45 minute kayak paddle We recently moved to within a quarter mile of a public boat launch, so I ordered an inflatable kayak. I have to tested it yet, but I know that the 3-year old will want her own paddle. I took a cedar fence picket and some round paint cans. I used the cans to mark some… Read More
Friction folder knives I recently finished the second of two friction folder knives that I’ve been working on. They started as 1095 high-carbon steel blanks that I cut out with a jigsaw. I ground them on a belt sander with ceramic belts, then heat treated them. Here’s the batch right after hardening. After hardening, I tempered them in… Read More
Battery powered speaker We’ve all seen (and heard) the battery bluetooth speakers. I wanted to make one that was still portable, but a bit more serious. Here’s my drill-battery powered speaker. It all started with the drill battery. It’s just sitting there, high-powered and easy to recharge. I found a thingiverse file that fit my ryobi battery. I… Read More
The five board bench I visited my brother over the break. He, having recently moved, had only 2 chairs. So while the girls went out on the town, we trekked to the Home Depot and bought enough white pine for some benches. This is what the big bench looks like. We started by measuring the chairs he already had.… Read More
Turned and carved cherry cup Last night I wanted to make knives, but my belt sander is too loud. Instead I made this. It is a turned and carved cup in pincherry. This is my second cup ever and I must say it turned out better than the last one. An important focus for me here was to make the… Read More
A 3D printed gaming keyboard I built a one handed keyboard last year and it got me hooked. This week I finished my third keyboard build: I’ve been using may handmade split planck for a while now, and I love it. It is fast and efficient and a joy to use. However, it is not awesome for games. The lack… Read More
Why would you make that? We live in a world of stainless steel spoons. They are perfectly stamped, easy to clean, and easy to use. Like any good tool you forget your spoon in favor of your soup (or ice cream, if you prefer). So why am I carving spoons? Here’s the thing, most of the spoons in the world… Read More
Traveler’s notebook I recently made my first traveler’s notebook. These are sometimes called ‘midori notebooks’ but I think that’s a trademarked name. The main component here is the leather cover. The idea is that you create a leather wrap with elastic cord, so you can add and replace individual signatures. This one is made of bison leather… Read More
Fancy shortlinks My most recent project is a bit more difficult to show. Instead of using steel tools to make wood a different shape, this one is all in bits and bytes. I wanted a simpler way to share links to this blog, so I bought another domain (I know, this hobby is getting expensive). After much… Read More
Frankenstein’s password generator Do you remember this xkcd password comic? Well I love it. This is such a good idea that I wrote a script to do this. Disclaimer: I am no security expert; I am just a nerd. Do your own research and make your own decisions. This info is provided for entertainment only. If you choose… Read More