Crafts / Craftsmen / craftswomen (craftspeople, I suppose)

Watches with interest.
Oh! Already following :)

haaaaaard

The wood, not my.... nevermind

Not even remotely to the standard of some of the stuff on here, but after @inchpincher kindly sent some oak offcuts I was bold enough to practice processing and joining and had a go at this mitred oak box for table salt. Next one I'n going to to add some contrasting splines to the mitres and try a hinged lid..

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Got the shelves and the dining table done in time for Christmas.

Should have done it 6 months ago but demand avoidance prevails.

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Nicely done!

Nice box. Does it have feet?

It has a recessed base to create a shadow gap around the bottom. The base of the box itself is friction fit into dados and then the 'foot' inside the base.

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Looks superb.

That is stunning. 👏🏽👏🏾👏🏿

Thank you, I've been putting it off for months then realised Christmas and my wife's birthday were due so finger out and annual leave arranged.

Making up a stable 3m router sled was a pain in the proverbial

Not surprisingly I got a little obsessive about that ancient bog oak. I have planked it by hand and no it wasn't soft (as so helpfully predicted by @stevo_com). As I suspected the knot full of fissures did go all the way through, so I'm only going to get two handles from it.

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That's a lovely colour :-)

What will you finish it with?

Here's the first, it just needs fitting to a stick and finishing. That's at least 9 months away as I have no seasoned left and the contrast between light Holly and black Oak is the only way to go.

The grain is incredible and shows how harsh the growing conditions must have been, this piece is 12.4 cm and took over 150 years to grow.

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Probably an oiled finish, like this olive on hazel, I will do a test patch on a bit of the sawn timber. I might well leave it as the satin finish that it already has from fine sanding. These 3 are Christmas presents, the one on the right is on my last bit of Holly.

Before anyone asks, the antler thumbsticks are made from shed antler.

Now I must go and hang my bodge of a wreath (in the background) I have discovered that I am a shit florist....

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How do you fit the handle to the stick and get it solid enough to use / take weight and support?
They look wonderful

Drill the handle, cut round the stick, shave into a dowel that will give a friction fit (stanley knife is the tool of choice) and epoxy in place. Then sand the handle to precisely fit the stick, This is why the Bog Oak has been left unfinished.

And thanks!

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A mate of mine damaged a pin for a record cutting head, it’s essential to the head as it holds the cutting stylus so needed a replacement. Not an off the shelf part and the head itself is rather pricey, hence so are the parts of you can find them. Managed to make this instead from an M1.6 bolt and length of tungsten rod.

Just needed to drill a 1mm hole straight through the middle of the bolt. Easy stuff. Only took a couple hours to get it right. The first hour was taken up with making the first one then it pinging somewhere and never seen again.

Last photo shows it against. £2 coin for scale and the hole through the middle.

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Very nice 👍

Would look amazing with some rippled maple or sycamore too (edit: or hornbeam)
Can I assume you are against filling the fissures with epoxy (black or clear, not copper or neon)?

I'm not against the idea, but I was able to break away a lump of the interior timber with thumb pressure, it just won't be possible to work it. The narrow section without fissures should make a couple of thumbsticks. I'm with you on the choice of timber visually, but would need to check the strength (hornbeam would be fine), besides, I haven't got any! What I have just been given is some Macassar Ebony just wide enough to make thumbsticks.

In tedious stick news, I eventually got 2 handles out of the prehistoric Bog Oak. They will be finished a lot sooner than expected as I have just been given a bunch of Holly sticks that have been seasoned for 5 years.

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In the meantime, I have just finished this for a friend, it's Tiger Oak, apparently the grain effect is caused by a disease. Whatever, it's lovely (again courtesy of the dealer in exotic hardwoods).

I'm thinking about selling these commercially (made to measure), I reckon £150 each is fair, what does everyone think?

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They look top notch :)

Seems like a bargain compared to what’s on offer here.
https://www.stickandcaneshop.co.uk/handmade-shepherds-crooks

I think 150 is very, very fair.
Not knowledgeable in the canes market, but would say a 2 at the beginning would still be very reasonable.

Thanks for the kind words!

Progress on the Bog Oak: handle drilled, stick dowelled, handle glued on, much hand sanding to make the join perfect (it can't be felt), many coats of linseed oil.

Finish time.... (many coats and fine sanding again).

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