A Monster Captured in My Dungeon!

As I got to work last night in the workshop dungeon, I first had to capture a beast that thought it could move into my territory! Little nasties are often found and vanquished, either by stomping them or vacuum captured, but this little baddie... this was something different!

I caught it with my cat-like reflexes (actually he just sat there as a slipped a peanut butter jar over him) and locked it in my makeshift cell.

ok, fine... I found this nasty spider in the basement last night and wanted to share!

Gross huh!?! Now I'm going to go squish it before my wife freaks out that it's even still in the house!

The Playhouse - A Quick Catch-up

I've started working on a playhouse for my girls. It's being built in the backyard in an area close to the house, but not really used. I had shown my wife a playhouse another woodworker out there had built for his kids and we went from there. The playhouse is not really going to look anything like the inspiration it came from though.

After deciding on a floor plan of 8' x 12' I got to work with the help of a friend and my brother-in-law. We were able to get the floor and back wall put together pretty quickly.

For those that don't know, I'm the one in the Red Sox shirt. The other guy is my friend Jeremy.

It rained the following weekend, so nothing was done then. But it was nice on week three and I was able to get the front and one side wall framed up...or at least mostly framed up! The front wall has a door in the middle and a window on each side of the door. Both side walls will have a centered window. The walls are all six feet tall.

Last weekend I picked up some 7/16" OSB (that particleboard stuff and referred to as sheathing) and started adding that on. I also got the additional 2x4s i need to finish framing the last wall. With the sheathing applied the frame is now much more ridgid and it's starting to look more like a playhouse.

I picked up two more sheets of OSB to work on finishing the sheathing on the two sides and the front up to the top of the window frames. The top 18" of the walls I'll finish after I get the roof framed up. Speaking of which... I have six days off for the 4th of July and I'm planning on getting the roof framed and hoping to also get the OSB up there as well so the whole playhouse will be closed in with the exception of the window and door openings!

Once I get the roof started (hopefully Thursday) I'll be sure to post some new pics. Stay tuned!

Time Flies!

Wow, has it really been this long since I've updated my poor little blog? Well I suppose Facebook is a little addicting! For those that don't know, I have created a Facebook page for my woodworking and most of my recent work can be found there.

I do like my little blog though, there is a great deal of history here that I find fun to browse through from time to time, so I don't plan on giving this up. I will try and make sure to post a little more regularly too!

New Pieces in the Works

I put together a new bottle stopper blank this week and I've also got a blank put together to make a candle holder. I'm pretty happy with the progress of both so far. I need to get some new stock prepped up to finish up the candle holder, it's only about 2/3 complete right now.

here's the bottle stopper - the design is currently un-named... I have used maple and bloodwood in this piece.

the candle holder is a twisting pattern that uses oak and mahogany.

the candle holder blank is about 2.5" in diameter and will be about 3-5/8" tall when completed.

New & Improved Heart Stopper

with an adjustment to my tablesaw sled,

i am now able to cut smaller segments than in the original heart stopper...

so here's the new mock-up

can't wait to get this glued up to see how it looks!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

here's the completed blank. now i just need to turn it!

here is the completed heart stopper #2

The Heart Stopper

here's an idea i have been considering for a while.

only with these new smaller pieces do i think i can pull it off. what do you think?

I got the majaority of the blank glued up last night... but ran out of pieces....grrr.

here's what I've got so far...

and here we go...

Mini Cutting Board

Ah! It's feels good to have them all done!

Here's a look at the freshly oiled (and ready to go) mini cutting board!

mini cutting board - maple & walnut racing stripe

10.5" x 6.5" x 1.25"

Coming Soon...

Look what's coming soon to an Etsy store near you!

The Mini-Cutting Board

Here are the details on this board...

it's made of walnut and maple.

It's dimensions are 10.5"l x 6.5"w x 1.25"t

http://www.etsy.com/shop/darrylmasterson

I Was Not Expecting That...!

I recently joined a specialty chapter of AAW (American Association of Woodturners) called Segmented Woodturners. This group is specifically focused on segmented turnings... which is why the group name makes so much sense!

Anyway... yesterday I was informed that one of my pieces... this one specifically:

was selected as the "Photo of the Week" and is now displayed on the group's home page!
http://segmentedwoodturners.org/index.php

Possible Design...

I have come up with a new design I want to call the "Chocolate Chip"... I think I might like it as is, but i'm not really 100% sure. Here are a few different shots of the prototype.

I haven't glued this piece together and that's why there are some gaps showing. I'm thinking there are enough walnut "chips" included... I'm going to have to think about this one a little more.

Thoughts?

5 New Wine Bottle Stoppers - A Detailed Look

Here is a closer look at each of the five new wine bottle stoppers that were rently completed...

From the parallel twist series, this wine bottle stopper is constructed using jatoba as the primary wood and walnut for an accent.

Serial #: 2010-001
Details:
~ Total pieces: 121
~ Primary Wood: Jatoba
~ Secondary Wood: Walnut
~ Cap: Sapele
~ Dimensions: 2-1/8” tall, 1” diameter
~ Finish: polyurethane
 





From the 1/2 & 1/2 Twist series, this wine bottle stopper is constructed with jatoba and maple. The contrasting color looks beautiful.

Serial #: 2010-002
Details:
~ Total pieces: 121
~ Woods: Jatoba & Maple
~ Cap: Sapele
~ Dimensions: 2-1/8” tall, 1” diameter
~ Finish: polyurethane

From the Speckled series, this wine bottle stopper is constructed from cherry with walnut accents.

Serial #: 2010-003

Details:

~ Total pieces: 121

~ Primary Wood: Cherry

~ Secondary Wood: Walnut

~ Cap: Sapele

~ Dimensions: 2-1/8” tall, 1” diameter

~ Finish: polyurethane

From the NEW Triple Twist series, this stopper features jatoba with walnut accents.

Serial #: 2010-004

Details:
~ Total pieces: 121
~ Primary Wood: Jatoba
~ Secondary Wood: Walnut
~ Cap: Sapele
~ Dimensions: 2-1/8” tall, 1” diameter
~ Finish: polyurethane





From the Speckled series, this wine bottle stopper is constructed from cherry and has jatoba accents.

Serial #: 2010-005

Details:
~ Total pieces: 121
~ Primary Wood: Cherry
~ Secondary Wood: Jatoba
~ Cap: Sapele
~ Dimensions: 2-1/8” tall, 1” diameter
~ Finish: polyurethane





Each of these wine bottle stoppers are currently available through my Etsy & ArtFire stores.

5 New Wine Bottle Stoppers - Finished

It never ceases to amaze me how much different wood can look once the finish has been applied. Each of these wine bottle stoppers has received 5 coats of polyurethane, applied by hand, and was rubbed down with steel wool prior to each new coat. The natural colors of the wood is just so rich and beautiful!

I'll be posting individual pictures of each of these wine bottle stoppers over the next couple of days.

In the mean time, feel free to take a look at what is currently available in my Etsy shop!

Thank you for looking!

5 New Wine Bottle Stoppers to Start 2010

Over the past couple days I've turned a handful of new wine bottle stoppers. It's been several weeks since I last turned any wine bottle stoppers, so it's been a fun couple of days getting these done! I haven't completed the finish application yet, but I will provide a little sneak peak of the newest additions.

From front to back they are:
1. Parallel Twist w/ Jatoba and Walnut.
2. 1/2 & 1/2 Twist with Jatoba and Maple.
3. Speckled with Cherry and Walnut.
4. Triple Twist with Jatoba and Walnut.
5. Speckled with Cherry and Jatoba.

The Triple Twist is a new series that I've just started. I'll provide further details when this wine bottle stopper is complete!


I'm looking forward to the opportunities that come along with a brand new year!

Cutting Boards

With Christmas creeping up on us I was asked to make a couple cutting boards. Thankfully I had the cutting boards roughed out already, so I just needed to finish them up! here's the final look.

The cutting board is made of curly maple and walnut. The finish is a very easy rubbing of mineral oil. The board measures approx 17"x10.5"x1.5".

I'm really excited to see how the curly maple looks, it just adds that much more dazzle to the cutting board!

I think I might have to add the cutting boards to my Etsy store after the start of the new year.

Segmetned Christmas Tree Ornament

After completing the Segmented Vessel, I decided I'd make the segments on my next piece a little thinner than the 3/4" previously used. Since we are all in the Christmas spirit, I thought I'd make a new ornament for our tree this year. The segments in this piece are 1/4" thick, and this piece includes a total of 92 segments.

Here's the before picture of the ornament blank glued up on the lathe.

After turning, sanding and the first coat of wipeon polyurethane, here's the end result. I'm pretty happy with how this piece came out. I expect this piece will require six or seven coats of polyurethane like the segmented vessel did. Once I get the finish complete, I'll work on getting some additional (a.k.a. better) pictures posted. Oh, and the ornament is about 3-1/5" in diameter. It's also hollow, I drilled out the segmented layers as I did the glue-up.

A New Blog

I would like to take a minute to introduce you to a new blog I will be doing in conjuction with the Woodworking Dungeon. The blog is titled "An Etsy Favorite" and each posting in this series will focus on a specific Etsy store that I find particularly interesting. I will also include an example or two of what it is about the store that I find so intriguing. Be sure to visit and follow along as each new shop is revealed!

I'd like to point out that I am recieving no sort of commission or other form of benefit from the stores that I will be show casing. The sole purpose of this new series is to simply show off the very talented people that I have found since I started my own Etsy store.

If you have not heard of Etsy or have not taken the time to look around at what is offered there, I highly recommend that you do. If you aren't sure where to begin, you can use my Etsy store as a starting place!

A Segmented Vessel

In taking a break from the wine bottle stoppers I've been making, I wanted to make something that I haven't done yet. I've always been very impressed with the vessels that trifern (a fellow woodworker at LumberJocks) has posted, so I thought I would start there.

Now don't go thinking that just because it's not a wine bottle stopper that I'll be turning a single piece of wood. Heck no, a segmenting we will go!

This piece is 6" tall and about 3-3/4" in diameter at its widest point. I did make a conscious effort to design this piece with the golden ratio in mind. I decided to create the piece with pine just in case something went horribly wrong, I didn't want to waste my small supply of hardwood. I'm actually a little surprised how well the pine turned.

I haven't applied a finish to the piece yet. The current state is post sanding and I wiped it down with mineral spirits. I haven't decided if I'm going to stain it or not... I'm thinking I might.

Week in Review

This week started out by spending two full days in bed with the flu and the remainder of the week left me feeling drained and exhausted. I could certainly think of better ways to spend my time!

I dropped of the packed wine bottle stoppers headed to Colorado this morning. It's a nice sense of accomplishment that the order is now on its way. Here's the collection prior to packaging:



There is a total of 2299 individual segments used to complete this collection and no two wine bottle stoppers are the same.

As for the packaging of each wine bottle stopper, I wanted it to be something that would provide protection for the wine bottle stopper when in the mail and when the wine bottle stopper is not in use. I also created a Care and Use card to provide some details about how one should take care of their wine bottle stoppers. This card also provides some details about the specific wine bottle stopper, including the serial # and the wood species used.

I do have a few wine bottle stoppers available at my Etsy store, including the one in the photo above.

Time to Catch-Up

well let's see, it's been so long where should I start?

30 projects in 30 days:
I liked the idea of this challenge. I never thought it would have been as hard as it was. I made it to day 15... I hate to admit defeat, but I got my butt handed to me on this one! I may try this challenge again in the future, but I think I will go in a bit more prepared next time.

wine bottle stoppers:
I wanted to starting making these almost two years ago. I finally started when I was asked if I could make twenty of them for a customer/friend in Colorado. I have finally got them all boxed up and ready to ship now.

Etsy Store:
Now that the order of twenty wine bottle stoppers is complete, I can focus on posting more wine bottle stoppers to my Esty Store. Currently I have seven of them listed. I've got five more glued, drilled, tapped and ready to turn. Yesterday I finished the first glue-up phase on three more.

Other Stuff:
I started working on a bookshelf a while back for my eight year old similar to the one I build for my fifteen year old. I pulled that off the shelf about a week ago to get that moving along again. It would be nice if I could get that finished by Christmas or her birthday on January first, but I'm not going to stress myself out about it.

30 Projects in 30 Days - Day 8

I know it's day 8 and I'm only posting project #s 5 & 6... I'll get caught up!

well there's not much more to say than these two cigar pens should have been done a long time ago, but I seem to recall a saying that I like:

Better late than never!