Drumroll please….

I am very excited to announce and share with you the launch of my NEW website. After months of hard work and dedication, my NEW website is live!! I would love it if you would go take a look, here is the link:  MichaelsWoodcrafts

www.MichaelsWoodcrafts.com

The main goal of the new website was to provide online ordering that was user-friendly and easy to navigate. The website is full of features that include additional product information, size selection and engraving features, user can enter comments when ordering, rotating images, promotional codes, create an account, product reviews and more.

On the new website you will find a few new products that include wooden bowls, new cuttings board designs, trays, serving boards, additional hand mirror designs, and gift cards!

Below is a picture of my new Kitchen Board that I make with cherry and maple or walnut and maple. This is the perfect size board for chopping, cutting cheese, fruit, slicing bread, cold-cuts, serving sandwiches or for serving charcuterie at your next family gathering or party. This board has a leather loop for hanging on the wall. To allow the board to lay flat on your counter or table it has a routed slot for the leather loop.

Be one of the first to sign up for FREE shipping and exclusive offers that will be emailed to you!

Did I mention? with the new website I have a new logo. My friend Kate designed this logo for me! With the new logo I am still using the same tag line promoting my work, “Handcrafted Heirlooms Lasting a Lifetime”.

⭐️ I want to thank Kate for working with me,  all her help and support, working her magic and bringing my ideas to LIFE! She was awesome!  Please visit Kate’s Instagram page @primal_kate 

Please visit my new website and let me know any feedback (or bugs that need to be corrected) We can’t wait to hear what you think!  Click here MichaelsWoodcrafts

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Food Presentation Boards

In January of this year I started making these food presentation boards in Walnut and Oak as a prototype to see if they would sell. I only made two of these in a medium size board. It wasn’t long before I had customers asking for engraving on the handle and other sizes.

The above is the medium board in oak with engraving on the handle. I received a nice order from Ava’s Kitchen in New Jersey. Attilio is the owner, never been there but their pizza sure looks delicious! Attilio had purchased pizza boards from three years ago and was still following me on Instagram. When he saw my post on these he emailed me and gave me a nice order with engraving.

I designed a small board, above picture compares the small board (left) to the medium size board. Most of my orders are for Walnut wood.

Who doesn’t like Pizza?!!  I made an extra large board that will easily hold a 12″ pizza for myself. I use it all the time when I make homemade pizza. A local pizzeria owner had purchased boards from me before and when I showed him this new board he purchased a bunch of them to use in his restaurant.

These boards are great for serving anything, above are french pastries from our local french pastry shop in downtown Greenville. Their pastries are to die for!

One of my customers sent me an email with pictures of her homemade cinnamon rolls on the extra large board!

These boards can be used for serving food, charcuterie, pizza, etc. If you have a family gathering or parties this is the perfect food tray for you! It will be the talk of your party!

After months of hard work and dedication, my NEW website is live!! I would love it if you would go take a look, here is the link:  MichaelsWoodcrafts

www.MichaelsWoodcrafts.com

For more information, view more images or to order, click SHOP NOW

Making a Recessed Wine Bottle Stopper

Happy Friday!!!

It’s been awhile since I last posted and I miss everyone!! I’ve decided that I am going to try and post once or twice a week!

One of my most popular items are the wine bottle stoppers I turn on my wood lathe. They are very unique because they are recessed, meaning that the cork is on the inside of the wine stopper and can not be seen wen the stopper is on the bottle.

I can up with this design 20 years ago when my wife mentioned to me that the wine stoppers I was making were too tall.

A recessed wine stopper has the cork inside and slides over the bottle neck. The couple pictures above are a good example of how they work. You can not see the cork thru the bottle, all you see is the beautiful wine stopper!

 

The colors resin colors are endless, between the Maple burl and the colored resin, each wine stopper is unique. It’s virtually impossible to make two wine bottle stoppers with the same colors!

I start by creating a hybrid blank which I make using Maple burl and colored resin. I cut the piece of maple burl and place it into a square mold and the pour in the colored resin. In about 7 days it is dry and is ready to turn. I really like using the Maple burl, you never know what colors and grain you will see once it is turned.

Then I will mount the blank to the lathe and start turning. Here are a few pictures of the process.

 

 

Once the wine stopper is turned and while still on the lathe, before applying the high gloss finish there is a lot of sanding to do. I will sand starting at 150 grit then 180, 220, 240, 320 grit all the way to 12,000 grit.

I like a high gloss finish, in order for me to get the high gloss I apply 40 to 50 coats of CA finish while the lathe is turning. CA is the short name for Cyanoacrylate glue, super glue.  I apply a few drops of CA to a paper towel and while the late is turning I apply it to the stopper. Then I spray is with a accelerator that dries it instantly. I do this 40, 50 times or more until I am happy with the finish. Once the CA hardens it is very durable.

 

After the finish is done, I will then, buff an polish the stopper by hand. Then I mount the cork. It takes 24 hours for the glue to dry from installing the cork, then is it ready to use!!

 

A wood turned bottle stopper is a great accent to a good bottle of wine.  I enjoy making my recessed wine bottle stoppers!

To see more pictures visit my Gallery of Wine Bottle Stoppers, click here

After months of hard work and dedication, my NEW website is live!! I would love it if you would go take a look, here is the link:  MichaelsWoodcrafts

www.MichaelsWoodcrafts.com

 

For more information, view more images or to order, click SHOP NOW

Engraved Catchall Trays

I have been making catchall trays for only about 2 months now. Since then I have made over 200 trays with “custom” engraving, many different sizes and another 80 that were ordered with one of my already engraving designs.

Above is my “I love you” catchall tray, this one is 6″ X 6″ square and 5/8″ inside. I originally made this one for a shop in Blowing Rock, NC but it has become very popular.

The above tray was a custom engraving order, they wanted a 3D heart in the middle with engraving on the heart. I have also engraved monogram letters on the heart for others.

After months of hard work and dedication, my NEW website is live!! I would love it if you would go take a look, here is the link:  MichaelsWoodcrafts

www.MichaelsWoodcrafts.com

 

For more information, view more images or to order, click SHOP NOW

 

 

Wood Catchall Trays

I recently started making Catchall trays. Each tray I handcraft from a solid piece of walnut. They have beautifully rounded corners, sanded perfectly smooth and then the bottom is engraved with various designs. My wife using one to keep her watch and rings in everyday.

The catchall trays are great for holding small items such as glasses, watches, rings, earrings, thumb drives, car keys, coins,  cell phone & charger, paperclips, thumbtacks, etc., the list is endless. It keeps all those everyday handy items within reach. They make great gifts!

The pineapple engraving takes a long time to do but this one is very popular along with the engraved honey bees!!

The trays are 8″ long and 4″ wide and I currently only make them using solid walnut.

 

I can also engrave the bottom surface with a special message!

Engraved Tiger paw!

The above Catchall tray has a carved bottom.

The tray with Live, Laugh, Love was a custom engraved, special order for a customer that was a gift to a friend. Now that I have this one set-up I can easily repeat this engraving.

After months of hard work and dedication, my NEW website is live!! I would love it if you would go take a look, here is the link:  MichaelsWoodcrafts

www.MichaelsWoodcrafts.com

 

For more information, view more images or to order, click SHOP NOW

One of a Kind Handcrafted Wood Wine Stoppers

For more information, view more images or to order, click SHOP NOW

Handcrafted Wine Bottle Stoppers!

Above: Stabilized Box Elder Burl natural

Above: Dyed gold and green Box Elder  Burl wine bottle stoppers

Happy Valentines everyone!

Since New Year’s I have not spent much time in the shop which has given me some time to think about my work and how precious and valuable our time is.

Over the years I have made a lot of wine bottle stoppers on my wood lathe. The problem has always been once on the wind bottle, they were to tall to get into the fridge without lowering the fridge shelf. I’ve solved this problem by designed a recessed wine bottle stopper. I’ve made the cork disappear inside the wood turning. They have turned out beautiful! Check them out…

Above; all of these were handcrafted with the combination of Black Ash Eye Burl, Padauk and Black Veneer.

Above: Wine Bottle Stopper handcrafted with Maple Burl stabilized and dyed green along with African Blackwood. Photo above by Bob Bernotsky

I want to share a few pictures of the wine bottle stoppers I have turned. Each one is unique but the design is similar.

Close up picture showing the burl wood grain and the recessed cork.

The above two I made using Maple Burl and blue dyed Busheye Burl. I wanted to see how the blue dyed Buckeye Burl would look when finished.

Above, African Blackwood, Holly and Hybrid Maple Burl and Blue Acrylic

The above picture is an African Blackwood, Padauk and Holly wine bottle stopper in progress of being turned on my lathe.

Above, African Blackwood, Padauk and Holly

above, left to right:
Maple Burl, African Blackwood and Holly
Dyed Blue Maple Burl, African Blackwood and Holly
Dyed Teal Maple Burl, African Blackwood and Holly
Black Ash Eye Burl, African Blackwood and Holly
Padauk, African Blackwood and Holly

Below, a few pictures showing my Wine Bottle Stoppers being finished on the lathe.

above, handcrafted wine bottle stopper in progress on the lathe. Stabilized Box Elder Burl dyed teal.

Above, left stabilized natural Spalted Hackberry, right stabilized natural Box Elder Burl

More unique wine bottle stoppers coming soon!

After months of hard work and dedication, my NEW website is live!! I would love it if you would go take a look, here is the link:  MichaelsWoodcrafts

www.MichaelsWoodcrafts.com

Purchasing my work is Simple, click the SHOP NOW button!

Be sure to check out my cutting boards!

Making a Black Walnut and Maple End Grain Cutting Board

Black Walnut and hard rock Maple End Grain Cutting Board

I wanted to share with you a little bit of the process of making an end grain cutting board. I am making two boards using a combination of Black Walnut and hard rock Maple. These two woods will give a nice contract of color. The final size of each board will be 14″ x 20″ x 1-1/2″ thick.

The first step is to hand pick nice hardwood, preferably woods with nice grain, color, square, no splitting and no worm holes. If you purchased wood, let the wood acclimate to the conditions of your shop for a week before starting your project. Knowing the final size of the board allows you to calculate the total board feet of hardwood required to make the board. Keep in mind that there are numerous cuts and glue ups in the process. You need to account for all of the cuts as each cut on a table saw waste 1/8 of material.

Prepare your cuts for the best use of the hardwood and the design.  If you plan to use different types of woods, you may need more board feet of one wood verses the other based on your design. Since this board is primary Black Walnut, I will need more Black Walnut than Maple.

Plan your cuts based on final size of the board. Start by cutting the wood into strips. The size of the strips is determined based on the final design and size of the board. Glue all of the strips together in the sequence of your design, leaving the boards in the clamps for a minimum of 24 hours.

The above photo shows the Black Walnut and Maple strips, this is the first glue up. After removing the glued strips from the clamps, both surfaces were sanded smooth to size per my design.

Next step was to cross cut the above boards into strips that are 1-5/8 wide, which will make a 1-5/8 thick board. The 1-5/9 thickness provides 1/8″ for flattening both surfaces and all the sanding. After cutting the strips, each piece is carefully placed in the proper sequence based on the design. Every other piece is the opposite of the last piece.  After each piece is in order, it is time for the second glue up.

The above photo shows the second glue up of all of the strips that were cut to 1-5/8″. This will be the final design.

In the above photo, after 24 hours, I removed the boards from the clamps. I then cut the board to size, 14 x 20 inch and started sanding the surface on all sides. The final thickness will be 1-1/2 inch. Once this is completed, I will cut finger pulls of each end and then sand them smooth. My sanding process starts at 120 grit up to the final grit of 300.

The sanding took nearly an hour to go from 120 grit to 300 grit. They are looking good, flat on all surfaces and all sanded. Next step is to cut the finger pulls, then apply the final finish.

The above photo shows the board after cutting the finger pulls, sanding the finger pulls and applying the final finish.

Finished boards!

 

I hope you enjoyed my post!

This board is stall available, made to order only. If you are interested, please email me from my Contact Us page. Click CONTACT US button below!

 

 

New Boards Made The Last Month

Above: Black Walnut Board

I thought I would post today a few of the boards that I have made this month. There were a few more that I made but did not get a picture of them!

 

Above: Ambrosia Maple, Cherry and Black Walnut

This one is 14 inch in diameter and has a lot of different grain character and colors, it’s stunning!

Above: Black Walnut and Maple

Customer wanted a long board to place beside her range, 22 inches long and 6-1/2 inches wide.

Above: Black Walnut and Maple end grain cutting board

Rachel was looking for a unique board that could take lot of use. See her picture below!

The above photo was taken by Rachel, she is a wonderful cook, check out her Instagram page, @5280Meat

 

Above: Black Walnut board with handle.

Check out Trina’s picture below of this board, round board and ice cream scoop! Trina is a wonderful cook, check out her Instagram page, @Paleo_Newbie_Recipes

 

My Wood Conditioner is homemade combining a mixture of food-grade mineral oil and pure food grade beeswax. It will help you maintain the finish on your boards, reviving, condition and help protect your boards from moisture and drying out.

Enjoy your afternoon!

After months of hard work and dedication, my NEW website is live!! I would love it if you would go take a look, here is the link:  MichaelsWoodcrafts

www.MichaelsWoodcrafts.com

Purchasing my work is Simple, click the above image or the SHOP NOW button below to be directed to my website.

 

 

 

 

Making My Wood Conditioner!

I spent a couple hours this afternoon making my Wood Conditioner today because I only had a few tins available. If you are not familiar with my Wood Conditioner, when used on your wood cutting board, wood utensils or anything wood it will penetrate and helps to revive, condition and protect it. I also use it on my cast iron pans for conditioning. Read more about my Wood Conditioner!

My Wood Conditioner is made using 100% food grade mineral oil and 100% food grade beeswax.

I have a label on the lid detailing how to use the Wood Conditioner. 

Tins ready to fill, I use the syringe to fill each tin, it makes for easy work and clean up too! Each tin will be filled with my Food Grade Mineral oil and Food Grade Beeswax mixture. It will be hot but once cooled becomes solid.

Once the tins are filled, it takes about an hour for the Wood Conditioner to cool and harden. Above are three tins that were filled at different times, the one in the middle has not cooled and gotten solid just yet.

They are all done, cooled, labeled and ready!

For more information, view more images or to order, click the SHOP NOW button below

Maple & Paduak

 

I started two end grain cutting boards last week, One was Maple and Cherry (left), the other was Maple and Pakauk (right). Paduak is an orange-red color wood from South America.

The Maple and Paduak boards is to the right, first glue-up. In this post I am going to show you the finishing process of the Maple and Padauk end grain board.

The above picture shows the second glue-up for the final pattern.  It’s dry  and ready to go to the Jet belt sander to get it flat on both sides. This board will finish out at 10 inches wide, 16 inches long and 2 inches thick. Once flat I sanded all sides from 120 grit up to 600 grit.

What looks like water is food grade mineral oil. After being in the food grade mineral oil bath for over an hour I removed it to let it air dry. I will let it dry over night before wiping it down with a cotton cloth.

Another view of this board that shows the finger pull, I cut one on each side to make it easier to lift. This board was finished with  food grade mineral oil, then my wood conditioner that is a food grade mineral oil and food grade beeswax mixture.