Hedgehog - shop therapy project

  Sometimes it is nice to go down stairs to my shop and make a bit of wood dust and finish off a project in an easy hour. I saw this business card holder in a photographs on the net some place and filed it in the back of my mind. Tuesday evening I felt like making some saw dust.

  Even a little project like this needs some attention.  I drew the shape and traced it onto a piece of oak, after I used my 4 x 36 belt sander on the rough lumber. This sander has been around for a long time and been a stand by tool. I've had it long enough that I am on my second drive belt and no one knows how many sanding belts.

hedgehog is about 10 cm tall.

 I cut the oak on my band saw using a Viking Blade. I have used this make of blades for at least a dozen years and have been pleased with the result. Like all blades, cheap band saw blades aren't worth the time and money.

I burned some whiskers and a wee tall on
before finishing with tung oil

  This hedgehog will hold business cards on my desk, he can also hold recipe cards or phone messages. When I cut the slots I used a thin kerf handsaw so that the cards would be snug when slotted in place.

  I have a couple of low skill shop jobs on going. I am sealing our back deck and stairs, a back breaking job but if wood is to last it must be maintained. Also I need to rip some stock and make some tomato cages. Both jobs need to be done, and doing jobs that need to be done are as satisfying as something clever and artistic.

  

Phone, Tablet and Business Card Holders.

 I saw a YouTube video with a wood worker making smart phone stands out of 2 x 4 lumber from his scrap bin and thought 'I can do that'.  Naturally I did something inspired by,rather than exactly the same. 

white cedar

  I gathered and dried some wood last spring to turn on my lathe but it seemed a natural fit to use a couple of pieces for these projects.

black locust

Black Locust

card holder, left over from the tablet holder.

   To make the card holder I drilled through the piece of wood and glued a base on, while the other pieces are slots cut in the wood and cleaned out with a chisel and sand paper.

    These are nice little desk accessories that anyone can make. I used a hand saw, a hand drill, wood rasp, chisels and sand paper to make these items.  For the finish I used three coats of spray varnish.  Maybe cut up your Christmas tree and make some things?

cheers, ianw