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Custom Woodwork : Furniture : Cabinets : Millwork

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Quick shop project which has taken far too long to finally complete: infeed and outfeed tables for the bandsaw. The tables are collapsible for easy storage. Important, because the outfeed blocks the shop door. This extra support is going to make today's resawing much easier. #betterlatethannever #bandsaw #bandsawtable #bandsawsupport

White oak media cabinet. Quarter sawn doors and face, Soss hidden hinges, finished with a very light coat of Osmo white wood oil, and top coated with Osmo Polyx satin. The doors are held closed with magnets recessed behind leather bumper pads. #whiteoakmediacabinet #whiteoak #mediacabinet #custommediacabinet #customcabinetrytoronto #customcabinet #customcabinetry #customfurniture #customfurnituretoronto

Birthdayawish havena happiestema! A friend of the family's asked me to make a wand for their massive fan of Harry Potter daughter. At first I thought I would finally have to get my lathe set up, then she sent me an image of the wand requested. Nymphadora Tonks' wand, to be precise. Once I started, I realized that what I was carving was a pitcher plant. As wands are slender, I borrowed some chairmaking techniques and rived the stock, then followed the grain with the drawknife and spokeshaves. The carving of the pitcher plant esque was done with a gouge. A gouge which I happened to find in the Lee Valley clearance section a few weeks prior. Kinda copacetic, eh? The wood is air-dried walnut, a sapwood offcut from the cabinets I built for the family at the beginning of the year. The lines are Osmo Bankirai Dark wood oil, and the entire wand is finished in Osmo Polyx Extra Thin hard wax oil. The presentation box is Baltic birch plywood, with magnets to hold the lid closed, and leather to pad the wand. Pretty awesome gift, if you ask me. #harrypotter #harrypotterwand #nymphadoratonks #nymphadoratonkswand #wand #magicwand #wizardswand #thewandchoosesthewizard

Trying something different on this barn door build - shop made foam core plywood. Huge thanks to @bjmacwoodwork for the guidance. Fingers crossed that it's void-free and flat when it comes out of the clamps tomorrow. If this works, I'll have a very large yet lightweight and flat door. #foamcore #foamcoreplywood #barndoor

Floating shelf installation. These are the blind shelf brackets from Lee Valley. For small, light duty shelves, they work great, and installation was much less painful than I anticipated. 1) Use a metal detector to find the drywall screws behind the tiles. 2) Mark and drill holes in the tile. A diamond core bit and water spray bottle works very well. 2a) Optional - draw faces. 3) Attach the bracket plate using 3" screws into the stud. 4) Insert the pointed set screw. Hold the shelf in position and press it against the points. 5) Use the indents as reference for where to position the drilling jig. A self-centering dowel jig worked a treat for this. 6) Attach the rods to the support brackets, and slide the shelf onto them. 7) Get out of the way as quickly as possible because your client wants to load them up immediately. 8) Instagram it. #floatingshelves #floatingshelf #floatingshelfinstallation

Installed some floating shelves today. The wood is reclaimed timber salvaged from this house during the extensive renovations. The clients removed the nails (for which I am grateful) before handing it over to me. It cleaned up nicely, and we opted to leave some of the history on the facing edge. They tie in beautifully with the exposed beams in the cathedral ceiling. Inside the lower shelf is housed a 3-1/2" x 3-1/2" x 1-1/4" power supply, along with the light and wires. The blind shelf supports are from Lee Valley; I'll show the installation details tomorrow. Overall I'm happy with them, for small, light duty shelves. #floatingshelves #reclaimedwood #reclaimedwoodshelves

Card scraper holder: fourth iteration. Also, a lesson in that I need to practice sawing to a line. Using strips glued to a backer allowed for a much cleaner look, and each slot was custom sized to hold the various thicknesses of card scraper. The tighter fit also means they won't fall out when the cabinet door is closed. #cardscraper #cardscraperholder #toolholder #handtoolholder #handtoolcabinet

This is part of what has been challenging me. The entire face of this built-in media cabinet is a solid wood panel of quarter sawn white oak. In hindsight, veneered plywood may have been the wiser option. Dovetailed battens, secured on the hinge side, were added to help keep the doors flat. Unfortunately, when the dovetail slots were cut, the doors cupped along the grain. Got that issue ironed out by adjusting the geometry and fit of the battens. Then I realized that the placement of the battens interfered with the shelf. So I notched the shelf. The Soss hinges were a whole other issue. Learned a lot, but didn't really have the time for the lesson. In the end, I got the seamless look between the doors and frame which I wanted. I'll continue sharing my lessons in following posts. Finish is Osmo white stain top coated with Osmo Polyx satin. #whiteoak #madewithosmo #mediacabinet #customcabinetrytoronto #customcabinetry #customfurniture #customfurnituretoronto #custommediacabinet #whiteoakfurniture

Quick win - itsy bitsy bathroom cabinet. Melamine carcass, poplar face frame, Baltic birch plywood door with faux poplar frame and panel. Brushed with Benjamin Moore Scuff-X paint. I've been quiet because of a rather challenging project I've been focused on. I really needed this easy one. #bathroomcabinet #customcabinet #customcabinetrytoronto #customcabinetry #medicinecabinet #toiletpaperwithineasyreach

I can finally share this pen box I made as a graduation gift for my wife @mindfulmamatoronto (and the beautiful pen and pencil made by @redrosereproductions' daughter, Marilyn). Lorraine is graduating from teacher's college today, and is preparing to embark upon another chapter of positively influencing people. She is a phenomenal teacher, and has already had some incredibly meaningful impacts on students just in her placements. I am so very proud of her; her dedication and drive. As such, it is fitting that this black and white ebony pen and pencil were made by another student. The box is made from a single piece of zebrawood, resawn and carved (I posted some videos a while back about some of the process). #graduationgift #zebrawood #zebrawoodbox #pen #pencil #mechanicalpencil #penbox

Wishing my wife @mindfulmamatoronto a very happy birthday. She is an extraordinary and inspiring person: strong, beautiful, compassionate, dedicated, determined are adjectives which readily come to mind to describe her. This tea box, a simplified version of @pekovichwoodworks design, is a gift I have wanted to make for her since I first saw it. During my current white oak projects, I set aside a board with rather striking grain. It became this box. @jjjjayhawk and I guestimated how long it would take, and if you added our guestimates together you got the right number. The liner came from a piece of flooring which didn't quite fit with the rest of their floorboards (thank you @xero_phile and @xeric_tings!) #teabox #whiteoak #birdseyemaple #birthdaygift #handmade #customcabinetrytoronto #customfurnituretoronto #customfurniture #customcabinetry

New to me Stanley n°4-1/2 type 13. It replaces my type 5, which, though a good plane, I had too many sniggles with. This type 13 feels nearly perfect. It came by way of tool finder extraordinaire, @jjjjayhawk. It definitely needed some love. I repaired the tote, and refinished both it and the knob. The iron and cap iron were replaced with Veritas. Some damaged threads on the adjuster pin were, ahem, fixed (filed back to prevent interference). The cap iron was fun. Turns out that this plane is a bit of an oddball - the standard Veritas 2-3/8" cap iron doesn't work with it unless it is pulled 3/16" back from the edge of the iron (same thing with the cap irons from my n°7 and n°6). So, I exchanged it for a 2-5/8" (n°8) cap iron, and modified it to work. The key distance is that from the leading edge of the cap iron to the leading edge of the rectangular hole into which the adjusting yoke fits. On a 2-3/8" cap iron, this distance is 3-3/4". On a 2-5/8" cap iron, it is 4". I needed 3-29/32" (ish). I spent an hour carefully grinding the sides down, and grinding back the leading edge. Constantly checking and tweaking until everything worked perfectly. The final picture is looking down a 5" wide piece of red oak, showing the glassy surface left by this plane. I just want to say thank you to @vic_tesolin_woodworks, @jjjjayhawk, and the folks at @leevalleytools for their help with getting this beauty up and shaving. #handplane #handplanerestoration #stanleysaturday #stanleyhandplane

I use an inexpensive (and modified as per @ct.valley) Eclipse-style honing guide when sharpening. Unfortunately, this side grip guide can't hold some blades. For my Veritas apron plane, I put together this simple little holder. 5mm Baltic birch plywood back, and 3mm Baltic birch plywood to create the form around the iron. Now to make similar holders for some other oddball blades. #sharpening #sharpeningjig #veritasapronplane #veritasplane

One of the three solid white oak bookcases built into niches in my client's home. I absolutely love their space. The exposed trusses create some beautiful, ever changing shadows on the opposite wall. At certain times of day, the light from the upper window reflects off the first truss and casts a beautiful warm glow onto the bookcase. Stained with Osmo 3501, and top coated with Osmo 3043 to match their floors. #madewithosmo #whiteoak #custombookcase #customcabinetry #customfurniture #customfurnituretoronto #customcabinetrytoronto

Unbelievable. This marking knife from @farnsworthgtrs arrived today. Since I first saw them, I have wanted one. Brian had a best joke contest, and this was the prize. When he told me that the judge, Eddie (@mf_woodbutcher), had chosen my joke submission as the winner, I couldn't get the grin off my face. Now that this marking knife has arrived, I can't get the stunned look off my face. Pictures cannot do this creation justice, and I've stared at many, from a number of sources. The size is larger than I expected, but it feels perfect in hand; well balanced and comfortable. The polish on the stainless steel is perfect. Everything about it is just right. Now that I've held one, I can say that if this wasn't mine, I would be buying one immediately. Thank you, Brian. Thank you, Eddie. I'm going to cherish it, and put it to much use. All stunned smiles over here. #markupmonday #markingknife #strikingknife #badjokeforthewin

So, I've been head down, trying to hit some deadlines with my current clients. Had a huge win today with the installation of these doors. They went in without any problems, perfect reveals, and the double doors perfectly aligned. For someone who rarely hangs doors, it's an amazing feeling. I made the doors after installing the jambs and casing. Templated the openings, and sized the doors to fit. I've done similar with cabinets, and it's nice to know that it also works for person doors. #happyfriday #customdoors #shakerdoors #doorinstallation #customfurniture #customfurnituretoronto

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