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Category Archives: Wood Species

Cutting Boards

Posted on July 15, 2015
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Because we don’t want to waste any of God’s bounty, we’ve made some end grain cutting boards from the left over pieces that are too small to use in a furniture project.

Because these are end grain, they will not dull your knives.  Move over Boos, there’s a new cutting board boss in town!  ha ha.

 

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Posted in Cutting Boards, Mahogany, Maple, Oak (Red, White), Original Creations, Pecan/Hickory, Purple Heart, Walnut |

Finally! The Final Workbench Post

Posted on July 7, 2015

Here are the final pictures from the reloading workbench progress.  A write up is forthcoming.

 

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final reloading bench photos-26-800


 

 

Posted in Commissioned Project for, DRG, Mahogany, Original Creations, Poplar, Progress Report, Workbench |

Workbench Progress Report – Tool Tray, Back & Molding

Posted on March 19, 2015

Gather around the fire, kids and let ole Woody tell you a story …  well, fake fire… this is a woodworking shop after all!  My goodness!  Who would use hardwood for a fire?

The workbench has been delivered and our customer is a happy camper.  However, we still owe you build updates.  Here is the much belated next installment ….

We used beefy loose tenons to attach a huge laminated Mahogany cross brace to the legs.  They probably didn’t need it, but we tend to over build because our customer’s deserve no less.  That was attached with epoxy and allowed to try while we worked on the tool tray/shelf that goes on the bottom.

The tool tray was built as a stand alone unit and then attached to the work bench legs and rested on the attached “shoes” which are now acting as cleats giving additional rigidity to the base.    Woodworkers will use relative dimensioning over measuring any day of the week.  Why?  Well, humans hold tape measure and human eyes read them.  Slight errors are going to occur.  No way around that.  If you can put the piece that needs to be measured into the place where it’s going to live, and mark it that way, there is way less error.  This results in tighter joints and just looks better all the way around.

The tray sides are also “L” shaped.  We created those using our favorite loose tenons, lots of epoxy & clamps.   After the sides dried, we put them back on the legs and used relative dimensioning to measure the length of the sides and cut them accordingly.   We then put them back in place to get the width of the tray bottom boards, thus giving us the width of the tool tray itself.  We locked those in place with mortise and tenons on each end.  The now 4-sided box frame (open a the top and bottom) was pulled off the legs and put on the table saw (a perfectly flat surface) for addition of each hand-fiktted plank..   All of the tray plank boards were first dry fitted, marked for length & trimmed.  A tongue was routed on one side the  and mating grooves on the other.  The tongues were cut to allow for non-visible wood movement but also provided tons and tons of long grain to long grain gluing surface.    Each of the boards was attached to the tray by tenon.    We finished the tray with some molding to hide the purposeful slight gaps (that allow for wood movement)…. not to mention it just looks complete.  One of the many benefits to custom woodworking.  Things look pretty beside being useful and strong!

Once the tray was allowed to completely dry, we muscled it back in between the legs. It was a nice tight fit and there was only minimal cursing, we promise :) .  Once in place, tenons were called into the game once again.  Ain’t nothin’ going to pull this tray apart!  The tray was finished off by putting the ends on and completed molding.

We next added some sides and a back piece.  The back was attached with through tenons.   These three pieces (2 sides and 1 back) served to further lock everything together.  Some finish molding was added to most of the transitions.  We know this isn’t really necessary given this is a workbench and will be in the garage, but it doesn’t take that much longer, doesn’t cost us that much more and let’s face it …. the piece looks way better!  I guess it’s like saying you don’t have to comb your hair to go to church.  The Lord loves you regardless, but isn’t it a nice gesture?

The next step was to get the back pigeon holes in place.  We created them by tenoning the upper and lower pieces to the back. Which made a square bottomed ‘U’.  We added in the dividers using wood glue.   The back was left a little longer thus creating tabs of sorts which would give us a great place to attach it to the back legs. It’s a little hard to describe here in writing.  I keep pointing at the screen and doing air drawings like you an see me.  I’m rolling my eyes at myself.  Have a look at the pictures and I think you will see what I mean.  Yes, I got under the table and took pictures for you while it was drying.  See how much I love you, dear reader?

We also attached the drawer front while we were at it.  Just a simple round over was routed along the edge, but we think it complements these classic lines nicely.

We will leave you here for now.  The next entry will finish everything up.  I’ve included a boat load of pictures on this one.  Hope you enjoy them!

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tool tray, back & modling-44-800

 

 

Posted in Commissioned Project for, DRG, Mahogany, Progress Report, Workbench |

Workbench Progress Report – Drawer

Posted on February 21, 2015

Hopefully you’ve been following us on Instagram or Twitter (@FromTheHCWShop) or Facebook and have seen more frequent updates.   We’ve been devoting all our time in the shop & getting our taxes completed, thus the delay in getting out an much belated progress report.  There are a handful that need to be finished and uploaded.  Tonight we’ll focus on the drawer.

When we last left you, our workbench got it’s legs and aprons (here).  Since then quite a bit of work has been completed and we’re nearly finished with construction.  This update will focus on the drawer assembly (support, runners, kickers etc). There was one gigantic drawer created.  We thought this would allow for maximum storage and flexibility because our customer can easily subdivide it with readily available organizational devises.  It can change with his needs over the years.  Realizing this drawer will be used, abused and stressed (as well it should!), extra focus has been put on strength and durability.   The drawer sides, runners & kickers were made from maple, the bottom from poplar and the supports (that the kickers and runners were attached to) mahogany.    We used a tongue and groove joint for the boards that make up the bottom of the drawer.  Lots and lots of long grain there to make up a very strong joint (see this post for additional explanation of a long grain to long grain joint).   The kickers and runners were both mortised and tenoned together as well as the drawer sides.   Many (many!) loose tenons were used to attach the drawer runner & kicker supports to the maple table top and then the runners & kickers to those supports.   We also added Ultra High Molecular Weight Polyethylene tape (fancy schmancy chemist type speak for really slippery but durable tape to make the drawer slide easier) to both.  The supports run the entire depth of the workbench and were attached via loose tenon to both the front and the back aprons.  This provides extra support for the table top so it will never bow.  It also locks the entire base assembly together even more.

What are these runner & kickers?

They are ‘L’ shaped pieces.   Drawer runners are what the drawer ‘runs’ on and supports the drawer on the bottom.  The kickers provides support on the top of the drawer to keep it from tilting down too quickly and also helps to keep the drawer from racking.  You know that frustrating thing that happens when you are trying to push a drawer in and it drifts a little to one side or the other, gets stuck and then you usually end up muttering things you don’t mean to?

You will see a pretty mahogany drawer front in an upcoming post.

 

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Posted in Commissioned Project for, DRG, Mahogany, Maple, Original Creations, Poplar, Workbench |

Workbench Progress Report – Gams and Aprons

Posted on January 21, 2015
reloading table - legs & aprons-13-800

Look at those gams!   <insert wolf whistle here>  In this post we’ll show how we’ve attached the front two legs, added some blocking around the vise and attached the apron with a cut out for the drawer.

As you’ll remember from the previous post (here), the legs have an “L” attached to provide some extra support for the rather heavy butcher block table top.   For the back legs, we’ve cut 2 notches into the top.  This will allow a single structural pillar to go from the caster all the way up to support the shelves.   We used the router with a pattern bit and the plywood pieces shown in the photos as the pattern (or fence) for the router bit bearing to ride against.  While there is a small disadvantage to using a router given it leaves rounded corners, the cut is beautiful and there isn’t any blow out  (if executed properly).  A pull saw makes quick work of squaring off the inside corner and gives us a nice crisp square.  You can see the legs dry fit in place in the photos below. They are not attached yet because we’ve got some work to do with the drawer runners and back apron first.  You will see all of that work in a future update.

The front legs have been attached using 4 loose tenons each and slow cure epoxy.  Epoxy has a bit more shear strength which is why we’re using it for this application.  This bench is going to be pushed and pulled and used.  Not put in a corner and babied.  ”Nobody puts Baby in the corner!”  (sorry I regressed to the 80s there).  We build furniture to be used!

The front apron has to be split to accommodate the vise.  Because we want it to be still be structural, we’ve added some additional blocking to the side of the vise’s blocking.  The apron blocking was also attached with loose tenons and epoxy.  The small bit of apron between the vise and front left leg (remember the table is still upside down in the photos) has been attached via tenons to each other and to the table top.   The larger portion of the apron has a hole for the drawer cut from the middle thus leaving the remainder of the board one piece and integral.   It has been attached to the right leg using standard blind mortise and tenon joinery and the apron blocking using through tenons.  We’ve added some cosmetic molding pieces to hide the through tenons.   Two more molding pieces were placed on the apron for symmetry.

Next up … the gigantic drawer .. that doubles as a flotation device!  You will get that reference if you if you follow on us on  Twitter, Instagram (@FromTheHCWShop) or like us on Facebook.  We provide more frequent updates via social media because it’s fast and we can spend more time in the shop!

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Posted in Commissioned Project for, DRG, Mahogany, Maple, Progress Report, Workbench |

Workbench Progress Report – Build Ups, Legs & Shoes

Posted on January 13, 2015
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For this update we’ll be showing you how we’ve blocked the table top to correctly space and accommodate the bench vise, laminated Mahogany for the legs and created shoes to properly attach the casters.

Our customer wanted a vise that wouldn’t get in the way of the table top.   Quality vises are heavy.  That’s a good thing for longevity and leverage, but it also takes a bit of accommodating. If you are hanging a nearly 40lbs vise off a table top, it had better be secure!  We’ve used slow set epoxy to attach a lamination of Oak and Mahogany to to align the top of the vise with the table top.  Four holes were drilled through this blocking for the bolts that will hold the vise.  We then further put 6 huge Beech loose tenons in at angles through the blocking into the Maple tabletop.   This results in the bolts being captured thus relying on the wood  and not the threads of lag bolts for long term reliability.  Two things are accomplished by these extra steps.    Many vises have the same bolt pattern, so securing the bolts this way will allow it to be removed or even changed out down the road should the need arise but it won’t work it’s way loose.  Had we just screwed the vise into the bottom of the table,  with the wood’s natural expansion and contraction and the stress that will be put on the vise with repetitive ammunition reloading, those screws would have eventually worked themselves loose.  No one wants a wiggly vise!

For the 4 legs, we’ve laminated 2 4/4 rough lumber Mahogany boards.   After being properly jointed and planed (dimensioned) the final legs ended up being ~3 1/2″ x 2 7/8″.  The front two legs will go under the table and the back two are going “through” the table top up to the upper shelves and pigeon holes.  We didn’t want to attach the shelves and pigeons to the table top as a separate unit.  This method will be much stronger and allow for more weight.  Probably a little hard to visualize without a picture, but you will see in the next post what I mean.    We added a 2 part “L” cleat to each leg where the Maple table top will be attached.  The back portion of the ‘L’ was attached with 4 loose tenons and the leg of the “L” was attached to the back with 2 loose tenons.  Some epoxy was added for good measure since we’ve got some end grain to work with.

Next we made shoes for the legs.  Yes, shoes… well maybe work boots because I can’t see our bench in Louis Vuittons.  The casters have to be bolted to the legs.  Because we wanted to allow for the casters to be removed or exchanged  and the bench to hold up to a life time of being moved around on those casters,  we had to come up with a better solution than just directly screwing into the end grain.  SHOES!  We laminated 3 pieces of Mahogany and cut them a bit wider than the legs. We routed a “socket” for the legs to go into and then recessed 4 threaded inserts for the bolts to screw into.    You could use this bench as elephant transport and I doubt it would even squeak (though please do not actually try that!).

The next update will show the legs being attached and more fun.  Stay tuned.

 

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Look at those gams!
Look at those gams!
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The table top will be attached to these 'L' brackets
The table top will be attached to these ‘L’ brackets

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Posted in Commissioned Project for, DRG, Mahogany, Maple, Progress Report, Workbench |

New Project – Workbench with the Option of Accomodating a Reloader

Posted on January 4, 2015

A beautiful multi-functional workbench is our next project.   As most of us do, our customer needs their workbench to wear different hats.  It will be used for some DIY home improvement projects, ammunition reloading & other general workbench type stuff.  Our Customer provided a website as a starting off point (much as one would use pictures from Pinterest as an inspiration board) and asked for more durable construction techniques  with some additional customization.   Our workbench will not use metal brackets to hang the drawer slides, stain to make coniferous wood look more expensive nor lag bolts for assembly.  Don’t get me wrong… Douglas Fir is great for somethings, but we won’t make any of our furniture out of Christmas Trees!    Our customer will be able to will this workbench to their Grands without a second thought.

We’re making a Maple butcher block top and using a combination of Honduran and African Mahogany for everything else.   We’ve been asked to put the bench on casters and provide extra pigeon holes for storage.

We purchased all of the rough lumber and let it acclimate to the shop.  As usual for this time of year, the weather is a roller coaster.  Swinging between highs in the 30s to highs in the 60s in the same week. We are careful to watch the weather and adjust accordingly.

The rough Maple was dimensioned  (jointed & planed) and cut into strips. The strips were dimensioned again to insure a very tight joint.  Mortises were added to each piece for alignment and extra strength.  When all of the strips were glued together, they were  joined with Beech loose tenons.  We staged the table top glue up into 3 groups of 5 or 6 strips that each measured approx 1 7/8″ wide by 1 3/4″ tall.  Once those three sections were completely dried, mortises were again drilled to accommodate additional loose tenons.  The three sections were glued together and allowed to completely dry.    The ends were trimmed and the top sanded flat resulting in a ~1 5/8″ x ~31 1/2″ butcher block style table top.

Next steps are the build up under the table top for the vise and the lamination of the Mahogany legs.

Rough Mahogany & Maple Lumber
Rough Mahogany & Maple Lumber
Rough Maple
Rough Maple
Rough Maple
Rough Maple
Dimensioned Maple
Dimensioned Maple
Maple Strips
Maple Strips

Dimensioned Maple Strips
Dimensioned Maple Strips
Mortises in Maple Strips
Mortises in Maple Strips
Loose Tenons in Maple Strips
Loose Tenons in Maple Strips
3 Subsections Glued & Drying
3 Subsections Glued & Drying
3 Subsections Glued & Drying
3 Subsections Glued & Drying

3 Subsections Ready to be Joined
3 Subsections Ready to be Joined
Sections in Clamps
Sections in Clamps
Table Top Out of Clamps & Sanded Flat
Table Top Out of Clamps & Sanded Flat

 

Posted in Commissioned Project for, DRG, Mahogany, Maple, Progress Report, Workbench |

Glamour Shots of the Mantel Clocks

Posted on December 4, 2014
walnut clock

Here are the final photographs of the mantel clocks (please see the construction post & photos here).  They are all 100% wood.  No mechanical fasteners. no plywood or MDF.  These are heirloom, will to your grand-baby quality.  They are easily worth $400 -$500 each.  We’re offering them for well under market value because we realize the economy is depressed, not because the craftsman ship doesn’t warrant a higher price tag.  Each clock (without shipping box or padding) weighs ~5-6 pounds.  We will ship it properly padded and fully insured.  The shipping may seem a little high but it’s what USPS.com estimated.   Local pickup is available, email to discuss.   The links below are Paypal which allows you to pay via credit card. You do NOT have to have a Paypal account to use the links.

 

Clock #1 – Garnet Maple

Wood:  Combination of Tiger (Curly) & Birds Eye Maple
Finish:  Garnet Shellac & HVLP Sprayed High Quality Urethane
Dims:  ~8 7/8″ wide x ~15 3/4″ tall x ~4 1/2″ deep (flat back so it will fit flush against a wall)
Movement:  Quartz AA Battery Powered with Brass pendulum & bob

Price:  $85.00 + $25.00 US Shipping (insured)




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garnet maple mantle clock 1-7


**** SOLD*****

Clock #2 – Spalted Cherry

Wood:  Spalted Cherry
Finish:  HVLP Sprayed  High Quality Urethane
Dims:  ~9 1/2″ wide x ~18″ tall x ~4 1/8″ deep (flat back so it will fit flush against a wall)
Movement:  Quartz AA Battery Powered with Brass pendulum & bob

Price:  $125.00 + $25.00 US Shipping (insured)

Clock #3 – Garnet Maple 

Wood:  Combination of Tiger (Curly) & Birds Eye Maple
Finish:  Garnet Shellac & HVLP Sprayed  High Quality Urethane
Dims:  ~9 1/8″ wide x ~16 3/4″ tall x ~4 1/2″ deep (flat back so it will fit flush against a wall)
Movement:  Quartz AA Battery Powered with Brass pendulum & bob

Price:  $85.00 + $25.00 US Shipping (insured)

 




 

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garnet maple mantle clock 3-6


 

Clock #4 – Maple 

Wood:  Combination of Tiger (Curly) & Birds Eye Maple
Finish:  HVLP Sprayed  High Quality Urethane
Dims:  ~9 1/4″ wide x ~15 7/8″ tall x ~4 5/8″ deep (flat back so it will fit flush against a wall)
Movement:  Quartz AA Battery Powered with Brass pendulum & bob

Price:  $85.00 + $25.00 US Shipping (insured)

 




 

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maple mantle clock 4-6


Clock #5 – Maple 

Wood:  Combination of Tiger (Curly) & Birds Eye Maple
Finish:  HVLP Sprayed  High Quality Urethane
Dims:  ~8 3/4″ wide x ~15 1/2″ tall x ~4 3/8″ deep (flat back so it will fit flush against a wall)
Movement:  Quartz AA Battery Powered with Brass pendulum & bob

Price:  $85.00 + $25.00 US Shipping (insured)

 




 

maple mantle clock 5-1
maple mantle clock 5-2
maple mantle clock 5-3
maple mantle clock 5-4
maple mantle clock 5-5
maple mantle clock 5-6


Posted in Cherry, Clock, Maple, Original Creations, Walnut |

Construction of 7 100% Wood Mantel Clocks

Posted on December 4, 2014
Mortised and loose tenon joinery of the carcass of the clocks

We tripped across some beautiful Peruvian Curly Walnut, Spalted Cherry, Tiger Maple and Birdseye Maple that just cried out to be made into beautiful mantle clocks.  We brought it to the shop & set our sights on creating 8 clocks that would be sold at Christmas and hopefully make someone a really nice gift.

We started out as usual with rough lumber.  It was dimensioned to ~3/8″.  Next we cut all of the pieces for the clock carcasses (back & sides) and the face boxes (the box that holds the clock face and its working parts) to their proper & respective sizes.

From there, we planned to used our tried and true favorite method of joinery – the mortise and loose tenon.  The mortises were cut in all the sides and backs at the same time.  We had a small assembly line going and there might have been some sea shanty singing.  After all, Dr. Sheldon Cooper says rhythmic work songs increase productivity.  Ummm… maybe I shouldn’t have gone there ….there is no proof of singing…. moving on…

A dado was cut into the inside of each of the 4 sides that make up the face boxes to ultimately receive the clock face when constructed.  There is a hole drilled through the clock face for the battery operating quartz movement spindle to come through (where the hands attach).

The architectural arches were cut from a rough rectangular piece of stock and mortises cut into the side so it would provide that 4th side to the carcass and be structural.

Next, The top and bottom stacked molding pieces were cut to size.  We made the side corner moldings from strips.  Since we’re using long grain to long grain glue joints (see this post for explanation) for the moldings, we didn’t need to add mortises here.

Next comes the glue up.  The most intense part of any woodworking project because you find out just how many clamps you have vs how many clamps you wish you had,  you try your best not to reinvent the English language when something that fit perfectly 15 minutes ago now doesn’t seem to want to line up and because this is for all the proverbial marbles!   The face boxes were clamped up using high tech clamps (rubber bands) because none of our band clamps were small enough.  Now mind you rubber bands work perfectly fine given the size, design etc of the boxes… Shop Minions just like to find excuses to use their fancy smancy tools.  The french cleat was glued onto the back of the face box (long grain to long grain joint again) to make changing of the battery and any maintenance needed on the clock movement much much easier.  This also allowed for us to use a solid wood back without evil screws.

We then glued up the carcasses using our Beech loose tenons.  The arch was added in and everything allowed to “cook” for a few days.

The side molding we created was cut to final size and added to the carcasses with every single clamp we own!  (OK I exaggerate a bit … we didn’t use the 5 footers or the pipe clamps …. but it wasn’t for the Shop Minions’ lack of desire to try and get them in there).

Once the side molding was completely dry, we stacked (gluing & clamping each piece to each other) several pieces together to create a stack or stair step style molding for the top and bottom.  The top was beveled to create a crown effect.  We were careful to keep everything proportional with a nod to Mission inspired styling.  Each set of molding is a little different to give each clock its own character.

At this point, all of the constructions of our little soldiers is complete.  We do some obligatory finish sanding and send them off to finishing.

For the Maple Clocks (made from a gorgeous combination of Tiger (Curly) Maple and Birds Eye Maple) we needed to add a layer of shellac to avoid the uneven absorption of finish (also called splotching).  On 2 of them we sprayed on some garnet shellac.  That gives Maple a beautiful lightly reddish tint.   For the other 2, we used standard shellac so as to celebrate the natural beauty.   The Spalted Cherry and Peruvian Walnut clocks didn’t need shellac so they skipped this step.   All of the clocks have several coats of high quality water based semi-gloss urethane finish.  Tough as nails, very durable and beautiful.

 

Update:   Update:   Here’s the finish photos & purchase info

 

Rough Walnut
Rough Walnut
Spalted Cherry with drying Finish
Spalted Cherry with drying Finish
Dimensioned Stock (Maple & Cherry)
Dimensioned Stock (Maple & Cherry)
Clocks & Faces on the finishing table
Clocks & Faces on the finishing table
Construction completed... All lined up ready to head to finishing
Construction completed… All lined up ready to head to finishing

Gluing of the top molding
Gluing of the top molding
Side of the Walnut clock with the top molding clamped up and drying
Side of the Walnut clock with the top molding clamped up and drying
Top molding clamped and drying
Top molding clamped and drying
Top molding clamped and drying
Top molding clamped and drying
Clamping and drying of the modling
Clamping and drying of the modling

Top arch put in place and the fresh cleat to hold the face box installed
Top arch put in place and the fresh cleat to hold the face box installed
Close up of molding being created (glued, clamped up & drying)
Close up of molding being created (glued, clamped up & drying)
Molding being created (glued, clamped up & drying)
Molding being created (glued, clamped up & drying)
Mortised and loose tenon joinery of the carcass of the clocks
Mortised and loose tenon joinery of the carcass of the clocks
Arch cut from a relative rectangle piece of stock
Arch cut from a relative rectangle piece of stock

Mortised and loose tenon joinery of the carcass of the clocks
Mortised and loose tenon joinery of the carcass of the clocks
Mortises in the carcuss side stock
Mortises in the carcuss side stock
French cleat and spacers on the back of the face box
French cleat and spacers on the back of the face box
Mortises in the carcuss stock
Mortises in the carcuss stock
High tech clamping tools for the glue up of the face boxes  :)
High tech clamping tools for the glue up of the face boxes :)

High tech clamping tools for the glue up of the face boxes  :)
High tech clamping tools for the glue up of the face boxes :)
Stock cut and prep'ed for the carcass of the clock and the face box
Stock cut and prep’ed for the carcass of the clock and the face box
Faces
Faces

Posted in Cherry, Clock, Maple, Original Creations, Walnut |

Preview of Mantel Clocks

Posted on November 20, 2014
walnut clock

We’ve been hard at work completing 7 mantel clocks in various wood species.  They will be offered for sale and will make excellent holiday gifts.  A detailed construction post will be forthcoming along with proper pictures of each one.  For now, here’s a preview of one of them in Peruvian Curly Walnut.

Update:   Here’s the finish post & purchase info

 

walnut clock
walnut clock
walnut clock

walnut clock
walnut clock
walnut clock

walnut clock

Posted in Clock, Walnut |

hillcountrywoodworking logo november 2014

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