We made this game to bring together several ideas into one, engaging experience! Battle your opponent to stack the shapes on top of the rocker without it tipping over. The first person to get their opponent to collapse the stack, or get the rocker to tip over, wins!

Did you know that some wood has natural luminescent properties that are exposed under black light? We didn’t know what species this was initially, so we asked the members of several woodworking groups and one person said, “Hold it under a black light. If it glows, it’s definitely Black Locust.” After a few curious re-reads of the post, we decided to give it a try and BAM!

This is Ash lumber that was salvaged from structural beams in a collapsed, 125 year old barn. We made a breakfast nook table top to replace the commercially-purchased table made from wood-like material. We used epoxy to provide a nice surface while giving strength. With some bow ties and a little bit of universal dye, we felt like we had a great symphony, rot, wormholes, and all!

A good friend asked us to make a couple of cigar ashtrays after seeing a social media post about one made for personal use. After a little discussion, we selected some pieces of Black Walnut and Hackberry and set to work. Both of these are finished with Rubio Monocoat to retain and enhance the natural wood beauty and help protect it from falling ashes.

What started out as rough, chainsaw-cut wood cookies, turned into conversational charcuterie boards. We started out trying to flatten or reshape these cookies, but it was at a time when we didn’t have a router mill, bandsaw, or many of the other tools and techniques we’ve acquired over time. So epoxy saved the day!

Cedar is known for its scent, insect repellent properties, and its ability to absorb odors. It is very often used to make chests like this one. What started out as 12’ (~4m) cedar boards in a cull pile at the local big blue hardware store, full of warps and twists, became this chest. It will lovingly store linens and things for years to come.

When you have an avid reader, the first problem is keeping them stocked with books. The second problem is finding creative ways to store all their books. Enter this clever design for a bookshelf that reduces the footprint while increasing the capacity. Made from spalted Silver Maple and finished in Rubio Monocoat, this shelf is, well, already full.

When I saw Leopardwood for the first time, I can only think about my mother-in-law as she is a BIG fan of leopard print. She had some nice Adirondack chairs, but no place for her drink, book, or phone. So we solved the problem with these twin tables made of Leopardwood and White Oak. The tables are finished with five layers of Spar Urethane (thinned and unthinned).

Hackberry wood has a coarse grain. It is can have green and gray hues in its grain, which is why we picked it for our first bandsaw box. This was made for a very special fashionista who needed a nice place to store her jewelry.

Last year, we got into milling some of our own wood, harvested from downed trees in the area. But it takes roughly one year per inch (2.5cm) of wood thickness to air dry. We studied all we could about water and wood, kiln designs & operations, temperature, EMC (Equilibrium Moisture Content), and on. While we can’t recite equations used in kiln operations, we've gotten some great results!