Peter Brown's ShopTime

I'm very pleased with this project! It's just so interesting! The epoxy and jean turned very nicely with my bowl gouge and I was actually getting nice shavings off it! Turns great on the lathe!

This is actually the second box I made this weekened. The first one came out great, but I had a major allergic reaction to it. So much that I had to toss the wood and wait a day to get back in the shop to make a second. As good warning, some woods are more prone to this than others... So I ended up using my leftover from my wine barrel blank . As such the shop smelled strongly of wine during most of the build. I suppose I can pretend that is the reason for me acting a bit silly on film! The copper was just a 1" copper pipe from the hardware store. Cut open, pounded flat and heated with a torch. I also got to try mixing epoxy with coffee grounds. I helped fill some gaps in my copper inlay, and also smelled quite nice. Although I forgot to film it, I did spray the box with two coats of lacquer. I guess I just got a little ahead of myself!  Thanks!

So I posted what I thought would be a fun video on You-Tube last week: A ring made from colored pencils: What I didn't anticipate was how well received it would be! As of this point it has 190k views and about 125 shares. Thank you so much! I'm so glad you enjoyed it!  Also thank you to all of you who subscribed! I have a ton of new ideas. They are one part woodworking and one part crazy. I think many of them will prove to be interesting. At the very least I hope to stimulate some other ideas, or get people motivated to risk failing at something themselves! So stay tuned, and thank you again for the support! I hope I live up to it! -Peter Brown

OK, so it’s one part wood turning and one part crafting and not to everyone’s taste but I really dig the outcome. Light on my desk. I need to make some space for it... I bought some cool Edison style light bulbs a while back and just thought I needed to try this industrial thing. My office is very modern and it works for me. I wanted it to look like someone was locked in a basement with a bunch of junk and needed light, so they cobbled together whatever they could and came up with this. In all truth it’s kind of what happened! I raided my shed and found a bunch of electrical and plumbing parts that I mashed into useless gears and buttons. I already want to build another one, maybe a bit more refined this time…

I spent Saturday making a Star Wars themed wall clock. It's the symbol of the rebel alliance, and it came out pretty good. It's currently hanging at my work. I can see the imperfections, but I'm just calling them my signature homemade style! My first time with scrolling cuts at the band saw. Yeah, I could use some more practice! 2+ hours of rasps, files and sandpaper. I need a spindle sander... UPDATE: On a whim, I posted it on my Etsy page, and it sold. I ended up re-sanding the imperfections, adding a better mounting solution and fixing some finishing flaws so I feel it will be well received. But that's not the strange part. I miss it. I think I will have to find some time to make another one in the future... UPDATE: It's July and I completed it's replacement. This one will not be for sale, it is now part of my office decor.

I did some glass etching this weekend... If I knew how easy it was going to be, I'd have done it months ago! UPDATE: I made a second glass etching for my bride one night last week. This time a stencil of the new Doctor Who logo (DW in the Tardis shape) About 30mins totally time invested. I have to say its just too easy!

I just finished a quick restore on a set of Lyra bar stools. These are really cool bar stools, and are both pretty and comfortable. I received them in very rough shape. They were left outside for a couple of years before they came to my woodshop.  I restored them as best I could, but they still have some places on the seat top that shows the wear. That being said they now have a cool look to them. I spray painted the bottom black and sanded then oiled the seat. I really liked the way they turned out.