Mach III Razor

I got to spend my Monday working in the shop on a few small projects. I turned a few pens, a wine bottle stop for a friend out of olive wood, and this cherry burl Mach III razor for me. I love it. Shaves like any other Mach III does, but just looks really cool.

Photo quality suffers a bit, but you can see the basic shape and fitness of the razor.

Had such a great response to the above cherry burl razor, that I decided to make another one on Tuesday night after work. Finished it just before bed time. I had some Bolivian rosewood in stock and just loved the contrasting grain patterns of it. I took it over to the table saw and cut some blanks at a 15 degree angle so that – when turned – would show off the colors. Deep chocolate with blonde streaks.

Mach III razor made form diagonal cut Bolivian rosewood.

Refurb - Antique Mahogany Dresser

Last Spring, Jacob and Taryn made a trip down from Michigan with a special package. An antique mahogany dresser from Paige and Adam's house. Caryn's mother had purchased this particular piece at an antique dealer a few decades ago and it was showing its age to say the least.

I decided that it was worth taking a stab at a refinish job. At first glance it appeared to be structurally sound. One of the feet was broken off, one of the drawers stuck a bit, the finish was blotchy, the bottom was banged up pretty bad, a few of the drawer pulls were broken, and it suffered from a botched refinish job (or two) at some point in it's over-century-long use.

The project took over year to complete, but it was mostly due to competing priorities in the shop. Christmas presents, cutting boards, wooden boxes, a few pistol grips, and odds and ends.

I won't bore you with the intricate details, but will state that I tried my best to keep the original look of this piece. I wanted it to still feel like an antique and kept the original lines and design.

The only new pieces were a new base made of matching mahogany, new custom turned mahogany bun feet, and a new set of (antique) Victorian drawer pulls that matched the originals.

Here are some of the photos of the process. In retrospect, I wish I had taken more.

Original condition of the dresser propped up on an old 2x4. Notice the broken foot, with part of the busted base stuck to it. Also the finish was a bit too orange for my liking. Mahogany is usually a rich red.

Another photo of the main pieces showing an old banged up finish of most likely varnish.

The broken foot. Original design used wooden dowels, but someone in recent decades had banged in some nails to "help" sure it up. Sometimes nails just won't cut it when it comes to structural integrity.

Starting the job. Sand sand sand. Months (not-cumulative) of sanding from 80 up to 320 grit paper. Very slow and messy process. I did, however start to see the beautiful wood beneath. If you look real close, you can see where someone had filled some cracks with wood putty and spackle. I used a dental pick to painstakingly pick it all out scratch by scratch.

Took a break from sanding to build a new base. Bought some mahogany and created a 3 faced base. After the sizing was correct, I mitered the corners off and hit it with a cove bit on the router to give it a nice profile.

Here is the dresser after all pieces had been sanded, including the drawer interiors. Still a bit dusty, but ready to install the base and feet.

Here is a photo taken a few nights later, after I installed the new base, new mahogany bun feet, and the decorative back board. Starting to come to life. You will also notice the second to the last drawer that still needed one of its runners repaired.

Here is a close-up photo of the new profiled base I made, along with the new bun feet. Pretty cool bun foot design from Matthew Burak of tablelegs.com.

This is during the finishing process. Finished with 3 coats of Danish Oil. Sanding in between all coats. 3 coats of Arm-r-seal clear coat. Sanding in between. Then finished with 2 coats of paste wax to provide a smooth and durable finish.

And here is the finished product, with the new (antique) pulls that matched the originals. I'm really happy with how it turned out. Looks beautiful in the sun light.

Pen Turning

I decided to take the BIG plunge and try my hand at wood turning. I have admired turning projects for years and fell in love with the creation of pens and bowls made by fellows in the woodworking community. It's kind of a big financial leap given the amount of "stuff" one needs to purchase to get started. But, I did some research, asked some opinions, and decided on a set up.

It took awhile (still in progress) to get used to working with pieces of wood that are spinning at 2000 RPMs and not being too fearful of the process. Can be a dangerous situation if you don't plan properly and double check everything for safety.

Below are a couple of the first projects to come off the lathe. Wine bottle stoppers and a few European ball point pens. It's a really fun process and my goal is to work my confidence and skills up to turning wooden bowls. Still a few shop hours, projects and tools away from starting my first bowl, but it's already a daydream in my head.

Chrome wine bottle stoppers made out of ebony and striped ebony.

European style ball point pens made out of zebra wood.

European style ball point pens made out of curly maple.

European stye ball point pen made out of cherry burl from Michigan. Beautiful abstract grain patterns.

European style ball point pen made out of 'purple haze' acrylic.

European style ball point pen made out of 'venetian' acrylic.

Thanks for looking, and let me know when you're in the market for a custom pen.

November 2011 Cheese Boards

I spent the past few months (hours at a time) in the wood shop preparing for a pre-Christmas round of cheese boards.

These, just like last year, are on a first come, first serve basis. Please let me know if you are interested in one or more of these as gifts, or as a permanent resident in your own kitchen.

Real quick background on this round of cheese boards:
I started this journey back in September with a few new ideas and wanted to try out a new shape that I had milling around in my head. I wanted to mill a bunch of thin strips of varying species and widths to incorporate into the boards. I have been really happy with the racing stripe effect in past batches. While working with thin strips is a real beast, the finished product looks pretty cool. I bought a bunch of local black cherry, as you will see from the boards below. I had also been saving a few select pieces of "purple heart", "padauk", "bloodwood" and "curly maple" that I was dying to put to good use. Also, while you are browsing these boards, note that some have routed handles on the bottom side for easy pick-up. Some do not have any handles, as you can cut on both sides, or use one as a cutter and one for display. I have had an equal mix of requests for both types.

General care instructions for newbies:
After use, sponge with warm soapy water and towel dry. As with any real wood product, don't ever put them in the dishwasher. After heavy use, and repeated washings, you may want to restore the finish. You can re-finish them with mineral oil sold at your local pharmacy or grocery store. Very simple to do. Pour a generous amount of mineral oil onto a paper towel and coat the top side of the board. Let this soak in for a few minutes and dry it with a clean towel. Repeat on bottom side. You can retreat these boards as much as you want and with proper care, should last you decades.

OK, have at 'em...

SOLD!!! Cheese board 1 - Shape: rounded block, no handles. Species: Walnut, cherry and curly maple.

SOLD!!! Cheese board 2 - Shape: rounded block, no handles. Species: Purple heart and cherry.

SOLD!!! Cheese board 3 - Shape: New idea, offset side handles. Species: Cherry, curly maple and walnut.

SOLD!!! Cheese board 4 - Shape: Rounded block, end handles. Species: Cherry, rosewood and curly maple.

SOLD!!! Cheese board 5 - Shape: New idea, offset side handles. Species: Cherry, curly maple, walnut and bloodwood.

SOLD!!! Cheese board 6 - Shape: Rounded block, long edge handles. Species: Cherry and bloodwood.

SOLD!!! Cheese board 7 - Shape: New idea, offset side handles. Species: Curly maple, sapele, padauk, cherry, rosewood, bloodwood, walnut and purple heart.

SOLD!!! Cheese board 8 - Shape: New idea, offset side handles. Species: Padauk, cherry, maple, walnut and bloodwood.

SOLD!!! Cheese board 9 - Shape: Rounded block, long edge handles. Species: Cherry, walnut and padauk.

SOLD!!! Cheese board 10 - Shape: New idea, no handles. Species: Walnut and curly maple.

If you need dimensions, or any specific information on any of these boards let me know. I'd be happy to answer questions.

If you are an out-of-towner and would like a boards shipped, I'd be happy to send you an estimate on shipping costs.

Custom 1911 Gun Grips

I was asked a few weeks ago by a fellow coworker if I could make a pair of custom grips for his 1911 pistol. I have never made gun grips before, so I took on the challenge. Lots of trial and error, but I finally got the hang of it.

I made him two pairs of grips. The first set I made from Sapele and the second out of curly maple. I think they turned out awesome and they feel great in the hand. I hope he's a happy customer.

Curly Maple grips on Kimber 1911. Photo courtesy of Lee Umali.

Curly Maple grips on Kimber 1911. Photo courtesy of Lee Umali.

Sapele grips on Kimber 1911. Photo courtesy of Lee Umali.

Sapele grips on Kimber 1911. Photo courtesy of Lee Umali.

Sapele grips on Kimber 1911. Photo courtesy of Lee Umali.

Progress on the Pinstripe Cheese Boards

Spent some more shop time this weekend routing the recessed handles and sanding all boards to 320 grit in preparation for applying the finish. Once they were smooth and polished they all got blasted with the air compressor to remove all of the layers of dust.

The photos below show each board in the set drying with two coats of finish. This week I plan on adding a few more coats and reaching out to those who claimed boards to schedule a pickup. They really turned out nicely and I think they are really going to make great additions to any social gathering.

A few of you have already claimed boards from this batch. If you are interested in any of these boards, please contact me ASAP so that I can reserve one of your choosing.

Board #1: Large bread board made from curly maple and black walnut. Recessed handles on short sides. This is the largest of the set and will pair nicely with board #2 and board #7.

Board #2: Cheese board made from black walnut and curly maple. Full recessed handles along short sides. Will pair nicely with board #1 as a set.

Boards #3 and #4: Twin cheese boards made from cherry, walnut, curly maple and sapele. Full recessed handles along long sides. Will work nicely as a pair or as individuals.

Board #5: Cheese board made from cherry, bloodwood and walnut. Recessed handles on short sides. Wider than the other cheese boards from this batch. SOLD.

Board #6: Extra long cheese board made from sapele and maple pinstripes. Recessed handles along short sides. This one is my favorite due to the simplicity and shape. Really cool looking board.

Board #7: Cheese board made from black walnut and curly maple pinstripes. Recessed handles along short sides. This board will pair nicely with board #1 as a set.

Board #8: Cheese board made from black walnut, cherry and bloodwood. Recessed handles along all four sides.

Board #9: Cheese board made from cherry, walnut and curly maple. Recessed handles along short sides. SOLD.

Board #10: Cheese board made from sapele, walnut and curly maple. Recessed handles along short sides. SOLD.

Board #11: Cheese board made from cherry, bloodwood, maple and walnut. Recessed handles on all 4 sides. SOLD.

Pinstripe Cheese Boards

Upon returning from the family vacation last week, I immediately began my next round of cheese boards. I got to spend some time playing around with my new bandsaw setup and was able to dial it in to rip some thin pieces of hardwood. These pieces then went on to the drum sander to make sure they were of equal width and silky smooth. Just last night I finished up the basic shaping of the boards and have them stacked up waiting for recessed handles and intense sanding. They should look really cool once I start applying the food-safe finish.

Species used on this round of boards include Black Walnut, American Cherry, Hard Maple, Curly Maple, Sapele, and Bloodwood. The boards in the photos below are a bit dusty, but if you look through some of my previous projects, you'll get a better idea of how the woods darken when the finish is applied.

As always, please shoot me an email or contact me via Facebook if you are interested in purchasing one. I will post more photos after the finish is applied so that you can see the wood tones come to life.