The end-grain cutting board is an age-old rite of passage for any woodworker. Jen and I decided to take the plunge together so down the rabbit hole we went. End-grain cutting boards are at the apex of the cutting board world for three reasons… 1) They are very attractive looking, 2) They are much easier…
The Wooden Pumpkin
Over the year-end holiday I took a break from work, but wanted to try something new so I grabbed my chainsaw, angle-grinder and a chunk of cherry from the pile and started on my first attempt at sculpture. I was like I was a kid again… I had a blast. A special thanks to my…
Rustic Fireplace Mantel
We were engaged by a client to replace their existing fireplace mantel with something a little more rustic. We decided to use river birch for the job as would be easy to weather/distress and we had two trees that were rescued from a burn pile on the client’s property. The wood was milled and dried…
The Hackberry Tables
This story begins in the spring of 2017 with a tree falling in our client’s yard during a storm. We were asked to advise on the best way to turn the recently downed hackberry tree into lumber that could be used to make a desk or table. We have been very lucky to find clients…
Hairpin Leg Nightstands II
Nothing we love more than repeat business, so when so when some past clients reached out and asked for a second set of nightstands with a few color tweaks we were thrilled to help. So thrilled that we decided to make a set for our own home as well (so don’t be confused if you…
Refrigerator Door Turned Mid Century Modern Table
One of our client’s laid this dream project in our laps. Two reasons that we are excited. First, we love to reuse items that might find their way into a landfill. Second, we loved the challenge of how to modify Jean Prouvé’s mid century modern masterpiece, the EM Table, to fit the client’s vision. The…
The Walnut Fireplace Mantel and Surround
This is the second project from a tree that was taken down on the client’s property in 2014. The wood was milled on-site and stored in the basement of the house for over 3 years. The goal was to make a fireplace surround for the basement fireplace that matched the character of the house and…
Tree to Table (and a coffee table and a shelf)
We were asked to build a collaboration table, a coffee table and a shelf by a homeowner who had previously milled some of the trees on their land. The wood for the project was Red Oak (downed by a storm on May 19th 2013 near Kirkside, Missouri) and Mulberry (damaged in the same storm). The…
The Reclaimed Wood Bed Swing
This was an interesting first for us… A bed-swing made entirely from reclaimed wood, hand jointed and to be hung from thick rope on the client’s porch. The story beings in two places. First, in Gardner, Kansas we reclaimed some discarded maple timbers in January of 2016. The timbers were dried and then re-sawn when…
The Elm Sofa Tables
These charming Elm sofa tables were built from a tree that was standing dead on a friend’s farm in southwest Johnson County, Kansas. The tree was taken down in May of 2016 and milled at Tom the Sawyer’s mill on June 3rd, 2016. Right off the mill you could see the beautiful figure that this wood possessed. …