Cookies anyone?

Latest from the woodshop—a pine and cedar cookie jar. Technically a prototype for different jar—which is why the lid handle is a bit off. But the finish came out quite well and I learned from it, so a success piece.

Oakey Dokey

Years ago I had an red oak tree taken out of the yard and I had requested that the arborist leave a slice for me. This is long before I held nary a chisel in my hand and at most was thinking I could build a tabletop from whatever they left for me. Well, their version of a slice was about 13 inches thick from the trunk, which was about 30 inches wide. It was so incredibly heavy it took a couple of us to prop it up on one side just so we could roll it into the garage. Not having the first clue what to do with the beast I left it in the garage, where it over the course of a year it dried and split severely. I borrowed a chainsaw and sectioned it into manageable wedges- most of which were about the 13 inches tall by 6-7 inches deep and wide. I placed some of the wedges around the house like doorstoppers and book case fillers. The rest I guess I gave away or trashed—I cannot remember.

Fast forward a few years and here I am, chisel in hand, looking for wood. So I collected the wedges—there were four—and took them into the woodshop. I must admit that these weren't easy to work with as the oak was very strong—but the wood itself is beautiful and I could not be happier with the results. Here are the four pieces to come out of that slice, all finished with nothing more than a wax and linseed oil slurry. All colors are as nature provided. Enjoy.

Here's some more detailed pics:

In the meantime...

So there's lots of stuff going on in the woodshop this month, and I'll have lots of things to show you very soon, but in the meantime, I thought I'd share something small. We had a very busy weekend and at one point the wife had to go to a dance recital (for our adorable niece), and while she was out The Son and I made something purposefully small to surprise her with. When she got home later that night she discovered what we had done and everyone had a good laugh and warm fuzzies. Here's what she found...