I have long been a fan of Nick Offerman, since the early days where he and Jimmy DiResta built a canoe. Recently I got the chance to power read ( look at the pictures and glance at some of the words ) Nicks book called Good Clean Fun. This is a great book and I will have to circle back to it when I have a bit more time.
This was a fun and really quick build, A co-worker brought a puzzle into the office since I have been creating a handful recently.
I took one look and thought… I can make that. He called it a Cherry Tree Puzzle.
This has to be one of my favorite things to look at. I love how Walnut has so much character.
This puzzle is actually very simple to make.
Starting off I took some stock that had a number of ugly checks and cracks down the length. After processing the wood I marked my first piece to get an estimate for now long each piece would be.
Well, it was a cold day in the shop, sitting around -10c. I wanted to build a Burr puzzle that I had come across in a store and thought it would be a fun project to recreate using some scrap walnut.
After cleaning up the boards, I cut them into strips making sure to orient the grain for stability. Cutting the new boards into sections and gluing them I ended up with a sizable end grain cutting board.
After finishing the Walnut IQ Puzzle I had a number of small tools and pencils all over the bench. It was time to make a shop pencil holder!
I saw an old puzzle called “Original IQ puzzle” and figured it was simple enough that I could also build one. I bought…
Last week my wife requested some wooden bowls for a market she was working. She sells custom-dyed yarn, project bags, and stitch markers. You can find her stuff here on her Etsy.
This was the first of about 5 that I made in around 2 hours, Checkout and follow me on Instagram for more up to date projects 🙂
I came across a hand full of test tubes ( new ) and thought that they would make an interesting vase. I took a very cupped piece of white oak and worked it flat and reasonably square.
I drilled 3 1″ holes into the block, gave it a quick sad up to 320 grit. I applied mineral oil and a Beeswax and mineral oil salad bowl finish.
Watch as I make a bottle opener out of an old rusty railroad spike!
The finish that I applied after cleaning the spike off is a pure beeswax. After heating the spike to a straw yellow I applied the beeswax and continued applying heat until the metal turned black.