Some gifts I've made for tomorrow

[RedShirtGuy]

This year I tried to make as many gifts as I could. I got a couple of others started but completely ran out of time

I'll start earlier next year

First up: A chopping board for mum. From the center out it's spotted gum, red gum, blackwood, red gum, elm, red gum and wrapped in blackwood. Sanded to 240, Tung oiled and waxed.
choppingBoard.jpg


I made a stack of these coasters a while ago and thought I'd finish them up properly, but they were a pain to sand and aren't anywhere level or even and have a heavy slope which would make them too thin in the end, so they'll go in the bin
coaster.jpg


An 11x14 frame made from some ancient tongue and groove boards (dunno species - it's heavy and hard) that I've been carting around for about 8 years after I found it in an old farm shed.
Gave it a rough/random scrub with coarse steel wool, Danish oiled and waxed.
frame1.jpg


Another 11x14 with the same timber, but this time the reverse face was used for the presentation side. I love the flutes in it. Same finish as above, minus the steel wool.
frame2.jpg


This was supposed to be a 10x8 frame but some fool cut a mitre in the wrong direction so now it's a 5x7 Made from birdseye blackwood and beveled to slope in towards the glass. I tried shellac for the finish but it just wasn't happening, so I gave it a quick stain with some walnut and finished it off with a couple of spray (can) coats of poly.
frame3.jpg


There was supposed to be a french polished jewellery box...
jbox.jpg

...a plinko game and another blackboard/easel but y'all know how it goes some times

[Mr. Lara]

Those are great gifts, beautiful craftsmanship!

[specialist]

Very nice.
I have tried coasters too, and at this stage am unable to make them remain flat. They always seem to cup, even when laminated.

Rob

[Robson Valley]

Fake coasters stay flat. Real ones reveal the character of wood, even if that means
a bit of a wobble.

Our forests have very low species diversity. 5-6 species of trees, that's it.
Move to another biogeoclimatic zone and those 5 are replaced by some other 5.

Another kind of wood which we can get everywhere is FOGwood.
FOG = Found On Ground.