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Catchall tray
The tray is made from off-cuts and scrap wood, sized for storing keys, a wallet and other items that I keep in my pockets throughout the day. The way it’s all cut and glued up together will allow the tray fibres to move freely with moisture changes, there are no self-destructive, tearing-apart forces predicted to appear in this construction. 5 pieces of timber are held together with glue and butt joints only, making an illusion that the tray is carved from a single piece of wood. The bigger off-cut was cupped and prior to thickness planing, I had to remove…
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Skull candle
It used to be a Halloween skull-shaped candle, filled with scented wax and designed to burn for a certain period of time. I knew from day 1, that this candle would be given a second life, if not as a flower pot then something else. The choice was eventually made and from a candle, it became … another candle or a candle holder to be more specific. Not a big difference but it required some work and time. What has surely changed was its ability to be used again and again. First, I had to empty out what was left…
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Mace
This mace isn’t just a decoration – it can become a weapon if necessary. It is a useful piece of art, dual-purpose. Heaven forbid that it should ever be used as a weapon, in a fight or self-defence, but having an option is always appreciated. Just in case – as they say. I converted my old Spire by adding spikes on one end and a knob on the other. The handle was wrapped with a cord to improve grip and with these simple upgrades, I added some functionality to the existing project. It’s slightly taller now but balanced better thanks…
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Firewood Mountains, a wooden decoration
These miniature mountain peaks are made of 3 pieces of sycamore, planed and glued together. Originally, the wedges formed a quarter of a dry firewood log, but it developed some cracks and was split with an axe along these lines. I only flattened each piece as much as it was necessary to glue them up together. Their bottom ends were cut off because they got contaminated with the dirt during splitting and anything embedded in the wood could easily damage my blades. I used my trusty No. 5 plane to smooth out all the walls, including the bark, and to…
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Medieval shield
This is a decorative shield, convex and relatively light – just like a real one except it can’t be used in a battle because it’s not equipped with straps for holding it. It’s made from a single 1″ x 7″ x 16′ softwood board (19 x 170 mm x 4.8 m), stained, its edges are painted and faded out with black spray paint and it has 2 decorative white and red stripes going diagonally. Because of the combination of all these factors, the shield brings some warmth to the wall and an illusion of safety to the house. White and…
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Alternative way to install a twin slot shelving board
This method of making shelves comes in handy when your shelves are thin and there is no way to drive a screw from below. If you’re using thick boards you can secure them to the brackets with screws, 2 different lengths, using pre-drilled mounting points. But what if your shelves are thin? Like mine – plywood-faced chipboards, stiff, sturdy and perfect for garage shelving – but too thin to take a screw? There are many advantages of using this method and I’ll mention them later on, but first I’ll show how I built my shelf. First I cut the chipboard…
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Chopping board-like coaster
This is possibly the easiest coaster to make, but still, it does what a proper coaster should do. It’s thick and protects the table from heat and cold. It also has a juice groove to hold water that comes from condensation when a cold drink is served on a hot day. Everything you would expect from a coaster is here but it looks like a miniature chopping board. In fact, this block of wood was cut off from an old chopping board that cracked and was removed from the kitchen. I started by cutting a disc out, using my jig…
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PVC storage bins
Made from an old PVC downpipe and scraps of chipboard. I made a few small containers in one go, utilising the whole downpipe off-cut I had. There’s always a need to organise something in the workshop and improve workflow and these containers surely help. Of course, there is also an idea I can’t resist – upcycling things – probably that was the main reason to make them. Just a simple project, a little messy but you don’t always work with timber and using other materials makes the work more interesting, sometimes they just make more sense for the project. I…
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70-degree table
I’ve always needed 2 coffee tables, one of them had to be more portable than the other and that determined its size and weight. This is the secondary one, when not in use, can be pushed away and partially nested into my bookcase. Its shape and height are carefully chosen and designed to slide into the space below the base and the 2nd tier. Most of the angles in this table are around 70º – the opening angle between the feet, the leg’s tilt angle and the top rails bevel – so why not call it a 70-degree table? There…
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Sanding jig
From time to time I need to sand small parts or flatten a workpiece – this jig comes in handy then! Additionally, it can make edge sanding a little easier when equipped with a temporary fence. It’s made of plywood, timber moulding, a few small bolts, washers and wing nuts. All the parts and materials I needed for building this jig were either reused or I had them in my toolbox, so it saved me a trip to my local shop. Furthermore, the scrap plywood I used, already had the right height, I only needed to cut it to width…
