Woodworking Celebration

There was a woodworking party/celebration after classes were over this past weekend, where everyone who wanted could show off their work - there were a few hundred people there, and a lot of people's work, which was awesome. It was a huge pot luck also, and raffle prizes were there too, so needless to say, it was pretty fun! 

workbench class projects

classy

small boxes and goblets

cool three level box

neato

deluxe tool box

classy coffee table

diy handplanes

maloof style chair

lamps and a sweet tool box!

another deluxe tool box by the same woman

"hot chocolate table" it said, instead of coffee table. i like that

favorite!

rattle, ice cream scoop, bottle opener

table in motion - this one got the most votes as the coolest, best work there

sweet coffee table - people were allowed to sell there stuff and price it, and I think this was marked as $3200

cool to see other materials used also

set of tables

spiffy chair

i like this one. simple and nice

chest/table

belongs in a fancy cabin?

raffle prizes

layout of stuff on table saws

everyone psyched

nice one

sweet maple on this nightstand-made by the same lady that did the deluxe tool boxes

another

bed frame

cool bowl

sample intro projects

more

pretty cool, but almost kinda gaudy

classy green and green dresser


                                           

up close on the joints

another cool dresser

not sure what this instrument is, but i think this was all recycled/scrap wood used

CNC machined guitars

artsy chairs..... it's probably hard to even tell what these are in this pic....

up closer to one

another angle... still confusing

still....



                                       
crazy detail on these

coooool

tons of food (a lot was already gone when i snapped this pic) and this was only one of two food tables, and then there was another dessert table....i binged.....

First morning with second wooden board

First day out on the new board the other morning - wasn't the best of waves, but I was antsy to get out there and get in the water and feel the board some. All in all, I caught three waves in about an hour - not that good of conditions, but they were fun rides, and I got to feel the smoothness of this guy - can't wait to get on some more :)

 Classic "on the beach, ready to go out and adventure" pic

 I like him

 It was gray, slightly windy, and I'm not gonna lie, not that good of waves...., but oh well

 Classic "smile after the first wave caught on your new board" pic

It floats! 

LA Arboretum

Bloom where you are plant, is one of my favorite sayings and that is exactly what we did today. LA has many things to offer but we have gotten a  bit lazy about seeking out new experiences. Since I moved here I've been wanting to check out the Arboretum, so we headed out that way today and it was a blast. The Arboretum was beautiful and to our pleasant surprise free on every third Tuesday of the month.

These guys are everywhere 

Matt's psyched

Selfies 

He just wants a hug...

"If you're not in photos, nobody will believe you were there"

Easy on the eyes 

Cacti flowers

Sun in my eyes 

New Surfboard and Bowl

I finished this natural-edge bowl I've been working on - pretty pumped on how it turned out! This is olive wood, and it smells super strong like green olives when working with it, almost annoyingly strong...This was a bit hard to work with and took quite a bit longer to turn as it's pretty hard wood, and it was pretty wet. It's been drying out in the fridge for a couple weeks now and I think it's good now.

I like it

Also, just yesterday, I finished my second wood board. I didn't write about this much on here, as I was just a bit busy/lazy to take the time to.here's some pics. I made this using the same construction method/process as the first one, but paid a bit more attention to wood patterns, glueing, and a couple other things.

 outside, bottom and rails finished, fin box supports in, and blending rails into the frames, about to install the top planks

closer

view of bottom planks. I paid a bit more attention to the grain patterns, and laid out various sequences of the planks before gluing them on. I match-booked, or mirrored planks by resawing/splicing the wood down the middle of it's thickness, and basically opening it up like a book then.The middle plank is not mirrored, but one piece is on the bottom of the board, and the other half of that board is on the top of the board, in the middle. The next two planks are from the same piece of wood. Then the next two planks are from the same piece of wood. I'm not explaining this well. Hopefully the pictures show it better.

 Skip a few steps, lots of sanding, fixing mistakes, glassing, sanding, hot coating, sanding, and hot coating, and voila, it's done! Top view. Middle strip is on both the bottom and top. Then match-booked boards on top also

 Bottom view. fin boxes ready for single, twin, or single plus side bite set up

 side profile view

 Close up of woodburnt decal on top of board. Similar to my last one, which was only the cross section of the wood, but this one with some water in it. As with all my boards, Mel was the art advice on this one and I like how it turned out!

 Signed, dated, and dimensioned

Working on a bike trailer

Trying to make a single wheel bike trailer from an old jogging stroller. pretty fun so far - hope this turns out good and not just a piece of crap. I can't weld so I'm trying to do this with nuts and bolts and connectors...

 stroller dissassembled and with the single wheel left in tact

 I'm using 1/2" conduit to make the support bars and additional structure of the trailer. Here I made a jig to be able to bend the conduit the same as the front of the stroller 

Grinding away on something. more pics soon