Posts by «swirt»
- Easy Sliding Dovetail Jig
As a result of my constant fascination/challenge to make furniture without metal fasteners, I often turn to using sliding dovetails. Generally making sliding dovetails is a little finicky. Too tight and you can’t slide the joint together. To loose and the joint is wobbly. Recently I came up with a solution that makes the process […]
- Australian Pine Live Edge Mirror
On one of our many boating trips to a favorite nearby beach we stumbled upon an Australian Pine rolling in the surf. As it was a hazard to navigation, I pulled it out of the surf and dragged it up on the beach. It was pretty large, roughly 25 feet long. This was back in […]
- Cypress Stump End Tables
I wrote a while back about the Cypress Stump Console I made from one of the two Cypress trees I had removed in my back yard. The second stump… the butt really, was a bit shorter. I thought it would make a good coffee table but we don’t need any more of those. However we […]
- Sawdust in the Wind
My Dad passed away a week ago. I credit him with teaching me about creative work, a bit of woodworking and especially hand tool woodworking. In preparing for his memorial service I came across a few photos that answered some of the mystery for me about this hobby that has become a bit of an […]
- Heart Bar Stool
I had this idea kicking around in my head for a barstool made from a log with a built in footrest. My original thought was for a square seat, but used on a diagonal like a diamond. Then I was looking for ways to reduce the weight and realized that the back corner of the […]
- Cypress Stump Console Table
Back in May 2019 we had two large Bald Cypress trees removed from our back yard. Steve’s Tree Service did a great job and they obliged me in my request to have the trunks cut as close to the ground as possible so that I could have some nicely flared stumps for creative woodworking. This […]
- Cypress Serving Tray
Each year, my son makes a gift for his teacher. Here is the 2020 tale as written by him. In May 2019 my dad cut down 2 Cypress trees and the wood sat in our driveway for way too long. After the wood was out of the driveway some went in the attic to […]
- Florida Chainsaw Mill
Anybody who is into natural woodworking is likely familiar with the “Alaskan Chainsaw Mill.” Carried into the wilderness, slung over a well muscled shoulder and ready to turn logs into lumber. These mills made by Granberg and others are impressive, but that is just not how we roll down in Florida. We are grayer, more […]
- Finished: Slab sided floating top river-desk
Now that all the pieces are done for this desk, it is time to assemble. The problem is that the slab sides are quite heavy and the top with the attached stretchers is very heavy so it has to be assembled in-place and I had no free hands to take assembly photos. The assembly, if […]
- Slab Side Legs
In August 2018, I was taking my morning walk with my dog around our neighborhood. I spied several people with chainsaws and safety gear. Then I saw their target. A double trunked water oak…. my precious. I spoke to Steve of Steve’s Tree & Hauling and inquired if it was headed for lumber mill or […]
- Stretchers for a Floating Desktop
The desk top for my son’s river desk is kiln dried Southern Yellow Pine. The uprights for it are 2″+ thick red oak that was cut and milled less than a year ago. Most woodworkers will advise not to build with wood until it has dried at least a year per inch. that is probably […]
- Prize Trace Hook from Dirty Shed Creations
I started watching the YouTube channel Dirty Shed Creations when they began their wood log throne series about 6 months ago and I have not missed a release yet. I like Dirty Shed creations both for its enjoyable cast of characters (Uncle Al, Camera Boy, and Tammy) and the projects they come up with match […]
- Epoxy River Desktop
My son was pretty adamant that he wanted his new desk to have an epoxy river on it. He has enjoyed the few times we have used epoxy to fill gaps in the past and he wanted to do more. We were going to be making the desktop out of Southern Yellow Pine so the […]
- Floating Top River Desk with Slab Sides – Intro
My son currently uses a desk that is a simple trestle style that belonged to his grandfather. I like the style of it, but it was from an era that knew nothing of laptops and mice and was a bit small for today’s deskly duties. He has simply outgrown the desk and was in need […]
- Easy clamping cauls
A few years ago I saw these bar clamps made by Sergio Acuña Padin on Youtube. His channel is full of clever, inexpensive tool builds. I liked these clamps because they were simple, effective and cheap. They are perfect for panel glue-ups. I have quite a few pipe clamps, so I didn’t really have a […]
- $4 Planing Stop
I have a bunch of dog holes on my bench and a bunch of bench dogs of various thickness. However, in practice when I am face planing a board I can almost guarantee that the bench dog will either be too thick, causing the plane to catch the top of the dog, or in the […]
- Driftwood and Hurricane Shelves
I call this “The shelves that blew in.” It is made from a driftwood root and some wood that Hurricane Maria blew down in my neighborhood in 2017. Back in April we were walking on a beach near Stump Pass in Florida. My son was looking for a stick to play with and grabbed what […]
- Black and Decker Electric Chainsaw
I recently needed a chainsaw to take care of some wood that had found its way to my driveway. I pulled out my 16 year old 16″ Poulan chainsaw that had not been used in over 10 years. I quickly discovered that all the fuel lines had deteriorated. So I bought replacement lines and filters […]
- Safety glasses – my favorite Radians passes the test
Safety in my workshop is important to me. Especially eye safety. One of my eyes is in pretty bad shape (not from the workshop) so it makes me all the more protective of my one good eye. Over the years I have gone through a lot of safety glasses. Many of them have failed due […]
- Gang Saw
I wanted to build a frame saw for resawing wood, especially large slabs. Previously my resawing logs technique has either been to use my bandsaw milling sled for smaller logs or my one-man rip saw for logs that won’t fit on my bandsaw. Then I thought about the old saw mills that used to use […]