea of the improved look.