Blog Series

Alphorn Experiment

Part 1: Concept and Design

Several months ago an old friend of mine stumbled upon the idea that he would like an Alphorn so he asked me if I would be interested in making one...

Part 2: Making the Bell

As I mentioned in part one, I initially started with just 4 slices of the bell.  I decided to use some nice straight grained SPF 2x8 I found at  Lo...

5 xCigar Boxes

Part 1: 5 x Cigar boxes Pt 1

 had quite a lot of off cuts from my Inglass pallet work accumulating [Image] So I decided i would do a "quick" Cigar box build using them As this...

Part 2: Part 2

The Cigar boxes continue, ... ignoring my inner self saying toss them in!  The box frames are made and now raw finished. Original Intent 5 x Cigar...

Part 3: Part 3

Excuse the mess trying to learn how to add parts to an existing blog! Hinging lids on thin material The Hinged lid After discarding the brass hinge...

How it's made

5 entries

Part 3: Steering wheel

From time to time I'm asked how I made some stuff for my models. In this series I will make a blog per component.  This time a steering wheel is m...

Part 4: Gear lever

This time a gear lever is made out of a bead, tootpick and/or dowel. Comments are appreciated. [04 Gear lever v3.jpg][04 Gear lever v3 (2).jpg]

Part 5: Headlights (made without a lathe)

Below the making of a headlight without using a wood lathe. The model, size and types of wood used are fully customizable. Thanks for watching.  T...

Crafsman style floor lamp build

Part 3: End caps and some copper prep

WIth the blocks assembled, time to move on to the end caps. There will be one for the top side of the lower block and top/bottom for the middle blo...

Part 4: Another few days in the shop

Well, last time I left with the copper soaking up ammonia fumes. It worked, but not quite the effect I was after:  [IMG_9271.jpeg] The black is w...

Part 5: The Corbels Commeth.

Its been a few weeks! The top block has been veneered and otherwise finished. Upper copper tube ready for the patina. In the fuming blocks, clean...

Overlay Panels for a Car Project

Part 19: Progress on multiple panels

 I’ve been working on the first (passenger side) body side panel, the second (driver’s side) panel, and the tailgate forms all at the same time. So...

Part 20: Conversion Update #3

I’m overdue for another update of the Beetle Ute build. My brother and I went down to test out the fit of the door panel on the passenger side. Mic...

Part 21: Tailgate panel

The build process for the tailgate panel is very much like the previous 2 panels. Here is a shot of the panel after fiberglass. [image.png] One th...

52 Week Challenge

Part 1: Starting another Challenge for myself

Well here goes another 52 weeks in the shop challenge for myself to get in the shop or even shops more often. I did one of these over on that other...

Part 2: Bad start to the series

Well I already missed a week and this will be the second week missed.  Last Monday night my Dad lost his battle to lung cancer and passed. I have b...

Part 3: Still around just getting things in order

All, thanks for the wishes regarding my Dad. I can't believe it is already going on 3 months. I am around and check in occasionally, but been back ...

Urn building

11 entries

Part 9: Working on the base for the second urn

After discussing the base with my "client" (my husband), I'm going with a combination of maple with the walnut I had left from the project.  This w...

Part 10: Attaching the bases

Decided I should take the last step to screw the base to the box to make sure that worked OK.  Good idea as it did not go as planned...sigh... For...

Part 11: Urn #3

This urn is for a good friend of over 25 years.  She saw the urns I build for my husband and me, and asked if I would be able to build one for her....

Butterfly Cabinet

Part 6: Building the Drawers

[10.00 Drawer Details.jpg] The drawer boxes were easy to build. I made them from 12 mm Baltic birch plywood. I prefinished the insides with poly, ...

Part 7: Adding Door Details

 [11.00 Door Details.jpg] Earlier, I had cut the doors to size and drilled the hinge cup holes. Before I could apply finish and add the brass disk...

Part 8: Blog Post 8: Completing the Doors (and the Project)

Now it was time to work on the brass disk wing disks. Each disk would fit into a shallow (about 0.04” deep) 5/8” diameter well. Before proceeding,...

Fun With CNC

Part 1: Background and Kickoff - Why are we here exactly?

A Little about me Being sort of a retired nerd, I spent my career doing mostly finance related I/T, I have always gravitated towards technical stuf...

Part 2: CAD to CNC Machine Workflow

EDIT: I change the name to reflect the actual purpose of the post Let's Make Some Boxes So we all make boxes, right.  There are all kinds.  Fancy...

Laser Tile Etching With Titanium Dioxide

Part 1: Trying a few tests for the process

I made some trivets with simple images on the cheap home center plain white tiles in another project. [IMG_8376.jpeg] Simply put, this black on th...

Part 2: Prepping for Photographs

Well, yes! You can use the Ti02 on tile and transfer a photograph over. I personally haven't seriously tried to do this but I have seen pictures o...

Part 3: Some grey-scale line art

So it has been a while! For a while now I've been using a free, on-line software called ImageR for getting settings near perfect for etching onto ...