The wonderful folks at Mandala Homes asked me to help out with some timber accent details for a home that is being pre-fabricated in Nelson, BC and then shipped and assembled in Hawaii. The cloudlift design cut into the ends of these…
Since my woodworking shop is in the bottom floor of my house, my kids spend a lot of time in there with me. They both have a set of ear muffs and a few tools. My daughter “sets up shop”…
Last winter I designed and built a custom plant stand for a customer in Calgary, Alberta. The request was for a piece of furniture inspired by a Japanese garden gate that could hold a number of plants and be a…
Recently I signed up for a blacksmithing course. I have been interested in metal working for a while now and this turned out to be the perfect opportunity to dive into this craft. I took the class in the fully…
I had the opportunity to work with a beautiful old slab, which became the counter top for the front desk at the Maple Rose store in Nelson, BC. Janet, the owner of this Waldorf craft and supply shop, found the slab and was inspired to incorporate it into the newly renovated space on Baker Street.
It was my special honour, and one I didn’t take lightly, to craft a memorial urn for a dear friend after her passing. I suggested that a carving on the top of the box would add a personalized touch, and after scrapping several design ideas and one false start on a carving, I came up with this design.
My friend loved dragonflies and lotus flowers, and I wanted to incorporate both. The wood for the carving is cedar, because I liked the colouring of the cedar contrasted with the red colour of the African padauk wood lid.
The urn is finished with natural wood finishes (tung & linseed oils and beeswax), and it is appropriate for an eco-friendly burial of a loved one’s ashes, especially if the loved one was not embalmed or was embalmed with non-toxic chemicals.
This wood box urn is made from african padauk with a liner of maple as a contrasting colour. The padauk is a beautiful red hued wood, and the natural oil and beeswax finish really brought out the colour and grain. I also added several beads inlaid to the sides of the box as a special memorial – the beads belonged to my mom before she passed, and now they will help hold my friend’s ashes.
Using exotic hardwoods is not something I usually recommend, unless I know that the wood is not endangered or restricted. I feel it’s important to understand how our choices impact the world around us, including places that we can’t see or visit easily.
What are some of the factors to think about when considering whether a foreign-sourced wood would be suitable for a project?
A memorial urn for a dear friend who passed last year. I was honoured to be asked to craft a special wooden box for an urn, and I really enjoyed the process of creating the urn, from choosing the right…
This is the hewing axe head that was used by an older gentleman to hand hew timbers for houses 30 years ago. My passion for hand tools got me excited about seeing if I could remediate this axe head, and the two day vinegar bath plus a wire brush did such an amazing job at taking off the rust.
Here is the old hewing axe head that I found, getting a bath in regular vinegar to remove the rust. I was super surprised with the results!