Jewellery Box from Canada

Robert from Canada sent me these pictures of his latest project a very nice jewellery box in Canadian white maple and figured walnut from a tree that blew down in Toronto.

He's planning on lining the box which would finish it off nicely.

Jewellery Box Finished

I managed to get round to finishing off the box with the mitred corners and dovetailed Dominoes.
See my first post here
http://davidbarronfurniture.blogspot.co.uk/2017/02/a-great-way-to-reinforce-mitred-corners.html

The tray is a piston fit and the protruding top has been shaped to give a soft close lid.
The little brown oak stand with the shaped feet adds a bit of interest (and time).
The lid opens exactly where the board transitions from the white to the olive coloured ash, which is nice. The floating panel in the lid is some tightly rippled ash, which is not properly visible (I must get better with my camera).
A full article including all the techniques used will be appearing in Furniture and Cabinetmaking magazine later in the year.
The box will also be on display (and for sale) at the Celebration of Craftsmanship exhibition in August http://www.celebrationofcraftsmanship.com/

Hand Made Cot

Mark sent me these pictures of a cot he has recently completed. It's well designed and attractive with a very useful drawer. It was made entirely by hand in an 8' x 6' workshop (garden shed) which is amazing. You can see more of the project on Mark's Blog
http://www.stochasticgeometry.ie/2017/02/26/drawering-to-a-close/

Matthew Burt Furniture on E Bay

These items from the famous Matthew Burt are currently active on E Bay. The last auction I saw his furniture in, fetched some very healthy prices. The oak garden table and benches looks to me like the best buy, a days work with a random orbit sander followed by a few coats of hard wax oil and you've have a superb garden set for £1,000. This would be a good future investment and certainly a lot less than the £12,000 they cost 15 years ago. You can see the listing here

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Matthew-Burt-bespoke-circular-garden-table-in-French-oak-with-curved-seating-/262863633036?hash=item3d33e4ba8c:g:CqgAAOSwfVpYrGXn

The same person also has this hall table and mirror, advertised in ash, but looks like sycamore to me.
This is definitely a marmite piece, but it would certainly make a splash in your hallway!
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Matthew-Burt-Hall-table-with-mirror-in-ash-/262867360794?hash=item3d341d9c1a:g:i~0AAOSw2gxYr0fE

The last one is a totally bespoke piece which is going to be much harder to sell, even though it cost more than £12,000 in 2009. This piece reminds me why I don't like making bespoke furniture. If the shelves could somehow be detached it would be a nice cabinet. Here's the link
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Unique-bespoke-Matthew-Burt-cabinet-in-european-walnut-with-curved-shelves-/262857639109?hash=item3d338944c5:g:tooAAOSw~AVYpuyU

Customer Projects

Here is a nice whiskey cabinet from Dale in Spain made from Mahogany. It was the first time he had used one of my dovetail guides and he is understandably pleased with the results. That looks like a two bottle cabinet with enough room for four glasses, very sociable!

Daniel from Ireland sent these pictures of boxes he made to house his tools. The first one is for his dovetailing equipment and the second is for his nice saws.
That reminds me I must sort out the storage for all my Japanese saws, since moving work shop and loosing wall space they are all laying together in a drawer, not good.

Hand Made Knives

A friend of mine sent me some pictures of some great looking knives that he purchased from a guy called Matt Cook. They are razor sharp and were very reasonably priced for a hand made tool.

If you are interested Matt can be contacted via Instagram
https://www.instagram.com/satansdogg/

Handworks Show May 2017, Not To Be Missed!

Handworks 2017 is only three months away, May 19th - 20th at Amana Colonies, near Cedar Rapids Iowa. It is the best hand tool woodworking show in the USA and not one to be missed, especially as it's been 2 years since the last one. Better still it's absolutely free.
http://handworks.co/
The queue in 2015 waiting for the doors to open on the fist day was huge, stretching all the way down the high street.

 Roy Underhill will be entertaining the crowds on the Saturday morning  and again entry is free, first come first served for the best view. He is a very funny man and a very knowledgeable woodworker.

Due to demand the show has expanded into five different halls with more demonstrators/ makers.

Jameel Abraham and his family have done all the organisation and their wonderful range of Benchcrafted  vices will all be there for you to try and buy. https://benchcrafted.com/

The event is more of a gathering of like minded tool makers, than a show. It is a non profit making event with all the participants promoting it via social media. As such it has a very friendly atmosphere with everyone freely sharing their tips, techniques and knowledge. It is also very hands on with lots of tools to try and buy.

Scott Meeks will have a full range of his excellent wooden planes.

Daed Toolworks showed a range of very tempting and beautifully made infill planes.

Konrad Sauer (Sauer and Steiner) will be making the trip down from Canada with his modern interpretation of infill design.

 .........and they don't come much sexier than this!

Blum Toolworks will have their unique planes on show.

 In addition to the show being free there are numerous excellent door prizes donated by many of the participants, all you have to do is register in advance http://handworks.co/
The Amana Colonies are a great attraction in their own right and well worth a days visit while you're there as well as entertaining other non woodworking members of you family who might want to make the trip.
Oh, and of course I nearly forgot, I'll be there demonstrating my range of dovetail guides, now stocked by Highland Woodworking. I may also have a few of my planes for sale.
Hope to see you there!