Monday, July 18, 2011

Which platters do you like better?


Here are four Ambrosia Maple platters.  They are 16 inches in diameter the overall height is less than 1 inch.  They are made from one wide piece of wood, no glue ups here.  The top picture shows two platters made without center inserts and the bottom picture shows two platters made with center inserts made from 3/16 inch thick green marble which is 6 inches in diameter.  All four platters were made from the same long board.

The discoloration that you see on these platters was actually caused by the Ambrosia beetle and not a dye job by me.  They cause some really neat colors don't they?  Which way do you like best?  With marble centers or without?

Wednesday, June 22, 2011

Piece in the "Turning 25 - A Celebration" exhibit at the AAW.


Oak Burl Vessel   View 1
 Quite a while ago I did a post about a piece that I was making for the "Turning 25 -  A Celebration" exhibit that is starting this Friday, 6/24, at the yearly symposium of the American Association of Woodturners (AAW) in St. Paul, Minnesota.  Turning 25 - A Celebration came about because the AAW is turning 25 this year and they decided to ask each chapter to enter a piece in an exhibit.  The chapters could do the piece as a collaborative effort amongst the members or choose a member to make the piece.  The only stipulation on the piece was that it couldn't be any larger than 8"x8"x8".  I was elected to make the piece because I was the only person who volunteered to make a piece for our club, the Western Mountain Woodturners.  There are approximately 225 chapters of the AAW world wide and the last that I knew just over 100 chapters were involved in the exhibit.

View 2

The original piece that I was making for the exhibit developed a crack near the bottom as I was thinning the wall down to it's final thickness.  Time was running out so I decided to use a piece that I had turned late last fall.  In the end I think the piece was a more fitting one for the exhibit anyways.  The wood that I used to make my hollow form was Oak Burl and it was won at one of our monthly meetings in our wood raffle.  Harry Burns was the member who had brought the piece of Oak Burl in for our clubs raffle.


View 3

The final dimensions of this piece are 6.5" tall x 8" in diameter.  The wall thickness is approximately 1/8" throughout most of the vessel.  And it weighs in at a whopping 11 ounces.  About 1/3 of the piece is open from natural voids in the wood.

Monday, June 20, 2011

Ryanne's learning to shoot product shots.


It's Ryanne (our oldest daughter) and I alone here today.  Her little sister has gone off for the day to play at a friends house.  Ryanne likes photography and I needed to take some pictures of some mills for the site so I've been teaching her how I take product shots and how to use Photoshop.  This is one of the many pictures that she has taken today.  How did she do?

Tuesday, June 7, 2011

The winning color was ....


I would like to thank everyone who voted for helping me choose our next color combination for our mills and spice grinders.  And now without further ado.  Ed the envelope please.  And the winner was (drum roll please) #2 by a huge margin of 2 votes.  It was very close voting right up until the end.  So it's looking like the new color combination for our mills and spice grinders will be #2 the brown, natural & green color combination and it should be out in the not to distant future.  Thanks again to all of those people who voted.

Friday, June 3, 2011

Help me decide.


 I like both of these color combinations as bottle stoppers but I'm trying to decide which color combination should become a future pepper mill.  #1 is one layer each of orange, teal, blue & purple.  #2 is one layer each of brown, natural & green.  In both cases the color combinations repeat over and over.

How often do you get to help a company decide it's future products?  Well, you do now.  So your vote counts.  Get all of your friends and family involved, too.  The more votes the better, so please pass this on to everyone.  Please tell me which color combination you like better, #1 or #2.  I'll keep track of the votes and let everyone know the people's choice on Monday.  Thanks for your help.

Kim

Thursday, May 19, 2011

Pens and lots of them!

Acadia Desk Set made in Red with White Lines Acrylic
Would it be bragging if I said that I get to make a lot of pens for people each year?  A lot of people know that I am a self taught woodturner.  What most people don't know is that pens are how I taught myself to turn way back in the spring of 2000.  As I said I make a lot of pens each year, a little over 500 custom pens each year.  I make them from natural woods, dyed woods, colorful acrylics and even a few from deer antler (don't worry the antlers used are what the deer shed each year).  One way to get a pen that is always popular for graduates and retirees alike is as a desk set.  Each desk set consists of a gold Acadia pen, pencil and letter opener in a nice Rosewood box with a tilting glass top.  I usually make up about 30 desk sets each year and right now I'm in the middle of making 18 sets.  Pictured above and below are just a couple of the acrylic desk sets that have recently gone out to new homes.  Let me know what you think of them.

Acadia Desk Set made in Scarlet and Black Acrylic


Tuesday, May 10, 2011

6 pack of natural wood mills.


Last week was a very busy week here and these are just a few of the pieces that I made and shipped out.  Here are six natural wood salt & pepper mills made in the Morrison style.  From front to back they are 6" Walnut, 8" Ash & 10" Cherry.  Notice the beads or rings down near the bottom of each mill.  They help to tell you whether the mill is for salt or pepper.  One bead/ring means that it's a salt mill and three beads/rings means that it's a pepper mill.  Their new home is at the Center for Maine Craft in W. Gardiner, ME.  They also received a new shipment of wood pens too.  If you are traveling in Maine on the turnpike (Rt 95) or on Rt 295 stop at the rest stop in W. Gardiner and you will find the Center on the left just as you enter the building.  The Center is filled with very unique products that are made here in Maine by Maine artisans.  If you get a chance stop by and check the Center out.  You won't be disappointed.

Monday, April 25, 2011

Three Acadia pens headed to Colorado.

The three gold Acadia pens pictured above are part of a group that I turned over the weekend.  The top one is Maroon Fleck, the middle one is Caribbean Swirl and the bottom one is Light and Dark Green Swirls.  All are made from acrylic.  The three of them along with nine more Acadia pens made in various acrylic colors are headed to a new store for us called the Colorado Collection in Centennial, Colorado.

Tuesday, April 12, 2011

The Irony of a good wine.

I will be the first to admit that I don't drink a lot of wine.  Because I make a lot of cork screws and wine stoppers I am always asked at shows what my favorite wine is.  It's a little embarrassing to have to admit that I don't drink much wine.  I prefer good ale over wine.  I know that my sister loves wine and a few weeks back I was going to spend a night at my sister's new camp in Massachusetts.  So on the way in I stopped at a store to pick up a bottle of wine.  After all you've gotta christen the new camp in the right way.  I mean they do it for new boats; can a new camp be much different?

In amongst the hundreds of bottles of wine I was completely lost as which one to choose.  I figured it might not send the right message if I grabbed one of the small kegs of wine for $4.00 and showed up with that.  I did know that I wanted a wine that was made from something other than just grapes.  So I walked around reading labels and came across a Pinot Noir from California called Irony.  A wine called Irony now that sounded interesting, at least to a novice like me.  The label said that it had hints of cherry, vanilla and rhubarb.  Now how could I go wrong with all of those hints of flavors in it?  But what really sold me on the wine was the story of the two brothers and how they came back to work at the family winery.   It all sounded good to me so I bought a bottle of Irony Monterey Pinot Noir.  Later that night when my sister and I settled down in front of the fire to talk we shared the bottle of wine.  I have to tell you that I'm sold on this wine.  It was great!  One of the reasons that I don't drink a lot of wine is because of the after taste or bite after each sip.  There wasn't any of that with this wine, just a great taste and total smoothness after each sip.  All by accident I have found myself a nice wine and as their site says "what occasion doesn’t benefit from a bit of Irony"?   And the irony for me is that I now have a wine that I can discuss with my customers, not be embarrassed because I don't drink much wine and it's called Irony.  Think I'll be able to remember the name?  Tell me the name of your favorite wine and why, maybe I'll check it out and see if I want to add it to my new list of favorite wines.

Thursday, March 31, 2011

The winner of the picture contest is....

Winner!  Grain pattern facing out.

A big thank you to everyone who voted.  And the winner is..... the grain facing out by a huge margin of 2 votes.  The voting was very close and was actually tied most of the way through the weekend but facing out managed to squeak out the win.  The mills have been delivered to Maine Public Broadcasting Network (MPBN) and will be up on their site soon.  I will let you know if they get juried into the MPBN Juried Art Show.  Dailey Woodworking helps to support MPBN each spring by donating one of our products to the auction. MPBN is a great organization that brings many programs into our lives and one of our favorites has to be the high school basketball tourneys each spring.  Please think about helping them out by purchasing from the auction or making a donation to MPBN.  You can check out some of the things that they have up for auction by clicking here.   Thanks again to all who voted.

Friday, March 25, 2011

Which picture do you like best?


 Facing Out

Facing In

















This is a set of 10 Inch Purple & Black Haynes Salt and Pepper Mills that I'm am donating to Maine Public Broadcasting Network (MPBN) for their yearly auction and possibly they will make it into their Juried Art Show that they hold every year.  Once I get the info from them I will put a link here to my page on the auction site.  So the question is which picture do you like best?  With the grain pattern facing out or the grain pattern facing in?  Your votes and your votes alone will decide which picture that I submit to MPBN. 

Wednesday, March 23, 2011

What would you like to see on sale?

Lately I've been thinking about sales.  Not about how many pieces did I sell or about sales volume over all but about running a sale on my products for you, our customers.  If you could make up your own sale on my products what would it be on?  Pens, salt & pepper mills, bottle stoppers or spice grinders? And what would the discount be?  When would the best time for a sale be?  I may never be able to use what you tell me but I really am curious about this and would appreciate your input.  If you were running Dailey Woodworking what would you create for a sale?

Saturday, March 19, 2011

Making of an art piece?

I was the lucky one chosen (the only volunteer) by the other members of my woodturning club, Western Mountain Woodturners, to make something to send to Minnesota for the American Association of Woodturners (AAW) annual symposium in June of this year.  This is the 25th anniversary of the AAW and they asked each chapter to turn something for the symposium.  The AAW is hoping to get something from each club/chapter.  I think that there are something like 225 clubs/chapters world wide so it should be an unbelievable display of turnings. 

I decided that I would use the opportunity to stretch my turning skills, teach myself something new and turn something that I've wanted to do but have never done before.  I've admired the work of Binh Pho from Chicago for quite a few years now.  So I choose to incorporate some of what he does with his work into my design.  What is pictured here is the start of my creation.


Pictured above is the outside shape of my form.  My form at this point is 4 3/4 inches in diameter by 8 1/2 inches high.  My next step is to hollow out the form and to take the wall thickness down to 1/16 inch or less in thickness.


You can see in the picture above that I am getting close to finishing the hollowing process.  The light is aiding me to see the wall thickness.  The idea is for the light to be coming through the wall the same all the way down.  It's not perfect but from the top all the way down the sidewall the wall thickness at this point is just a little under 1/16 inch in thickness.  The next step is to incorporate some designs on the outside of my piece and then airbrush them on along with some piercing. 

Well I will be back in a few days with more pictures of the process.  So keep your fingers crossed that all goes well.

Sunday, February 27, 2011

Feb Sale 10% off from Morrison Mills. Times running out!

Light Green and Natural Morrison Mill Set
We're down to the last 2 days of the February sale on laminated Morrison mills.  10% off from any laminated Morrison Mill, 6", 8" or 10".  Salt or Pepper it's your choice or choose both!  Use code feb2011cc.

Wednesday, February 23, 2011

My new friend Bob.

This is picture of me and my new friend Bob (he's the pink Octopus on my shoulder) taken at the Buyers Market of American Craft in Philadelphia.  He and I are discussing the finer points of the work of Laurene Hunt from Laurene Hunt Designs.  I first met Laurene five years ago when she and I were neighbors at my first Buyers Market and we became fast friends.  I really like Laurene's work.  Her work is full of color and fun images that she hand paints onto her pieces.  Martini glasses, Santa Claus, cats and dogs, light houses and snowmen are just a few of the things that she paints in her own way.  She offers her paintings on all kinds of wonderful pieces for your kitchen and dining room like lazy susans (to the left in the picture), trivets, magnets, cutting boards, coasters and more.  You can check out her work on her website by clicking here.  I know that I enjoy her work but let me know what you think of it. 

Wednesday, February 2, 2011

What are environmentally friendly pepper mills?


I get asked a lot about the wood, dyes and glue used in our laminated mills and grinders. I actually buy panels of the wood already dyed and glued to my color specifications. So I asked my supplier to answer these questions for you. Here is their reply.

"Because of the nature of your products being used in the food industry we have chosen to use "Water Based/Food Grade Dyes" in our processes. In addition our land from which the veneer is produced is (FSC Certified - Forest Stewardship Council). Lastly we use EPI Adhesives (defined as Emulsion Polymer Isocyanate (EPI) adhesives are two-component adhesives based on reaction of a mixture of water based emulsions)." 

That's a lot to take in so let me break this down for you. I choose to partner with another Maine company that would lay up these panels the same way and from the same woods that I would use if I did it myself. The dyes used are water based so they are much better for the enviroment than dyes that are alcohol based . The wood used comes from sustainably harvested land. Not only is the land cared for but the workers have to be paid a living wage as well. And the glue used is a water based glue so it too is better for the enviroment than solvent based glues that could be used.  The last step in the process is that we use a finish of Walnut oil that is all natural without any additives.  The bottom line comes down to the fact that we are trying to be as environmentally responsible as possible and at the same time providing you with a food safe product that you can also feel good about.

Monday, January 3, 2011

25% off stoppers


Ok folks, this is a test of sorts.  My new site has been up and running now for a while but I haven't put all of the various ways that my items can be made on to the site yet because of a lack of pictures.  So if you are willing to help me I'm willing to give you 25% off on my T Handle Corkscrew & Bottle Stopper Combination (pictured above, sorry the stands aren't available any more) if you choose one that doesn't have a picture of it yet.  I will make up the stopper combo and take a picture of it.  I will email you a picture of it before it is ready to ship.  You get a $42 stopper combo for $31.50.  That's a pretty good deal for helping out, don't you think?  The ones that need pictures are clearly marked on my site.  Just click here.  Scroll down below the stoppers pictured and you will see two question marks.  Each has a drop down list of the stopper combos that I need pictures of.  Once the picture has been taken that particular stopper will be taken off from the discount list and moved to the list with pictures and the discount will be gone.  Thanks in advance for your help.