Make a Wooden Crown from a Log

I've had a few small cedar logs in the shop for a couple of years, but could not decide what to do with them.  When Dominic Bender announced his Challenge Tree event, I took this opportunity to transform a cedar log into a Wooden Crown!  Check out my video of this project.

Freshly cut cedar makes the shop smell great!  I'm not a fan of the powdery dust though.  Wearing a mask or respirator is a must when working with cedar.  Also, cedar is very delicate and thin pieces crack very easily under pressure.  Glue and sawdust makes for easy repairs.

The trickiest part of this project was making all of the top pieces of the crown fit together.  I used a template to cut 60 degree angles at the top of each piece.  My cuts were not perfect, but they were good enough to glue it together and cover with a wooden disc for stability.

Cedar looks very dull when it's unfinished.  My favorite thing about working with cedar is the moment when I apply the finish.  I sprayed the crown with MinWax Lacquer and the colors in the wood just exploded and the project came to life!

This was a really fun project to make and I loved being creative with adding the diamonds and finial.  Please comment and let me know what you think.  If you would like to make one of these yourself, click here to download my FREE template!  Send me a picture of your crown - I would love to see it!

Copper Rose and Tongue Drum Collaboration with Ted Alexander!

My friend and fellow YouTube woodworker Ted Alexander and I decided to do a collaboration and swap projects.  I wanted to make one of Ted's Copper Roses, and Ted chose to make one of my Tongue Drums.  Be sure to watch both of our videos to see how the projects turned out!

Here is my video showing how I made the Copper Rose:

Here is Ted's video showing how he made the Tongue Drum.  Subscribe to his channel for more beautiful wood and metal projects.

This copper rose was made using an 1/8" steel rod with threads on one end, 3 nuts, a sheet of copper, and some patina chemical that you can get from Jax Chemicals.  The vase was cut from a chunk of spalted white oak.

Ted's tongue drum is made from Cherry and he designed his own tongue pattern, which was cut with his CNC machine.  Check out the legs on this beauty too!  Nice work Ted!

This collaboration was lots of fun and I really enjoyed working with Ted and learning something new.  Plus, it was a good opportunity to brush up on our acting and video editing skills!  Oh, and who knew that the YouTube LIKE button would transport you to someone else's workshop?!

Good Times at The Woodworking Show in Atlanta!

I spent three awesome days at The Woodworking Show in Atlanta last weekend! I really enjoyed meeting a whole lot of people who watch my YouTube videos and some well-known woodworkers. If you missed the show or it doesn't visit your city, watch my video to see what it's like.

It was so cool to meet so many of my YouTube subscribers in person.  I also got to meet some other YouTube creators and bloggers, like Leldon Maxcy, David Bishop, Dave Gatton, Richard McIntosh, and Frank Kecseti from Glued-n-Screwed.com,  Thanks to all of you for stopping by the Gwinnett Woodworkers booth and saying hello! I gave out 72 of my stickers, so now I need to order more!

Chillin' with Leldon Maxcy

I was able to spend a little money and pick up a few new tools. I got a small machinist square, some V bits for the CNC, and a set of Marples chisels. Thanks to my friend Bob Brokaw for sharpening them for me. I thought they were pretty sharp straight out of the package, but after Bob did his magic, I realized how dull they came from the factory...Wow!

Thanks to David Bishop who brought me a really cool gift - a Van Halen Guitar Cutout! This is going to look great in the shop! This weekend, I plan to be lazy and recuperate after being so busy last weekend, but I'm already looking forward to The Woodworking Shows in 2016!  Hope to see you there!

Sidebar Shop Update - Kitchen Challenge, Woodworking Shows, WOOD Article, Garage Door, T-Shirts, WIA 2015

Here is a quick sidebar convo to share some updates about what is going on in and around my workshop.  Check out the video, then click the links below to visit some of the sites I talk about!  Thanks for watching!

Click the links below for more info:

• Kitchen Utensil Build Challenge Playlist
• Patrick's Workshop Channel
• Ted Alexander's Channel
• The Woodworking Shows
• Nick Ferry's Channel
• List of Woodworker T-Shirt Stores
• Woodworking in America Booth Info