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Inspiration for multiple handmade gifts came after turning two garden tool handles. Using salvaged cherry and maple flooring I glued up some blocks for turning on the lathe. Surprisingly, with one exception, these are the first handles I’ve ever turned.

I liked the idea of giving a gift made with love for a specific person and to keep the theme I picked up a few more kits. The ice cream scoop uses the same Cherry and Padauk combo I used on the garden fork handle. The coffee scoop and knife handle are made from Cocobolo.

My daughter seems to luck out with the neatest projects and this year I was excited to present her with something very close to what she asked for. My instructions were to make a wood plaque of the Abbey Road album cover with The Beatles above and that’s pretty much what I did, after finding a metal reproduction of the very album.

I cut out the letters first then made the picture frame and drawers. For this project I only had to purchase flocking and an 1/8″ band saw blade. I looked for little round rock buttons at music stores to use for drawer pulls but ended up using two large square Beatles pins.

This Beatles Abbey Road shelf is made from 1950 mahogany coated with Waterlox and Bartley gel varnish. The drawer interiors are coated with wine color Suede-Tex flocking fibers which really compliment my little wood projects nicely.

I was going to make the drawers big enough to hold The Beatles Mono Box Set that I got her but it is what it is. I hope you enjoy my sharing it online.

I’ve got an idea! I went online and grabbed an image of a crab that I liked the style of then printed it out the right size for this project and taped it to a piece of the 1950′s siding I had prepped. I cut away the design and marked the edges, transferring the image to the wood. When it was marked, I cut out the crab on the band saw.

With crab cut, I ripped a length of 1/2″ x 1/2″, hand planed it smooth then cut it into two 12″ pieces. After sanding, I made marks 1.5″ apart and drilled 1/4″ holes for the dowel I made. A spot of dark wood glue in each hole, a mallet to knock in the 1.75″ pegs and a quick handmade peg from some denser hardwood to join the two sides.

Here are some images of the project coming together.

[View with PicLens]

For the wood, I used pieces of mahogany removed from the same FLW home. The stock is true 5/4 X 12 but riddled with nails, coated with a hardened finish, oils and some exterior stain.

After surfacing enough roughly sized pieces to make a frame, I milled the pieces to shape and cut a rabbet on the inside edge to retain the painting. Then came the fun part; making up the design! I cut the top and bottom out on the band saw, filed smooth, sanded and viola – ready for assembly.

I didn’t want to buy anything for this project so I used some stain and new poly I had on hand. I haven’t used stain and polyurethane in ages. I made sure to let each coat dry thoroughly and sanded lightly before the next. It’s really amazing how the third coat really brings it all together. I like it and I’m the one that has to sleep with it.

[View with PicLens]

The painting is a David Chethlahe Paladin titled: Talking Gods and The Sacred Twins – 1973

Here is a gift I made for my daughter this Christmas that I thought I would share. Constructed of Philippine mahogany with 1/4″ birch-ply backing it’s mahogan-’E’. Based on multiples of 5 1/2″ the boxes will fit in any location on the shelf; 3 across the bottom, stacked several high or one here one there.

The shelf was finished with Sikkens Cetol Log Decor then a low-lustre BL Interior Clear topcoat. The boxes were colored with Master’s Solar-Lux dye then covered with 3 coats of Sikkens Interior Clear.

The lumber was all milled to 5/8″ or less and finished with two coats before assembly with a pin nailer. Because of the ultra-low profile of the 23 gauge brads, I only used glue and many pins for the assembly. I predrilled two holes in the birch ply 16″ o.c. for mounting and wrapped each box separately with another wrapped gift in each one.

I enjoyed the result of the letters I made for pulls. Before setting to the the bandsaw, I decided a hand drawn letter looked much better than a stencil or ruler drawn letter and all three of these came out matching italic capital letters.  After finishing each with a chisel, sharp knife, sand paper and dye they really look sharp!

Fix #1:
As the bearing started to fail from the extreme force it suffers from the steep angle of the first step up along the slide, I removed and replaced the bearing to no avail. Next, I removed the slide and put it on my grinder, easing the slope of the first step. I figured if it weren’t so steep it would roll better. That didn’t work.

Perfect fix:
I cut a piece of steel and screwed it onto the slide, modifying the slope into a perfectly smooth incline. This took five minutes to do and my saw is back to it’s super-smooth action!

BTW: This fix results in the blade guard resting in a “slightly” opened position (see photo) which is infinitely safer than removing or pinning back the guard. I was taught safety first and never pin back my blade guards, not even on a wormdrive while cutting rafter tails.
I am very pleased with the results of this fix. In fact, it is such an improvement I would purchase this Bosch saw new and apply this patch before I would buy a ‘yellow’ brand saw any day.

For supplies I purchased some 7/16″ rope and 1″x3″ oak boards. Including (2) tie-off anchors and some carabiner clips to secure the ladder at the ground, Also some eye-bolts that will pass through the deck framing of the treehouse platform to hang the ladder from.

I changed router bits to a round-over and passed all four edges along the fence.

With the edges smoothed I cut the boards to length.

I used a drill press to make 1/2″ holes in the end of each ladder rung. (The 7/16″ rope wouldn’t fit through a 7/16″ hole)

Leaving a few feet of rope at the ‘bottom’, I tied a knot in each rope and slid a board on. Before repeating I measured up and marked each rope with a sharpie before tying the next knot.

Wait ’til you see where this is going to hang.

This past weekend, I built myself a secure box to protect a new Logitech AudioStation and my iPod Touch while on the jobsite, complete with power outlets, extended cord and metal speaker grilles.

A 4×6 served the final blow to a cheap RCA radio with an AUX input I used before so I set out to find a replacement, this time with a dock. At the beginning of the summer I purchased the least expensive unit I could find at Circuit City, the GPX BI108B Radio Docking System, as a “disposable” jobsite radio.

The GPX BI108B Radio Docking System is an FM radio with an iPod dock and a special spot for the new iPod shuffle. I used this GPX unit on my jobsite for about three months with my iPod Touch but most of the movable parts have broken off. Sensing imminent destruction of my iPod Touch I bought an iPod shuffle and clipped it on. It’s a great combo but the volume is seriously lacking, especially over the din of construction. Unplugged, the radio burned through a set of batteries in a day, the sound is distorted over volume 6 and though it’s form factor is a plus, it just isn’t cutting it on the job.

I found a rebate deal for the Logitech AudioStation Speaker System, bringing the MSRP $149 radio to $29.99. Now, this is a much louder, much more substantial radio system for the iPod. I built the box from maple and 1/2″ plywood to encase the Logitech system. My new jobsite radio case has a heavy-duty 8′ power cord, two outlets on the exterior and is wired inside with antennas and an A/C outlet for the radio. I used lexan for the ‘window’ and aluminum grilles to protect the speakers. I’ll wrap them with material to keep out dust when I find some.

I used a drawer lock to latch the lid, sprayed the interior and exterior black, stained the lid, applied my stencil and plugged it in.

I built these cabinets out of birch plywood with a poplar face-frame and piano hinges. All the doors are simple slabs of plywood with no edge treatment. The idea was to get this wall of storage cabinets finished!
After adding an edge to the countertop and a few interior shelves to increase capacity this baby will be ready for paint.

• 12/4 walnut for a bed
• cherry boards already cut for a blanket chest
• ornately turned Jamaican bed posts, missing rails
• Mahogany, Spanish cedar, exotics, burls, root bases – too much!

Here is a large slice of a Pine tree that was sitting outside my friend’s parent’s house for many years. I’ve had it for another 10. It’s under the knife and the idea for this one is a slab bench, similar to a George Nakashima piece. I’ll have room for it in my living room, just need to pick some wood to turn for legs and the back spindles.