Creations

I like creating things. Below is a list of the things I am most proud of making, along with short descriptions and pictures. Most of them are woodworking projects.

Wooden Containers

One of my friends is a succulent hoarder, so I made her a cup she could use as a flowerpot. Mainly maple, it has strips of walnut inlaid for some additional visual flair. pic1 pic2 pic3 pic4 pic5

A second, very similar project was a pencil holder I made for myself. Like the flowerpot, I had to make it without the use of a lathe. This presented a challenge that had to be solved with either an extensive amount of hand filing, or an inappropriate use of a drill press. pic1 pic2

A third project along the same lines was a wooden box I made for storing small items in my dorm room. Instead of making a traditional six sided box, I chose to create one massive block and to hollow out the inner space. This gives it a very rugged and handmade look that I love. pic1 pic2 pic3 pic3

Flagstone Patio

I helped a friend of mine with a home improvement project. They wanted to extend their outdoor patio by around 30%, so we bought the materials ourselves and got to work. Precisely cutting flagstones is made difficult by the fact that the saw used weighs around 20 pounds and has to be worked close to the ground. Cutting curves is a skill that takes quite a few cuts to become familiar with and overall layout of the stones is deceptively tricky. pic1

Wax Stamp

After watching too much Game of Thrones, I became obsessed with the wax stamps the characters would attach to their personal letters. I desperately wanted to be able to melt down some wax, stamp it with my personal initials, and adorn my letters with proof of origin. I used Blender to model the stamp head, and then sent off the final file to a company in New York for it to be 3d printed. I crafted the handle out of maple and walnut, and once assembled, it looks great! pic1 pic2 pic3 pic4

For my second stamp iteration, I decided to use Onshape for the modeling. You can view the model in your browser. I used a silhouette of a stag and my initials to mimic a personal crest. pic1

Wooden Trinkets

Here are some flags I made as christmas gifts. pic1

Here are some blocks I made for a friend's newborn child. pic1 pic2 pic3

I made two laser etched maps (Palo Alto and New York) as well as a desk toy for a friend that goes to UCLA. pic1

Cutting Boards

All woodworkers go through the rite of passage that is making cutting boards for their friends/family/friends-of-family-at-request-of-their-mother. pic1 pic2 pic3

This one is special as it is an end-grain board, sometimes referred to as a "butchers block". I saw someone in the woodshop discard some great maple offcuts, and I asked if I could use them. I created a basic pattern by injecting some walnut between the maple pieces. pic1 pic2 pic3 pic4

Art

An oil painting I made.