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!

30 Projects in 30 Days - Project # 4

I finished my fourth project yesterday. I wanted to try something new, so I put a little extra work into coming up with this new wine bottle stopper. For the highlight area of this stopper, I used the open segmentation technique. This technique leave open spaces between the segments leaving the stopper hollow and see-through.

serial # 2009-017

Stopper Stats:

Total Pieces: 121

Primary Wood: Walnut

Secondary Wood: Red Leaf Maple

Cap: Sapele

Dimensions: 2-1/8" tall, 1" diameter

Finish: CA/BLO

here's a picture that shows a little more of the detail.

30 Projects in 30 Days - Day 2

Day 2 project 2 of the June 2009 30 projects in 30 days.

Continuing on my positive start for my 30-in-30 challenge, I’ve completed my 15th segmented wine bottle stopper. With this stopper I've used my Patchwork pattern combining four species of wood; Jatoba, Cherry, Red Leaf Maple and Walnut. The randomness of the assembly gives this pattern a great patchwork quilt type look.

Serial # 2009-015

Stopper Stats:
Total pieces: 121
Wood: Jatoba, Cherry, Red Leaf Maple & Walnut
Cap: Sapele
Dimensions: 2-1/8” tall, 1” diameter
Finish: CA/BLO

To purchase this stopper through my Etsy store, click here.

30 Projects in 30 Days - Day 1

Day 1 project 1 of the June 2009 30 projects in 30 days.

Off to a positive start! I’ve completed my 14th segmented wine bottle stopper (shocker I know!). This stopper is a new pattern that I have named 1/2 & 1/2 Twist.

Serial # 2009-014

Stopper Stats:
Total pieces: 121
Wood: Red Leaf Maple & Walnut
Cap: Sapele
Dimensions: 2-1/8” tall, 1” diameter
Finish: CA/BLO

To purchase this stopper through my Etsy store, click here.

30 Projects in 30 Days - Intro

I have taken up the challenge of a fellow woodworker to create 30 projects in 30 days!

All through the month of June, I shall be creating new projects everyday. I'm expecting to finish several new bottle stoppers, a few pens and hopefully a new shelving unit for my daughter's bedroom.

Items that will be available to purchase will be posted at my Etsy store.

Stay tuned for all of the action!

Lila's Bakugan Battle Game Board

Lila, my eight year old daughter, has kind of a silly personality. She's been interested in this game called Bakugan recently (she keeps her battle cards in a little pink zip-up purse that reads "Kiss" on one side as I'm sure all Bakugan battle cards are kept!) so I decided to make her a little game board for her to play on. I'm hoping she gets a kick out of this!

Wine Bottle Stopper # 13

I was inspired a few weeks back to try something new with my segmented bottle stoppers by this project. I made a jig for my drillpress to hold my individual segments so I could drill a little hole and insert a small dowel (also known as a toothpick!).

Stopper Stats:
Total pieces: 137
Primary wood: Red Leaf Maple
Secondary wood: Walnut
Cap: Sapele
Dimensions: 2-1/8” tall, 1” diameter
Finish: CA/BLO

serial # 2009-013

a close-up to show more detail.

Be Careful with CA Glue!

I've been working the past couple of days on getting more stopper tops through the final glue stage so I can turn them on the lathe. Most wood glues that I use in furniture (titebond II typically) takes a couple hours to cure before being ready to continue working with the piece. I can't use this type of glue while working on the bottle stoppers or else I'd still be working on the first one! I use Cyanoacrylate... typically referred to as CA. It's basically like super glue and it bonds within seconds.

While working last Wednesday night, I had this short, but very real fear that I'd glued my thumbs together! I went to set down the piece I had just glued up and my thumbs were stuck together. I breifly pictured how it would go down if I had to go upstairs and wake up my wife for help (I pictured a lot of laughing). Not wanting to have to make that journey, I was able to pull my thumbs apart. Thankfully it was just a drop of CA and I didn't have to tear any skin in the seperation process.

It's not just tools with blades that require respect and careful use!

Etsy& My Online Store

I have signed up at Etsy and created my own store!
My store name is darrylmasterson (darrylmasterson.etsy.com)

what is Etsy?
Etsy is: Your place to buy & sell all things handmade.

I've created to store to provide the ability to sell the bottle stoppers I've been making. I have sold my first! The postings from yesterday (stoppers 9, 10, 11 & 12) have not yet been posted to my Esty store, but I should be getting to that shortly.

So stop on by and take a look around at what I've set-up!

Stoppers #s 9, 10, 11 & 12

I've got several stoppers in different phases of the gluing process and I've also finished a few more.


Here's another parallel twist stopper:
Total pieces: 121
Primary wood: Jatoba (Brazilian Cherry)
Secondary wood: Red Leaf Maple
Cap: Sapele
Dimensions: 2-1/8” tall, 1” diameter
Finish: CA/BLO

serial # 2009-009
To purchase this stopper through my Etsy store, click here.


A Parallel twist plus:
Total pieces: 121
Primary wood: Walnut
Secondary wood: Red Leaf Maple
Tertiary wood: Jatoba (Brazilian Cherry)
Cap: Sapele
Dimensions: 2-1/8” tall, 1” diameter
Finish: CA/BLO

serial # 2009-010
To purchase this stopper through my Etsy store, click here.


A Speckled stopper:
Total pieces: 121
Primary wood: Red Leaf Maple
Secondary wood: Jatoba (Brazilian Cherry)
Cap: Sapele
Dimensions: 2-1/8” tall, 1” diameter
Finish: CA/BLO

serial # 2009-011
To purchase this stopper through my Etsy store, click here.


A Random selection stopper:
Total pieces: 121
Primary wood: Cherry
Secondary wood: Jatoba (Brazilian Cherry)
Tertiary wood: Red Leaf Maple
Quaternary wood: Walnut
Cap: Sapele
Dimensions: 2-1/8” tall, 1” diameter
Finish: CA/BLO

serial # 2009-012

To answer a couple questions you are probably asking yourselves right now:

• Yes, I did have to do a google search to find out what comes after "secondary".
• No, the Random stopper is not just a bunch of left over bits. My sister had suggested to me a while ago to make a random stopper. I'm glad I listened!

wine bottle stoppers

I worked a little on the adirondacks today, but the day was primarily about wine bottle stoppers. I finished three (well four actually, but I only have pictures of three!):

#5
Stopper Stats:
Total pieces: 121
Primary wood: Red Leaf Maple
Secondary wood: Jatoba (Brazilian Cherry)
Cap: Sapele
Dimensions: 2-1/8” tall, 1” diameter
Finish: CA/BLO


#6
Stopper Stats:
Total pieces: 121
Primary wood: Walnut
Secondary wood: Red Leaf Maple
Cap: Sapele
Dimensions: 2-1/8” tall, 1” diameter
Finish: CA/BLO


#7
Stopper Stats:
Total pieces: 121
Primary woods: Jatoba (Brazilian Cherry) & Walnut
Cap: Sapele
Dimensions: 2-1/8” tall, 1” diameter
Finish: CA/BLO


I also setup my Etsy store today!

Well that caps my five days away from the real job... heading back to the office tomorrow morning. Thanks for following along the past few days, I hope it was as fun for you as it was for me!

Production & a Break

Yesterday I finished attaching the seat slats to two of the adirondacks. All that's left on this pair is to attach the arms.

I also finished another bottle stopper:

I call this the "Argyle Sock", here are the stats:
Total pieces: 121
Primary wood: Jatoba (Brazilian Cherry) & Walnut
Secondary wood: Red Leaf Maple
Cap: Sapele
Dimensions: 2-1/8” tall, 1” diameter
Finish: CA/BLO

To end the day, a couple of friends came over and we played several rounds of Mille Borne. It's a fun card game.

New Stopper & Adirondack Backs

I spent most of the day working on the Adirondacks. I got the visible screws plugged & then started working on the backs. I have two of the four Adirondack backs assembled and installed. Tomorrow I should be able to apply the seat slats to the two chairs that have backs. I need to apply a coat of shellac to the two other frames to prep them for paint (the last two chairs I will be painting!).

I wanted to get at least one stopper completed before ending the day, so here's stopper #3.

Stopper Stats:

Total pieces: 121

Primary wood: Jatoba (Brazilian Cherry)

Secondary wood: Red Leaf Maple

Cap: Sapele

Dimensions: 2-1/8” tall, 1” diameter (approx.)

Finish: CA/BLO

Adirondack Frames

In day two of my three days in the shop:

I did the final glue up on two more bottle stopper blanks. This puts me to a total of eleven needing to be turned. And of course I need about another dozen to fill the current requests (not a bad thing!).

I also continued working on the four Adirondacks. All four now have completed frames. Tomorrow I hope to make some good progress on completing and installing the backs. I tell ya though, adding four Adirondack frames to an already cramped workspace makes things a little tight!

Working Outside

I've often thought of how nice it would be to break out of the dungeon and have a 1st floor workshop. Wouldn't it be great to open the doors and enjoy the outdoors and woodworking at the same time?

Since it wasn't raining today (and I'm not a fan of cleaning the shop!) I dragged the planer outside to finish prepping stock to cut a sickening number of segments to build more bottle stoppers and pens. Oh, did I mention that it was about 37 degrees today?! It did get up into the 40's but it also rained this afternoon. It was nice to be outdoors though!

Other than prepping that stock for stoppers, I assembled the front legs of four adirondacks and did the final glue up on three bottle stoppers today.

Anticipated Updates

In desperate need for a few days away from the real job, I'm taking the next three days off.

...well sort of!
I have 4 Adirondack chairs to work on, along with about two dozen bottle stoppers!

Stay tuned for updated stories, postings and pictures!

Segmented Bottle Stopper #2

Here is my second completed wine bottle stopper.



I’m fairly happy about how this stopper came out. There are still a few tweaks I’d like to make to the process to improve the results.

Stopper Stats:
Total pieces: 121
Primary wood: Walnut
Secondary wood: Red Leaf Maple
Cap: Sapele
Dimensions: 2-1/8” tall, 1” diameter
Finish: CA/BLO

First Wine Bottle Stopper

I bought my bottle stopper kits about a year and a half ago. I had made this blank to be part of another segmented pen, but got to thinking that it was just about the right size to make a stopper also.

There are about 120 +/- pieces of walnut, maple, bloodwood and sapele in this piece. I used the same CA/BLO finish on the topper that I use on my pens. The stopper top is about 2-1/4” tall.

darrylmasterson.com

I updated my website again: darrylmasterson.com

I'm trying to work on a simple design to showcase each piece and allow (if somwhere way down the line) to sell pieces without yet again another redesign. It's close to what I have in mind, but I don't think it's quite there yet.

I'd like to work on my images. I think if there was a more consistant picture quality it would help even everything out.

I also need to work on my item descriptions, a marketing guru I am not!

First Project of 2009

I've completed my first project of 2009!

My 14 year old daughter asked me to build her a DVD shelf for her bedroom. I liked the look of the DVD shelf I made for my living room a while back and wanted to make something similar. There isn't enough room on her wall for a horizontal shelf so I adjusted the design and made a vertical shelf.

I had a heck of a time installing the horizontal shelf in the living room, so I decided this time around I would design a built in French-Cleat system to make installation easier. I based this feature on the construction of the nesting boxes I made a couple months back with my younger daughters. By adding the French-Cleat at the time of the initial design, I could make the shelf sit flush against the wall and still not make the unit too bulky.

The shelf is built of Pine. For a finish I used the Minwax stain "Early American" before applying a BLO (Boiled Linseed Oil) and paste wax. This is the first project that I've used a stopped dado for the shelf supports. I do prefer this look and will probably use it more often now.

For a "cool-factor", this unit also has a hidden drawer! Initally I was calling it a secret drawer, but it's not so much a secret anymore...

I'm pretty happy with the outcome of this project, which is a good thing too since my eight year old now wants me to build one for her room.