Facebook Group Sale - Keyring Oil Vials

These keyring oil vials have a myriad of uses. The kits are sold as perfume vial kits, but they just as easily hold essential oils, consecrated oil, prescription meds, or your ancestors ashes. OK so I haven't sold any for the last use. Most of the time my customers order them for consecrated oil vials for LDS missionaries or newly ordained elders. I tried marketing them to Deseret Book, but they think nobody wants to spend more than $10 on a keychain oil vial. What they're just not getting is that these aren't just utilitarian metal tubes that you hide on your keyring - they're actually one of my best-selling products because they are really quite cool.

Normally found on my gifts page for $20.00, I'm offering facebook group members $5.00 off while supplies last, for vials made from walnut, maple, ambrosia maple, padauk, purpleheart, yellowheart, zebrawood, mahogany, cocobolo, or carob. Be sure to specify chrome or gold finish when you order, and place your order by sending me a message on facebook after joining my facebook group.

Segmented Bowls - From Design to Dinner

This project was a long time in the making - I bought the wood back in July. It wouldn't have taken so long if it hadn't been just a personal ambition - this wasn't made to order. So if you're thinking "Geez, I'd really like a hand-turned segmented wood salad bowl and serving bowl set but can't wait four months" (because I KNOW you are thinking JUST THAT) don't worry, it won't take so long if I'm getting paid for it.

So the first step was picking out the wood. I chose bloodwood, maple, walnut, and purpleheart, because I liked the color combination. Other woods would be gorgeous too though - yellowheart, cherry, the possibilities are endless. Then step 2: Design. Using AutoCAD I drew up the profile I wanted, and figured out how to cut the pieces, and then laid them out on the board I would use to maximize the use of the wood. Turned out I could get four big bowls and 8 small bowls from the wood I had bought. From there, rendering it was just a few more steps. That's what I posted in August.
The next steps were to cut the wood, turn the bases, glue the rings together, sand one side of each ring, glue one ring on (see picture below), flatten the top to receive the next ring and turn it to a circle, then glue the next ring on and so on till all layers were glued on.

The next step, and the really nerve-racking one, was to turn each bowl to its finished shape. So many things could have gone wrong - I had to go thin - didn't plan on adequate tolerances during my design - and the bowls at any point could have broken out of the chuck, burst apart into their consituent 61 pieces, or any other number of things. Turns out that little scrapes and nicks on my hands were as bad as it would get! Once the bowls were all turned to their finished shape, I had to sand, oil, and wax the bowls, and this is the finished result:
The project was AWESOME. I have to admit I'm proud of this one. I'm going to try and enter it in the county fair next summer, I think. Or state fair or however that goes. In the mean time, I'd love to have another go, but I just need to find a buyer for the next set - like I always say, I sell to support my habbit. Happy shopping.

Corporate Gifts - Hand-Turned Wood Pens

As the holidays approach, businesses often look for a special way to thank key clients, employers wish to thank their staff, and employees often contribute as a group for gifts for their bosses. There are a myriad of companies out there that offer cheap products, mass-produced marked up drastically in order to include a painted company logo. If it is the thought that counts, well, perhaps such gifts represent an opportunity lost. Why not give something unique that shows real thought?

My hand-turned wood pens are all made from natural solid wood, and finished with clear natural shellac for a glossy-finished, one-of-a-kind pen. Parts are the Artisan brand components, for quality and durability. You can choose from one of ten part finishes, and any number of native or exotic wood species. And each one can be shaped differently for comfort and style. The result is a unique, beautiful, personal gift that shows the recipient that what they do maters. I had one client say about his pen, "It's a bit of a conversation starter. Not to mention it looks great, and is an addition to any well organized desk. I also like to think it shows a little something about the person who carries it. Gives off a refined professional touch to any aspiring entrepreneur. Shows class and style. Accents your intentions as a businessman." I couldn't have put it better myself.

So visit my pens page today and design the pens you want. Email or call me for a price quote. Give a gift that they'll appreciate for years to come and show those whose business or service you appreciate that they matter to you. Happy Holidays!

Muggle Wandmaker

Imagine a witch or wizard without a magic wand? It's like a dog without a nose or a teenager without an ipod. It's just not right. You wouldn't dream of sending your young witch or wizard out into the outside world unprotected - you never know what the muggles might be up to, or worse, death eaters...Be prepared. And remember, the wand chooses the wizard.

I've been a muggle wandmaker now for about 9 months, and put the best of my muggle woodturning abilities into each one. The wood has a magic of its own, and all my wands are solid wood, without dyes or stains. Choose from solid two-piece construction or use single-piece construction. $1 per inch wand for single-piece construction, add $5 for a two-piece wand. This includes wood if it's in-stock. Special order for wood adds cost. I think you'll see the price compares favorably to the other fine wandmakers out there such as Alivans and the Guilded Quil. Each wand included a description of the wood including wandlore of the magical properies. Quality drawstring fabric bags are available for an additional $10.00


All my wands are made individually, from wood selected by the pickiest bowtruckles in Riverdale. Designed for the young witch or wizard, with metaphysical magical cores that can be identified only by the witch or wizard of the wand's chosing. Tested and inspected by my own children via wizard duel, and guaranteed to provide loads of spellcasting fun.

The wands in the photo are from cherry, oak, alder, walnut and oak, and maple and purpleheart. And don't miss my newest walnut wizard wand that I recently completed.

Oh, and just to clarify, I'm not a druid, celt, witch or wizard. I'm not even a squib - full muggle through and through. And the magic these wands contain is every bit as real as Harry Potter, Merlin, Gandalf, Middle Earth, and Hogwarts. In other words, these are on my TOYS page for a reason.

Place an Order:
Email anytime: mike@mikeswoodwork.net
Evening Phone: (801)627-8822, ask for Mike

Segmented Bowl Design

This is a rendering generated by AutoCAD for the bowls that I'm going to be building - using purpleheart, bloodwood, walnut, and maple. The large bowl, 10"x6" will be $101, and the smaller bowls, 3"x6" will be $24.00. The question is how much will the finish bowls look like the rendered design...Check back in a couple of weeks to see. It should be a way cool salad bowl set when all is said and done.

Wood Bowl Sale

Ok let's face it - the last few weeks have been really slow for my woodwork business, and I want an excuse to turn another bowl. I've got several pieces of hawthorne in-stock, with the bark edge, so I could make you a bowl like the one pictured above. For the next 10 days, I'll make one of these for you for $10. If you want something cooler like the myrtlewood or purpleheart bowls below, that's fine too, it's half price for labor, plus materials. See my bowls page for more info.
So don't miss out - this is a limited time offer - place your order before July 21 if you want the cheaper price. All bowls are turned with hand tools on my lathe, and finished with mineral oil and beeswax for a food-safe satin finish, and they look awesome.

A Bowl of Pens

I've been experimenting with different pen forms for my slimline pens, with different kinds of woods, and different finishes, and several styles of each are shown here. To see the individual pens, see my Pens page. For more bowls, see my Bowls page. I'm trying to build up inventory for a booth in a craft fair this fall - once I get finished turning the pen kits I've got on hand, I'll be making a chess set, a chess board, some shelves, stools, benches, and stuff like that, so don't get too down that all you've seen for a while are my pens.

From top to bottom, the pens are from box elder burl, lignum vitae, bloodwood, maple, purpleheart, oregon myrtlewood, and another purpleheart. The Bowl is ambrosia maple.

Incidentally, I've also lowered my prices - for the basic 24k gold twist pen with base price wood, you're looking at only $25.00. A bowl like that shown is $24.00.