A Woodworkers Work Is Never Done

These are frames for my daughter in law Kat. 

She is an artist who is listed on our links page

of our site. She will put canvas on these frames 

and paint a painting that is made up of many 

small frames that measure 8” X 8” square. I 

can’t wait to see it. 

This line is a link to her site called “Uberella”.

ZONK II !

YUP another Double-Double Dovetail Jewelry Box … 

Purple Heart and Maple

I make a lot of jewelry boxes with the main wood Maple 

and the trim Purple Heart. One is in the main signature 

photo on our web site. One day while pondering a 

Red Heart and Wenge box, I asked the little woman what 

she thought of a Purple Heart body and Maple trim. 

She said, “Dude! Go for it!” She almost never calls 

me Dude, so I knew I had to do it.

The inside is also pictured here. I used Maple for the 

tray and dividers. The tray sits on a runner front and 

back. They are, however, glued into the tray. The ladies 

like to pick up the tray by the dividers.

 

ZONK !

I couldn't help myself. I just had to make a red

and black Jewelry Box.

The red wood is called Red Heart from South

America, and the black is Wenge from West

Africa. These are the natural colors of these

woods. As usual I do not use any stains. If I

want a box to be a curtain color, I'll use a curtain

wood. One of you out there was with me when I

bought this wood. I warned you ... here it is. I also
used a little different style of handle.

The Last Show of the Season

Ah yes, this was the wrap up show of the summer arts and craft show season in the mountains. There were actually three shows in the north end of Lake Tahoe this Labor Day Weekend. There were also three at the south end of the lake I believe. At the north end we had Kings Beach, Northstar, and Downtown Truckee, which is where we were.

The show was an average recession show for us. At closing on Monday at 5:00 PM, you couldn’t wipe the smiles off of Sue’s and my faces. Now it’s time to build our inventories.

Enjoy the shots of beautiful Downtown Truckee ...

The Day In The Life Of A Divider II

We left off putting the strips for the dividers through the thickness planer. After these strips are milled down to 1/8 inch thick, we’re done. We then move to the table saw where the dividers are cut to length and notched so they fit together.

Pictured here above is table saw and my after market miter gauge on top of it. You can see the blade coming up through the yellow zero clearance insert.  These four dividers have been cut to length and the slots added.

Here are the dividers on the non-skid mat ready for sanding. These are the dividers for the box in the beginning of part one. 

Here are the dividers after sanding and put together. They will not be glued together so they can removed or rearranged. 

The finish has just been applied and the dividers are drying. After they sit over night, they will be ready for installation. I hope this helps you understand the process.

The Day In The Life Of A Divider

I’m going to do my best to show you how I make the dividers for my jewelry boxes. It took me years to develop the method and finished product you’ll see here. The photograph above is a finished Medium Striped Lid Jewelry Box with the dividers installed. Below will be the construction process.

This tool is a Jointer and in most woodworking shops a project starts here. This tool creates a straight edge that is 90 degrees to the sides. When I make dividers I will prepare both edges.

I then cut a 3/16” wide strip on the band saw with the jointed edge against the rip fence. The black object is a feather board. It’s used to keep the wood tight against the rip fence.

Here are a bunch of strips after the band saw process.

This tool is a planer and it’s used to take the pieces down to 1/8” thick. It gives me a smooth face parallel to the edge that was created on the jointer. The rest of this process will be completed in the next post.

First Show of the Season

Our first show was in Kings Beach, CA. It was held from June 25th to June 27th. We skipped Memorial Day Weekend this year as part of our cutting back on the amount of shows we do this year. The venue for this show is right on the beach of Lake Tahoe. We will be doing only two shows here this year. The photos here will show you what a great place it is the “work”.

Big Tool For A Little Job ~ The Band Saw

If you remember the last post, a ring box was cut apart. 

It was sitting on the table top of this band saw. This saw 

is 7 feet tall, and if you look closely, you’ll see that little 

ring box. That’s why I say a big tool for a little job.

The blade is one continuous small steel band. The blade 

for this saw is 111 inches long. That’s over 9 feet long. 

It rides on two wheels. One above the table and one below. 

They remotely resemble bicycle wheels and tires.

More Ring Box Pieces

Well he’s finally back you’re thinking. At the last look there were 80 blanks and sides stacked up ready to cut. Above is what it looks like on the band saw after the cutting procedure is complete. I am left with three pieces, the lid, the body, and the waste (or is it ?) in the middle.

Road Trip With Woodsterman

Hi there all, I (Woodsterman or this guy who posts here) 

am on a much deserved vacation. If you wish to see 

what I'm up to and where visit Woodsterman by clicking:

~ ~ ~ Woodsterman ~ ~ ~

80 Ring Boxes Ready For Birth

The last entry we left the mighty trees ready to give birth 

or go to seed. Enough silliness about these boxes. Here are 

80 Large Ring Boxes ( my second largest size ) ready to be 

cut on the band saw and glued together. These are at the 

point were I work on 10 at a time. This is quite a process 

and I’ll post some photos on that as I go along.

From Mighty Ring Box Trees ....

When the snow finally melts, I will plant these beautiful Ring Box Trees.

In the middle of June I will harvest the smaller Ring Boxes that will be 

hanging from the branches. Below you can see some of last years crop.

Pen Making Made Easy #4

Pen Making Made Easy #3

This video didn't turn out as well as I wanted. 

But hey, you'll get the idea. The little camera

just didn't have the quality with the video or

the sound. Except for that ... it's perfect !

New Things ...

New things are here and coming. If you look to 

the top right you will see "PAGES (our work)".

This is a new feature from blogger. It allows me

to add pages to this blog. I have chosen to display

our work there.

Also, the next installment of pen making will be

a video of the actual lathe turning. I'm very excited

to be able to do this ... stay tuned.

Pen Making Made Easy # 2

After the glue is allowed to sit all night, it’s time to “square up” the blank. The tool you see in the top photo is used for this. The thin part towards the bottom is inserted into the brass tube. The thicker part is then turned in the drill and cuts the wood square to the brass tube. This is why the wood blank was cut to a 1/16” longer than the brass tube. In the photo below, you can see the cutting portion riding on the blank.

 

Pen Making Made Easy

Pictured in the last entry are the style of roller ball pens I make. The next couple of entries here will be dedicated to the construction of these pens. You never know, maybe some of you will want to follow in my foot steps. Pen making is by far the most relaxing woodworking activity I’m involved in. When you come home from work, turning a pen is as good as that cocktail ... honest.

Pictured above is a 3/4” square piece of Zebra Wood. It is held in place so a 10 millimeter hole can be drilled through it length wise. The piece of wood is cut 1/16” longer than the 10 millimeter brass tube supplied with the pen kit. There are two of these brass tubes with each kit. After the drilling is complete, the tube is epoxied inside of the hole. I let this sit over night before I work with it. 

 

What's Odie Up To Now

 

Hello boys and girls it's the guy that

posts this blog. I was going to phase

this blog out, but there are one or two

of you still looking. 

So, coming soon (I'm working on them

now) is a how to on making these

Roller Ball pens. If you have ever

thought you might like to tackle

wood turning, pens are the easiest

turning there is. 

Coming soon to a blog near you.

also at : http://www.dustnlint.com