It’s not just a pen it’s art

Posted on January 18, 2024 by Marisa

The process of turning seems like it could be simple.  You take a blank and you pick out a kit.  Put the blank on the lathe and turn it put in the inserts and there you have it a pen.  I’ve learned it’s very personnel to the individual receiving that pen maybe even more so to the person creating that pen.

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Sawmill Sawdust Control

Posted on January 13, 2024 by Marisa

Man Glitter.Sawdust from cutting one log under the sawmill.

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End Grain Walnut Cutting Board

Posted on September 2, 2023 by Bill

I have another cutting board to make.  I would have liked to make it out of maple, but I do not have any maple milled.  But I do still have a lot of walnut.  This time I want to make an end grain board.  Here are the steps I took to make it.

First, I cut 1 1/2 inch strips, 26 inches long.  I then jointed and planed them all to the same thickness and width so that I had square strips.

Walnut Strips

Walnut Strips

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Cutting Board Butter

Posted on September 2, 2023 by Bill

I have been making my own cutting board finish, which I like to call Cutting Board Butter, made from bee’s wax and mineral oil.  This is very easy to make.  You can order melting bee’s wax pellets online.  Simply add them to a tin at a 50/50 ratio by weight and heat the tin.  A hot plate works well for this.

Homemade Butcher Block Oil

Homemade Butcher Block Oil

Once heated, stir well until well mixed, and allow to cool.  It makes a very nice paste wax.

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Chamfer Sanding Block + Free Plan

Posted on August 30, 2023 by Bill

I am making an end grain cutting board, and for the edge treatment, I decided to go with chamfers.  Now while the router left a nice edge, it did need sanding.  I could have just used a sanding block and hoped I kept it perfectly on the chamfer face, but seeing as this face is only about 1/4″ wide, chances were good that the edges would get knocked down or rounded.

I decided to make a sanding block for sanding the chamfer, with a flat registration face and a sanding block face set off by 45 degrees.  I mulled this over for a couple of days, and the resulting jig can be seen below.

Chamfer Sanding Block

Chamfer Sanding Block

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Repairing a Broken Corner

Posted on August 14, 2023 by Bill

So this isn’t really a corner.  Well, kind of.  It’s the corner of a walnut strip in a cutting board I was making.

After gluing up the board, and cleaning off the squeeze out, I noticed one of the strips had a broken corner.  I could opt to just cut this end off, or fill it, but since this will be an end grain cutting board, filling it wouldn’t look good, I thought.  And just cutting that much of the end off would shorten the board by an inch and a half.  I opted to repair it.

Board Cleaned Up

Board Cleaned Up

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Making Celtic Knot Pen Blanks

Posted on August 11, 2023 by Bill
Celtic Knot Pen Blanks

Celtic Knot Pen Blanks

I have a couple of pens to make.  I wanted to make them similar but contrasting, and have always wanted to try making Celtic knot blanks.  This was the perfect opportunity.

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Walnut Cutting Board

Posted on August 10, 2023 by Bill
Walnut Cutting Board

Walnut Cutting Board

I made this cutting board about 2 1/2 years ago.  Well, I FINISHED it 2 1/2 years ago.  I started it a year before that.  It sat unfinished for a whole year.

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Havel’s Helmet

Posted on August 7, 2023 by Marisa

Long story short don’t give up.  Wherever you are at it’s progress from where you started even if it’s 12 steps back.  The delay actually turned out pretty cool because had I done this 7 years ago he would have outgrown it.  Now he should be able to wear this for as many years as he wants to.  This started 7 years ago with a promise to my youngest son that I would make him Havel’s armor from Dark Soul’s.  Fast forward to today, still no armor.

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Custom Foam Inserts or how to test your marriage Part 1

Posted on August 2, 2023 by Marisa

When you take the bottle stoppers your husband turned.  Take everything out of a storage box in his office and head to the office with a can of spray foam even the best of marriages is put to the test.

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