Sep 11

Bandit’s Dog Bowl Display – Daniel D. Brown, 2018

Our aging pup Bandit has collapsing esophagus (due to the weakening of the cartilage rings in his throat due to old age). This makes it more difficult for him to drink when tilting his head to the ground. So I built this stand with a couple of random pieces of walnut and cherry I had lying around (which I milled myself from neighborhood trees). These were also the first hand-cut dovetails I’ve ever attempted. They could be better, but I’m pretty happy with how it turned out.

 

Jun 01

Power-Carved Walnut Bowl – Daniel D. Brown, 2018

For the final day of my “staycation” I decided to make a little bowl to go with table/book shelf I built this week. I had this hunk of walnut from a neighborhood tree (from which @tam_a_ryn also requested I make the drawer pull), that kept screaming at me to make into a bowl a la @dlwoodworking (his work blows me away, and is an order of magnitude finer and more complex. Go check him out). I power-carved it out with a @kutzall carving wheel on my @makitatools angle grinder and random orbital sander. Just a quick, fun, dirty, and utilitarian little project. Click on the instagram post below to see video on how it was made.

 

 

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.