Address Sign

Just a quick post to feature my latest project — a new address sign for our home. Our previous address sign came with the house and was a little tacky looking (arts and crafts painted tile).

I purchased the copper numbers from Amazon and got to work on deciding how I wanted to lay them out. I cut some simple baltic birch 1/2 plywood to the basic shape to create a backer board and primed/painted it black. I then bought some walnut boards and cut/planed them down to size and spaced them out about 1/4" apart and screwed them in from the back of the plywood. Next I added some walnut strips as a frame around the edges.

The trickiest part was measuring out where the drill holes would be to mount the copper numbers would go. Each number had two spikes on the back with plastic anchors. These drill holes had to be precise, so lots of light pencil lines and precise measuring had to take place. Once I was sure they would be centered and spaced, I drilled the holes on the drill press. Then I ran the entire block through the drum sander a few times to make sure I was flat and smooth all around.

Because there was an existing tile house number plate that was fixed to the brick — and I decided that removing it would cause too much damage to the home — I fixed an aluminum plate to the back of the new project that hooks into original plate. A few test fits and some tweaking here and there, it was time to finish.

I finished the wood with 3 coats of Danish Oil, and 2 coats of Spar urethane. Let all of the coats dry, and popped it into place. Hoping it will weather all storms for many years to come.

Quack

Left to right: Cherry, Spalted maple from family cottage in MI, dyed maple.

Here are a few recent duck call bodies I made to pair with some nice double-reed Echo call inserts. Used some nice dry wood from the scrap bin. Bored them out to 5/8" and added brass bands for stability. A few coats of Danish Oil, a few coats of Tru-oil, and a good smoothing with #0000 steel wool. They look great and sound amazing with the Echo call inserts. Really nice top end hail calls, which have always been tricky with some of the single reed calls I've made.

Honestly, I can't wait to turn some more. Next time I'll experiment with pinning the bands on and see how they turn out.

Experiment in hollow forms

Something that I have wanted to try for a year or so. Hollow forms are wooden objects turned on the lathe where a bulk of the insides are removed with specialty tools (plus some careful technique and great luck). They are tricky and dangerous and take a steady hand and patience. However the outcome can be a really interesting conversation piece of art.

I experimented with turning some finial tops to add some visual interest and to cap off the small openings. I think they "turned" out well and have found some happy homes with family members.

Large 11" diameter hollow form made from American Cherry. Finial turned from Peruvian walnut (dyed black).

Medium hollow form turned from a piece of spalted maple. The photo shows (unfinished) Peruvian walnut finial and lid. The spalted maple was a bit punky to work with because of how soft it is. Next time I think I will run it through a stabilization process before finish turning.

The working (pre-finish) body of the spalted maple hollow form. Ready for sanding and Danish Oil. Notice the bit of chip out of the end grain around the inside of the opening. Drove me a bit nuts, but sometimes minor defeats lead to learning processes.

A photo of the hollow form on the lathe after turning the general shape of the bottom profile.

Christmas 2015 Bowl collection

Just a quick photo of the Christmas 2015 bowls in various stages of drying. I was able to collect some beautiful logs from the family cottage back in 2014 and worked with them over the year and a half to prep them for their final turning.

Nothing beats a cold beer and a long night in the wood shop. They all found happy homes and made for a very merry Christmas.

Spalted maple from the family cottage, mixed with some American Cherry, and sugar maple.

Sharp looking family

Just finished up a fun project of knives. Always wanted to make one, so I figured I'd give it a shot. I purchased the blade blanks and started piecing together mixed species of wood that would bring some beauty and warmth to the cold steel blades. I drilled and pinned each knife handle (scale) together and epoxied them onto the steel. Lots of hand shaping to create comfortable grip in the hand. Tons of filing and sanding through the grits and found a new finish that really adds a beautiful sheen and accentuates the wood grain figure. They turned out really well and are quickly finding new homes to friends who are interested in their beauty and utility.

Family of second set of knives. All finished with 6 coats of Tru oil and buffed out with tripoli compound, white diamond compound and bees wax.

Two spear-points and one skinner. Top scale made from peruvian walnut and maple burl, with maple/walnut veneer dividers. Middle scale made from padauk and maple burl, with maple/walnut veneer dividers. Bottom scale made from peruvian walnut and maple burl, with maple/walnut veneer dividers.

Three tanto knives. All made from claro walnut and maple burl, with maple/walnut veneer dividers.

First set of knives made from peruvian walnut and american cherry, with maple/walnut veneer dividers.

First prototype made from black walnut and maple veneer.

2015 Cheese Boards are Ready - Whew!

The cheese boards that everyone has been asking for over the past year are finally done. These boards are made from a variety of local and exotic woods I've purchased over the past 2 years. The boards are sealed with 5 coats of food safe finish. All boards are about 15" long, 2" thick, and vary slightly in width. They make great display pieces for appetizers and blocks of cheese and crackers.

How to claim/purchase: As in previous years, the boards are numbered below and I open up the claiming process to anyone who is interested in them. I charge $50 per board and all you have to do is send me an email to buddie.chris@gmail.com to claim the board(s) you want. In order to keep it fair, the first email in my inbox gets the specific board (you have to be quick on the draw). I will email you back and let you know whether it's available. I will do my best to mark the boards as sold in the descriptions below to avoid confusion.

Thanks for stopping by to check them out.

If you aren't local and able to arrange a pickup, please ask me about shipping options.

SOLD 1. Species include: Black walnut, hard maple, padauk, and cherry.

2. Species include: Tiger wood, maple, black walnut, cherry and bubinga.

SOLD 3. Species include: Peruvian walnut, Bolivian cherry, hard maple, bubinga and black walnut.

4. Species include: Tiger wood, black walnut, Peruvian walnut and hard maple.

SOLD 5. Species include: Black walnut, hard maple, padauk, and cherry.

SOLD 6. Species include: Cherry, black walnut, hard maple, bubinga, and Peruvian walnut.

SOLD 7. Species include: Cherry, padauk, hard maple, Peruvian walnut and black walnut.

SOLD 8. Species include: Bolivian cherry, bubinga, hard maple, tiger wood and Peruvian walnut.

SOLD 9. Species include: Black walnut, hard maple, tiger wood, and cherry.

SOLD 10. Species include: Black walnut, hard maple, tiger wood, cherry and blood wood.

SOLD 11. Species include: Cherry, hard maple, black walnut and Bolivian cherry.

SOLD 12. Species include: Cherry, hard maple, tiger wood, and black walnut.

SOLD 13. Species include: Cherry, padauk, hard maple, and black walnut.

SOLD 14. Species include: Hard maple, black walnut, padauk, cherry, and tiger wood.

SOLD 15. Species include: Peruvian walnut, hard maple, bubinga, Bolivian cherry and tiger wood.

SOLD 16. Species include: Tiger wood, hard maple, Peruvian walnut, padauk and cherry.

SOLD 17. Species include: Peruvian walnut, hard maple, black walnut, Bolivian cherry and padauk.

SOLD 18. Species include: Black walnut, hard maple, Peruvian walnut, tiger wood, and padauk.

SOLD 19. Species include: Cherry, hard maple, black walnut, tiger wood, and Bolivian cherry.

SOLD 20. Species include: Peruvian walnut, hard maple, Bolivian cherry, and padauk.

SOLD 21. Species include: Cherry, padauk, hard maple, black walnut and tiger wood.

SOLD 22. Species include: Bubinga, Bolivian cherry, tiger wood and black walnut.

SOLD 23. Species include: Cherry, tiger wood, hard maple, black walnut and padauk.

SOLD 24. Species include: Black walnut, Bolivian cherry, padauk, cherry, Peruvian walnut and hard maple.

Christmas 2014 Bowls

Here is a group of bowls that came from local McLean and Vienna trees.

The series of weeping cherry bowls came from Vienna, VA during a snowstorm a few years ago. Riley and I ventured onto unplowed roads to pick up some monster rounds and load them into the truck. Given the effort and back-breaking deadlifts, I was hoping that they'd turn out this gorgeous. I'm really happy with them. Amazing color and grain swirl.

The maple bowls came from a local neighborhood tree that a company was taking down. I tried something new with them. They are finished with a triple dye technique. Black dye, followed by teal, followed by yellow. The result is a really cool green that has an iridescent quality. Really fun finish technique that I'm sure to try again with some future bowls.

I hope you enjoy the fruits of my labor over the past two years.

Let me know as soon as possible if you want to claim one for your own. Happy holidays to all of my biggest fans.

1. Weeping cherry bowl - 9.5" x 3" - $50

2. SOLD Weeping cherry bowl - 7.5" x 2.5" - $40

3. SOLD Weeping cherry bowl - 6.5" x 3.5" - $40

4. SOLD Weeping cherry bowl - 5.5" x 3.5" - $35

5. SOLD Weeping cherry bowl - 9.75" x 3.5" - $50

6. SOLD Weeping cherry bowl - 7.5" x 2.5" - $40

7. SOLD Weeping cherry mini bowl - 5.25" x 2" - $30

8. Triple dyed maple mini bowl - 5.25" x 2" - $30

9. Triple dyed maple mini bowl - 5" x 2" - $30

10. Triple dyed maple mini bowl - 5.5" x 2" - $30

11. Triple dyed maple bowl - 7.75" x 2.5" - $40

12. Triple dyed maple bowl - 9" x 4" - $50

As with my cutting boards, please check dimensions before buying. First email claiming each bowl gets the bowl. I will do my best to mark these as sold to avoid confusion.

Shoot me an email, Facebook message, or text message.