Kings Wild Project (Part 2)

The test medallion (not a Kings Wild Project medallion) arrived and I can continue building the Kings Wild Project card cases.

9 deck card case testing the fit of the medallion.

To inlay the medallion into the top of the case, I use a 2″ Forstner bit and the drill press. The medallion fits great and the medallion is a little bit proud of the case surface.

The three cases with the medallion insets and the corners rounded over.

After the medallion insets are done, I round over the top and bottom edges with a round over bit. The finger slots are then routed with a cove bit into the front so the case can be opened.

Cases with the finger slots cut.

Large case with the spacer in it to make it a 9 deck case.

I then glue in the spacer in that is needed to make the case hold 9 decks of cards. One deck will sit on top of the spacer for display.

Sanded and finish applied.

The cases are progressively sanded down to P220 grit and then the finish is applied. I’m using a Tung Oil/Varnish blend for the finish. It takes 4 coats to get the sheen I desire. The photo above is the first coat and hasn’t been wiped yet. I’ll show the final assembly and finish on the next post. Stay tuned.

Kings Wild Project (Part 1)

The other day I was contacted by Jackson Robinson of Kings Wild Project. He creates playing cards, but not just any regular old playing cards, he hand draws highly collectable playing cards. He wants cases for his cards and Bark Up A Tree Woodworks was selected to make them.

Jackson wants three sizes of cases, 9 deck, double deck and single deck. They are a clam shell style with magnets and barrel hinges. The wood decided on is Wenge (from Central Africa). I am going to show the process I’m using to build the cases.

Card case Wenge rough stock, jigs and wood cut and surfaced, ready to go.

The Wenge lumber I get is in rough form. First thing I do is plane the board down to thickness close to final thickness. After planing I send the stock through a drum sander to final thickness. The wood is then cut  to final dimensions.

Card case jig and Wenge stock with layout lines on it.

Card case jig and Wenge stock in the jig.

I make jigs out of MDF. The jigs are used to hollow out the cavities that the deck of cards will fit into. It takes two jigs for each size of case. I cut a hole in a sheet of MDF the dimensions I need the cavity to be. I then align the a set of MDF strips to hold the sides of the cases in place for layout and routing out the cavities.

Removing waste from the card deck cavity with the drill press and a Forstner bit.

Using the layout lines from the jig, I set up a fence on the drill press as a guide. I use a Forstner bit to remove the wood to start to form the deck cavity. It is faster to remove the waste wood with this method. I do this for both edges of the cavity. 

The 3 different card cases with the waste stock removed by the drill press.

One half of the card case in the jig and the other half after the first cut jig.

I then use the router with pattern bits and the first cut jig which has a slightly smaller opening than the final cut jig. The reason to use two jigs is to eliminate a fuzzy line that occurs when using the two different bits. First bit takes a shallow cut evening out the edge of the case while bearing guide follows the jig. I then follow that with a longer patterning bit to get most of the way to final cavity dimension.

All the cases with the cavities at final dimensions.

The last step is to use the longer patterning bit one more time with the final dimension jig.

A case half with the holes for the magnets and hinges.

I then drill the holes for the hinges and the magnets. This is where we’re at right now. I need to get a medallion for a template before on in the process. I’ll come out with Part 2 when we get them finished.

Sean

Two Years in the Making

This Imbuya grain looks like the bottom of a stream to me.

Funny how things go, the inspiration for this cribbage board was a photo on a calendar in a restroom at a lumber yard/shed. The photo on that calender was of a run of Sockeye Salmon turning the stream a gorgeous red hue with the color of their bodies getting ready to spawn. It took me two years of that photo rattling around in my head to finally get a cribbage board made from that one image.

The Sockeye Salmon are inlayed with three different species of wood. The bodies and fins are made from Chakte-kok or Redheart. The heads are Vera. The lips are of Ebony. The base wood is a piece of Imbuya that when I saw it, the grain reminded me of a stream bottom. I did the dorsal fins, adipose fins and tails by using Medium CA and Chakte-kok sapwood dust and filling the area that was to small for a piece of wood.

Close up of the Sockeye Salmon inlay.

I still have some of that Imbuya board left. I have enough Imbuya to make a couple standard Cribbage boards and one tournament board like the one above. I think I’m keeping this one for my personal board for now.

Sean

Why Didn’t I Think of That?

Pegs & Jokers Game Set with 8 Different Woods

My customers are the greatest. They are always coming up with such awesome ideas. The latest thing is customized Pegs & Jokers Game Sets.

Game Set with Pairs of Boards for Partner Play

I normally build game sets only using one species of wood for all boards in the set. Customers have recently requested that I build them custom sets with multiple woods in a set. Some sets have contained up to 8 different woods in one game set. Game sets can also have pairs of boards so when playing partners, the partners can have the same wood. It is great when customers come up with a new twist on an idea.

Aren’t There Eight Drawers?

Shedua & Wenge 7 Drawer Jewelry Chest.

I haven’t blogged anything for a while. Christmas season is now over and it is time to come up for some air.

I built this jewelry chest to the specifications of a client. This chest looks like it has 8 drawers but it only has 7 drawers. The bottom drawer is double deep and has a faux break so it looks continuous with 8 drawers.

Detail showing how the "Eighth Drawer" was acomplished.

The primary woods are Shedua and Wenge with drawers being Hard Maple. Drawer #1 (top) has two open areas with ring rolls in the middle. Drawers #2 – #5 have have dividers that are configurable, they have 80 compartments per drawer if left as is. Drawers #6 & #7 have friction dividers, the dividers slide in a slot on the front and back and are held in place with simple friction.

Tale of a Jewelry Chest (Part 2)

Well the wood has acclimated to the shop and it is time to build the jewelry chest. This chest will be constructed of Shedua and Wenge.

Shedua Lumber being planed.

I first cut the planks to rough length dimensions and then plane the rough lumber to approximate thickness with the planer. I like the lumber to be 1/16″ thicker before I glue together planks to make them wider. The 1/16″ gives me enough stock so I can run the parts through a drum sander to final thickness. Before I glue the wood together, I match the grain and color where the glue joint will be so it will be almost invisible.

Matching the grain for almost invisible glue joints.

The grain is matched! Almost invisible line.

After the sides are glued together, I run them though the drum sander to final thickness with 22o grit sandpaper on the drum. I then cut the sides and back to final dimensions. The bottom and top dadoes are next. The top dado joint is for attaching the top with wooden “buttons” so the top can expand and contract with out constriction other than stay attached to the chest.

Sides and back almost ready for the legs.

The next step is to cut slots for biscuits into the ends of the sides and back. The biscuits are used to join the sides and back to the legs. I now cut more dadoes for the drawer runners in the sides. The drawer runners will be glued into these dadoes. At this point I also drill shallow holes in the inside of the back that will hold washers for the drawer magnets to draw to.

Well that’s where we’re at for now on the project. I will have more updates very soon.

Sean

Life is Good Enough

Tale of a Jewelry Chest

I’m starting to build another custom jewelry chest.  This time I figured I’d share the process of how I build them. This chest will be built out of Shedua and Wenge.  Both woods are from Africa.  Most of the body will be built out of the Shedua, which has a golden hue with black streaks in it.  The Wenge, which is chocolate brown in color (also smells like chocolate when working it), will be used for the legs.

Shedua and Wenge Lumber ready to be unloaded.

The Shedua boards I got for this chest have some wonderful grain patterns and they look like they could all be from the same tree. I will let this lumber acclimate in the shop and then proceed with building the chest.

Coping With My Duck Hunting Addiction

Duck season is closed, bummer for me. I could just be depressed and mope but I figured out a really constructive, uplifting way to dwell on waterfowl. At the suggestion of my hunting partners son, I am starting to make waterfowl calls.

Batch of Pintail/Widgeon/Wood Duck Whistles

I haven’t used my lathe in years. Last time I tried using it I just chunked up a bunch of wood for the burn pile. We definitly had a lot of wood for the campfire. I was totally frustrated and moved on to make other things that didn’t involve any lathe work.

 

Woods Used on These Calls - Back Row (L-R) Zebrawood, Jatoba - Front Row (L-R) Curly Soft Maple, Tennessee Red Cedar, Roasted Curly Soft Maple, Monkeywood, Bloodwood, Wenge, Spalted Hard Maple

Since my hunting partner’s son put the bug in my ear, I figured I would give the lathe another try. I have been pleasantly surprised how well I have done. I started out making Pintail/Widgeon whistles. I took my time on the first couple of calls (maybe because I’m getting older and a little more patient, LOL). After awhile, the turning started to become easier (still not easy). I turned out a few whistles, learned how to tune them and use them. The finish I use is cyanoacrylate glue (super glue) with an accelerator between coats. I use a minimum of 10 coats on each call. After the finish is applied, I sand the call to 12,000 grit and then buff with plastic polish. The results are amazing.

Mancala Boards in the Works

Mancala Board open and ready for play.

I have finally come up with a Mancala Board design that I really like. The board has a layered look to it. The playing pieces are pebbles I collected from gold mine tailing that were dredged from a creek in the 1800’s. The pebbles range from green to orange in color and some have some marbling.

Close-Up of pebbles

I laminated two planks if contrasting wood together, in this case Black Walnut and Curly Soft Maple. The playing side of the board is the dark Black Walnut and the bottom of the cups show the contrasting Maple. The board folds for storage and held shut by rare earth magnets. It comes with a cloth bag to protect it in your travels. I will probably have them in the online stores in a few weeks.

Mancala Board folded shut and ready for travel

Have a great week and remember Life is Good Enough!!!

Hopefully getting caught up

A few of the Pegs & Jokers Game Sets sanded and ready for finish.

Been really busy around the shop here. I’m still trying to get caught up from Christmas. I’m really close to getting a few things that are missing on my website shop and in my online shops replenished. I’ll have most of my wood selections for the Pegs & Jokers Game Sets back and ready to go. I will also have more of the  Dual Deck Cribbage Boards ready next week.

Wenge & Hard Maple Custom Jewelry Chest

 

Drawer for Ear Plugs

Ear Plug Drawer Showing Acrylic Holder

I just finished another Custom Jewelry Chest for an online client.This chest is constructed of Wenge and Hard Maple. Her needs were for storage for her many sets of ear plugs. The 3 drawers for the ear plugs hold a combined 120 pairs. The holders are made of clear acrylic and rest on Hard Maple runners. The fourth drawer has Maple dividers for storing other jewelry pieces. All the drawer interiors are lined with black micro-suede. The drawers are held in the case with rare earth magnets on the back of the drawers. The magnets are for just in case the chest gets tipped or while moving it, the drawers will not come tumbling out.

I’m currently building another Custom Jewelry Chest with 5 Drawers and will post pictures for it next week. Have a great week and Life is Good Enough!!!