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About The Site

Hi Folks, After 36 years in the IT industry, I have retired (almost) and taken up the craft of making quality furniture and have set up this site to chronicle and share my experiences.

Mission Bookcase – delivered

Here is a pic of the completed bookcase.  
The 4 shelves are adjustable.  There are floating panels on each side and 2 on the back.  I used a “clover” milk paint to stain this a very light green which allows the grain (poplar) to show.  It was sealed with 6 coats of tung oil.
 Not visible in [...]

0.2 Frame Assembly

After laying out the position of the mortises on each of the frame corners and the single rear stile, the mortises were cut using my mortising machine. 
I made 1/2″ mortises and allowed for a 1/4″ inset for the side and rear panels.  The front bottom rail and the top face frame mortise were cut so the [...]

0.1 Bookcase – Laminating Panels

In the prior photos (0 Bookcase), though hard to see, I have already prepared the corners of the frame. Specific steps were:

Cut selected (i.e., no flaws that will weaken the frame) 8 / 4 poplar to rough length on the miter saw
Divide these lengths into about 3 1/2 inches rough width on the band saw [...]

0 Mission Style Bookcase – construction

A young lady asked me to build a Mission style bookcase as in the rough sketch below.

so I thought I would document the steps in its construction.
Here are shots of the rough wood – poplar.  
I need 3 sizes – 4 / 4 for the shelves and panels,  6 / 4  for the frame components, the top and doors, [...]

Bathroom Vanity

Here is a photo of a past project (I have had technical problems and was not able to post until now)  … a custom made bathroom vanity in solid ash. 

Bathroom Vanity

The mirror and back splash / ledge were not yet installed when I took these pix.

Fire Wood Box

We use our fire place quite a lot and I just got tired of seeing the firewood lying beside or in front of it so I undertook a quick project to design and build a box to store the wood.
It is solid pine, with spaces between the rails to allow any damp wood to breathe [...]

Shutters

Our home in the country is quite private and so we do not have any window coverings.  My wife wants some simple shutters for the guest bathroom.  So I have started to experiment when I have some free shop time.
These are made of Spanish cedar with a single coat of Sikkens Cetol natural stain.   The [...]

Mobile Office Bar Cart

Here is the completed mobile Bar Cart made of solid maple.
The finish does not show well in these photos but is a combination of cherry, yellow and ebony stains with a wiping varnish seal.

This piece was personalized with a carved stylized monogram on the centre back panel.
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Here are shop photos of a solid cherry wardrobe, nearly completed. [...]

Construction of Mobile Cart

My son has commissioned me to build him a mobile bar.  Made of soft maple, here is how it looks at this stage.  He asked me to carve a monogram , you can see in the rear view. 
The front view shows the doors (not installed) and I am currently preparing the shelves. 
It will sit on heavy [...]

Cherry Wardrobe

I have been working on this project for several weeks … a wardrobe made of solid cherry, with cedar inserts for the back and bottoms of shelves and drawers.  This project has presented many challenges since I work alone and it is simply very big (78″ high).   The top is joined to the sides with dovetails, [...]