Appalachia Mission 2017
I just got back yesterday, from our annual mission trip to Preston County West Virginia. We took about 20 teenagers to work on four separate houses. My team’s job site … Continue reading
A simple kitchen counter top
My friend Margie wanted to redo her kitchen counter, and has a small budget for the project. The main goals of the project were to get rid of the stock … Continue reading
Wedding goblets
I have one last project for Diana & Ryan’s wedding. Since we have been working on the lathe a lot in my shop lately, I thought I would try to … Continue reading
Tracie’s cherry rolling pin
My wife Tracie has been learning to use the lathe in my shop. She has made several pens and magic wands, and she is starting to branch out. She wanted me … Continue reading
Garden Trellis – day 2
I had Erin work on cutting lattice strips to length while I started laying out the seat supports on a cedar panel that I glued up. I printed out … Continue reading
Garden Trellis – day 1
Erin has a new project. She is building a garden bench with a trellis over it, as a wedding present for her sister Diana. This is the basic design, that … Continue reading
Diana’s Cake stand
For the last several years, my lathe has sat in the corner, and been a the perfect place to stack and store stuff. Kind of like the weight bench and elliptical, … Continue reading
Celtic knot pen
I recently saw an article on making a turned Celtic knot and I have been experimenting with it a bit for another project. Since my wife has been coming down … Continue reading
Lithophane light box
I had a wedding shower to go to today, for Erin’s sister Diana, and I wanted to make something special to bring as a gift. When I first got my Carvewright … Continue reading
Mini church furniture – Baptismal font
I was tasked with building some mini church furniture back in August. I was recently asked to add another piece to the collection, a Baptismal font. A fairly heavy glass bowl … Continue reading
Picture frames
Erin came over, just before Christmas, to start on a present for her sister. We made this plaque by laminating a 1/8″ thick sheet of poplar to a 1/2″ thick … Continue reading
Beer flights
Here is a good project if you are into beer tasting. I am not, but I have friends who are. One of those friends recently volunteered my services at his … Continue reading
Winter recap
First off, sorry I haven’t posted anything in a couple of months. I have been busy, but not all that much in the shop. I started a project back in … Continue reading
Walnut counter – day 6 – installed
After the first coat of urethane had cured, I had Erin sand down everything with 400 grit paper. Then she proceeded to apply the second coat. Over the next day … Continue reading
Walnut counter – day 5
The epoxy cured over night, now it is time to start sanding. Erin started with 80 grit paper to remove the bulk of the excess epoxy, then stepped down to … Continue reading
Walnut counter – day 4
Erin hasn’t been available, to work on the counter for a little while. She has been busy prepping the wall, in her house, for the installation. Her house is over … Continue reading
Walnut counter – day 3
Erin came over for a few hours yesterday, so we got back to work on the corbels. I had a nice thick piece of white oak that we are going … Continue reading
Cherry sofa snack table
Hey, remember my buddy Rob? He came over and worked on a few projects, then disappeared… Well, over the last year and a half (or so) Rob got married to … Continue reading
Walnut counter – day 2
I got a little prep work done before Erin came over today. I will require some thicker oak for the supports, so I cut some quarter-sawn red oak boards. After … Continue reading
Walnut counter – day 1
When we installed the fireplace bar at Erin’s house, we determined that the dining room table just completely disrupted the flow of the room, as well as blocked the view … Continue reading
Kid-Sized Guitar
I have been helping my friend, Hans, to build a guitar for his daughter. He wanted to be very involved with the work, so it took a few months, between … Continue reading
Erin’s Fireplace bar – day 11 Delivered
Over the last couple of days we applied three coats of polyurethane to the bar. Between each coat, we sanded the entire thing down with 400 grit sandpaper. When the … Continue reading
Erin’s Fireplace bar – day 10
Almost ready to wrap this project up. Just a few more details and we should be able to install this weekend. When I did the dry-fit on Saturday, I took … Continue reading
Erin’s Fireplace bar – day 9
Erin came over last night, so we started working on the caps for the corbels. She cut and planed a piece down to 1/2″ thick for the first of the … Continue reading
Erin’s Fireplace bar – day 8
We had a chance to do a bit more work, on the bar, last night. We started by attaching the face by running wood screws through the flange on the … Continue reading
Erin’s Fireplace bar – day 7
I had a little time today before Erin came over to work on the bar, so I wanted to get a few things prepped. I need an arched opening for … Continue reading
Erin’s Fireplace bar – day 6
This project has so many details that I have to keep bouncing back an forth between them on this blog. I think it is finally starting to come together though. … Continue reading
Mini church furniture – Tabernacle and stand
My project this weekend, is to get the tabernacle and stand done. I start by cutting all the sides down to size, for the tabernacle, then I round over the … Continue reading
Erin’s Fireplace bar – day 5
Erin is back in town, so we were able to get back to work on the fireplace bar today. Over the last couple of days, I have been working on … Continue reading
Mini church furniture – Altar
The second big piece in this set is the altar. I started by planing down a couple of boards to 3/8″ thick, then glued them up to be the top … Continue reading
Mini church furniture – Ambo
One of the projects that I need to get done this month is a set of mini church furniture. A friend of mine is teaching a religion class to a … Continue reading
Building a Cajon
My oldest son Eric, sent me an online article a few months back, showing how to build a cajon. Since he likes to play drums, he asked if it was … Continue reading
Erin’s Fireplace bar – day 4
I finished painting the corbels a couple of days back, but saved the sanding for Erin. She cut apart the individual halves of the corbels on the band saw staying … Continue reading
Erin’s Fireplace bar – day 3
I acquired a nice piece of oak to make the corbels from. It was 2″ thick, 7″ wide, and clear of any knots. We will be able to stack two … Continue reading
Erin’s Fireplace bar – day 2
So the plan is to do some carving on the front of the fireplace, just below the mantle, and on the sides of the corbels. I am not so worried … Continue reading
Erin’s Fireplace bar – day 1
I have a new project, and this one is unique. My friend Erin recently bought a house and she wants to add a bar. There is limited space in the … Continue reading
Replicating a stamped table apron
Wow, two months since my last post. I am not sure if I have been too busy to get down to the shop, or too lazy. I always seem to … Continue reading
Maple & Purpleheart crib – delivered
Crib is finished and the family is back home, so I packed up everything in my wife’s car and brought it over. Patrick helped me unload and set up. I … Continue reading
Maple & Purpleheart crib – day 12
I let the first coat of water-based poly cure over night. Before I can spray on the second coat, I need to sand everything down with 400 grit sand paper. … Continue reading
Maple & Purpleheart crib – day 11
The hard maple feet that I ordered, arrived yesterday, so I can start wrapping this project up. Good thing too, Momma just went into labor today. Please say a little … Continue reading
Maple & Purpleheart crib – day 10
I set up my knock-down workstation, then assembled the sides and clamped the whole crib together. Remember the sides were not glued up yet. That was so I could locate the … Continue reading
Maple & Purpleheart crib – day 9
Happy Easter everybody. I am spending most of the day with the family, but I wanted to get a bit of glueing done. Mainly, I want to attach the sides … Continue reading
Maple & Purpleheart crib – day 8
I need to cut out a cross for the headboard. The one that was picked out is very detailed, so I modeled it up and created a program for my … Continue reading
Maple & Purpleheart crib – day 7
I ran the lower arch on my CNC yesterday. It looked really good when it came out. I laid the purpleheart pieces on it to verify that the curves matched … Continue reading
Maple & Purpleheart crib – day 6
I think I have worked out a functional plan for the back. BACK.PDF. The curvy parts were the hard bit to work out. The main back will be a … Continue reading
Maple & Purpleheart crib – day 5
Before I can finish up with the sides, I need to locate and mount some hardware. I decided to buy a mattress spring frame, as opposed to building a frame, … Continue reading
Maple & Purpleheart crib – day 4
Busy day today, but I still found 6 or 7 hours to play in the shop. With the frame done, I went ahead and cut the top and bottom … Continue reading
Maple & Purpleheart crib – day 3
I have had a few hours over the last two evenings to get started on the sides of the crib. I haven’t had much time to put a lot of … Continue reading
Maple & Purpleheart crib – day 2
I racked my brains last night, trying to come up with a clever way to repeat the spacing for the slots. Then I realized that it wasn’t necessary. If I … Continue reading
Maple & Purpleheart crib – day 1
My friends are having a baby in a couple of weeks, and they asked me to build them a crib. They sent me a picture of a crib that they … Continue reading
