gifts

Three Turnings, One Technique

Written on February 10, 2010 at 3:14 pm , by Marlen Kemmet

Prior to the holidays my 13-year-old son Carter and I turned and finished over three-dozen handles for bottle openers, cheese planes, and pizza cutters. A sample of each is shown below.

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Doing some holiday work at The Box Warehouse

Written on December 18, 2009 at 10:24 am , by Bob Hunter

I just finished up a sleigh-full (well, minivan) of Christmas gifts in my shop—and just in time! I had been working on a china cabinet for my wife, but put that on hold so I could make some projects to give as Christmas gifts. As it happened, I was testing Rockler’s new box-joint jig for a router table. It works so well and so quickly that I just started whipping out simple keepsake boxes. I don’t build these from a plan, but rather make them from whatever scraps and cutoffs I can muster. Some I glue together, often mixing species, and let the size of the pieces dictate the size of the box. Then I fit it with a thin plywood bottom, make a lid and a handle, apply my mark (a cross to signify my faith in Jesus Christ), and finish it with oil and lacquer.

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