Hardtop Footstool, originally uploaded by rgdaniel.

A while ago I built a footstool with an upholstered top. This time around it was pretty much the same design, except this time a hardwood top was requested. The lid is made of bookmatched walnut with a zebrawood feature stripe. The top opens on two brass hinges, with room inside for a few magazines or a pair of slippers.

I made a couple of these just over a year ago, and then realized the other day I still had one clock mechanism left. It wasn’t doing anyone any good sitting in a drawer, so I made the clock to go around it. This one is purpleheart with curly maple.

This is one of the older ones I did. Pretty much identical except for the wood choice (wenge and curly maple).

From a design by The Wood Whisperer.

(click photo to view larger on Flickr)

This is a pair of small tea light candle holders, based almost entirely on a design by Steve Ramsey of “Woodworking for Mere Mortals”. You can see the original if you click here.

The only thing I changed was that I cut a bit of an angle from the ends of the maple pieces, rather than leave them just square and straight. The other thing I changed, somewhat reluctantly, is that I made the shallow holes for the candles a bit wider, because the “right-sized” holes seemed a bit unsafely undersized for these candles. The wood species used are maple and purpleheart.

This is a stand for the iPad2, made from Cherry. That is, the stand is made from cherry. Not the iPad.

I had previously made, and deployed, a very similar stand for the original iPad, but the iPad 2 has buttons on the side that made the old stand problematic. This new one addresses that by having a shorter support piece. The switch just hangs over empty space now.

The joinery is stop-routed mortises and offset tenons. Offset because I routed the mortises in the wrong place. But you’d never know that, so I’m not sure why I mention it.

The iPad belongs to my wife. Actually so does the stand, as soon as she pays me for the wood.

Lynda finally unearthed her upholstery stuff, and I found the hinges, and so the walnut footstool from a few months ago is now finished! I love it when a plan comes together, and before the New Year too.

see also:
Walnut Footstool – Dry Fit (posted June 23, 2010)

Merry Christmas! Here are a couple of Christmas presents I made, one for Lynda and one for myself. And stay tuned for a video that’s exactly as exciting as watching icicles hanging from a roof.

Continuing the octagon theme for our household, here is a small pot pourri holder I made for Lynda for Christmas.

From a design by The Wood Whisperer ( www.thewoodwhisperer.com) this is a small swiveling desk clock. The hardware is from Lee Valley Tools, the wood is Wenge and Curly Maple.

And now our main feature: colder but more exciting than watching grass grow, here are the icicles hanging from our roof, presented in vertically letter-boxed format because I’m an idiot and shot it in portrait orientation, requiring a trip into windows Movie Maker to rotate. Now I’ve got Movie Maker cooties all over me…

Craftsman-style Oak Book Shelves, originally uploaded by rgdaniel.

I made two more of these, this time actually paying attention to the length of the shelf, which I made too short in the earlier version. Although the short one looks great where it is, these would actually be too long. Context is everything, right?

Oak bookshelf, originally uploaded by rgdaniel.

Fun little oak bookshelf I made from some pretty nice quarter-sawn white oak… has some nice figure… simple double-boiled linseed oil finish…

I’ve spent some time updating the inventory on my Etsy store, which is now ready to roll with everything I have available for sale, including the recent Big Stripey Board! Lots of pens for the upcoming school and/or holiday seasons…

Click to visit my Etsy store!