Friday, August 4, 2023
My first attempt at hand cut dovetail joints!!
This was the first time I ever tried cutting dovetail joints and let me tell you, it's not easy. Rob Cosman makes it look like it is easy as can be. Needless to say mine need quite a bit of work still. They do actually fit together and kinda hold together, but they need a lot of work so go ahead guys and let me have it. Please offer any advice, critacizems, and comments. As well as follow and share. Thanks again
My name is Caleb Lewis, a 38 year old chef and handyman that is tired of being in a resturant and working for someone else. I would love to make a living in my own woodshop and with my photography. My dream and goal in life is to purchase a piece of property. Mill the timber on that land to build a house and workshop for my daughter to grow up on and to make a living in the woodshop. We are slowly working towards this goal, and hopefully this blog will contribute to this goal.
Wednesday, June 21, 2023
Getting the shop together
Well I finally got most of everything I needed to be what one might considered a woodshop. And it has truly be a learning experience with a lot of trial and error. But hey that's how we learn isn't it. I am having to use the upstairs of a old tobacco barn as my shop space, so needless to say I don't have a whole lot of space. But it's mine and it has just about anything I will need. I am really really pleased and very grateful it's taken a lot of hard work, now it's time to start working hard. I promise unique and beautiful things to come. My next goals are to start producing some workbenches and some smaller projects and to start building lumber inventory. Next to come I'm going to be starting a six foot work bench with three different vise's. Thanks to everyone for taking the time to read this and if you have any suggestions, ideas, questions, support please comment.
Caleb Lewis of Appalachian Woodshop
My name is Caleb Lewis, a 38 year old chef and handyman that is tired of being in a resturant and working for someone else. I would love to make a living in my own woodshop and with my photography. My dream and goal in life is to purchase a piece of property. Mill the timber on that land to build a house and workshop for my daughter to grow up on and to make a living in the woodshop. We are slowly working towards this goal, and hopefully this blog will contribute to this goal.
Sunday, February 12, 2023
Building my own Workbench
Building my own Workbench out of White Oak & Black Walnut!
This is the style I have decided to go with, only difference is going to be adding a eight inch tool tray in the center as well as a shoulder vise on the side without one. That may end up being to much with the shoulder vice. That's something I have been having trouble with, deciding which kind of vices to use and acquiring these vice. Im thinking the base will oak except for the four cross pieces. Going to do those in black walnut. Then the apron will be made of oak on the sides and the two end pieces of black walnut. The contrast of the light and dark woods will look amazing in my opinion. Come on guys give me your best advice, comments, and criticisms. Help me grow.
Caleb Lewis of Appalachian Woodshop
My name is Caleb Lewis, a 38 year old chef and handyman that is tired of being in a resturant and working for someone else. I would love to make a living in my own woodshop and with my photography. My dream and goal in life is to purchase a piece of property. Mill the timber on that land to build a house and workshop for my daughter to grow up on and to make a living in the woodshop. We are slowly working towards this goal, and hopefully this blog will contribute to this goal.
Tuesday, February 7, 2023
Milling a Oak Log
Milling a oak log into two inch slabs in the woods of western North Carolina.
So I mill all of my own lumber, so anything that i make is all made out of lumber I have milled. This is a ten foot piece of a huge oak tree that came down in a huge snow storm about two years ago. The log I am milling here is right where the tree split from the weight of the snow. Needless to say all of the stresses in this log have made it really hard to flat saw. The oak keeps pinching my chain. I honestly didn't think I was going to be able to get it loose for a min. I do have to say this log has some amazing grain patterns. I will share the rest of the milling of this log in future videos. As always please offer any and all comments, advice, and criticisms. All you haters help me grow so give me your best. lol
Caleb Lewis of Appalachian Woodshop
My name is Caleb Lewis, a 38 year old chef and handyman that is tired of being in a resturant and working for someone else. I would love to make a living in my own woodshop and with my photography. My dream and goal in life is to purchase a piece of property. Mill the timber on that land to build a house and workshop for my daughter to grow up on and to make a living in the woodshop. We are slowly working towards this goal, and hopefully this blog will contribute to this goal.
Monday, January 23, 2023
Oiling black walnut and cherry end grain cutting board.
Third end grain cutting board project.
This was my third end grain cutting board project, and by far the most beautiful one I have ever made. When I started it I was just messing around with a bunch of scrap black walnut, I had seen this design on a Youtube and thought I would give it a try. I had a small block of cherry and I thought the cherry would contrast well with the black walnut. I was right, this cutting board looked absolutely amazing. I usually not one to brag on my work. I can always find something wrong with the stuff I make, but this project turned out really well. The only thing wrong with it was the thickness. I made a mistake when I was trying to flatten the cutting board, I didn't have it secured and needless to say it wasn't flat so I fixed the problem and tried again. After the second one I almost just threw it away because I thought it was so thin, but I didn't and went on through with sanding it. The more I sanded this thing the prettier it got. Then I added the oil and it almost took your breath it was so beautiful. I have to say I am really glad I went through with completing it. Please offer any advice comments and cridisisams that you will. Thank you to everyone who has offered advice, like I have said, I am new to all this and I want to learn any and all the tricks of the trade. So that I can avoid any mistakes in the future.
Caleb Lewis of Appalachian Woodshop
My name is Caleb Lewis, a 38 year old chef and handyman that is tired of being in a resturant and working for someone else. I would love to make a living in my own woodshop and with my photography. My dream and goal in life is to purchase a piece of property. Mill the timber on that land to build a house and workshop for my daughter to grow up on and to make a living in the woodshop. We are slowly working towards this goal, and hopefully this blog will contribute to this goal.
Wednesday, December 14, 2022
Black Walnut River Table With Green Accent and Tinted Black Epoxy Resin.
Black Walnut River Table With Green Accent/Smokey Black Epoxy Resin.
This was my very first river table, as well as the first time I had ever used any kind of epoxy. I must say it was quite a learning experience. I made several pretty big mistakes which resulted in losing a considerable amount of the epoxy. I also made a mistake by using a really bowed board. Now I'm going to have to do another pour to level everything out. I'm not finished with it yet but I will post up dates once I finish everything. I think its going to be pretty sweet once I get everything finished up. Let me hear any ideas you might have and definitely any suggestions of how to make the process easier and faster.
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| Poured a green accent with epoxy resin. |
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| First river table epoxy resin pour. |
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| First river table epoxy pour. |
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| Different angle shot of river table. |
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| Prepping for river table pour of epoxy. |
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| River table pour prepping. |
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| Form built for epoxy river table pour. |
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| Form for epoxy river table. |
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| Form for epoxy river table. |
My name is Caleb Lewis, a 38 year old chef and handyman that is tired of being in a resturant and working for someone else. I would love to make a living in my own woodshop and with my photography. My dream and goal in life is to purchase a piece of property. Mill the timber on that land to build a house and workshop for my daughter to grow up on and to make a living in the woodshop. We are slowly working towards this goal, and hopefully this blog will contribute to this goal.
Monday, December 12, 2022
My second cutting board project.
This is my second cutting board project I completed. I tried doing a checkerboard design on this one. I used poplar and black walnut to achieve the light and dark contrast. I think it turned out pretty well I just didnt get everything to match in measurement and you can tell by everything not lining up properly. Other than that I think it turned out pretty good considering its my second one.
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My name is Caleb Lewis, a 38 year old chef and handyman that is tired of being in a resturant and working for someone else. I would love to make a living in my own woodshop and with my photography. My dream and goal in life is to purchase a piece of property. Mill the timber on that land to build a house and workshop for my daughter to grow up on and to make a living in the woodshop. We are slowly working towards this goal, and hopefully this blog will contribute to this goal.
Friday, December 9, 2022
Most Recent Projects
I'm going to open with some photos of my most recent projects. I have a few photos of some end grain cutting boards. These are also my very first projects, so I'm sure they are not perfect and would love any feedback I can get. Tips and tricks to make the process easier and (or) faster. I'm looking to start mass producing cutting boards like these, to sell online and locally. Too eventually start building custom workbenches. So any and all advise will be greatly appreciated.
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| My very first cutting board. |
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| My very first cutting board. |
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| My first cutting board. |
My name is Caleb Lewis, a 38 year old chef and handyman that is tired of being in a resturant and working for someone else. I would love to make a living in my own woodshop and with my photography. My dream and goal in life is to purchase a piece of property. Mill the timber on that land to build a house and workshop for my daughter to grow up on and to make a living in the woodshop. We are slowly working towards this goal, and hopefully this blog will contribute to this goal.
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