Pictures of various projects

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A bench for the front porch - to aid putting on and removing boots!

A coffee table for the lounge - to match the rather solid oak desk

A smaller oak table -
for the Hi-Fi unit

Some woodturned bowls

A pull-along engine for grandson Patrick

Hobby horse for grandson Michael

And one for Patrick

A 'different' Advent calendar

A Noah's Ark for Patrick and Michael - about 20 inches long

Stocks for wet-sponge throwing at Village Show

Wooden base for
Scout Presentation Trophy

A presentation 'wooden heart'

A bespoke pergola for Avril
 - roses to follow!

. . . . and gates to match the pergola

. . .  and a side gate to match the front ones

Roses planted - and blooming!
 

Toy oven for Elliot

Treehouse for grandsons William and Elliot

Computer-controlled milling system

Font Cover for local Church

A Spice Rack for the Kitchen - to match the shelving units which replaced the white conti board versions.

My first try with Biscuit Joints
- Aligning and clamping the 9 top joints before their biscuits swell and the glue 'sets' on these and the bottom 9 joints as well, was a bit tricky to say the least!

Kitchen makeover
ESP - 'Easy Surface Prep'
primer was a great help

Avril decided that we needed to replace the large old TV, and that it should stand on an oak cabinet which would match the rest of the lounge furniture

Theory

Practice

My friend John Churchill - a superb craftsman in wood - made the revolving bookcase in the adjacent picture.  My version of his design is much simpler ('cos I'm not as good as John) partly because it had to be constructed solely in oak - to match the lounge furniture !

Kerfmaker and Tenonmaker

These are wooden versions of commercial metal gauges used for quickly and easily setting machines such as table saws to cut rebates or tenons to match a shelf thickness or a mortice slot.  They allow for the saw blade thickness - or 'kerf'.

The drawer unit was designed to match the desk that we purchased before I started serious woodworking.   It is intended for Avril's sewing 'stuff' so has six smaller drawers rather than the three deeper versions in each side of the desk.

Although the pictures give a different impression, the colours of the units are similar, and will get even closer as the drawer unit 'ages'.  The handles on the desk will be changed to those on the drawer unit as I could not find more of the desk version.

'Bandsaw Box'

The previous two pictures show a Library Chair/Steps in each of its two possible positions.
Made in Maple - rather plain compared with Beech or Oak!
It was made to sell at my Rotary Club's Art/Craft Sale - but will it go ?

This HMV Model 130A Gramophone had been used as a plant pot stand.   The top veneer had started to peel in several places, and there was a large bleached area in the centre - all caused by water leaks.  (Unfortunately I forgot to take a picture of it in its awful initial state)  However, I managed to glue down the parts where the veneer was curling, and sanded off the remaining varnish.   It took about 8 coats of new varnish - plus some judicous use of touch-up pens to disguise the edge of the bleached area - to get the top looking pretty close to the rest of the case.
Two springs (one broken) drive the gramophone, and they were originally coated in graphite grease.  Since 1930, this grease had leaked from the spring container, over the drive and governor.  As all the volatile part had evaporated, this was now like hard black putty. Getting this off was difficult, as no solvent was effective - just scraping and elbow-grease.
Removing the 14 ft long springs from their container was difficult, but putting new ones back inside was even harder - once started, there was no letting go until each was in place!  It took all my strength and determination, and I ended up with as much new graphite grease on my overalls as there was on the springs.
The drive mechanism was cleaned, greased and tuned, and set so that the turntable actually rotated at 78 rpm when the adjuster pointed at that figure.
Finally, some new 'acoustically transparent' speaker material to replace the silk front that had shredded over the years, and the unit almost looked like new!
When it actually played 'Yes SIr! That's my Baby' by Hari Kari - borrowed from a friend - all the hard work was justified!

Marble Machine 2 - the second version of Matthias Wandel's Marble Machine designs.

I made mine from plywood, pine and maple, with a couple of pieces of oak of suitable size laminated together for the bowl (which is the only part that requires the use of a lathe - the gears are cut on a bandsaw!)

I really enjoyed the build, and I have to say that Matthias's plans - including still pictures, text, and videos with clear and concise voic-overs - make construction very easy to follow.   His Bigprint program also made creating exact life-size drawings of the components simplicity itself.

I used a coat of Danish Oil to finish.

There is a video of the machine in operation - click here

There are other versions on YouTube posted by Matt, including this one.

I think my Grandchildren are gonna love this.

This is another bandsaw box - cut from endgrain oak this time.  Its unusual feature is the grey circular insert in the drawer front.
This was needed as I - stupidly - cut the drawer recess BEFORE cutting the front and back off the drawer!
The insert is actually a piece of small plastic guttering, which - by serendipidy - was just about the right size!

A growing collection of Bandsaw Boxes

A Cookery Book holder for my daughter

Another Rotary Bookcase

A rather sad tale is attached to this bookcase:    John Churchill, the designer of the bookcase I made earlier - shown above - was asked to make another. When I enquired how John was getting along with the job, he advised that he had started, but had not been feeling too well, so had not visited his workshop since. Eventually, after some pushing from John, his doctor sent him for tests to discover why he felt so ‘below par’. On the day that he got the results, John called in at my home to reveal that he had cancer of the colon, which had spread to his liver, and that it was inoperable. During our conversation he told me that I was ‘needed’, and I assumed it would be help his wife Vanessa with driving to the hospital, etc.. However, John said that he wanted me to finish the bespoke bookcase for him. When I pointed out that I am not in the same class of woodworker as John, he said we could do it as a ‘masterclass’, with him sitting in his workshop, directing me to do the physical work, so I agreed.
I visited John a few days later, but he was already bedridden, so we could only talk about the project, though he showed me a sketch of how he had intended to do the top. My reaction was to say that I hoped he didn’t expect me to use this 'basketwork' design as it was beyond my capabilities. However, he had more faith in my skills than me, and said he was sure I could manage. We left the subject there, with me expecting to be able to talk to him about it again, but a few days later – 16 days from getting his test results – he died.
A little while after the funeral, I asked Vanessa if she wanted me to proceed, and she showed me the shelves, central columns, and side bars that John had roughed out, so I brought them home and started to wonder how to do the top. I have no experience of marquetry, and didn’t have much idea of where to get veneers.
To cut the story short, after much struggling with the 'how' and the 'do' I completed John's project, and with some trepidation waited to see if the buyers thought that it was up to John's standard.   Luckily they were delighted with it, but I feel that I may have had a little extra guidance from somewhere when I was working on it.

The 'basketwork' top design