Always being a bit of a hobbyist, woodworking was just calling my name. I just needed the right set of circumstances to get me started. I started a new job 2 1/2 years ago, and met a coworker, John, who had noticed my Family Handyman magazines. He informed me he was an avid woodworker. I showed him a drawing of a wine cabinet I wanted to make with a beautiful tile inlay on top. He got very excited and offered to teach me in his shop. I was stoked–this project was going to be amazing! With John’s experience and my desire to learn, he taught me everything he knew about woodworking from the necessary shop rules and practicum to the very important notion that, “a clean shop is a happy shop.” Within a year, the wine cabinet I had envisioned with Canarywood wine rungs and a stained pine base was completed and I was hooked! To thank him properly I knew my gift had to be crafted from wood using my new set of skills.

As I was still very much a beginner, I decided a cutting board would be suitable as it is the undisputed beginner project. However, after seeing Marc’s leaf inlay, I had an idea. John was a bonafide “Dead Head.” I knew there could be no better gift-–a Grateful Dead inlayed cutting board would be perfect. Practical? Not really, but awesome?…YES! So I used the router based inlay technique and a combination of Oak, Cherry, Walnut, and Purpleheart inlay material approximately an 1/8th of an inch thick. Patiently I began working from right to left. In hindsight, I might choose to work from outside to inside in the future, as I feel it might have been a smoother transition between inlay pieces. The ultimate key however, was patience. At 27 years old, its a virtue I’m still trying to master. I finished with multiple coats of a thinned out salad bowl finish which worked great. Since I was working out of my apartment in winter, this project was rather challenging largely from a cleanliness perspective. Routing anything in an apartment is ill-advised, but I don’t regret it. I spent about as much time creating this piece as I did cleaning up. Overall, it was a successful adventure and well worth the effort when I delivered it for Christmas.

I saw a video on how to make a bowl with a router. A lot of wood was wasted. I decided to try making the same bowl out of 1 X 2 boards using corner halving joints routing out a lot less material. First I made a square bowl, then a rectangle, then the major challenge of the hexagon bowl. I bought a Powermatic band saw to cut the joints. This six sided wood bowl is made from Walnut, Oak, Maple and Aspen wood. On the six corners of the bowl you will see the beautiful end grain of each of these different woods. The top is Walnut. The rest is laid out in a pattern that climbs around the bowl. The bowl stands 3 1/2 inches high and 9 1/2 inches from point to point of the hexagon. Four different jigs where made to make this bowl. The most extensive jig is pictured. Each corner halving joint had to be cut perfectly and each board had to be the exact same depth to make this bowl fit together perfectly. I dry fitted the bowl together as seen in the jig numbering each board. I checked each joint for fit and made adjustments if needed. This is one of the many steps needed to make this bowl.