Another garden edge box

 This time these boxes are near where the bench seat is, further in on the property.

 

 

 

 

This box is in the middle of 3 boxes that need to be built, it was a tad difficult as the posts had to be dug away from the corner due to the cement they used for the pier supports.

This came up nicely.

There will be 2 more built but for now it is Christmas break and I've earned a well deserved time off.

Have a Blessed Christmas everyone, see you next year!

Garden edge box

Next came the entry way to their property and creating / installing some garden planter edge boxes.

They were made using recycled decking hardwood and posts (love to recycle timber as it is great looking and good for the environment) that was then enclosed with some black garden trim.

 

 

It looks like its tilted but its actually on a slope

I also made a simple bench for people to sit down on an look out at the horse ranch or enjoy a late evening sit out when they have a fire.

Door refurbishing

Friends of ours is selling their home and wanted to spruce it up a bit in ready to go to market so they asked if I could do some refinishing of some beautiful doors.

Of course I said yes and picked them up.

Start with taking off the trim on one side then sanding off the old varnish that had left a water mark on it where some water had come across.

40grit first then on to next to remove deep gouges left so 60grit, then to 80 for taking out swirl marks then on to 120 to level and finally 180 to make it super smooth on both sides.

First coat of satin varnish and let dry for 24hours, then an overall sanding at 400 grit with a air compress clean and a wipe down with a tack cloth to make sure all dust and sanding grit were gone.

On to the next coat and another 24 to 48 hrs drying time and then when I was sure that it would not mar from handling, it was back to hang them up.

 

Extremely heavy doors that were absolutely lovely rich red walnut color.

Birthday Gifts

For my wife's birthday I wanted to give here something different so I started working on another unique jewelry box that you don't see often, plus she had found a beautiful slab of black walnut burl at the timber place that she asked me to make a table for her.

Now these took a couple of weeks / months to get done but in the end she was ecstatic with them.

 

Before assembling the arms                                With arms assembled

 

 

Before arms & drawers front view                    After front view

 

 

 

After 2 coats of varnish (sanding between coats):

 

 

    

Here is the table, unfortunately I did not get any photos before I started.

 

 

This is the first coat of epoxy - called the sealer coat as it absorbs the epoxy and seals from within plus all the air bubbles are supposed to come out at this time (with alot of heat gun torching....I mean alot!)

 

2nd Coat of Epoxy

Finished table

Side Coffee table with inscription

 I created this little coffee table for myself and put a bible inscription on it that reminds me of my mother every time I sit next to it, which is daily.

This stands approximately 2 feet tall, has a small shelf for books or whatnots.

The material used is Camphor Laurel timber, with knock down pegs. The only screws used are under the table top in figure eight connectors.

The top inscription was done by hand pyrography. It is Psalms 23:4, you can see that is on the right side going down.

The inscription says "Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil: for thou art with me, thy rod and thy staff they comfort me..."

Another Wedding Gift

 So another wedding gift for another couple and this time I decided to create a live edge jewelry box with lid for them. It was made with camphor laurel timber and the sides are of mahagony.

 

 

 

I did some freehand pyrography for the stencil etching, almost burnt my fingers.

 

 

  

 

Pull out free standing tray

You can see how it sits above the table, unique design in that the front pull is one of the 3 legs.

 

 

Top view of the box will tray slightly pulled out.

 

 

Tray inside with lid open

Finished Cracked Jewelry Box

 Here is the final outcome of the cracked Jewelry Box:

 

You can see why they call it a Cracked Jewelry Box or even Lightning.

 

 

 

This shows the back side of it.

Meat cleaver cutting / charcuterie board

 Another project done as a Housewarming Gift for dear friends of ours in Virginia.

The timber of the handle is Red Ironbark, the dowels inserted are of Camphor Laurel as is the main body.

The center is a purple epoxy resin for the void.

I did some pyrography for the initials and then did it all over with Livos KUNOS CounterTop Oil.

They were very surprised when they received it and extremely grateful for the heartwarming gesture.

 

Wine Cabinet

 Now that we have moved back into our "New" rebuilt home, there were of course things that had to be sorted through and like Marie Kondo said about de-cluttering & organizing; we had to do the same for our home.

There were so, so many things that we no longer needed or desired and it is amazing how much crap one picks up in our lives that really are of no practical use or need. We literally had half the garage of stuff we no longer needed. 

We had made the decision to minimize and streamline our new environment, with the added bonus of getting our garage cleaned we got some money to boot! So we had the garage estate sale and made some money to take a little weekend away. Win - Win!

Anyways, so one of the things we could no longer fit nor really needed is a wine cabinet that holds approximately 36 wine bottles (or spirits - either or).

But we needed something to hold our liquor besides ourselves.

So, after scouring the internet for something that would fit our new size dining area and for practical use, we decided to get a corner unit. 

BUT, as there always is, they did not ship internationally. Okay, here is my AHA moment....'Aha, I'll make it".

 

 

This first pic is of the pieces of black melamine cut to size before edge banding. Unfortunately I did not get before / during pics of myself cutting this huge sheet.

 

 

Here is pic of my cutting the 'wine shelving' timber slab down the center. As you can see it was not just a simple as putting it on a table saw or cutting in half, but literally as in taking a 1-1/2 inch (40mm) piece thick slab and slicing it to yield two - 1/4 inch (15mm) thick panels after planing and sanding.

It took me 2 -1/2 days approx 3 hrs each of hand cutting with my Roubo saw that I made. My shoulders were killing me...but hey, saved on gym fees!

 

 

I didn't get picture of the cutting of the top camphor slab but here is a pic of the bottom portion of the cabinet. You can see on the left side the wine shelves to hold 10 bottles.

 

 

Here is an assembled pic inside the house in the corner where it lives now. I did the top shelf in the same camphor laurel as all the build. The infinity heart is not stenciled but a screw in design.

 

 

Here is the cabinet shelf door open showing the interior shelf where spirits live. It is a soft close door so no banging on the wall or cabinet.

 

 

View of completed assembly.

 

 

View of spirit stock.

 

 

 

Finally completed and fully stocked! You can see the wine glass rack from the top cabinet.

 

I must say, I really surprised myself how well it came out and have had several guests ask where I got it from only to have them be astonished that I built it from scratch, timber cut and all....not just an Ikea build.

Beer Bottle Opener

Just fooling around I made this for my wife when I was bored one day. Yes, I know you can't find this beer around any longer (Apparently the word "Corona" has been targeted for some reason?!)  Gee...really can't figure out why (insert sarcasm).

Just a nice little bottle top catcher that I've attached to the wall next to the fridge by the BBQ.

It works great and people have commented that they've never seen one for that beer.

Cracked Bandsaw jewelry box starting work

 I started to work on a cracked  / lightning bolt type of jewelry box that I saw a design for online. I downloaded the outline and began my first ever jewelry box.

 

Unfortunately, the pictures I took of the initial cut did not come out. But I did manage to save these somehow:

This is after the drawers were cut out and the side was re-glued (you have cut through a part of the side to cut the drawers out):

Here are the drawers that I cut out before they were hollowed out:

Smaller shoe rack

I've recently had someone come visit our new home and did a walk-through to see the new interior. They were very amazed at the difference of the same but new house.

Anyways, they saw the old version of the shoe rack we have and asked if I could make a smaller version for them.

Of course!

So here it is, just finished it yesterday.

 

Kitchen cook book case

I've not posted in a while due to having lost most of our home from the Feb/March 2021 flood. So, finally after a 19 months and 25 days (but who's counting) we are back in our home.

Now, since we have a practically brand new house we decided we'd like a few new things to make things easier. One of the good things to come out of the flood (yes, a good thing) is that we had to go through all the possessions that we were able to salvage. In that, we streamlined immensely! 

Part of that was cook books. We had a bunch of cook books that we had acquired either buying ourselves or inheriting. So, we looked at every single book, recipe card, etc and decided what we really would cook and eat vs. what we thought 'oh that's nice' but would never really do.

Now where are we going to put these? So off I go and make a book case just sized enough to fit our new kitchen and space.

    

This has been made out of two types of timber: Camphor Laurel sides and Silky Oak shelves. I followed the natural curve of the timber to place the middle shelf to make it more aesthetically pleasing to the eyes.

 

My wife is over the moon with it as she can use the top shelf for her coffee cup when making coffees and yet still store the very minimal amount of recipes and books we have managed to keep.

 

Overall, its a definite winner.