Now Available Just In Time For Mother's Day!

Mother's Day is just around the corner on the 12th! Not sure what to get her? How about one of kind jewelry made from recycled/reclaimed wood!! This morning I added 6 sets of earrings and 6 necklaces to my online shop. Click below...

Mother's Day Gifts!

Beaverdale Holiday Boutique

My dad and I will once again have a table at the Beaverdale Holiday Boutique this weekend. It's held at Holy Trinity Church on Beaver Ave...just north of Urbandale Ave. Friday there is a special "early viewing" from 6:30-8:30pm  and we will be there all day , 8-3pm, on Saturday. Lots of handmade gifts will be available for purchase at the sale again this year. Hope to see you there!!

Another Spalted Hackberry Bowl

This is the other half of the log that also produced this bowl. This one is a little smaller in diameter, only 10" but just about the same height, 4". Pics were taken quickly because I was running late to a house warming party, and I needed to get pics taken fast. It now sits atop a counter in a friends newly built home and they want some more pieces too!

Coffee Anyone?

Handmade gifts are the best in my opinion. I love to give people turned items as gifts for weddings, house warmings, birthdays and of course Christmas. Since my dad is also an avid turner he enjoys this kind of gift as well. This year he finished up 3 coffe mugs just in time for Christmas, (I saw him spraying the last coat of laquer the night we arrived at their home) My brother, brother in law and myself were the happy recipients of these mugs. Mine is the spalted hackberry in the middle. The left one is burr oak and the right one is walnut.

Walnut Cigar Ashtray

I saw this thread by Bill Wyko, a very accomplished segmented turner, over on SMC about a month ago and decided it would be a great project for a Christmas gift for my BIL. He enjoys a good cigar with a drink out on the patio during the summer months. Hopefully this will keep the ash off the ground for the kids to get into. Made from a scrap bin cutoff of 5/4 walnut, it is about 7" round and 3" high. I was going to try and the slot for the cigar on the router table but after some tense moments on trials with scraps and just about not being able to count to ten with fingers, I took out my old ryobi dremel knock off and "carved it out" Finish is friction polish as that is what Bill Wyko used on his. He is a cigar smoker and said it works well. I'm going to try a few more and possibly stop by the local "high end" cigar shop to see if they would be interested in displaying them. Comments are encouraged please....

Spalted Locust Pot

A couple who are very good friends saw some of my past small bowls out of spalted locust and commented on how much they liked the look of the wood. They recently moved into a new house and this will be their house warming gift at the open house in a few weeks. This is a new form for me, copied from some similar that I've seen on the web. It is about 5" high and 4" wide. I filled a crack that can be seen in the second photo with CA glue and sanding dust and finished with about 4 coats of danish oil.

Walnut Wedding Present

One of the people that introduced me to LOML over 16 years ago got hitched himself this summer in a family only ceremony. Another friend had a party this past weekend to celebrate the nuptials with friends and this bowl was our gift for the new couple. Their house which they have been redoing has beautiful dark woodwork so I thought a walnut bowl would be a good fit.

It's 11" X 5" with a Danish oil finish that was buffed. A couple of small cracks add some character along with some great figure....anyone else see a Christmas tree? I've got the other half of this crotch walnut blank that I will make another bowl out of. Probably a Christmas present for someone.

A suprise wood gift!

I met a couple from southern IA a few weekends ago while working a Saturday at the Woodsmith Store. They had just started woodturning making pens and pencils. They showed me some of the pens and they were quite good. I mentioned that I turn bowls, vases and other forms and they started asking questions. They mentioned they have an acreage and have a pile of crotch pieces left over from a sawmill taking down about a dozen trees on there property recently. I told them crotches have some very desirable grain patterns and turners love to find them.

This past Saturday, while working at Woodsmith, the couple stopped in again. After filling a basket with pen blanks, sandpaper and CA glue they told me they had something in the car for me. I went out and found they had brought me a 14" crotch of walnut, a couple smaller ones and another unknown wood limb about 8" round with crotches on both ends. I thanked them and invited them to come to the Des Moines Woodworking Turning group that will meet next weekend at the Woodsmith.

I started turning the unknown wood last night and it is filled with interesting worm holes and some spalting as well. I will upload some pictures later this week. Turners taking care of other turners will always lead to benefits for everyone.