Splinters Woodworks

Thursday, August 6, 2009

Custom boxes........Shelf....other shop activities

My favorite sanding elf, quality assurance inspector and best friend diligently at work..... keeping me in line on the quality of the finished products.
Here she is scrutinizing items for an up coming show and sending back a couple of boards to be reworked.

This is the first set of two custom birch boxes being created for a client in Maryland.

This custom corner shelf is on its way to a client in Washington State. to being installed to hold trophy's as well as other personal items .

Different view....

This is a stack of fish cutouts which will become cribbage boards. Currently we have trout and Walleye fish types.

Here we have a variety of different projects being worked on.

This one thinks she is the queen and controller of the Splinters household.....she insisted that I put her photo up of her favorite morning spot...

More on up coming projects soon as well as photos of the Huckleberry art show..

Wednesday, July 22, 2009

and the beat goes on.......

Tuesday, July 7, 2009

Travel Size Cribbage board..........

After many requests for me to produce a travel size cribbage board that will fold up and be easy to carry, we are getting closer to offering these for sale. It is only in prototype stages currently, but will be available very soon. If you would like one of the first set I finish please send me an email or leave a comment to let me know, or both.

Here is a preview of the process:

As always we start with a rough piece of wood cut close to the finished size we want, allowing for sanding.

In this project the flat piece of wood will be around 11 3/8 inches long, 3 5/8 inches wide and roughly 1 inch thick.

This board is made out of pine, but can be made out of any type wood you prefer.

The pocket for the cards is routed out, as well as a slot for the custom cribbage pegs.

The center between the two pockets is measured and marked and becomes the spot where I make the center cut.

Here the hinges have just been put on.

This shows the board with the hinges put on and a deck of cards inserted in the inside pocket.

This is the playing side of the board. It is a 2 person board, with scoring tracks in the center of each side.

Here is the board in its folded state. It will be around 3 5/8 inches wide, 5 5/8 inches long and 1 1/2 inches thick.

The plan is to do some sort of inlay or laser engraving on some of these boards.

Also still working on the methods available to keep the two sides closed when not being used.

2009 Summer Montana Farmers Markets hit full swing.....

The summer market season is once again upon us featuring lots of area artists displaying there crafts and artwork, not to mention lots of food and wonderful fresh vegetables.

Sorry I haven't made regular posts on here.. Most days I meet myself coming and going... I am still working on website orders and trying to document them, However...for some reason they don't seem to make it on here in a timely manner.

I will strive to do a better job. : - )

This is a photo taken at the Columbia Falls, Montana Farmers Market, held on Thursday evenings 5:00-7:30 PM.
This is the second year for this market and has moved to its new location in the new Discovery Center lawn.

This is a photo taken at the West Glacier, Montana Farmers Market, held on Friday evenings 4:30-6:30 PM.
This is the second year for this market and has now relocated across the street to a larger parking lot and much nicer area to set up in.

This is the Kalispell, Montana Farmers Market. It is setup in the Center Mall parking lot on Saturday mornings from 9:00 Am to 12:30 PM.

Friday, June 19, 2009

Custom Walnut w/maple inlaid strips cribbage board.....

This four person cribbage board was created for a client as a present for their brother.
The white strips are inlayed pieces of maple into the main board of walnut. It was 18 inches long and 10 inches wide.
The firefighter helmet and the inscription were lasered into the wood.

This is the peg storage slot routered into the back of the board, along with some personalized lasering.

An enlargement of the lasering done on the back.

Here I have glued the maple strips into the slots that were routered into the walnut.

Clamps have come off and the surface is being prepared for drilling and lasering.

This is the photo we started out with to create the logo on the front of the board. The helmet number was added to add a personal touch.

Tuesday, June 9, 2009

Custom inlayed cribbage board

Here is the near to being finished project.... It will be personalized with an inscription on the back.

Here is the photo i was sent to try this project. The request for this board allowed me to take on a challenge I had not previously tried. That is the inlay of an image using cut out pieces of wood. As you can see the process is coming along well.

It is being created out of maple with the inlays being cut out of walnut. Once the inlays are completed the track will be laid out and drilled. There will be a keyhole on the back for displaying the board when not being played.

More Custom Cribbage boards......being created....

These custom boards are destined to a serious cribbage playing family in Kansas. This board was created out of a nicely figured piece of hard maple. The logo in the upper right corner was lasered in using an Epilog laser which creates a very sharp image from a photo.

This board was created out of a nice piece of cherry. The letters in the lower left corner were also lasered in and then I cut the profile of the letters out to create a distinctive edge and a unique board.

Updated photos will be provided soon.

Two Giant Pizza Peels being created for Villa Victoria Pizzeria in New Jersey

Here are two more giant pizza peels being created for Villa Victoria Pizzeria in Montclair, New Jersey.

They are being made out of birch and have a 24 inch paddle with an 18 inch handle.
Creating the wide paddles is done by laminating boards together using wood biscuits to strengthen the edge joints. It is a time consuming process, but well worth it with the added strength that is received.

The gluing process has been completed and the cut to the basic shape. For added strength I always laminate a back board to the handle and the peel.

These peels will soon be handling the large 24 inch pizzas being created by Villa Victoria.

Now the sanding and shaping of the handle, peels and edges begins.

Monday, June 8, 2009

Glacier Park Legend "Ranger Doug" honored......

for over 50 years was honored by his family, peers and friends last night at a celebration held at the West Glacier community center. The building was filled to overflowing with family, friends and coworkers. All there shared in a potluck dinner and their experiences with Doug.

The stories, tales, and poems told and read about/or by this gentle man demonstrated how Doug has enhanced the experiences received by the 1000's of visitors, not to mention all the employees, he has come in contact with over the years. Once everyone got to speak that wanted to, we were honored to have Ranger Doug share his feelings and humor.
Many groups and individuals presented Doug with mementos of their feelings toward him and times spent with him.
He was truly humbled by all the attention he received.

If you haven't had the chance to catch one of Ranger Doug's programs, you need to put it on your to do list. It is a treat you will not forget.

I was approached by the Glacier Employee Association to make this clock plaque for him and jumped at the chance to be a part of this celebration with him. The basic layout was designed by Bill Hayden a design specialist guru of Glacier Park.

As you can see the basic design is in the shape of Montana. Along the bottom of the plaque is a photo which was lasered into the entire width of the bottom of the board. The photo is a panoramic print of the view of Lake McDonald from the foot of the lake at Apgar.

The board was made out of a local piece of Birch and really turned out nice.
It was truly a pleasure to be a part of this event.

Ranger Doug I salute you my friend....

Sunday, June 7, 2009

Glacier Centennial Green Business plaque......

Splinters was approved as an official Glacier Centennial Green business and was chosen to create this plaque for the city of Whitefish, Montana.

It was created out of a local birch and was approximately 11 inch wide x 9 inches tall.
The logo and lettering were lasered on using an Epilog laser.

A keyhole slot was put on the back so it could be displayed on a wall.