End grain cutting boards

I made these as gifts this Christmas, one to my wife.
Maple/walnut end grain, finished with mineral oil and beeswax.

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Shot glass case

I had this done for a customer who wanted a case for her collection of shot glasses. Each cell had to be 4″w x 4d” but the height was designed to have variable heights based on a sketch up. It’s actually 5 feet long.
The 1″ thick case sides were made of maple, the inside was 1/2″ thick plywood with maple edge banding. Back panel was 1/4″ birch plywood.
I have to say I underestimated the work involved with this one. One small error in any dimension through each cell off exponentially and it’s easy to see these lines stray off square.
I had to redo it a couple times before I found a solid work flow.
I took it as a learning experience.

She wanted two!

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Small table

I just finished doing a simple table for a customer, maple top with espresso finish, the base was also sanded and finished as well.

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Router Radii

I picked this template set to round off corners after seeing it on sale. They come in 12 different radii, 1/8″ increments, from 1/8″ to 1″. Very nice! Up until now I’ve been using the oscillating spindle sander but that’s kind of hard with a large table top.
It had 4 pins to hold it at the corner so the lead in and lead out is flush to the edge.

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Excalibur Blade Guard

An early Christmas present, the Excalibur Blade guard/ dust extraction by General Tools.

I installed this on my table saw yesterday and it works much better than I thought it would. There’s almost no dust when I’m cutting, the dust that does seem to escape is the larger particles that aren’t as harmful to my lungs. Here’s a shot of me making a few cuts without the guard or dust extraction turned on. You can’t see it but most of the dust is thrown towards me, behind me and mostly on the floor.

Here’s a shot with the guard over the blade and the dust collector turned on, it actually just pivots out of the way if you don’t need it.

There was no dust on me or on the floor that I could see. This is a huge improvement for the basement shot where dust is an important concern long term. I really should have gotten that years ago. Very recommended.

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Walnut Table Completed

The table is done.
8/4″ thick walnut top, maple legs and apron.
Breadboard table top ends, floating mortise and tenon, glued at the center, remainder waxed and pinned with elongated slots to allow for expansion. Pins plugged with ebony.

Finish:
Top: – Tung oil, shellac sanding sealer, CrystaLac pore filler, General Finishes high performance polyurethane.
Legs – Black ebony aniline dye mixed with polyurethane, then several clear coats of poly.

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Automotive DIY

Sometime when you do it yourself you may ask yourself in the middle “what the hell am I doing?” I just said that looking at the pile of parts sitting in a pool of gas in my driveway repairing a fuel pump for my car. According to YouTube this $300 job would cost me just $30.
Fingers crossed.

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New tablesaw

I got a new tablesaw this week. I won an online auction for a school board in Toronto that was getting rid of all their tablesaws in favor of the new Sawstop models with flesh control auto stop. This one was about a year old and to buy new cost $3,500. I got it for a fraction of that price so I put mine up for sale right quick. I got it not only for the price but because it has a newer riving knife which my saw didn’t have so it’ll help against kickback issues. I have a few scars from wood being snagged against the fence/blade and launching back at me. A little work to get this but it’s well worth it. I consider it a free upgrade in the end.

It’s a 3hp General 350.

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Walnut table build – top oiled

I’ve applied the first coat of finish, polymerized tung oil sealer. It really brings out the grain pattern well and makes the natural color pop.

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Walnut table build – top roundover edges and sanded

This is a shot of the top after I put on the 1/4″ roundover edges and sanded it down.

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