Centerpieces - (Spalted) Elm with Walnut Bowties

Photo Credit: Uttke Photography & Design

I was lucky enough to get married to the most wonderful person in the world. While this post is not really about how wonderful she is (answer: quite), it is about how she was able to pull these awesome centerpieces together. Between her and the florist, Milwaukee Flower Co., they came up with all of the awesome stuff you see above (as photographed by the indescribably spectacular TJ and Shannon Uttke. Go to their website, give them your money, have them photograph your things. You won't regret it).

My job was to take care of the wood part.

Pictures/discussion after the jump

Walnut Raised Panel Bed

So I built a bed. Our old bed was... uh... not great. Good news though, this one is an improvement (let's hear it for setting a low bar!).

But in all seriousness, I worked off a random advertisement that caught my wife's eye. Naturally, I looked at it aghast at how much they wanted for the quality they were providing. Not to let some furniture outlet show me up, I built this out of solid walnut because there's two ways of doing something, right, or again.

Waterski Console Table

I received a query from an old friend/customer with an interesting request. His recently acquired the waterskis that his wife learned to waterski on as a kid (I prefer to think of it requiring some elaborate nefarious dealings with a series of unsavory characters, but it probably just took a phone call). "Can we make something cool with these?"

We went with a console table.

Pics and discussion after the jump.

Chopsticks

I made the chopsticks and chopstick rest (and the food, but that's not really the point), not the plates

Some projects are complicated. Some are tapered pieces of wood. This is a post about the later. I made "Japanese" style chopsticks from paduak and walnut, post and pics after the jump.

Aromatic Cedar Shoe Rack

Too bad there isn't some kind of "Gentleman's Guide to Shoe Care," like those quaint old dating guides from the 40s. If there were, I suspect it would say something along the lines of: "Use as much aromatic cedar as humanly possible, son." So, when I received an inquiry about a shoe rack, I followed the advice of our fictional old sage.

More pictures and description after the jump.

Wedding Card Crate - Vintage Cherry

I ended up making another wedding card crate for a customer on Etsy. This one is pine stained in Vintage Cherry. They are available for sale here.

Details and more pics after the jump.

Lidded Elongated Octagonal Dice Tray

An Etsy customer contacted me to inquire into whether I could make a dice tray with a lid. This is the direction we took it. The elongated octagonal dice tray with a top secured by rare earth magnets set into both the rim of the tray and the top itself.

More pics after the jump.

Bloodwood Pen

Bloodwood Pen

I got on the lathe a little while ago and turned a couple pens. This one is bloodwood with a titanium/gold trim hardware. I sanded it to 1500 grit and applied a CA finish. It's up for sale on Etsy, in case anyone's interested.

After the jump are a couple more pictures.

Spalted Maple Pen

Spalted maple Manhattan Pen

I got on the lathe a little while ago and turned a couple pens. This one is spalted maple with a titanium/gold trim hardware. I sanded it to 1500 grit and applied a CA finish. It's up for sale on Etsy, in case anyone's interested.

After the jump are a couple more pictures.

Elongated Octagonal Dice Tray - Rosewood Stain and Black Felt

Another elongated dice tray out the door. This one got a healthy dose of General Finishes Rosewood Gel Stain and black felt. The finish is Formby's Tung Oil.

For size reference, the long axis is 9 1/4 inches, the short axis is 6 1/4 inches. The gold dice are 12 mm and the blue dice are 19 mm.

Other color combinations are visible on the gallery post. And, of course, they are available for purchase on Etsy.

More pics after the jump:

Octagonal Dice Tray - Black Poisonwood, or Chechen, with Green Felt

This is another dice tray, this time the standard 3" side, 6 1/4" diameter, octagonal dice tray. They're available on Etsy.

This, like the first one I ever made, is made from black poisonwood, which is also known as chechen or Caribbean rosewood, that is finished with Formby Tung Oil and given a kelly green felt lining.

Octagonal Dice Tray - Red Oak with Blue Felt

19 mm dice

This is another dice tray, this time the standard 3" side, 6 1/4" diameter, octagonal dice tray. They're available on Etsy.

This is made from red oak, with Formby Tung Oil and given a blue felt lining.

12 mm dice

"Shangrila" Series #4

 

So I started a series of pens made from the aromatic cedar we harvested from my in-laws' property.

Similarly to the first two, this is an aromatic cedar blank, twist pen kit, sanded to 1500 grit, finished with 6 coats of CA, and buffed out. The kit is "satin chrome/chrome" trim, twists to extend the tip, and is a black ball-point pen.

This is the third in the series, I'm happy to make custom pens for you, just let me know, and I have a few already made and listed on Etsy.

18" Danggai Magnetic Knife Strip

Another knife strip out the door, this one to D.C. This is made from danggai (kingiodendron). I took a couple pictures to try to highlight the spectacular wavy, complex, grain in this rare wood.

I have a limited supply of danggai left, but knife strips are available for purchase on Etsy

"Shangrila" Series #3

So I started a series of pens made from the aromatic cedar we harvested from my in-laws' property.

Similarly to the first two, this is an aromatic cedar blank, twist pen kit, sanded to 1500 grit, finished with 6 coats of CA, and buffed out. The kit is "black titanium/gold" trim, twists to extend the tip, and is a black ball-point pen.

This is the third in the series, I'm happy to make custom pens for you, just let me know, and I have a few already made and listed on Etsy.

Black Stain Elongated Tray with Purple Felt

Another elongated dice tray out the door. This one got a healthy dose of General Finishes Black Gel Stain and purple felt. The finish is Formby's Tung Oil. I, humbly, think it turned out great. The customer had a great eye for combining the dark colors of black and purple.

For size reference, the long axis is 9 1/4 inches, the short axis is 6 1/4 inches. The gold dice are 12 mm and the blue dice are 19 mm.

Other color combinations are visible on the gallery post. And, of course, they are available for purchase on Etsy.

Black Poisonwood Dice Tray with Green Felt

Note the continuing grain pattern

This is another dice tray, this time the standard 3" side, 6 1/4" diameter, octagonal dice tray. They're available on Etsy.

This is made from black poisonwood, which is also known as chechen or Caribbean rosewood, that is finished with Formby Tung Oil and given a dark green felt lining. A gentleman in Germany messaged me to request this, and I was happy to oblige. Working with the exotic woods is a lot of fun. I'm pleased with how this turned out as I was able to make the dice tray from one piece of material, so you can see the grain pattern continuing the entire way around the tray. The picture above shows how the grain follows around the sides of the tray.

19 mm dice

Red Oak Elongated Dice Tray with Red Felt

By this time everyone knows the drill, this is one of the elongated dice trays that I make and are available on Etsy. The short sides are 3" and the long sides are 6". The interior dimensions are aproximately 9 1/4" on the major axis, 6 1/4" on the minor axis.

This is made from red oak that is finished with Formby Tung Oil and given a red felt lining.

A couple more pics after the jump.

Zebrawood Black and Chrome Pen

Now that the craziness of the past few months has started to calm down, I wanted to try to get back onto the lathe and hone those skills somewhat. I started with a couple pens made from pieces of aromatic cedar off of my in-laws' lake property.

This time I made a pen from a tropical hardwood called zebrawood. The pen is a black and chrome twist pen kit, and I finished it with six coats of CA and a couple rounds of buffing compound. It's up for sale on Etsy, if anyone's interested. A bunch of pictures after the jump.

"Shangrila" Series Pen #2

This is the second in the Shangrila Series of turnings that I made from aromatic cedar that came off my wife's family property by Lake Shangrila in southern Wisconsin.