Dusty Chisel

A customer mailed me the exact shape they wanted for a trophy shield.

I first transferred the paper design onto MDF to create a reusable master template, then used it to shape the final shield from solid Kauri.

From an envelope to the finished piece.

Oak and walnut, cut into strips, glued, crosscut, rotated, and glued again. The checkerboard only appears after the second cut—and the oil brings the end grain to life. Would you use it or put it on display?

Most people would cut this edge straight. I decided to keep it.

After removing the loose bark, carefully cleaning the natural edge, filling the cracks with black epoxy, and sanding everything smooth, the oil finally brought the grain to life.

Would you keep the live edge or cut it straight?

Router for the bulk of it, chisels for the corners—then the moment of truth. An oversized mortise-and-tenon joint, fitted the way it should be.

A custom shelf built from rough timber. Each support is fitted with mortise-and-tenon joinery, then reinforced with screws—because when it comes to structural parts, I’d rather overbuild than cut corners.

The secret is hidden inside the walnut.

I wanted this knife block to hold every knife securely while making them look like they’re floating between the layers—with no visible hardware.

Here’s the full build, from rough timber to the final oil finish.

The assembly process here, magnet inlay into each slots then glue them back again, the hardest part is actually align those slots while gluing, so I used screws not only for quick fixing but also reinforce the glue.
Stay tuned the final part is coming

A customer order also a new product for me, seen quite few magnet knife holders, but this time I am making a solid magnet block from a walnut slab, eight slots with magnet inside, matching the grain, matching the colour.
Stay tuned, more to come.

Finally this board is done now. Again oil works really well on popping out beautiful wood grain.