It’s me! Actually, my wife suggested the rather immodest URL for this site, but it was available, so here we are.
I like difficult problems to solve, and I like woodworking, so custom and unique designs with a kinetic aspect are right up my alley. And practical. Everything comes from a need I’ve had or someone has asked me to deal with. So I hope you find something that tweaks your imagination here.
Originally, this was supposed to be a simple translucent box with a light bulb inside and a decal with an information symbol. Then the client decided they wanted a ring with aluminum lettering, backlit with LEDs. So a 3 hour project expanded to about a week and a half.
The ring itself was pretty easy. It’s two layers of Masonite held by a three-legged spoke mount, trimmed with two strips of Masonite painted silver.
The lettering was another story.
Aluminum lettering would have blown the budget, since each letter would have to be custom cut to insert the LED lighting in the back. So I decided to manufacture them myself.
I started with a couple of experiments to figure out how deep to cut the slot for the LEDs so they would have the right amount of light spread (not too much, not too little, not too hard of an edge). I determined that 3/16” deep, with the letters mounted 1/4” off the surface was about right. I also tested the paint, and compared it to a block of aluminum I had to see how close it was. It looked pretty good.
The lettering was mostly made of straight pieces of MDF with a slot cut with the router in the back. More sawdust! The O’s were cut with the router table set up for a compass mode, then drilled out with the hole cutter on the drill press. The curved part of the R’s was done with the bandsaw and hand-sanded. I had to hand-feed them through the router to cut the slot, so I made a bit of a jig attached to the router table fence.
I cut all the bits of straight MDF into the various angles needed to assemble the various letters. I used a chisel to cut out the part where two sections met, and cut small inserts to block the open ends (like the top of an I or the ends of a T). Everything is held together with
carpenter’s glue.
Then it was more filling and sanding, and about 9 coats of silver paint.
Once the letters were done, I needed to insert the LEDs. The LED strip lighting needed to be cut into short lengths, which were subsequently soldered together to go round the corners. Then, once the letters were mounted, each letter had to be soldered to the main power feed. All in, there’s about 600 solder connections in this project.
The LED back tape is probably good enough to stick to a smooth surface like glass or melamine, but no good for attaching to cut MDF. So first, I scraped out the slots in the backs of the letters to clean out paint overspray and provide a better mounting surface, but then I filled in all the gaps with LOTS of hot glue.
Up until now, I had only a vague idea of how to mount them. If you drive a screw into MDF, it can split or delaminate pretty easily. Also, I didn’t want the mounts to interfere with the light from the LEDs, and they had to hold the letters 1/4” off the surface. I had thought I’d go with wood screws from the back, with tube spacers, but I gave up on that idea. I ended up using small machine screws screwed into pre-drilled holes, with the depth set by a nut partway down the shaft. I then marked the backing by placing the letter against it and using a pencil next to the screws, drilling, then inserting, and tying it in with a nut, then trimming the extra with a Dremel tool (and half a container of cutoff disks). Then I fed the wiring through, and soldered it together.
This was a great project to do. It’s pretty and impressive, and people say, “Wow! You built that?” There is no higher praise.
I don’t think I could have made this deceptively simple structure without Sketchup. I carefully measured the monitors and replicated them in the computer, then moved them into what seemed to be a good position, and measured the angle and distance from the mast. Then, I redrew everything by hand a couple of times, and decided how to cut everything. Pretty much everything is compound angles.
Since probably the biggest safety hazard in the entire structure would be a monitor falling, I wanted to be sure there was no possibility of this. So instead of three mounts, I made a star shaped top and bottom piece that balances the weight of one monitor against the other two. This is strengthened by a vertical block, to make a kind of triple I-beam. The result is very strong. I can hang off one side of this and not bend the mast or move anything more than a tiny fraction of an inch. If it can hold me up, it’s not going to have trouble with a 10 kg monitor.
The client suggested that I use store-bought metal monitor mounts. But I figured you’d have to bolt the mounts to the structure somewhere, and that connection would be no stronger than if the monitors were attached directly to the frame. Keep it simple…
The other option would be a custom metal bracket. Which would be pretty expensive to fabricate, wasn’t really needed for strength, and wouldn’t look as pretty.
So I decided to keep it simple, clean, and made of wood. I made sure that everything was bolted and well tied in, so the only way a monitor could fall would be the failure of the material, not due to screw pullout. Screws hold a lot before pullout, but they hold a lot more if the load is across, not along the screw. Plus there’s a lot of glue in this piece…
The wheeled base was fairly straightforward. It was made out of 3/4 plywood for strength, with a circle 
of melamine particleboard to create the interior floor and to align the side panels. I used six wheels to minimize the possibility of tipping. I then added a skirt from two layers of 1/8” masonite, and a top surface of a single layer of masonite. I left about 3/4” clearance underneath. I trimmed it all with a flush trim bit, and painted it with about four coats of silver metallic paint. The problem with metallic paint on wood, even a very consistent wood like MDF or masonite, is that some areas start to shine before other areas, so multiple coats and spot touchups are required. The floor of the inside, and also the underside was painted flat black. I probably didn’t need to paint the underside, since it’s impossible to see, but it gives things a layer of protection, balances the finish on the opposite side of the plywood to avoid warping.
I had to cut holes in the top and the base for the mast. The mast is a little over 3” in diameter, and a hole saw is a touch too small. I used a circle cutter for precision. But I had to use a hand drill, since the drill press can’t reach to the middle of the countertop. Using a hole cutter in a hand drill is not recommended. It can get out of control pretty easily. So I braced my arm against the wood and went slowly and carefully. Also, it needed to be resharpened a lot. I may have said something about MDF being hard on equipment…
The mast is made of a piece of thick-wall aluminum tubing. I cut a few holes cut into it to feed the wiring to the monitor mount and the top ring, and then sanded the whole thing by hand to give it a “brushed” finish.
This was probably the easiest piece to make. The electronics need a place to sit inside. It’s essentially three shelves
with a curved front. I was getting a little tired of setting up the router to cut curves, so I just cut these three curves on the tablesaw. It’s a bit of a finicky thing to do, and makes the safety purists cringe, but it results in a fairly smooth curve fairly quickly. Then I ironed on some edging, and the shelf was done.
The next project was the circular top. Since it would be the most visible and closely inspected element, I had to be very careful with this part. I chose MDF, again for the smoothness of the finish. The top needed multiple coats of paint and varnish, and plywood, although stronger, wouldn’t be as smooth. So I included a layer of plywood underneath for strength. The top is one layer of MDF, two rings of MDF around the rim for the illusion of thickness (and to mount the LEDs), and two rings of MDF, plus a circle of plywood in the center that attaches to the lower section. Even though it’s not one solid piece, the top is HEAVY. It’s probably 140 lbs. It takes two guys to lift it.
The top is 62” in diameter, and it’s all but impossible to find one piece of MDF this big. So I rough cut a single 4×8 sheet into one half circle and two quarter circles, assembled them carefully, and attached the center MDF circle underneath for alignment.
I knew I was going to be doing the finish cut with a router, and I knew that that would make a LOT of powdery sawdust that gets everywhere and floats in the air for hours. So I tried to rough cut the edge as close as I could to the line, to reduce the router cut. I used a skilsaw, then the bandsaw, and when I found my little bandsaw too awkward, the jigsaw. I burned through about four jigsaw blades. MDF is hard on equipment.
When I had it rough cut to within about 1/8”, I made a circumference jig (like a giant compass) for my router, and pinned it with a screw to the center of the assembly. I needed to cut the perimeter of the top layer very precisely, then I could use a flush trim bit for the subsequent layers. It worked better than I thought it would, and created a precise edge that required almost no sanding.
I used the same technique for the inner circle and the inside of the outer ring. By this time, my wife was complaining about sawdust that had worked its way from the garage up to the third floor of the house. And the shop looked like a winter scene in beige. I vacuumed up what I could, but it repeatedly clogged my filter on my vacuum and my dust collector. Then, cleaning the filter creates another cloud of dust…
It was frustrating. After doing all that work with a jigsaw, I still wound up with major sawdust problems. I think if I was going to do it again, I’d just use the router, and figure out a custom dust collection system for the sawdust. The router creates a rooster tail of sawdust particles that travel too fast for the dust collector to pick up. There’d have to be some kind of a catch chute to slow the particles down so the dust collector’s airflow can pull them in. Hm. My designer’s gene is kicking in. Maybe if I…
Once the top layer was cut, it needed to be filled so the gaps between the surface pieces would be invisible. Then I painted it with two layers of primer, three layers of paint, and two layers of Varathane Diamond floor finish to make a hard surface. I had built a smallish spray booth I could set up in the driveway out of PVC and plastic sheets, so I extended it and added a ventilation system built out of a box fan and three 24×24 furnace filters. It worked quite well, and kept dust off the surface while things dried.
Once the countertop assembled to the rest of the unit, I attached strip LED lighting inside the rim. Unfortunately, the glue on the back of the LED strips is not that good, so I tacked it all in place with a lot of hot glue. Later, when some kids pulled it out, I reattached it and covered it with Gorilla Clear Repair tape, which is heat resistant and very sticky. It’s not going anywhere…
This is a custom build I did for a local church. It’s an information kiosk complete with electronics. It’s an example of some of the creative custom work I can do. I built every aspect of this project, including metalwork, electronics and wiring.
The most time-consuming part of this project is the curved panels. There’s three methods of making a curved panel; steaming, kerfing, and veneer layering.
Steaming involves a large steam box, and is prone to a sometimes unpredictable amount of springback, where the panel tries to return to it’s original (flat) configuration). The project requires a fair amount of precision, and steaming lends itself more to long, narrow workpieces, so I rejected this method.
Kerfing involves cutting slots (kerfs) most of the way through the panel with a table saw, and then bending it. This reduces the strength of the panel, and may result in a ribbed appearance along the kerf lines. In order to stiffen the panel and help it to hold its shape, a piece of thick veneer needs to be glued to the inside of the curve. This is almost as much work as veneer layering, so I decided on the third method.
Veneer layering involves laying a thin piece of panel on a mold, covering it with glue, and then adding layers until the full thickness is reached. At least three layers is required, and four or five is recommended. It’s best to let the whole assembly sit for 48 hours to allow the glue time to dry and cure.
I began with hardboard panels (also known as Masonite), for the quality of the surface, as well as economy. I built a curved mold and made a test panel using ratchet straps to hold the shape until the glue dried. I discovered that if I applied enough tension to adequately compress the panels, the mold bent and I wound up with a panel that was
warped like a bowtie. I reinforced the mold and made a second one even stronger.Over the next week, I began gluing up the six panels used for the project. It took about 4 liters of glue just for the panels. I like glue. I used a bit over 6 liters in this project. It ain’t coming apart.
Once the panels were formed, I needed to trim them to size and to even up the edges. Unfortunately, cutting curved panels is a lot more difficult than cutting straight ones. I began by using the fence to cut one curved edge. I
strapped two 2x4s to the saw so it would roll controllably through the cut. But then I needed to make a second cut perfectly parallel, but the saw is too short, so I had to build a special jig. It was not the last jig I built for this project. In fact, I had to build a second jig to cut the sides, which had to be perfectly 90 degrees from the first.
Once sized, I mounted frames to the backs of the panels for strength and to mount them to the base and countertop. Then I masked and painted everything. The customer had requested two strips of metallic trim partway down the panels. I chose hardboard and silver metallic paint. It came out looking like aluminum, which is what the client requested.
We needed something to accent and give us a little privacy on our deck. And my wife wanted her planter boxes elevated.
These are made out of cedar and designed to fit a standard rectangular planter box. The cutouts on the front are custom and unique to each planter. My wife wanted a bird, so she sketched it and I cut it to fit.
The latticework is not merely decorative; it also provides stability to the lower part of the frame. And the planters have an opening under the center to allow water to flow out.
These planters are delivered unfinished so you can apply whatever you like. Cedar is a great wood, and some people like to leave it natural so it can age. I prefer finishing it so it retains its color.
I’m selling them for $199 each. For an additional fee of $50, I can apply the finish of your choice.
Custom picture frames are expensive. Especially classic ornate ones. So when we bought a Rembrandt print it looked like we’d have to put it on the wall in a cheap Ikea frame. Not good.
I went to Home Depot to look at moldings and see if they had anything that looked nice enough. I had once made an elaborate sword case using crown molding with a faux wood finish, but they no longer carried that style. I asked my wife what she wanted, and she said “birds”. But they didn’t carry moldings with birds.
However, I did find a leaf print trim, and some rope molding, and an ogee-style frame molding, which I thought would fit well together. I glued the three onto a custom-cut backing designed to hold them in the proper alignment, and then painted them with gold paint. Once the frame was built, I antiqued it, and it came out nice.
I can make a custom frame like this for you, but since it’s rather labor-intensive to do it this way, I can’t do it as inexpensively as I’d like. Still, it’s far less than the equivalent frame from a frame shop.
This frame, including mounting your picture, costs $175. The style of the frame is custom, subject to what moldings are available.
My wife works at her desk a lot, but sitting for hours isn’t good for you. I wanted to make her a convertible standing desk that she could easily raise and lower. But most of the designs out there used motors, or occasionally springs, and had some kind of sliding mechanism which looked complicated.
I like designs that are deceptively simple and functional. But to get there, it takes a lot of sketching and
a few test builds. The geometry of this design has to be very precise so everything folds correctly. I made the prototype out of pine, since that’s what I had in the shop. But pine is a bit fragile for some of the smaller parts, and it tends to warp, so I recommend going with oak or even maple. Both these hardwoods result in a heirloom quality piece of furniture that’s both classic and contemporary.
I’m making a few alterations to the design to facilitate easier cleaning and give it a little more strength and a tidier appearance. The mechanism stays the same, but the top hinge and the base frame are being redesigned.
I’m looking into ways of adding a monitor mount in the back. I’m thinking a separate box is probably best for flexibility. I can make a shelf to match the appearance of the folding desk, made custom width to match your 
monitor base.
The pine version sells for $299, oak for $349, or maple for $399.
50% deposit required to cover material expenditures.
We like chalkboards. They’re great for marking down what groceries we need, or to-do lists, or just sketching out project ideas. Problem is, they don’t come in the size we want. So, I thought, I can make things. I’ll make a chalkboard.
Chalkboards are reasonably simple, a frame and a surface painted with special paint. Or so I thought. It turns out that to get a good surface to write on with chalk, you have to be pretty careful how you apply
the paint. And making a chalk tray requires a little trickery.
To make the shallow concave curve to hold the chalk, I used a technique that, if not done carefully, could be dangerous. The raw piece of wood is run through the table saw diagonally, taking a tiny amount of wood off each pass. The result is a smooth, consistent curve not possible without special equipment.From there, it’s a little work with the router and a tight diagonal pass through the table saw to make the slope on bottom.
I didn’t want to hang the chalkboard on a wire, like a picture, since it has to be stable when someone’s writing on it. I found two nails under the top of the frame works quite well.
I’m asking $149 for this size (24”x48”). Other sizes may be slightly more or less, depending on the size of the surface. Call me for a quote.
I worked for years in the film industry, and one of the most useful pieces of grip equipment is the Apple Box. Apple Boxes are plywood boxes used for spacing or shimming. Many a short actor has been made taller for close-ups with these.
I initially made these out of birch plywood, but I’ve found sanded pine works just as well, and takes impact damage better. Most rental companies and production companies paint their apple boxes, so a hardwood finish isn’t that important. Of course, if you like some other wood, I’ll make it out of whatever you’d like.
These are strong, glued quality built strong boxes designed for abuse. Key structural points are screwed for extra strength. Internal bracing is used to strengthen the box even more.
Apple boxes are 20” long and 12” wide come in four thicknesses: full (8”), half (4”), quarter (2”) and pancake (1”). I’m selling them for $119 per set, a lot less than you could get them from a grip company.
