She Must Love Cooking!

This is something that should have been posted a while ago...

One of the girls at work asked me to make a cutting board for her mother's birthday. She didn't want just any cutting board though. She wanted a heart shaped cutting board.

I was a bit skeptical at first even though I told her I would do it. I thought it was going to look horrible. I also thought it was going to be a bit of a waste of time since it is kind of a gag gift. Apparently this girls mom is constantly buying theme gifts for her even though she doesn't like the chosen theme. So to get her mom back, she always tries to find a gift that incorporates a heart... hence the heart cutting board.



To give you a size reference, this was cut from the full size boards I've done, so it's roughly 11"x15"x1.5".

I have been informed that her mom does love it.

Bistro Table

Ok so for anyone that still even looks at this blog, here's a REAL update!

I've got the legs and the frames sanded and I've started to assemble them. I need to make one modification still to the top frame, so that hasn't been secured yet. But that didn't stop me from snapping a picture to prove that I have actually been working on something all this time!

Keep in mind we still don't have a finished product yet. The top has been cut to size, but it still needs to be sanded and have the corners softened.

The stack of crates to the right of the table are just a bit taller than the stools that will be used with the table.

This is a modified design that I got from an article in a recent edition of Wood Magazine. For anyone interested in getting started in woodworking, Wood Magazine has my vote for the first subscription you should get. They have by far had the best projects of any subscription I've had.

Stay Tuned!

While it may appear here that little has been going on, that's really not what's happening.

My little dungeon has had it's fair share of activity lately, I'm working on getting something "post ready"

Stay Tuned...

Cutting Board mini

The last showing of this style cutting board was prior to it receiving it's oil bath. Here's a nice shot of the mini with it's aged oil coatings...


Using a combination of black walnut and red leaf maple and measuring in at 11"x7.5"x1.5" in size, I'm aiming to make this little guy a standard item on the darrylmasterson.com site.

Setting a Standard

My thoughts are this: If I'm going to try and pursue any sort of woodworking business, having a few standard items that customers can choose from would be a good way to start. These next few posts will include a few design ideas for a standard set of Cigar Pens.

I consider the Sapele Cigar Pen the classic or standard cigar pen. Since this was the first style that I had started using and it's just got a nice warm comfortable look to it. I can see that just about anyone could use this style pen.



Sapele, also known as African Mahogany, has a nice rich brown color to it. I've modified my finishing technique slightly on the set that I made tonight. With these, I sanded with 220 and 320 grit sand paper. I then applied a coat of BLO (Boiled Linseed Oil) and wiped off the excess for a total of three coats. I then upped the speed of the lathe to the range of 2500RPM and rubbed the pen down with 0000 steel wool. The final step is to wipe the pen of with a tack cloth. This gives the pen a nice sheen.

The Acrylic

The Blue and White is the first acrylic blank that I started working with and I think it goes fantastic with the platinum hardware. This is another that I'm considering as standard offering.

Bronze Cigar Pen

Here's the second cigar pen that I'm making for my friend. I'm happy with how both of them turned (pardon the pun) out. Of the two, I think the blue is my favorite, though the black chrome kit on this bronze blank looks pretty good.

As far as processes are concerned, I sanded this one with 220 and 320 grit paper and finshed up with a good rubbing of 0000 steel wool. A tac cloth helps clean up the dust.

I've got a couple more acrylic pens to make and then back to some using wood. I got some bloodwood from another local woodturner that I think will look real good.

New Acrylic Cigar Pen

I finally got around to making one of two pens I told one of my friends I would turn for her what seems like a couple months ago...



Hope she likes it!

Completed DVD Shelf

I know it looks like it's floating in this first picture, but here is the now completed DVD shelf hanging on our living room wall. We painted the room back in early December and around the same time, I got a copy of The Family Handyman that had this project. I'm pretty happy with the outcome. I used White Oak, plywood for the back and the molding is Pine with an Early American stain. Everything was rubbed down with a couple coats of Boiled Linseed Oil.



One of the thoughts on this project is to get the DVDs out of the reach of my firecracker three year old. She can still reach them...

And finally here's a shot showing how the shelf is set over the loveseat. We are planning on upgrading to something in the leather line which should go nicely with the warm look of the Oak and BLO combo.

DVD Storage

Right after Thanksgiving I had posted about a new project that I wanted work on. Well I've finally gotten around to put some work into this project. The main case assembly was completed today as well as the sanding. Now I need to make another trip out to Home Depot to pick up some cove molding so I can add the final touches.

Here are a couple of shots of where I'm at today:

Measuring at about 41" in length, this should hold about 75 DVDs. each section is 13" wide, so I'm guessing I should be able to get 25 DVDs per section.

Picture Practice

It's not just woodworking that a woodworker needs to be good at. Apparently we also need to have some decent photography skills as well. So I thought tonight I'd practice a little bit. This is the shot I like the best of the group I took.

The lighting could use some improvement in the shot above. The picture above was taken in the close-up mode on the camera and this doesn't use the flash. Here's a shot that I took to start today's session using the auto mode with the flash.

As far as the cutting board is concerned, this is one of my maple and walnut boards. This is a new mini size that my wife had asked for. It measures 11"x7.5"x1.5". This one here still needs to be sanded and oiled.

Ready to Learn More

Now that I have my second bowl under my belt (and I'm still very excited that I didn't need to glue the bottom back onto this one), I'm really looking forward to the bowl turning group meeting that I'm going to on Tuesday.

My father put me in touch with someone he knows that's in this group a couple weeks ago. I'm also going to meet this fellow turner on Saturday after I finish my morning chores (bringing the trash and recycling to the dump) so I can check out his shop and see what pointers he might be able to share.

Bowl # 2

it might be considered a little on the thick side... but at least it's in one piece!

here's a bowl I made tonight out of a piece of purpleheart. I gave this one a quick coat of mineral oil after sanding it down to a 220 grit.



and another shot.

First Bowl

Now that I'm caught up on current orders, I thought I'd play around a little and try making a bowl on the lathe. A friend of mine picked up a few bowl blanks for me a couple weeks ago, so I grabbed the piece of Sapele and started it up.

I got the bowl to the point where I would be satisfied with it simply being my first bowl... then decided that I would take one more pass with the scraper to clean up this little ridge that was on the inside lip.

the rest is history.





yup that's right, it broke right off.

I'm not throwing it into the firewood pile though... I'll keep it as a humbling reminder.
Right now it's down in the dungeon waiting for the glue to dry the bottom back on.

New Toy

looks like I was a good boy this year after all!!

since it was to heavy for my wife to move on her own, it wasn't left under the tree... instead we took a walk out to the mini-van so I could open this present!



I've got it set up and turned it on as a test, but I haven't run anything through it yet. I should be getting to that in a couple days.

Looks Nice...Smells Horrible!

A freind asked if I could turn a couple Acrylic pens for him. Considering he has just trekked across the state (ok, it's New Hampshire and that's really only an hour and a half drive, but still...) to pick up some pen kits so I can complete an order this week, who am I to say no!?!

He wanted one to give as a gift, and the other is for his wife (and she's making me some Ginger Bread cookies, so I really do make out well on this deal!!).

I think the pens came out looking pretty nice, but man-0h-man do these things stink when cutting and drilling!!

Here's what they look like:
This is the gift pen. It's got a blue and white acrylic blank with a platinum kit.


This is the pen for Mary (the Ginger Bread making wife!). Her's is this wild pink and gold acrylic blank with a 24kt gold kit.


this is a red white and blue blank that I received in compensation for an order mix-up a few weeks back. I did want to experiment on pens that were intended as gifts, so I did a test run on this one.


and finally a group shot.

And Now... For Something Completely Different

As I told my lovely wife, when the Craft Fair is over, I'll focus on the living room. It has been several weeks since we had decided that it was time to do something. Our little two year old had ripped off a couple pieces of the old wallpaper already. And by pieces, I mean sections. This stuff is older than I am and came off in full sheets. Unfortunately, it has sat that way since then as I've been a little pre-occupied. But with the show over and Christmas looming, now is the time.

I got the primer put on today after spending most of yesterday removing the last remnants of wallpaper and patching some small holes in the plaster. I have even got the first coat of paint on most of one wall. This is the same wall that is going to be receiving the new DVD shelf that I liked in one of the latest editions Family Handyman Magazine. I'm going to build this out of some Oak that I've got and coat it with my very favorite Boiled Linseed Oil. This will give it a nice warm look that will compliment the Athenian Green that we are putting on the wall.

pictures will follow...

Show Results

Well the show's over and here's how it went:

I think that overall it went pretty well. The only real disappointment were the cutting boards. To high a price or lack of interest, I'm not sure.

The cigar pens did pretty well, as did the wine bottle holders. The turned tree ornaments probably did the best, including the newer ones that were made last night.

Now to figure out where to go next.

New Stuff

Yeah, that's right. It's 11:54 the night before my show and I have just finished making several new tree ornament designs. None of these look the same, not that they are supposed to, and that's what I like the most about them. Free form designs where I can just let the creativity flow.

...and in about 9 hours we'll find out if anyone else likes them!

Nice Savings in Time for the Holidays!

I've been wanting to buy a chuck so I can start making some bowls and other items on the lathe. I've been watching for some sort of sale and I got one today!

List price: $119.99
Sale price: $69.99
gift certificate that I've been waiting to use: $25.00
free shipping on all orders through 11/29/06 saves another $10.25

brings my total cost to $44.99!

And it should be here Tuesday or Wednesday.