Our neighbors were planning to add a dishwasher to their existing dishwasher-less kitchen and asked me if I would be willing to help. They wanted me to design & build a cabinet to house the new appliance. Simple enough, right? The kitchen exists in part of the house that is of a geodesic dome design, so that means lots of […]
If you’re a woodworker you know all too well about scrap wood. I have several pieces of leftover 2×8 cedar from another project that I’ve been saving for a number of years. Too good to burn but too small to make anything “useful.” Scrap hardwood is easy: cutting boards. Cedar cannot be used for cutting boards because it is too […]
This is my first “built-in” piece. Purely utilitarian, this shelf unit makes use of the space in the kitchen island-bar unit that we never really used as a sitting area. One design decision was to build as a stand-alone unit that simply slides into place (as opposed to a true built-in). We did this in the event we decide to […]
The Holiday Makers’ Market is an annual event hosted by the Art Association of Jackson Hole. It’s a small show (I’m one of 20 participants) and 40% of all sales will be donated to the non-profit. My work is priced to sell as I’ve reduced all prices by as much as 60% specifically for this show. The show starts today […]
I really like the design of this candle holder. I found an image of this somewhere on the internet and decided to reproduce it. This is not my design and if anyone reads this blog you will recognize my honesty in the creative process. I always acknowledge if I am reproducing someone else’s work or if it’s my original idea. […]
I recently completed this piece and love the way it came out. The project expanded my woodworking skills in that I’ve never made a curved arch on this scale before. The woodworking was straightforward and the crux of the piece was in ensuring that the arch top met the table top bottom precisely. My wife and I decided that walnut […]
For the past few years I’ve been planning to participate in the local art show here in Jackson, WY. I participated in 2017, enjoyed it very much, and actually made a profit. Making a profit is not the reason I enjoyed the show, but rather meeting a lot of nice, interesting people (both visitors and fellow artists/craftspeople) as well as […]
As with physical workouts, it is helpful to do some warm-up exercises for woodworking – especially if one has not been in the shop for awhile. I would never start a hand-cut dovetail without first doing some practice sawing to a straight line and even making at least one practice dovetail before starting the real work. Similarly, cutting boards can […]
When I saw this piece in an issue of Fine Woodworking magaizine I was immediately attracted to the design and thought this is what’s missing in our bathroom. The origianl design was in another wood species and I chose to make it out of walnut to better match our existing trim and cabinets. Fast forward and when I was close […]
Woodworking is a joy for me and I always feel more whole when I’m working on a project. But I’m the type of person who likes to work on one thing at a time, otherwise I tend to make those stupid little mistakes that most woodworkers know all too well. I’m in the process of making a piece of furniture, […]
I’m having a Holiday Sale in my Etsy shop through DEC 31. 20% off everything and FREE shipping! Enter HOLIDAY20 during checkout. https://etsy.me/2VFUXbq #etsy #alchemywoodshop #etsyfinds #etsygifts #etsysale #etsycoupon #shopsmall
We recently hung a flat screen TV in a small room and needed a place to store all of the related media components, e.g., cable box, Blu-Ray player, streaming box, etc. In order to save floor space we decided that instead of a traditional entertainment center-type cabinet perhaps a floating TV shelf media console might be a better solution. This […]
Just finished another jewelry box in quarter-sawn white oak and walnut. It is a reproduction of a design that caught my attention back in 2005 mainly because of the number curves in the design, both concave and convex. But the photos of the original piece that I saw turned me off because of the choice of woods used. It was […]
This is my first project using veneer, a jewelry/keepsake box in mahogany with a Karelian birch book-matched veneer top. I think the burl figure and colors are gorgeous and complement the dark mahogany perfectly. Karelian birch is sourced from northern Europe (Karelia), specifically between Finland and Russia. I had never heard of this species and only discovered it while searching […]
My wife Jackie has long wanted for me to make a Craftsman/Mission-Style Bookcase. Note that in reference to furniture styles, the terms Mission and Craftsman are interchangeable; Stickley is sometimes used as well, but that just refers to the private company that manufactures Mission-Craftsman furniture. It took me several years to get to this project, but I recently completed it […]
It’s been well over a year since I published an update to my website. I’ve been continuing practice of my hand-cut dovetails, learning a couple of new skills (bent lamination and veneering), and also started to volunteer in Grand Teton National Park this summer 2 days per week. I also upgraded my long-loved table saw to a new Saw Stop […]