u/Frozen-Chips-401802

Made a second side grain blank yesterday, and ran it out into an end grain today. Black walnut, 15x25 cm or so, and plain mineral oil finish.

A couple of days in the making, this black walnut board came out pretty nicely after starting from scrap wood. It’s about 25x40cm, and probably 5cm or so thick. Simple 45 degree router on the edges, nice and clean. I’ve got a matching end grain one in the clamps setting up for tomorrow.

Learned from a friend I could use coffee / espresso grounds and CA to fill voids and have done it a few times. Not sure if others are using this method but figured I’d share some photos of a couple catalpa slabs I’m messing around with. It is NOT a food-safe solution, so I only use it on decorative stuff. The tinted CA I’m using here leaves a bit of shadow which sands out in the end.

First photo is the two cracks, one with espresso grounds packed into it and the other crack just as it was.

Second photo is after flooding the coffee-filled cracks with CA, dusting with more coffee and tamping it down. The coffee grounds expand a bit before the CA cures, which is handy for filling space.

Third photo is after a quick 100/220 sanding block session. You can see some remaining depth, so I’ll repeat the process a time or two.

Fourth photo is a 3-4cm knot and wider crack from the other side of the same piece that have been through 2-3 cycles of coffee/CA and hand sanding.

This can be done mid-turn, but I’m doing it here for practice before spinning them up into non-food-use square accent plates or trivets. I will probably have to repeat it while finishing, depending on what I find as they turn.

Black walnut & beeswax, forgot to account for the center ring. Been turning bowls, plates, platters, snowmen and all the rest, but never pens. Got a setup on sale and have to say I like it. Great way to use up my cutoffs!

Picked up a 2 meter (6’) catalpa slab on the cheap because it had some sizable splits and cracks. Not the hardest wood ever, but will be good light cutting, charcuterie or serving pieces. After 90 minutes of thinking and another 90 with the saw, I think I did OK working around them & the shop smells great. Roughed out 10 boards with at least one live edge on each. They’re 4cm (1 3/4”) thick, biggest 3 are about 30x45cm (12x18”). Looking forward to some peaceful planer and sanding days.

Bees like beeswax. Yep. You already knew this and so did I. That didn’t stop me from taking a nap in the sun after finishing a bowl w T&T and beeswax… and waking up to two bees crawling around my hand… and one of them stinging me when I jumped. So, yeah. Wash hands.

Obligatory photo of past work.

Has some soft spots, still came out nicely. Farmhouse ready!

Please ignore the temporary plywood cover in the photos. It’ll need cleanup and backer before the tile goes down.

We took out our chimney to open up the kitchen and it came out great - but I’m at a loss trying to find matching tile to fill the 2’x2’ spot where the chimney used to be. [We pulled the chimney so we could open the wall up and go from a 24” opening to a 60” opening between the kitchen and the dining room]

The original tile is a Lowe’s product, now out of stock (Style Selections Kaden Reclaimed 5x36). I’ve tried Arbor Home and Super Arbor but they were not able to source it for me. No dice on FB Marketplace or EBay either. I have 2-3 pieces from the original job I can use to clean up that little 2” stray corner or to stagger into the patch, but nowhere near enough to cover the whole space.

Looking for advice on:

1. trying to steal original tile from under the refrigerator or stove, having never done it and concerned I’d just shatter it in the process of trying to get it out.
2. if I use a different product entirely I’m looking for some suggestions. Grey square tile with a 1/2” separator from the old tile? Same style but purposefully a different color?

Advice appreciated.

Did the first two after work today. Cherry scrap and a stub of plum. It begins!

Quick accent dish, maybe ash. Simple profile, simple finish. Nice way to relax after work.

Opposite orientation from yesterday and a different profile. And bigger.

Barn find. Did a matching grain piece today, opposing grain tomorrow.

Even though my inside-out ornament was a total failure after four days of work, the redemption sidequest came through. A win is a win.

I added a stripe to a walnut bowl last week by layering a different colored wood into the blank, and it came out nice. So with little to no idea of what to expect, I tilted the stripe (is that the correct word?) on this next one. Mumbled chants and prayers to the Wood God are appreciated. We’ll see what tomorrow brings.

Spalted cherry log I had hoped to end turn an egg-shaped vase out of. But I got more “squash” than “egg” in the end. Still better than a day at work.

I had questions about the stripe in such a simple project! With the grain? Across the grain? Straight up/down? Canted 45 degrees? One stripe or two? If two, do I run them parallel, perpendicular, or at an angle to each other? Whew.

Went with one stripe, vertical, with the grain. Came out OK but for cutting it shy on one end so some glue shows, and my usual toolmarks battle. 7 out of 10, will make another one.