The Johnson Blog

Ramblings of a geek with a few hobbies…

Category: woodworking

  • Oak Table for… a Cat Bed

    Oak Table for… a Cat Bed

    Yes you read the title correctly.

    Last summer we got two new kittens and they love sitting in the window in the office. We turned a cardboard box upside down, over a printer/scanner, and put one of the cat beds on it so they could sit and enjoy the view.

    After more than a few months, the cardboard began sagging and it was clear we need a more permanent solution.

    Enter, the “table”.

    I used some White Oak boards I have and glued them up so I could attempt to make my own table legs. And I succesfully turned them!

    The top of the table is more of a bin than a flat table top – a mitered frame a couple inches tall which will hold a typical pet bed. The sides are just tall enough to keep the bed from sliding straight off.

    I’ve never done anything like a table before, so I wasn’t too fond of cutting mortises into my self-turned legs and decided to forgo an apron all together. I instead opted to embed the top bin into the legs, and pin them in with dowels.

    It’s clearly a non-traditional configuration, but I like how it looks. It’s not just a small table, it’s something different.

    The printer nestles undeneath nicely and, most importantly, the cats are enjoying their new digs.

    Finished with two coats of natural tung oil.

    Not too shabby.

  • Log to Bowl, Wood Unknown

    Log to Bowl, Wood Unknown

    Earlier this year I was able to get ahold of a few pieces of an unknown species of wood. I quickly rough turned them back in April and placed them in to paper bags with shavings to dry.

    Tonight I took one off the shelf, weighed it, and found it had stabilized. Ready to turn!

    There is a lot for the eye too look at, that’s for sure. There was a little tearout but not too bad. Polar water for scale 🙂

    I don’t know what kind of wood it is, so if you recognize it, let me know. Here’s what it looked like in log form.

    The new lathe is a pleasure to work on. Vibrations are greatly reduced and it simply does not bog down. It also has Reverse, which I’m finding very useful for sanding to a nice smooth surface.

    I have a few more of pieces of this wood and now I’m excited about what they’re going look like.

  • Dead Lathe; New Lathe

    Dead Lathe; New Lathe

    Last weekend I went to fire up the lathe to process some newly acquired logs and the lathe stopped lathing. Well, it spun but wasn’t happy about it. Lots of noise and heat, I just had to shut it down and say goodbye.

    Not thriled with the prospect of the cost of a full-size replacement (or getting one into the basement), I opted for another benchtop model. But this time I went with a Jet, one with a more powerful moter and about 60% heavier.

    Welcome to the Jet 1221VS!

  • Small Cheese Slicer

    Here was a fun little project.

    Ana and I sometimes spend Friday evenings at a local microbrewery, Springfield Beer Company, while we wait for the kids to be done with swim practice. Since bringing you own food in is encouraged, and we’re typically pretty hungry at that time of day, we often will pick up some cheese and charcuterie meats to snack on with our beverages.

    To make things a little easier, I picked up a small cheese slicer kit and whipped up a convenient slicer/charcuterie board that’s easy to bring along.

    I started with a checkerboard pattern, with cherry and walnut.

    Then to make it a little more interesting, I made a template in the shape of the state of Illinois on my laser engraver and took it to the router.

    The final result looks great and fits the bill. If you happen to stop in on a Friday evening, there’s a chance you’ll see it!

  • Whisky Smoker Box

    While we were on vacation in Michigan in 2023, we stopped by Bell Forest Products, located in Ishpeming, Michigan. I’ve placed a half dozen small orders with them over the past few years and was thrilled to finally get to visit.

    What a great place! We spent a lot of time picking through their pay-by-the-pount scap bins, picking out all sorts of smalls for lathe projects. I also grabbed a nice little cutoff of a piece of birdseye maple, thinking it would look good on a box lid at some point.

    Well a few months later I found the project for it. A small box to hold a whisky smoker set I was given. The box itself is walnut, and the lid is that maple. It looks great on the shelf!