I’m a South African living in Britain watching your American show – interesting how the world works huh? I’d like to enter a Viewer Project: my “ORIGINS” table. I really want to share this project with woodworkers because it has proven that I have to, like you say, think out of the box. Our schooling and everyday life causes the thought process to become rather closed and problem-oriented, rather than free-flowing and conceptual. It is like nothing I have tried before. Even after three months of making I still wonder how it all came to be.

It began about a year ago with an idea I had for a cabinet. My wife was pregnant and the whole process of birth become a fascination. The idea of male/female, yin-yang, parent and child etc, which I hope is evident in the design grew into the idea of using not only opposing woods, but opposing shapes, textures, types of board/timber. And then the cabinet wanted to become a table that supported a “child” if you will – the bowl in the middle.

Now what I have to keep reminding myself here is that I was trying my UTMOST best to NOT think about how I was going to make it. I’m sure us woodies are all cursed with this, but it has become so important (like with David Marks’ and furnitology’s) to concentrate on design and the “mindset” of the piece first, then problem-solve the issue of “how?” I made 2 HUGE mistakes and almost gave up but decided to go on. I was already on a tight budget for it (the veneers for the top alone cost something like $150!!) but I decided that once you pop, you can’t stop.

I found myself using tools I never had before: a round-bottomed spokeshave to finesse the curves, soil and dirt to tarnish the copper, sawdust and cyanoacrylate glue as wood-filler, a round-bottomed surform to finish the base. I had an idea of what I wanted it to look like, but it was make-it-up-as-you-go-along all the time and that was such a refreshing (though often frustrating) change. I strongly believe now that it’s not what you know, but rather what you want to learn that counts, and as long as woodworking is respective of the beauty that lies in wood, it will always be good :) It’s the ultimate material and unlike other things, it grows on trees!

Here are some construction details: “Female” consists of 27 layers of 19mm birch plywood – each piece individually routed round and then glued and pressed together. The final shape was eventually achieved after much use of a surform, belt sander, chisels and LOADS of 80 grit sandpaper wrapped around a 1.5 inch dowel.

Male consists of two halves. Each is two layers of 5mm bendyply veneered with walnut using contact adhesive (I was worried this would throw the shape out but the 2 layers of bendyply seemed to work well :) Making this was the most difficult part as the two halves had to be joined in a straight line, down a shape that curves in two directions and not only in the middle but where it joins the female too !! It took days of trial and error with a block plane to get that edge down the middle ! It’s still not perfect but hey we all have our limits :) I first made the structure then veneered one side at a time. The compound mitre on the base of the male proved to be challenging too since it does not lie flat on one surface but on an edge.

The cherry piece joining the two was made from a single length for continuity and just cut into smaller angled pieces to achieve the curve. The “foot” that joins the base of the male was done by hand with some chisels and a belt sander. The bowl also came to be using bendyply. Veneers are Maple, Walnut and I think Burr elm.

Once I got the male and female to join nicely with the cherry, and the bowl all fitted, I started on the top. I routed a 3foot diameter piece of 19mm ply and edged it with a 4mm cherry strip. I achieved this using strap-clamps and very straight-grained quarter sawn cherry to avoid it splitting/snapping (Yikes!). Initially it was to be more of a yin-yang shape on top but the waterdrop shape of the bowl called for a more refined curve. I first laid the burr walnut veneer, then the burr cluster maple (quite pink isn’t it?) then I routed the groove for the cherry inlay.

The cherry inlay isn’t conventionally liad. Rather than a thin slice of veneer it consists of about 10 layers of cherry veneer laid on edge within the groove! That proved to be a rather testing time :) After some hand-planing with a SHARP edge, it was flush to the veneer surfaces. I recessed the glass supports into the top and made the template for the glass by tracing on a piece of paper with a pencil (similar to the copper method). I sent it off to the glass-makers and they did a swell job. The glass lid is lifted out using the inch hole.

Now the copper came by accident due to the fact that I had to cover ugly screws sticking out of the female where I had screwed the ply pieces together. I tried to remove them neatly but it turned ugly after a while :) So I decided – as a friend once told me – rather make a display of your mistakes than try to hide them. I think I have realized now how helpful that can be. So I drilled the three 65mm holes 3mm deep around the screws, got hold of some 3mm copper plate and after making a rough paper template I ground them out and shaped them using a belt-sander on edge with 40 grit paper. I then tarnished them by leaving them outside on the lawn for a few nights and beat and scraped them in any way possible to create the aged look. I glued them in with PU glue and sanded them with 600 grit.

The finish: After much debate and much research (including the help of The Wood Whisperer) I finally came to a conclusion. Danish Oil is one of the easiest finishes you could ever apply (I hope Marc agrees here) I have done lots of spraying and used varnishes and oils of all shapes and sizes, but since I had been laid off at work, I had no access to the spray-shop and thus needed a really easy no fuss finish. And I must say – it does take a good 4 coats over 4 days to do the job but it is ever so easy to wipe on. A rub down with steel wool between coats and then some good-old-fashioned beeswax (2 coats) and some elbow-grease to bring out a bit of a shine and I am really very pleased with the finish. I did want to use a polyurethane spray but I think it actually worked out better this way since I can rest assured it is easily re-finished or restored.

Lastly I must say that it really has been an amazing learning experience and I would not have been able to do it without the advice and general positivity of online shows like TWW – so thanks Marc and friends!

“With the recent arrival of our second child, I wanted to make sure I spent some quality time with my 3 year old son. I decided I was going to make a toy tool for his “play workshop”. I asked him if he would like me to make a wooden router or a wooden hand plane. Much to my surprise he choose the hand plane over the router. Part of making it for him included him helping me with various parts of the project. He was thrilled as usual to spend time with me in the shop.”

“The plane is patterned after my No.3 Stanley plane. The tote and knob are walnut. I glued up a small block of walnut and turned the handle as close as I could get it to the original. He loved watching me use the lathe to make part of our project. The body of the plane is glued up maple, for durability. He helped with the glue up too. The iron is a thin piece of birch plywood. It is made so he can take out the iron and replace it with a second one that I made. The entire thing is finished with mineral oil, to make it a child friendly finish. He also helped with the mineral oil too. Some how we managed to keep it off his clothes.”

“We worked on it on and off over the course of 4 days. It was a fun little project, and it made good use of some of my hardwood scraps, too!”

“Here are two spice racks that I recently finished. I had previously built two of these about fifteen years ago. They were much simpler, made of pine, no drawers and put together with hand nailed finish nails and no glue. My wife’s sister asked me if I would make her another one since she had to abandon hers after their last move and I had to leave mine many years ago. They are made as sisters to one another as the main wood of one is the highlight of the other and vice versa. One is made of wenge, shedau, with highlights of bubinga. The other is made of bubinga, canary, with highlights of wenge. They are finished with 5 coats of gloss wipe-on poly and satin shellac for the inside of the drawers. Both are designed to sit above a stove resting behind and on the control panel (The drawers sit directly on top the control board). This is the first project that I have ever done using only wood joints and glue without the use of mechanical fasteners. Marc, thanks for letting me share my project with you and your fans and again thanks for the help. I don’t know if you have ever used shedau, but if you do, wear a mask…it smells like you’re cutting dog poo!!!”

So here it is, my first attempt at semi-fine wood-working… a dog feeding station. This is my first furniture project and first project using the Domino, which I bought after watching your Domino episode about 8 times. WHAT A MACHINE! (sorry, about the caps but I love it). I used the Domino to reinforce/align the glue joint for the “table” top and it worked like a charm – a perfectly aligned and reinforced glue up. I then used the Domino to join the table skirts to the legs, and for the first time in my short wood-working career, came out with a perfectly square, strong frame. Although the price tag is a little hefty, its the best money I ever spent (except for that course of antibiotics in college, just kidding). At the end of the day the most satisfying part was that I designed the project myself from some similar examples I’d seen in the Orvis catalog. I tend to like mine *a little bit more* especially since they get $49.00 for theirs and its made out of pine. As for materials, I made the whole project out of lacewood – a slight upgrade from the pine I’ve used for everything else. Three coats of tung oil later, I’m ready to pass the project onto my brother and his horse/golden lab.

Interestingly, I gave it to my brother about a month and a half ago after putting 3 coats of tung oil on it. I saw it over Thanksgiving and it just didn’t look right – the slobber/water and food took its toll. The grain was raised and the whole project just looked dull. So, I hijacked it from him, re-sanded it, and just finished putting 3 coats of Minwax Wipe-On Poly on it. It looks a whole lot better and more durable but only time will tell I guess.

This is a replica of a nut cracker that I remember from when I was a kid. It’s made out of walnut from a tree in my wife’s grandmother’s front yard, and I’ve made a whole bunch of them for family and friends. You place the nut in the hole and tighten the smaller bolt, until the nut cracks. This is a great nut cracker design, really, because you have lots more control, and don’t get pieces of shell flying across the room, or crushed fingers.

It’s a pretty handy Christmas present because it’s relatively quick to make, small, and nobody has usually seen anything like it. Then of course you have the visual pun of it being shaped like a nut. The finish is Tung Oil, three coats. The threads are cut using a tool from Highland Hardware, size 3/4″. The center hole is 1 3/8″.