Arts and Crafts

I have a wood lathe and a mostly complete wood shop so I do woodworking of various kinds too. Here's a natural edge mostly bookmatch Sassafras fence I put up in the back corner of my yard. All the wood, posts, stringers and pickets were processed from trunk to finish by myself.
 

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I have a wood lathe and a mostly complete wood shop so I do woodworking of various kinds too. Here's a natural edge mostly bookmatch Sassafras fence I put up in the back corner of my yard. All the wood, posts, stringers and pickets were processed from trunk to finish by myself.
That is a bad ass fence! Can't wait to own a house or piece of land to make some cool stuff like that and have a full wood shop, right on!
 
See previous post on "Shaker Style Baskets":

I made the small basket on the upper right.

 
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See previous post on "Shaker Style Baskets":

I made the small basket on the upper right.
Wow, if either of my parents expressed those kinds of interests, I'd have skipped school every day! And how could you not be left with natural curiosity and a solid work ethic! How lucky you are!
 
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Agreed! Tremendously useful skill. @GregManning , do you happen to have any pictures of the bows your father made?
I do not have photos. I shot it in the yard, back in the mid-1960's.
The bow was solid wood (type ? ? ?); ~ 4.5' long.
The arrows were "stored" vertically in a custom made solid wood block w/ drilled holes.
 
That's unfortunate but understandable as it is just not possible to save all the great accomplishments in a lifetime.

I love bows and particularly the longbow. Been shooting one since the age of 6.
My dad's bow & arrows were probably made around the early 1940's.
He was an American citizen, born in Canada.
He was a very serious CO to WW II; originally he was sent to a R&R ski camp in New England.
He requested a transfer, because he thought the assignment was too easy.

He was sent to be a "Rehabilitation / Crafts" instructor at a Mental Hospital in Battleboro, VT.

His baskets were made ~ 1970-1991.
My basket was made in ~ 1989-1990, under his tutelage. (Small basket in upper right of basket pictures.)
 
I’ve been getting into some woodworking projects this fall. Had some fun old barn wood that I made a table out of, it turned out a lot more rustic than I wanted to but it holds a dinner party just fine. Oak top and sides, locust legs.

Also made a shelf for my partners tinctures (that she makes to share). That’s also oak.

Then there’s some holiday orbs 3’ diameter I made to hang in a willow at my spot. Also oak. Cut very wide and very thin and bent over a threaded rod. Gonna keep making more over the years, I think they’re pretty fun.
 

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I couldn't find a low boy entertainment center that would hold all my stuff that was compact enough for where I needed to put it. So I made one from some leftover cherry flooring I had (which unfortunately was prefinished, with slightly chamfered corners; ended up buying an inexpensive planer to get bare, flat surfaces.)
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A friend of mine had a tilted pathway between two retaining walls in front of his house, where he wanted a flagstone path with grass growing between the stones. It was my first time working with flagstone. I had done plenty of stacked rock before. Sod is starting to green up for the first time in the picture; it was dormant when I laid it.
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I couldn't find a low boy entertainment center that would hold all my stuff that was compact enough for where I needed to put it. So I made one from some leftover cherry flooring I had (which unfortunately was prefinished, with slightly chamfered corners; ended up buying an inexpensive planer to get bare, flat surfaces.)
View attachment 85456
A friend of mine had a tilted pathway between two retaining walls in front of his house, where he wanted a flagstone path with grass growing between the stones. It was my first time working with flagstone. I had done plenty of stacked rock before. Sod is starting to green up for the first time in the picture; it was dormant when I laid it.
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Both are Very, very Nice.

Years ago I was looking for a nice sound system cabinet; couldn't' find anything; had to settle for just plain; I would have paid serious money for that cabinet.

The cabinet reminds me of a couple very tall bookcases that I had a Amish cabinet maker do for me, using 5/4" Cherry.
 
I couldn't find a low boy entertainment center that would hold all my stuff that was compact enough for where I needed to put it. So I made one from some leftover cherry flooring I had (which unfortunately was prefinished, with slightly chamfered corners; ended up buying an inexpensive planer to get bare, flat surfaces.)
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A friend of mine had a tilted pathway between two retaining walls in front of his house, where he wanted a flagstone path with grass growing between the stones. It was my first time working with flagstone. I had done plenty of stacked rock before. Sod is starting to green up for the first time in the picture; it was dormant when I laid it.
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@Dan Cobb - That cabinet wood looks much thicker than normal flooring ? ? ?
More like 5/4" cherry ? ? ?
Again, very nice !
 
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Thanks @GregManning. The sides are 3/4" cherry on 3/4" birch plywood to hide the ugly backside of the flooring. The bottom and center partition are birch plywood. Everything has a face frame sort of thing on the front. To get a nice finish without brush strokes on the satin black interior, I rolled it. Consequently, a lot of the finishing was done prior to assembly. I even painted the insides of all 368 shelf adjustment holes with India ink so they'd be unobtrusive.

I was pleased with the results, especially since, not having a woodworking bench, I built it on my less-than-flat garage floor, mainly using a little Black & Decker bench top table saw.
 
276F2661-3365-4572-A793-138EEBCA90C4.jpegBit of utensil carving, this maple spoon photo is 5yrs ago, but I give most away without taking a photo. Made a beautiful cherry ladle which took 18+ hrs down to 800 grit and no photos.EC5D3D56-DEFA-4A0D-875A-1F846A37CA16.jpeg
Axe handles etc are fun and easy to do to completion in one sitting vs so many other projects.
 
I’ve been getting into some woodworking projects this fall. Had some fun old barn wood that I made a table out of, it turned out a lot more rustic than I wanted to but it holds a dinner party just fine. Oak top and sides, locust legs.

Also made a shelf for my partners tinctures (that she makes to share). That’s also oak.

Then there’s some holiday orbs 3’ diameter I made to hang in a willow at my spot. Also oak. Cut very wide and very thin and bent over a threaded rod. Gonna keep making more over the years, I think they’re pretty fun.
Did you steam or soak the oak before bending? I'm going to riff on this idea here at my place. Very cool
 
Here's an Eastern Red Cedar bowl turned end grain orientation to highlight the cool shape of the trunk. Took this picture just now because I'm giving it to my mother for Christmas in a couple hours.
 

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