A fond childhood memory was sitting at the kitchen table, usually in the wintertime, and playing game after game of Score Four. I think we only ever played by the basic rules, and as soon as someone won by getting four of their color beads in any straight row, the game was over and we’d…
Some of the ideas for this year’s small Christmas projects were inspired by special pieces of wood already in the shop. Other ideas came from woodworking magazines, offhand comments by others, and even a meme from the world of cryptocurrency. Rustic Bud Vases These pieces were made from a dried butternut bowl blank from a…
On a recent visit to Rio Verde, Arizona, Jeff and Debbie took us to the cool town of Cave Creek. The main thoroughfare is lined with unique shops, art galleries, restaurants and even a shop called The Town Dump, a quirky gift shop that, sadly, has closed after 42 years in business. Lucky for us,…
Kyle brought his set of kitchen knives over to sharpen them with my diamond plate and water stones. The knives were in great shape but his original knife block was water-marked and starting to delaminate a bit. It was in the fall, so I had plenty of time to draw up a design and have…
Nevis, one of our young neighborhood friends, asked me if I would help him build a Murphy Desk to hang on the wall in his room. Of course, I said yes immediately. Doing joint projects in the workshop is one of my favorite things to do, and passing along a bit of passion and knowledge…
Every since my buddy Al put a Langmuir Crossfire Pro CNC plasma cutter in his shop, we’ve talked about doing a joint metal / wood project. A wonderful reunion of three couples, all lifelong friends, finally presented the perfect opportunity to make commemorative plaques a joint project. Starting in Al’s shop, we cut out mountain…
Linda and I designed and built a representation of Jesus’s Empty Tomb for the Face to Face with the Easter Story program at the Dexter United Methodist Church, presented on March 27th, 2021 and attended by over 350 people. After designing a 3D representation that could be folded flat for easy storage, we headed to…
In his new home, Kyle has a bedroom that will support a California King bed, with a mattress that is 72 inches wide and 84 inches long. We designed a custom “floating” platform 80 inches wide and almost eight feet long. The headboard alone is 27 inches tall and 74 inches wide. Our material choice…
I recently rearranged my digital piano setup to include a computer monitor instead of a paper music stand. (I detest trying to turn pages while I’m playing.) This move left a very nice black 24″ LED piano light unemployed. With a bit of design work in SketchUp and a few leftover pieces of white ash,…