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Custom Woodwork : Furniture : Cabinets : Millwork

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Full width 2" white oak shaving taken with my Stanley n°4-1/2 type 13 with Veritas PM-V11 iron. Love this plane. Thanks @jjjjayhawk for finding it for me. #woodshavings #handplane #justbecauseitispretty

It was great working with @adam_fullerton on this staircase overhaul. Open communication allowed each of us to make the other's job that much easier. I made sure that the base for the newel post was open so that he had plenty of room to secure it, and easily get his single piece railing installed. Once in, I closed up the open side. This morning I came back and installed a two piece cap. Adam had fabricated a ring which hid any gaps between the post and the base - working together to make each other's job easier and finish with a stellar product. Looking forward to getting some finished pictures of the whole thing. Adam really did an amazing job on this railing. #stairs #stairrefinishing #newelpost

"What do you do for a living?" "I make boxes, mainly." Photo I sent to a client to show the scale of their bespoke (Ha! Finally used that word.) front entry wardrobe. It's Monday. I'm half asleep. I need to drill hinge pockets in these doors. I need to finish drinking a pot of coffee first. #happymonday #neverenoughcoffee #whiteoak #customfurniture #customfurnituretoronto #customcabinet #customcabinetrytoronto #customcabinetry

I'm afraid that if I tighten the knobs on my featherboards any more, something is going to break. They keep sliding down the slot, though. These switched magnets from Chestnut Tools do the trick. They're handy for a myriad of things, including stops (memory settings, if you will) for the fence. #workshoptips #tablesaw #tablesawtips #magnets1001uses

Working solo means finding ways to not drop things. Like shelves during a large cabinet assembly. A cabinet so large that it has to be assembled upright because there is no chance that it can be flipped once assembled. Some handscrew clamps attached to the cabinet sides provide a shelf to rest the shelves. Once the shelves are lined up on both sides, it can all be drawn home. #woodworkingtips #handscrew #donotclickonthatlasthashtag #clamps #neverhaveenoughclamps #workingsolo

Lines of light and shadow. Been trying to create more visual interest (and hide wood movement) by varying component thickness. Quarter and rift sawn white oak. The inset panel and thin top piece will be blackened. #iwishihadsomethingwittytosay #wardrobe #wardrobebase #whiteoak #cabinetbase #customfurniture #customcabinet #customfurnituretoronto #customcabinetrytoronto #customcabinetry

Some more progress pictures on the magnifying glass project. I'm still undecided as to whether to make the ring in one part or two. There are benefits to both, so while I ponder it, I'll make it so that it could be either. The outer rings have a 1/16" piece of maple laminated to them. This should add a nice contrasting detail, as well as add some strength to the butt joints should the ring be made in two parts and held together with brass screws. Same cutting method as the inner ring, using a circle jig on the plunge router, but set to a smaller circle. #magnifyingglass #walnut #segmentedrings

The drum sander made easy work of flattening the rings for the magnifying glass. The rings which are to hold the lenses were stuck to a sacrificial backer board using masking tape and CA glue. The centre point was easy to find by laying a ruler across the joints and striking a line. A circle jig on the router made the circular cut out. #magnifyingglass #walnut #segmentedrings #circlejig #drumsander

The bulb in my friend Bill's magnifying desk lamp burned out, and he's been unable to source a reasonably priced replacement. He asked me to use the lens and make him a handheld magnifying glass using some pretty wood. Decided to try a new-to-me technique and make multiple interlocked segmented rings. The first stage, after figuring out sizes and getting the mitre saw set, was to cut the pieces and glue them in rings. A large steel hose clamp would have worked better, but I didn't have any on hand, so zip ties were a decent substitute. #magnifyingglass #segmentedrings #walnut

Looks like ya'll really liked the shop tips and operations videos in 2019. Especially me struggling to run half of my benchtop across the jointer. Thanks for following along, and all the best to you and yours in the coming year. And thank you to all the makers sharing information and inspiring content.

I took a kumiko class with @blackwalnutstudio at @leevalleytools in Scarborough back in the summer. Steve had a small shop-made brass and wood hammer which really grabbed my attention. He offers classes on making your own. Myself, I decided to see if I could figure it out on my own. I don't work much with metal, but I am willing to try. At Metal Supermarkets I bought some 7/8" diameter brass rod. Back at the shop I cut off a piece, made a not-so-great jig, and drilled some holes. The jig wasn't so great because it didn't get any of the holes properly centered or straight. The one on the end got tapped for a 1/4-20 bolt, and a scrap piece of lignum vitae was epoxied on. The hole for the handle was, after chatting with Daniel @lineschiselsandbrayers, filed square. In my head I had a handle shape influenced by a hatchet handle Glen from the Scarborough Lee Valley store had made. Parts are also influenced by the finger hammer Daniel made for me. Handle is white oak, ebonized with a vinegar and steel wool solution, and finished with Osmo Polyx hardwax oil. In use it has a very interesting feel. Because the head isn't balanced, it wants to drop on its own; which actually gives a little more control because all you have to do it guide it. You know, for those of us who are aim-challenged. #hammer #brasshammer #smallhammer #tapamajig #shopmadetools #shopmadehammer #madewithosmo

Until yesterday, I had completely forgotten about this trick: using spring clamps to hold clamp heads out of the way until you are ready. Wish I could remember who I saw do this. Hope I can remember this next time I need it. Where is my coffee? #woodworkingtips #glueup #clamptricks #clamptips #clamping #solidwoodedging #whereismycoffee

Tuesday was one of those days when nothing went right, and even the fixes went awry. One of those days when not working would have been more productive. Wednesday was better; the fixes worked. Today is Thursday, and I am feeling like things will actually move forward. This is a picture of new veneer being patched onto a cabinet panel. #oneofthosedays #customfurniture #customcabinet #whiteoak #veneer #fixinganerror #fixingamistake

Whackamajig in verawood and ebonized tropical walnut for Luke @cyclocrosscutter. This is the natural colour of the verawood. When freshly cut it is a beautiful caramel colour, which quickly changes to green. After sanding the head and end cap up to 2500, I saturated them with Osmo Polyx extra thin, let them sunbath in the window for a few weeks, then polished them with white diamond on a buffing wheel followed by carnuba wax on a buffing wheel. The handle is laminated tropical walnut, with a 1" x 1/4" diameter rod magnet glued in during the lamination. It was ebonized using a vinegar and steel wool solution, and finished with Osmo Polyx flat. The back story: Luke makes some incredible wooden Mjølnirs (Thor's hammer). I really wanted one, and asked Luke if he would make me one. We came to an agreement on price. In the meantime, I had shown pictures of them to my daughter. She really wanted to get me one for Christmas, and told my wife. My wife didn't know I had already arranged to buy myself one, and decided to get me one. She thought the only way was to win the charity auction Luke had put one in. She sadly informed me that she and my daughter had really wanted to surprise me, but the bidding got too high. I was really touched. I told her that I had already agreed to buy one from Luke (for much less than what the auctioned one went for). To keep the element of surprise, I agreed to not open it, and let my daughter give it to me for Christmas. If it arrived in time - I didn't want to pressure Luke, so hadn't followed up on the progress. Without any warning, it arrived on Christmas eve. At this point, I had still not paid Luke, though I kept asking him to send me payment details. He finally said that he would be happy to do a hammer trade, and that it would be maker's choice. So, a year later, the trade is complete. Happy Whackamajig-ing, Luke! #whackamajig #mallet #verawood #tropicalwalnut #custommallet #verawoodmallet #peruvianwalnut #madewithosmo

Now that Luke @cyclocrosscutter has received his verawood and ebonized tropical walnut #Whackamajig, I can share details about it (Luke said "maker's choice" when I asked what woods and style he would like.) Luke likes to put magnets in his tool handles. There was no way I wanted to have a visible magnet installed in one of my Whackamajigs, so I got the jump on him and hid one in the laminated handle. A few posts back I showed how I installed a ball magnet inside the holder to allow the rod magnet in the handle to be pulled regardless of the side. Because you certainly don't want your tool to be pushed away from the holder - kinda defeats the purpose. #mallet #verawood #tropicalwalnut #peruvianwalnut #custommallet #verawoodmallet #argentinianlignumvitae #magnets1001uses #magnet #magnets

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