Seattle travels once again...

Greetings from the beautiful Pacific Northwest.....I wish this trip was of a more enjoyable nature, but unfortunately it is not. We have spent much time at Swedish Hospital where FIL is being treated for cancer. We know that it is part of lifes adventure and that none of us make it out of here alive, however that doesnt make any of this any easier. I will update post later...

Sept 02 2008.....Sorry for the late posting....FIL passed away last Friday morning and it has been very crazy here in Seattle. Current plans are to head back toward Montana this weekend and try and get back into the shop and finish pending orders and start on new orders. Please be patient with us during this period of our lives. Thanks for all the positive support I have received.......

Sawdust and Splinters flying in the Air

July and August have been extremely busy here in the shop with attending markets, shows and processing orders. Of course that means lots of projects. I plan to add photos and stories soon.

Want to order a 28 inch pizza?

This is the finished 28 inch x 28 inch pizza peel with a 20 inch handle. It was made out of birch and had a mahogany backing to strengthen the handle. It was shipped to a new pizzeria in Florida.

Pizza peels ship......next?

The Illinois pizza peel order is on its way....now on to the next in line




This giant peel is in progress to be shipped to Florida...It is a little bit bigger to say the least. It has a 28 inch x 28 inch paddle with a 24 inch handle.



It will take a strong person to pick this up loaded with a pizza. This had to have a reenforced handle because of the size. This photo shows the backing being clamped.

Pizza Peels are making me hungry!!!

Getting close to finishing up the order of six peels this week and shipping them off to Illinois. Knowing that there will soon be some awesome pizza's created on these peels are making me hungry.

These peels have 18 inch x 18 inch paddle with a 7 inch handle. I made these peels out of birch also, but also have one glued up out of maple to compare.

It is a fun and rewarding process to choose the wood patterns and then working them into size and shape. Once complete the peels will be oiled with a food grade mineral oil and they are ready to use.





I have another order in progress to be shipped to Florida...It is a little bit bigger to say the least. It has a 28 inch x 28 inch paddle with a 24 inch handle. More to follow on this super peel.
This peel is made out of birch and is shaping up nicely.


It will take a strong person to pick this up loaded with a pizza.

Come to the West Glacier Farmers Market!!!

We are very excited to begin this new evening of fun for Glacier National Park visitors and all local community members.

This community event offers a variety of baked goods, fresh produce, and arts and crafts from local vendors.

There will be music and plenty of fun! Come enjoy some of the local talent and check out the market, grab a bite to eat and make an evening of it.

The West Glacier Bar is right across the street and is always a great spot to pick up a cold one on a hot Montana evening.


The market will be held in the parking lot between The Glacier Raft Company and the Alberta Visitor Center.

Please join us from 5-7PM every Friday this summer!

June 9, 2008

Apgar Lookout with view of Lake McDonald

Greetings....Just a quick post this morning as I have glue drying in the shop...work is progressing on the custom pizza peels that I talked about last time...Also am finishing up a large Cherry three person cribbage board, which will be delivered this week...

It has been a busy time in beautiful Northwest Montana...The Kalispell Farmer Market on Saturday was a cool damp but productive day....Lots of people out even though it rained on and off all morning....The sun is currently shining, however the weather forecast is for rain/snow, cold all week. This is actually a good thing as long as it doesnt turn very hot very quick...I will take continuious days of rain to never have to breath the smoke of a forest fire again....

Back to work here...will post more later with photos....

Pizza Peels for new pizzeria in Roselle, IL

This is one of the latest project being worked on here in the shop. It is the first of six custom pizza peels for a new pizza place in Illinois.

It was created by gluing up 1/2 inch thick pieces of birch creating a 18 inch square paddle and a seven inch handle. The joints were glued together using wooden biscuits to give a stronger joint. Birch was chosen because it is a lighter weight wood and has worked well in previous projects.






This is the peel being glued and clamped





This is a bit hard to see but it is the business end of the bevel. The edges are 1/2 inch thick on both sides with the center beveled down to about 1/8 of a inch.





After sanding the custom bevel grove which runs about the last 8 inches of the board in a triangle shape. The bevel which is deeper near the end is to allow the easy transfer of the pizza onto the cooking surface of the oven. Once all the sanding and shaping was done I cleaned and applied a food grade mineral oil to protect the surface and preserve the wood.

Deschutes Brewery Cribbage Boards....etc

The second Deschutes Cribbage Boards order has been completed and is on its way. They really turned out nice, and unfortunately I forgot to take photos as I was too focused to get them shipped.

Next pending orders of business are:

Six customized pizza peels for a client in Illinois,

This is the prototype of the first one glued and in clamp. It is being made out of birch and will be 18 inches x 18 inches with a 7 inch handle.





Three large cribbage boards for individual for a farmers market clients. This is the top and the bottom of one of them while being sanded and before the hinges are put on, and the finish applied.

Custom Blue Board cribbage board in shape of a bass for a farmers market client,
Custom walnut box,
Custom Walnut kitchen table.

I hope to post photos and progress of the pizza peel and large cribbage board later tonight. Oh and also during all that process I have to create more stock for upcoming markets/shows. Guess I better head back to the shop and get busy. Will be another long night...but I am having fun...

Whitefish Farmers Market

Tonight is the first night of the 2008 season at the Whitefish, Montana Farmer Market. This is always a fun good show with food, music, various venders and lots of people. Hopefully it will be a profitable sales generating evening..........Well...the Whitefish Market first night was cool and disappointing....hope it not a sign of the season to come...




Current orders are processing quite well. The Deschutes cribbage boards have all been cut out, lasered, sanded, and the first two coats of poly are currently drying. Once that is done we will put another coat on and drill the track. They are coming out very nice and should be ready to ship by the end of the week barring any surprises.


Worked on temporarily expanding the current shop..so now we have a separate area to apply finishs. Before when I did the finishing I had to stop in the creating area...because of the sawdust created. Now I can isolate the finishing and keep on producing in the shop area.. Once the new shop is completed,...{he says daydreaming}.... there will be a separate area for each function.....This is a short term fix