All About Pocket Knives

Finished my first project on my newly restored lathe. I made a shop mallet for a good friend. He had a mesquite tree that died in his front yard, and I went over and helped him cut it up. I took some of the wood to make him this mallet. It had an occlusion in it, so I put a little turquoise powder in it to bling it up a little, and installed a piece of leather on one face. I finished it with 3 coats of tung oil and then a coat of Johnson's paste wax.

That is very impressive..........I wish I were your good friend! kidding aside, a beautiful piece of work!

Unk wrote: ↑Thu Nov 02, 2023 7:37 pm Finished my first project on my newly restored lathe. I made a shop mallet for a good friend. He had a mesquite tree that died in his front yard, and I went over and helped him cut it up. I took some of the wood to make him this mallet. It had an occlusion in it, so I put a little turquoise powder in it to bling it up a little, and installed a piece of leather on one face. I finished it with 3 coats of tung oil and then a coat of Johnson's paste wax.

Really nice work!!!

Looks great! Nice Job!

Thanks guys. I really like turning mesquite. It has a very nice grain to it.

My daughter drew this 30" x 40" picture a couple of years ago, and my wife has been wanting me to make a frame for it. I used some left over cedar from the patio build from a few years ago. At first glance it looks easy - just glue 4 pieces of wood together. But I had to use the bandsaw to re-saw the 2 inch thick wood down to one inch boards, then cut each one to width on the table saw, then run them through the planer to get them the correct thickness, then cut each one to the correct length. Then I made some half-lap joints using a chisel, backsaw, and then the last cut with the bandsaw. Then routed a rabbet around the inside edge, and cut a backer board out of some old 1/4" plywood. Glued it up, and then finished up with 3 coats of Tung oil. It took me a while to make this "simple" project.

She is happy with it, but doesn't know where she wants to hang it yet.

Beautiful work and your daughter is very talented!

Pretty wood, work and picture

Thank you, Gents.

Well, after restoring my workbench a couple of years ago, I finally got the nerve to drill a bunch of holes in it this weekend. This box of bench dogs has been sitting on my other workbench for a year or so, patiently waiting for me to gather my nerve.

Now that I have done it, I think I am going to like it. I test drove a few different sized boards, from a couple of inches to 12 inches wide, and I was able to clamp them all down tightly. I can drill more holes as needed if I work with larger boards. I even bought some (almost) flush mount plastic plugs to keep sawdust and small parts out of the holes when I am not using the dogs.

Great job Mike. Those look useful.

Nice work on those bench dogs!

You're going to be so glad you did that.
Very nice work, Mike.

Thanks guys. I think these will be handy to have on the bench.

My daughter and SIL moved into a house a few months ago, and wanted a barn door to cover up a nook in their living room. She drew out some sketches and I made her a couple of doors to spec. It was originally supposed to be a bi-fold door, but she and her husband kept having issues with the hardware. They finally converted the door to a sliding door, and were able to get it working correctly. She then she slapped some paint and a handle on it. She's happy with it now.

Looks good.

Looks great, Unk!
I've always like those sliding barn doors. Rustic.

Thanks guys.

My daughter is due in a couple of weeks - this will be our first grandchild. Needless to say we are very excited. She asked me to cut out some letters of his name (first and middle name). She drew them up on paper, and I used adhesive spray to stick the letters to the wood, then cut out on the bandsaw and scroll saw. She's going to paint them and put them up in his nursery.

Unk wrote: ↑Wed Oct 23, 2024 3:57 pm Thanks guys.

My daughter is due in a couple of weeks - this will be our first grandchild. Needless to say we are very excited. She asked me to cut out some letters of his name (first and middle name). She drew them up on paper, and I used adhesive spray to stick the letters to the wood, then cut out on the bandsaw and scroll saw. She's going to paint them and put them up in his nursery.

I love it! I know you can't wait to meet him!

Reverand wrote: ↑Thu Oct 24, 2024 12:40 am

Unk wrote: ↑Wed Oct 23, 2024 3:57 pm Thanks guys.

My daughter is due in a couple of weeks - this will be our first grandchild. Needless to say we are very excited. She asked me to cut out some letters of his name (first and middle name). She drew them up on paper, and I used adhesive spray to stick the letters to the wood, then cut out on the bandsaw and scroll saw. She's going to paint them and put them up in his nursery.

I love it! I know you can't wait to meet him!

Thanks Reverend! Yes, we can't wait. My daughter got the letters painted and hung up on the wall.

Unk wrote: ↑Mon Oct 28, 2024 3:52 am

Reverand wrote: ↑Thu Oct 24, 2024 12:40 am

Unk wrote: ↑Wed Oct 23, 2024 3:57 pm Thanks guys.

My daughter is due in a couple of weeks - this will be our first grandchild. Needless to say we are very excited. She asked me to cut out some letters of his name (first and middle name). She drew them up on paper, and I used adhesive spray to stick the letters to the wood, then cut out on the bandsaw and scroll saw. She's going to paint them and put them up in his nursery.

I love it! I know you can't wait to meet him!

Thanks Reverend! Yes, we can't wait. My daughter got the letters painted and hung up on the wall.

Sweet.

Wow, those are great!

Cool

Lots of real nice stuff being made here!!! I’m a rank amateur, but I sure like making big sticks into little sticks!

Here is what has been keeping my busy of late, my first proper wood working bench. 98% made with hand tools. I did rip and thickness the aprons with a power planer and table saw. All other cuts and such with my old tools.

8’ long, 38” high. Legs are 3 3/4”x 4” with 2” thick rails mortised and tenoned and draw bore pegged. The aprons are 12 1/2” wide and 1 5/8” thick and the tops are 3” thick x 12” wide with a tool well in the middle.

I did have to make the bottom tenon a rounded through tenon like in old arts and crafts furniture. Even a work bench needs some style.

Now I just need to add the vises.

That's a fancy work bench, nice work!