- Ipe

- Sterling Silver

- Steel

My work with coffee tables started with a few boards of Ipe that I found on Craigslist. I had originally laminated them to make a top for a breakfast table. Eventually, I replaced it with a slab of granite so it just sat in the corner of the garage for a few years waiting for another life.

My first coffee table was this “California” table complete with a sterling silver inlay of the San Francisco Bay and retractable cup holders. The legs are a simple tripod configuration of three rods welded to a flat washer.

- Monkey Pod

- Aluminum

- Sterling Silver

- Steel

In keeping with the geographical theme, my second table paid homage to my adopted hometown of Alameda, CA. I wanted to somehow preserve the history of this small town that has hosted so many contributions to Naval and aviation history. 

In 1934 the city of Alameda built an air strip called Benton Field on reclaimed land at the north end of the island. It was built for two reasons; for the immediate use of Pan American Airways, and as an incentive to attract the Navy to the community of Alameda. The Navy studied the site, accepted Alameda's offer, and in 1938 began building a large air station there that could support four aircraft carrier groups, five patrol squadrons, two utility squadrons, have facilities for complete plane and engine overhaul, piers to dock two aircraft carriers and several outlying air fields. The new naval station, named U.S. Naval Air Station, Alameda, became the Navy's "Aviation Gateway to the Pacific". Construction wasn't yet complete when the U.S. went to war in Dec. 1941, but the air station's personnel began performing wartime duties with what they had available. Offshore and inshore air patrols were begun, air cover for convoys was provided and the station became a ferry point for fleet air units going elsewhere. In late March 1942 the aircraft carrier "Hornet" arrived at NAS, Alameda and 16 Army B-25 bombers were hoisted aboard. The Hornet then departed under great secrecy on April 2. These were the planes of General Jimmy Doolittle's Raiders that bombed Tokyo and other cities in Japan on April 18, 1942.

During World War II, this was one of the Navy's busiest air stations with air units, carrier groups, supplies, numerous naval personnel and sometimes VIP's passing through on their way to the Pacific or to points east. Actually, construction never stopped at NAS, Alameda during the war and by 1945 it was a huge facility with 3600 officers and 29,000 enlisted personnel.

In late 1943-early 1944 the AAF established a large intransit air depot in Alameda to handle the logistics of moving large numbers of AAF personnel, planes and equipment from Europe to the Pacific in preparation for the final assault on Japan. It was the largest new construction project undertaken by the AAF at this time. The air depot included many warehouses, wharves, rail sidings and deep-water docks. With the sudden end to the war in the Pacific, though, this facility saw little use.

The naval air station continued in full operation after the war and became home to many Navy commands and service units. In 1967 the station's air field was named Nimitz Field in honor of Adm. Chester Nimitz. NAS, Alameda continued in full operation throughout the Cold War and was one of the Navy's most important facilities on the west coast. In the 1990s NAS, Alameda was closed. Source: World War II Sites in the United States: A Tour Guide and Directory by Richard E. Osbourne

On Nov. 22, 1935 a silvery four-engined seaplane took off from Alameda and headed west across San Francisco Bay and out to sea for a flight into history. It was the famous China Clipper, bound for a 59-hour flight to Manila. The Pan American Airways flight that took off, was the first regularly scheduled flight across the oceans of the world. It was hailed in The Chronicle as the beginning of "a giant new age," and the Martin 130 seaplane named China Clipper was called "the greatest airplane ever built in America." Source: Carl Nolte

► The signature of General James "Jimmy" Doolittle of the United States Army Air Forces is proudly preserved in the approximate location of what is now Doolittle Drive.

► The aluminum inlay depicts the runways at U.S. Naval Air Station, Alameda.

► Embedded under polyurethane in the location of Seaplane Lagoon is the aircraft carrier USS Hornet and Pan Am’s Martin 130 seaplane, the China Clipper

► For the legs I took inspiration from a machine gun tripod

- Monkey Pod

- Steel

With the small bit of waste from the Alameda Table I was able to squeeze in this outline of Lake Tahoe. The legs are always the most difficult design element because they need to reflect the character of the piece. I had some 3/8" rod lying around so I decided that less is more. I simply bent the rods around a metal pipe and welded on a mounting bracket.

- Black Acacia

- Steel

After working with tree slabs to create the coffee tables, I gained a deeper appreciation for the beauty of live edges. I wanted to work on a project where I could preserve the nature of the tree rather than force a design on it. The idea of floating shelves seemed simple enough.

Once again, I went to my favorite resource; Craigslist. I found a local operation that salvages old trees from various locations around the Bay Area. The trees are either dying or in need of removal. They are then cut into slabs and resold to the public. This particular piece is from an old Black Acacia tree that was removed from the Oakland Hills.

I cut the slab in half, removed the bark and wire brushed the edges. By cutting it along the diagonal, I gained two shelves. After a bit of welding it was ready for mounting. Now I just have to figure out what to do with the other half.

The display case on the wall contains the work of my youngest daughter. From the age of 10-12 she was obsessed with creating miniatures out of polymer clay. Although she doesn't believe it, she is also an exceptional painter. That is one of her hand painted iphone cases.

We've tried to encourage her to start a business and sell her work but she has somehow inherited my "One-off" mentality. She enjoys the process and challenge of making something, not to be duplicated.

- Lots of steel and spray paint

This was a relatively simple project that quickly evolved into something much more complex. All I wanted was a rack that would keep my equipment out of the car but I couldn’t find anything that I liked.

Since my car didn’t come with a tow bar I needed to install one. I found a tow hitch receiver on Amazon but I didn’t like how low it sat. I decided to modify the hitch by cutting it apart and removing a 2.5” section, effectively raising the ground clearance. Once removed, I was able to reassemble all the pieces. In order to accommodate the now higher hitch receiver, I had to cut a slot in the rear bumper cover. With the hitch finally bolted on I was ready to focus on the original project.

I knew that I wanted certain features:

► The ability to accommodate multiple snowboards

► A way to hang wet boots at the end of the day

► A tilt feature to allow access to the trunk

► It had to be lightweight

► An easy, efficient strapping system that could be operated with gloved hands

I had a pretty solid idea in my head so I just started cutting and welding. The tilting mechanism was the most challenging detail until it occurred to me that I could scavenge a few key components from an old tape gun.

- Metal Lath

- Stucco

Years ago, when my daughters were much younger they collected Kidrobot vinyl figures. Since I couldn't be there to greet them as they returned home from school, I made this little guy to act as my “stand-in”. I went to Home Depot, picked up a sheet of metal lath, a bag of stucco and started shaping. A few hours later we had a 50 lb doorstop!

I've always wanted to do a nose art piece but an authentic aluminum skin from an old warplane was outrageously expensive. So again, I turned to Craigslist and found a fender from a late 60's Chevy Pickup. The seller also had a matching tailgate (which you'll see in another project) so I took them both. The hornet is Alameda High School's mascot while the machine gun is a tribute to the USS Hornet.

Under my brother's art direction, I later modified the hornet to make stickers for my niece's softball team. Go Jackets!

This project wasn't even on my radar until I acquired the tailgate in a package deal with the nose art fender. It had been sitting in an old creek bed for years so after stripping off the old paint and body filler I discovered that there was quite a bit of rot. I briefly considered patching all the damaged areas but ultimately decided to keep the character of the piece intact. I welded up a simple frame, sent the pieces off to a local powder coater and repainted the letters.

Sometimes you just get a lucky break... I had been looking to replace my front porch light but again, nothing appealed to me. A local shoe store was going out of business and the New Balance display happened to catch my eye. I wasn't quite sure how I could get it to work so I only bought one. I brought it home, thought about it and rushed back a few hours later. Relieved to discover that they were still there, I ended up buying the other two. I disassembled the pieces, added LED light strips, wired in a motion sensor and built out the front panels to eliminate the dark spots. To power them, I modified an old cell phone charger to convert the AC to DC. Not quite UL approved but they work!

- Osage Orange

- Leather

One of my greatest passions is archery. I shoot both compound as well as recurve because I just love to shoot. A selfbow or simple bow is made from a single piece of wood called a stave. One of the best woods for a selfbow is Osage Orange. It is a small deciduous tree prized for it's strength and dimensional stability. Since Osage is not indigenous to my area I turned to Ebay to find a suitable stave.

The goal of a selfbow is to scrape the back down to a single growth ring along the full length of the stave. Osage trees don’t usually grow very straight, so finding a clean, straight piece is pretty rare and expensive. Since it was my first attempt I didn't want to invest in a pristine pricey blank. Mine was a bit snakey and had a pretty significant twist to it so I steamed it out over the stove while my wife was out of town. :)

I chose to forego the power tools and used a drawknife and a rasp for all the shaping. The entire process is slow but extremely meditative and rewarding. I encourage you to give it a try.

- Black Phenolic Riser

- Carbon Fiber Back & Black Fiberglass Belly

- Bamboo Core

After the osage bow I gained enough confidence to take on a more expensive but less technical build. Although this is still a one-off build, I can't take credit for the incredible construction of the blank. I had been admiring the work of a bowyer in Santa Cruz for years and he graciously agreed to sell me one of his laminated blanks. After a bit of cutting and shaping I now have a good, solid shooter.

This little guy is one of the only survivors from my childhood one-offs. I think I was maybe 10 or 11. I had just finished writing a book report on Robert Goddard (AKA the father of modern rocketry). The report was either for school or to earn a new BB gun. Anyway, for propellant I would unroll a handful of firecrackers, collect the gunpowder, dump it in an aluminum tube, feed the original fuse through a balsa wood disc and cap the end. I used piano wire, model airplane wheels from the local hobby shop and fishing line to bind it all together.  

If you haven't figured it out yet, "R.C.E." is short for Rocket Car Engines! Pretty creative huh?

After years of sacrificing a promising career as an Industrial Engineer/Ergonomist to raise our two daughters, my incredibly talented wife has now embarked on a new chapter in her life. She and one of her closest friends have started a Home Organization business. When she asked me to build her a desk, I said "sure". When she said she wanted it to float, I thought "maybe we can just buy one"! After hours of searching online I soon realized that it didn't exist.

My original design had the 40lb glass top cantilevered out from the wall but the engineering was just too cumbersome. She compromised and allowed me to add legs so this is what I came up with. One end rolls along a rail bolted to the wall while the other is supported by a simple frame that rides on a pair of urethane wheels.

If you'd like to create a beautiful home through decluttering, organizing and styling look them up… you won’t regret it!

http://www.tailorly.net

- Steel

- Limestone

My wife and I are always looking for ways to create a safe, comfortable outdoor space for our girls to just hang out with their friends. It serves as a conversation pit as well as a place to roast marshmallows and do a little grilling. 

The time had come for me to breathe new life into our old tired rose bed. My primary concern was critter control so the beds were designed with that in mind. The planter boxes were laid over a continuous run of chicken wire to resist burrowing and each cage has a removable front panel for easy maintenance. The composter was made from a 50 gallon plastic drum and parts from a discarded piece of fitness equipment that I rescued from the curb.

The nursery is used to grow my plants from seeds. It has a removable front, built in irrigation, hinged lids and vents to control humidity.

I’ve dabbled with jewelry in the past making silver pendants and bullet rings for my wife but the true artist is my oldest daughter. She’s taken her metalworking skills and created her own business. She now makes commissioned pieces that she sells both locally and on her website: www.airheartjeweler.com

When I was in middle school, we watched a documentary about an African tribe using the lost wax process to cast bronze tools. I had always wanted to give it a try but I didn’t have access to a forge. Fast forward a few years to 1983 and the first Rambo movie was still fresh in my mind. Like the rest of my adolescent buddies, I was in awe of Rambo’s knife! I was a junior in high school and I finally had my driver license. I could now drive to collect my material and explore resources. I got a bar of steel and just started cutting with a hacksaw. I didn’t have any power grinders or belt sanders back then, so everything was shaped using hand files. That style of survival knife was so popular that I was able to find a knife supplier who was selling the machined handles.  I found a local foundry to cast my hand guard and the owner was generous enough to do the work at cost since he could tell I was pretty green and didn’t have any money!

For my second knife, I wanted to explore the casting process a bit further so this time I decided to cast the skull out of sterling silver. My uncle, who made dental implants, generously agreed to cast the piece if I supplied the silver. He melted down a few silver coins that I had collected and I was able to complete the knife.

When I was 15 we took a family trip to Hawaii. The sunsets and beaches were beautiful but I was truly fascinated by the local craftsmen sitting barefoot on grass mats weaving palm fronds and carving chunks of koa wood into sea creatures and tikis. On the flight home, I watched as a passenger struggled to maneuver a four foot carving of a hammerhead shark onto the plane. That thing was awesome and I just knew I had to make one. I couldn’t wait to get home to start sketching the layout. I found an old redwood fencepost behind the garage, cut out the rough outline on the bandsaw and just started carving with my only tools at the time; a chisel and a hunting knife. Most of the pieces were limited by the size of the fencepost that I could find but eventually I found a local mill that sold more exotic woods.

I was a senior in high school and apparently had a lot of free time on my hands due to a bad case of senioritis. This was my final exercise in the lost wax process. Once again, my friend at the foundry took pity on me and agreed to cast this piece for next to nothing as long as I did the finish work and patina. This sculpture was pretty static and definitely humbled me. As I looked around at the incredible work at the foundry I quickly learned that I was more of a craftsman than an artist. A true artist can capture movement and flow which is something that I need to learn one of these days.

I spent quite a bit of time in high school just drawing because I enjoyed the challenge of photorealism. Sadly, I haven’t really picked up a pencil for the sheer joy of drawing since then. The talent that I see on Youtube nowadays is truly remarkable and it inspires me to continue where I left off one day!

Still inspired by my family trip to Hawaii, I decided that I “needed” to have a speargun. I got the muzzle and spear at a dive shop and built the rest of the gun around it. The tubing and hardware came from the local hardware store.  My dad sourced a block of aluminum for me and snuck us into a machine shop that he had access to. We both learned how to use a milling machine that night.

- Finland Birch Plywood

- Spruce

- Fiberglass

The summer after graduating from college I decided to build a canoe. The process seemed simple enough so for the next few months, Thomas J. Hill’s book “Ultralight Boatbuilding” became my bible. Armed with a set of plans and a local lumberyard that sold specialty woods, I was anxious to begin. Fortunately, when we were kids, my dad taught us how to build balsa wood airplanes. The technique for building this type of canoe is very similar. It’s essentially a plywood shell formed over a hollow fuselage.

Over the past 12 years I think we’ve used the fireplace on two occasions. With clean air restrictions tightening each year due to global warming, the time had come to remove the old fireplace and gain a little extra storage space. Although I wasn’t quite sure what I’d find once I started the demolition, I had a pretty good idea. The original plan was to create a small hidden cubby but my wife convinced me to open up the wall completely and make a “step in” pantry. I always trust her sense of design and as usual, I’m glad I listened. Although I had installed the flooring 12 years prior, I was fortunate enough to locate a near perfect match to patch in the hearth area. 

We needed a piece of art to offset the massive panel covering the old fireplace but I was at a loss for ideas. Since the panel hugs the wall with very little clearance I couldn’t simply hang a framed print. My wife had just attended the new Roman Holiday Musical and left the playbill on the kitchen table. It seemed to work with the space so I projected the image on a sheet of hardboard, traced the outlines and filled in the colors with leftover paint from the garage.

The goal was to create a minimally invasive reading lamp that could fold away and disappear behind a curtain when not in use. The design and construction were fairly straightforward once I was able to source all the materials. I purchased the aluminum bar stock at the local hardware store and was fortunate enough to find a wireless LED controller that could fit inside the ½” tube stock. The power supply was recycled from an old network switch that I found lying around.

This exercise was to try my hand at hammer forming. The goal was to build a welding helmet that combined an industrial look with the technology of an auto darkening lens. I chose to use old school mechanical fasteners (rivets) to keep the steampunk aesthetic.  I found the aluminum pots and pans at a local salvage yard and the head gear was scrapped from an old helmet. The cake cover was just about the right size and a toaster oven tray made a good lens frame. After a few thousand hammer strikes and a bit of riveting, this is what I ended up with.

I came across this giant industrial whisk at a local garage sale. It was in such pristine condition that I just had to have it. I’ve always wanted to make something using an LED Edison bulb so this is my twist on an old idea. It was a quick, simple project that only required a bit of welding, tapping a few screw holes and adapting a few PVC joints. Naturally, I just had to go back and buy his remaining whisks!

So I’ve been kicking this old oxygen bottle around the garage for a year now. Originally, I wanted to turn it into a little cannon but I decided on a piece of yard art instead. If you’ve ever tried to remove the valve from a gas cylinder you’ll understand why I decided to simply cut it off. I welded a few pieces of steel to make the fin assembly and modified part of an old sprinkler head to fashion a fan blade for the mock tail fuse. The welds are pretty crude and frankly, a bit embarrassing but I didn’t want to invest a lot of time into this one.

For months my youngest daughter had been bugging me to build a rig to practice her aerial silks at home. I kept putting her off because I really wasn’t sure if I could build one that was safe enough. After hours of planning I finally felt comfortable enough to give it a try as long as it met the following criteria:

► Zero chance of collapse

► Relatively lightweight (in case it did fail!)

► Easy to assemble/disassemble by one person

► Packable/transportable since she’d be heading off to college in a couple short years

The most critical detail was the design of the head. Once I had that sorted out it was simply a matter of figuring out the optimal angle and height. The base had to be wide enough to provide stability and clearance yet narrow enough to minimize flex on the legs. So far no injuries…

Be sure to check out version 2.0 https://www.theoneoffshop.net/#/aerial-rig-20/

This little project was born out of necessity. I had been using an old dental stool in the workshop for years and always wanted to replace it with something more stable that didn’t roll. It was designed around a 1” threaded rod and an old data plate that I found on ebay. I needed a seatback that would flow with the emblem so I paid a visit to my favorite salvage yard and found this old shovel head. The shape of the handle didn’t have the right curvature so I chopped off the head, reversed it and welded it back together. I used a solution of vinegar, hydrogen peroxide and salt to give it a nice aged patina. A few coats of poly and she’s now ready for service.

Although the first rig worked well, we discovered that she didn’t have quite the clearance that she needed with some of the spinning moves so this is version 2. Fortunately, it was a fairly easy fix as I was able to salvage the pieces from the first head and adapt them to the modified design.

Unfortunately, due to the pandemic, my aerialist daughter’s gym was forced to close but she still needed a place to practice for her performance gigs. Once again, the goal was to build something compact, lightweight and portable. The central pole is interchangeable to accommodate different heights depending on the venue.

Normally one performer works the lollipop while an assistant rotates the apparatus manually. Since she practices solo, I needed to find a way to motorize it. A small high torque motor and a simple drivetrain were enough to automate it. The addition of the speed controller allows her to match the spin rate to the tempo of the music.

For her college send-off my oldest daughter wanted a Disney themed party and she insisted that we make our own costumes. Needless to say, there aren’t too many characters that yield weapons so the Kakamora was the best I could come up with. Formed over a beach ball using lots of cardboard, foam and paper mache it quickly snowballed into something more complicated than I had anticipated.

During one of my regular Craigslist searches for a used 2” X 72” belt grinder I came across an extremely talented guy on YouTube who designed and built his own:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a_RlL1O-bK4&t=11s. It had never occurred to me that I could simply build one so I purchased a set of his plans and made a few minor mods. Ironically, I was building the tool that I needed to make the parts to build it. Through the process I learned quite a bit about 3 phase and variable frequency drives. The heavy gauge steel really pushed the limits of my hobby welder and it still needs a few more components but so far, the unit is rock solid! Thanks for the inspiration Jeremy.

To break in the new 2x72 grinder I decided to make this little purse holder for my wife. A pretty simple project in honor of our three legged rescue.

I’ve always wanted a platen table for my welding projects but I had neither the space to store it nor the equipment to move it. When I came across this scrap piece of ½” steel plate I knew exactly what to do with it. Most of my projects only require a relatively small work surface and so far, this has worked well for me. I drilled a series of holes to accommodate my drill press clamps and added a couple of rails to hold an assortment of locking pliers, grinders and clamps. The grounding clamp, vise, band saw and torch holder can be inserted into any corner depending on the need.

One of my favorite tools is the portable band saw but it’s pretty cumbersome when you need to make intricate cuts. This design allows the saw to hang vertically as a stationary tool without making any modifications to the tool itself. It can either be inserted into my welding cart or mounted to a vise.

In an attempt to clean out the garage and purge a few items, I came across a bucket of old nuts and bolts that I had been collecting for years. I couldn’t get myself to part with them so this is what I ended up with.

Now armed with a proper belt grinder, it seemed like a good time to revisit knife making after a 38 year hiatus. I chose 1084 steel for it’s durability and ease of heat treating. As a novice blade maker I decided that I should probably start with a jig for the initial shaping. After searching the internet for designs I hobbled together this simple device that allows me to hold bar stock at specific angles for grinding. For now, I’m only focused on shaping since I still don’t have a forge to do my own heat treating. I guess that’ll be my next project.

For years, I’ve been using wooden blocks to raise the height of my low profile service jack because it just didn’t provide enough travel. It was simply a matter of time before I got crushed so I decided that the time had come to devise a safer solution. Fortunately, I came across this ingenious design which allows me to raise the car and leave the jack stand under the factory lifting point. Tire rotations and brake jobs are much safer now.

So I went to my local salvage yard to find a steel door and ended up bringing this home instead. After six hours of stripping, grinding, cleaning and repainting this is how she turned out. I let my daughter choose the color and it’s slowly growing on me.

Now that my daughters are both driving, I rarely have access to my trusty Jeep which I’ve always used to transport material. I had a set of Yakima round bars that I’ve been saving but I couldn’t find a newer adapter for the old school bars. I wanted the most stable platform possible so I decided to utilize the factory rail mounts. The rear rack mounts to the trailer hitch and can be removed in seconds.

This project started with part of an old trailer hitch that I’d been saving. I figured that I could use it to build a large capacity vise that could be inserted into a trailer hitch. With a 20” body it can accommodate 17” of material. By using nesting tubes, the dynamic jaw can remain solid as it slides uninterrupted through the static body. The design uses an internal tube with a couple nuts welded to the forward end which allows the lead screw to essentially draw from the rear of the vise versus the midpoint. The design was basically dictated by the pieces of scrap steel that I tend to collect from my local steel mill.

I recently made the switch from gas to electric bikes primarily due to environmental concerns. My beloved Sur-Ron Light Bee is much lighter than a conventional motorcycle but significantly heavier than a mountain bike so I needed to build an appropriate carrier for it. The base for the carrier was a piece of fitness equipment that I saved from the sidewalk. I needed something that was lightweight, compact, minimally designed and easy to load.

If you’re from California you’ll understand why I needed this. “In San Francisco, where the vehicle break-ins (smash-and-grab) epidemic is worst, on average one vehicle break-in was reported every 20 minutes. Overall, the arrest rate is less than 2 percent, and the consequences for apprehended criminals are mere citations.” This won’t prevent a break-in but thieves will definitely be disappointed.

…the last two photos show that it was well worth the effort.

With a little more free time on my hands due to California’s shelter in place order, I decided to work on a Mother’s Day gift for my wife. For years, she has been trying to fit all her equipment on a very small Ikea cart. Needless to say, it was incredibly inefficient. Her machine is deceptively heavy so I wanted her to have something that she could wheel around without lifting it.

The problem with my first firepit was all the smoke and ash on windy days so I wanted to build a cleaner more refined version fueled by propane. I found this drainage grate on craigslist that I thought would make a perfect grill top and the table was built around it. The regulator was salvaged from another unit that was too flimsy for extended use and the random assortment of tiles were sourced from a local builder.

The platform for this build was a winch plate intended for a Suzuki Samurai. Once I had it positioned where I wanted it, it was just a matter of building out from there. The goal was to keep the lower valance and fenders intact.