All posts tagged: Woodworking

Walnut European Fountain Pen

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I purchased a European fountain pen kit from my local Woodcraft store, along with all the supplies to turn the pen (bearings, drill bit, reamer). This is a pretty cool kit since its compatible with the 7mm mandrel (this is the same mandrel for turning slimline pens). I really wish these kits came with instructions. You can download the instructions from Woodcraft’s web site, but it would be more convenient if you didn’t have to print them yourself (especially those of us who don’t have printer ink at home). The only difference in turning this pen and a slimline is the fact that you have to remove material for the cap hardware.

Padauk Bottle Opener

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I turned a bunch of pens as Christmas gifts this year, and now I’m ready for some freestyle turning. Pens are great and all, but there’s only so much fun in turning the same shape over and over again. This week I turned a bottle opener out of African Padauk. I cut some 3/4 square stock out of a 7/4 board of Padauk I had left over from the cutting boards I made. I put this into my Nova G3 chuck, with the tail stock pulled up. I turned the basic shape, and used calipers to gauge the thickness I wanted. I wanted the handle to be thin, but functional. Since I’m a beginner, I tend to leave pieces too thick (common for turners before they get comfortable turning on the lathe). There’s not really much to the design, but it felt great being able to turn whatever I wanted to, and not having to match up to a certain bearing.

Turned Walnut Razor

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Not a long post this week, just some shots of a walnut razor I turned on the lathe. I keep forgetting to take progress pics when turning. There’s not really many steps involved like making furniture. I also don’t take many breaks, since it’s a continuous project. Maybe that’s why most wood turners are on YouTube. Oh well, hope you enjoy.

Turned Bowl

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This week, I turned a bowl out of dry mystery hardwood on the lathe (comment below if you recognize this wood species). This is my first turning project, and my first bowl. It’s nothing fancy, but I’m proud of it. I can tell I will be doing a lot of lathe projects, it is very addictive. I cut this board into squares, and glued the pieces together to make more of a cube. Then I cut the corners off on the miter saw. I drilled a pilot hole for the wormwood screw to mount it on the lathe. I shaped the outside of the bowl first, and cut a mortise on the bottom so I could mount it on my Nova G3 chuck. Next, I hollowed out the inside of the bowl. I drilled the bowl to depth with my largest forstner bit. This really made finding the final depth a lot easier. All that was left was to remove material to the thickness I wanted. I finished the bowl with Minwax Polycrylic. Since this …

5 Board Bench

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I’m a huge fan of Steve Ramsey from Woodworking for Mere Mortals (link). This week, I made a 5 board bench inspired by Steve’s design. It’s a quick and simple project, and could be completed with limited tools. I started out by cutting this poplar board to length for all my pieces. This wood has lots of character. It’s old, and is full of beetle holes. I butted the bottom of the legs together, and drew a circle with a compass. I used a jigsaw to cut this portion out. I used the table saw to cut the sides at an angle. I cut the same angle on the rails, where they connect to the top. I connected the rails to the legs using pocket screws, then connected the top. I used Minwax Hickory gel stain to darken up the piece. I wanted this bench to look old, so I sanded some of the stain off. I finished it with Minwax water based Polycrylic. I really enjoy this design, and it was super easy to …

Gentlemen’s Caddy

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I started out this week’s project with the intent of making a padauk and walnut box. However, my plans were thwarted at the last moment by my router. I ended up leaving off the top, and adding a divider. The result… the Gentleman’s Caddy.   I had plenty of padauk and walnut lying around the shop, so I cut all my pieces for the glue up. I glued up the boards and clamped them in a matching pattern. Since I was going to run these pieces through the planer, I wasn’t worried about cutting them to the same length. I haven’t made a planer sled, so I usually have to cut the ends off from snipe. I cut the boards to length using my miter saw, at a 45 degree angle. This isn’t a very large piece and won’t be used to hold a lot of weight, so I didn’t worry about using splines. I cut a rabbet with my router table, and inserted a piece of backer board for the bottom. I created the …

Cedar Table with Tapered Legs

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I received an unexpected surprise this week. My Step-Father brought over some wood he’d been keeping in his shop for the last 40 years or so. This wood belonged to a friend of his that past away. I didn’t have a lot of material to work with, but I decided I wanted to make something nice out of it. Something of an heirloom, to pass down, just as it had been passed to me. The cedar had darkened quite a bit over the years, but came back to life after a few passes through the planer. I cut the boards for the top, and joined them together with a biscuit joiner. I wanted the overall look to be rustic, so I didn’t worry about milling out any knot’s or holes. I cut the legs into 1.5″ strips, and glued them together. I squared them up by running them through the jointer and planer. I created a jig to taper the legs, and ran them through the table saw. This is the first time I’ve tried these …

Wall Mounted Bottle Opener

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This week, I made a simple wooden bottle opener. I recessed two magnets into the back to catch the bottle caps after opening, which really adds to the functionality of it. I used scrap cedar and pine from around the shop to make this piece, but you can use anything you have available. I glued the pieces together and let them dry. After about an hour, I took them over to the miter saw, and cut off the edges. Now that my boards have nice clean edges, it’s time to clean up the gaps on the face with my planer. The planer is my new favorite piece of equipment lately. No matter how messy the glue up is, the planer shaves it down nicely. One of the best tips I learned, was to use “Waste Stock” around your work pieces when cutting, to avoid tear out. Here I’ve surrounded my work piece with MDF. It really creates much cleaner edges than from sawing alone. I’ve also used masking (or painter’s tape) when cutting, but I usually …

Tablet Stand

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I love using my tablet. It makes life so much easier. I can quickly look at videos, pictures, read the news, etc. etc. What I don’t like, however, is having to hold the tablet while trying to perform other tasks such as cooking, playing video games, and of course woodworking. I’ve seen a lot of plans out there, but my favorite is the simple wood stand. I’ve made a few of these stands in the past, so I decided to liven this project up a little. I found a cutting board kit at Woodcraft containing pre cut stock of some of my favorite woods; Cherry, Maple, and Purple Heart. Since the boards are already precut, all I had to do is glue them together. A little Tightbond and some clamps, and it was good to go. This is the first time I used a planer, and I am hooked! I’ve always had to be mindful of glue squeeze-out. This usually resulted in using inadequate amounts of glue on my projects. Since I knew any squeeze-out …

Refinished Coffee Table

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  Things used on this project: 60 Grit sand paper MinWax Dark Walnut Stain Home Made Polyurethane Burnt Almond Valspar Paint (chalk paint supplies) Natural hair paint brush (optional) Antiquing Glaze This is a coffee table that has been sitting in our attic for seven years.  It is a typical coffee table that you would find in any furniture store, and I for the life of me have no idea where we picked it up.  Ever since we started refinishing and painting furniture I have been wanting to get my hands on this thing. First things first, getting this table down from the attic which was not easy since the staircase is EXTREMELY narrow and it is kind of heavy.  So that was fun. 🙂 Then sanding.  I used a 60 grit sand paper with an orbital sander.  This is a veneer top table and a very HEAVY layer of poly.  So………four sanding pads and two and half days later this beautiful top was under all that dark stain!  Once the top was clean and …