Mar 10

Carving Tool Box – Daniel D. Brown, 2018

Well that was fun! I woke up today and decided to make a box for my carving knives and accessories. My old one is too small now. It’s a pretty simple box, with lots of flaws – but I’m super happy with it for my own use. I made the top by resawing a piece of scrap walnut to create a bookmatched panel (with a lot of handplaning). I cut the big chamfers (or whatever you wanna call them) on the table saw. The lid panel and bottom are inserted into grooves on the sides, which are made of cherry leftover from @tam_a_ryn’s kitchen island cart. The bottom is just some scrap pine I needed to get rid of. Finished with tung oil.
I was gonna add splines. But I wanted this to be a quick project and was just ready to be done. I think it’ll hold up fine with my usage.

 

Mar 01

Locust Bowl – Daniel D. Brown, 2018

I really wanted to make something when I got home so I decided to finally make a shallow bowl I’ve been planning. We have a tiny basement bathroom & shower where I clean up after being covered in sawdust and grime. Every time I take everything out of my pockets to switch into/out of my shop clothes, I wish I had a bowl to put it all in. So this is a utilitarian bowl for above the toilet.
I acquired a bunch of free locust logs from a tree cut down in Squirrel Hill last summer, so I carved out the shallow bowl with an angle grinder and @kutzall shaping wheel, crudely hacked it from the log with my cheap chainsaw, ground the bottom shape, sanded until I couldn’t see through the air, used a router and my flattening jig to flatten the bottom, branded the bottom, and finished it with some @generalfinishes Arm-R-Seal. It would look a lot fancier if I had a lathe. But I’m pretty happy with it for a couple hours of just playing with tools.
I fully anticipate that it will eventually crack. It was a big log and it’s only been drying in my basement for like 9 months. It seemed pretty dry inside, but I know it hasn’t been long enough for that thickness. When it does I’ll just make a better one.