Happy Thanksgiving

Here is hoping you all had a nice Thanksgiving. In this space in time we all have to be thankful for a lot of things.

We celebrated the evening before we left with a family meal. It was a very memorious occasion for me and I was very glad to get on the road and headed back to my neck of the woods.

The holiday was spent on the road driving from Seattle, with a stop over in Spokane where I very much enjoyed a great Turkey dinner at a local Perkins. They actually gave me a senor discount for being old. How sad is that? Finally the gray hair paid off.

The following morning before leaving the big city was "BLACK FRIDAY", now how can you be in the big city and not partake a little bit in the fanfare? Which started at 4 AM, Without us.

Of course it goes without saying that Sears was my first stop and lo and behold they were not all out of door buster items. I was able to pick up some much needed additional clamps at 50% off. Of course we then had to walk through the large mall there to see what else we just couldn't leave with out and actually we both behaved quite well. That encounter with that many people in one place at one time was way too much for me.

After leaving there and on the way out of town the next stop was at my favorite Woodcraft store to look for bargains and pick up some needed router bits. As usual that is a dangerous store for me to be in, but luckily I was chaperoned by my lovely wife who did her best to keep me in line.

I was able to pick up some really nice African Mahogany for an upcoming project while we were in Seattle at my favorite lumber store. The choices there are really good and they went out of their way to be helpful as always.

The highlight for me of this whole trip there was time spent with my two grandsons and their families, Now it doesn't get any better than that!

Project updates will be posted soon...

Large Pizza Peel for Paizano's Pizza ships....

This peel ended up with a 24 inch long handle and a approximately 27 1/2 inch paddle. The box shipping weight on this creation topped the scales at around 22 pounds, however I am sure I over packed this peel to ensure that it arrived in one piece, a lot of that weight was packaging.
Soon this pizza peel will be holding the giant hand tossed 24 inch pizza's created by Paizano's Pizza. I can only imagine how tired one gets while handling a 24 inch pizza loaded with toppings. It will definitely create some upper body strength. Hopefully this larger peel will help balance the load and make it easier to handle. Someday I will make it by and to sample their fare.

This is a front view of the peel. Contrasting colors of birch were used to create the colors you see. Each peel colors come out different and you never know what that is going to be until you add the food grade mineral oil at the end.


This is the back of the Pizza peel, where the handle is twice as thick as the paddle to give some added resistance when it is loaded down.

Lake Wenatchee Cribbage Board Continued.....

I finished this crib board today and as you can see it came out nice. Because the base was a dark walnut the picture only gave us a silhouette of the mountain, trees and rocks, which I think give the board a nice feel and look, however it is not like the look we would have gotten on a lighter color wood.

The laser lettering was done by Blue Dragon LLC/ in Columbia Falls, Montana using a Epilog Laser.





Here is the photo we started with give you a better idea and perspective of the final product.

Lake Wenatchee Cribbage Board

Production is in the start up stages for a three person cribbage board.






It will have this photo and the words Lake Wenatchee lazered in the center.

This is the boards which will make up the board. The base will be made out of the darker walnut with two inlays of maple running parallel lengthwise, with the holes between the inlays.





Slot has been routered in board in preparation for the inlays.









Inlays being cut on table saw.











Inlays being run through planer to size them to fit the slots.







Inlays going into slot.









Inlays are in place, glued and clamped.









This is the board with the inlays glued in place and ready for sanding and shaping.

Once the board is completed I will rout on all four sides and create a slot on the back to hold the custom pegs.

To be continued....stay tuned!!!

Large Pizza Peel for Paizano's Pizza continues...

Work continues on this giant peel. Glue up went well and it is now being shaped and sanded and moving along quite nicely.

HAPPY VETERANS DAYS....

HAPPY VETERANS DAYS....

To all my brothers and sisters who are fellow Veterans and their families.....

I say THANK YOU !!!!

7th Annual Glacier Classic Arts & Crafts Fair

The results of this show are not completely in yet, however...Saturday was a good day... Sunday was a whole different story...we will see if the promised contacts come through.

Montana Cribbage Board

This latest cribbage board is created out of Oak and is approx 10 inches wide x 18 inches long. It is a three person board with a hand rubbed poly finish.

The laser lettering was done by Blue Dragon LLC/ in Columbia Falls, Montana using a Epilog Laser.
...read more...

7th Annual Glacier Classic Arts & Crafts Fair

Please join us for the 7th Annual Glacier Classic Arts & Crafts Fair in the Majestic Valley Arena


3630 Highway 93 North

Kalispell, Montana
Phone: 406-755-5366


Saturday, November 8, 10 AM to 6 PM
Sunday, November 9, 11 AM to 3 PM

Come and enjoy over 100 vendors from around the Pacific Northwest! You will find anything from jewelry, western wear, photography, fine art, pottery and wonderful foods to sample and purchase. Free to the public! Get your Christmas shopping done early!

Anyone bringing a copy of this post or telling us you read this post will receive a 20% discount on any purchase they make with Splinters Woodworks over $50.00.

We hope to see you there!

Large Pizza Peel for Paizano's Pizza continues...

This custom peel has now reached the glue up stage. Once the boards had been biscuited, the glue was applied and the clamp up process began. As you can see I have used several clamps. This is to ensure I get a good bonding of the edges, which creates a strong pizza peel. It will now be allowed to set overnight and checked in the morning. Once the clamps come off, I will begin the shaping process.


Side views

























Front view














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