I have been remiss in posting for the last couple of weeks – my J-O-B has been sort of nuts and I have been trying to stay on top of things and stay employed 🙂 I have been putting around in the shop here and there at night before and after dinner though.  Recently I have completed:

1. A salt cellar for my wife made from scrap red and white oak because I was tired of seeing the IKEA glass dish on the table.
2. A jar lid or two for the kitchen.
3. There have been a couple of honey dippers for turned gifts.
4. Specifically for my wife, I made rolling pins for fettuccine and ravioli pasta (or pie crust if my sweet bride happened to want to bake me a lattice top apple pie…)  We had a friend who is a food blogger come over that LOVED them and I think that I am going to do one or two for her as well.
5. I added some wood-bling to a plunger handle – Why have mass-produced stuff sitting around like everyone else when 8 minutes of lathe time and a little oil/wax turns the mundane into the custom.
6. A glass bottle cutter so I can take the pile of bottles we generate and make candle covers, tumblers, and glass funnels for my wife and for Christmas gifts.  It was a non-specific request from her that has won me brownie-points.
7. A book shelf made from a small 1931 cast-iron lathe and a hunk of reclaimed barn/house beam from here in France.  I cleaned both the beam and lathe up a little, added a little stain to the wood, light sanding, and a coat of poly.  I mortised in a couple of reclaimed oak runners to serve as feet and the keep the ends of the beam from splitting.  The lathe was then bolted down and I added one of my bowls to give the books a proper purchase.  The tool rest is turned and mounted on the other side to keep the books upright.  I think it looks awesome and everyone who have come over in the last month has either asked where I got it of how I thought of it.  Make my ego swell a bit….