|
Gifts and Small Projects
Noah's Ark Shadow Box
This is one of my favorite gift projects.
I made it for another priest's office. One of these day, I will
get around to building one for my office!
It is made from hard Maple with Walnut accents (door opens),
wipe on Poly topcoat. This was a fun project. A Christmas
present for another priest, our daughter's Godmother. My, then,
11-year-old daughter painted the animals. She did a great job
and it was a wonderful experience to partner with her on this
project for her God-mother.
Art
Easel
 
Speaking of budding artists, my daughter wanted a artist
easel for Christmas right after she painted the animals above.
Looking at the commercial products (and their price tags about
$400 for something like my design!), I knew, as a woodworker, I
could come up with something better and cheaper. This project is
also created in Hard Maple and finished with a couple coats of
wipe on Poly. The Easel stands 5 feet tall and is 24 inches
wide. The brush shelf slides up and down on the center support,
which allows the easel to handle a canvas that is 51"
tall...more than enough for my budding 11-year-old artist! The
back leg folds up so the easel stands up flat behind her door.
The framed piece of hard board is simply a place to tape paper
to rather than use a canvas.
(Back to
Top)
Frames
Frames make great gifts. The picture of my church has not
been doctored. That really is a rainbow landing on the steeple
and cross! It’s very cool. Frames are Walnut and Maple with a
Minwax Tung oil finish. Below is a couple of close ups of the
corner.
 
Bread Knife
Bread Knife cuts like a dream. Maple and Walnut finished with
Minwax Tung Oil finish. Makes a great gift.
(Back to
Top)
Earring Stand
An Earring stand for my daughter’s birthday. Made from Hard
Maple and finished with Boiled Linseed Oil cut with a little
Naphtha. It is a simple design, the base is four pieces of ˝”
cove molding (close-up below).
(Back to
Top)
Cutting Board
Our family has been looking for weeks for the right Christmas
gift for my dad, an avid chef. My sister got him a carving
knife, so I was off to my local hardwood supplier,
MacBeath
in Berkeley CA, to pick up some 6/4 hard maple.
You can carve a serious bird or roast on this board. It
measures 16.5” x 24.5”! It took only a couple afternoons in the
shop to complete--mostly sanding the burns marks out of the
corners of the 1/4” deep channels made with a 1/2” core box bit.
The pool at the end of the board was made by cutting the
shape out of hardboard, double stick taping it to the carving
board and routing it with a core box bit and guide bushing. Then
more sanding as I could not find my goose neck scraper!
I decided not to install rubber feet to the underside of the
board, this way it will double as a large cutting board. I think
it will make a nice gift for a chef. Finished with mineral oil.
A
Happy Stamp Whale Dispenser!
 
These stamp dispensers were fun to make. Created form 5/4
White Oak with a “home brew” finish: equal parts of Boiled
Linseed Oil, Poly and Naphtha. In the prototype (shown) I used
an Oak dowel for the eye and in the production version I used a
Walnut dowel for contrast.
20 of them ready for gift bags. The tree was a gift to me
from my bride and daughter--the ornaments all came from Home
Depot!
I made another earring stand for my niece, seen in the
background.
Christmas 2006
I made forty of these for my staff, family and friends this
year.
The base (below) is made from ash and the candle
cups are 8/4 Alder. Finish is as simple as they come--a couple
coats of Boiled Linseed Oil. The cups are attached to the base
with a single screw in case wax gets on the inside surfaces of
the cups. This was a simple project. The most
difficult part was drilling the holes in the end
grain
of the candle cups. Even with a quality Forstner bit from Lee
Valley, there was still quite a bit of vibration.
They make a great gift.
(Back to Top)
Holy
Cross Leadership Gifts
Each year we honor the outgoing leaders at
Holy Cross and thank them for their faithful service to God and
God’s people. As a thank-you gift, I create for each of them a
Celtic cross and encourage them to look for the new opportunity
for ministry that God may ask them to carry their cross into
next.
These simple crosses are a one morning
project. The Ash is planned down to 5/8”, shaped, sanded on the
drum sander (just a couple passes will do it) and finished with
Boiled Linseed oil. An easy and simple project.
(Back to Top)
|
