This Christmas was the first year in along time that I’ve had the time to make some nice presents for my family. After a trip to the local wood shop I began my first attempts at working with hardwoods. I’ve done woodworking before but it’s always been for larger items made with pine or plywood.  The three projects I made were two stands to hold a vaporizor and e-juice, and a toolbox.  I used padauk, birdseye maple and walnut.

The two stands I made were pretty challenging, as I didn’t realize just how much time it would take to drill holes in 1″ lumber with a handheld drill.  I think the project would’ve gone smoother and turned out better had I used a drill press.  This was also the first time I’ve made a project that’s only held together with glue.

The toolbox I made was quite fun. It was challenging to put together as the wood I bought turned out to be a bit warped. I bought a block plane to even out the sides of the wood, but soon realized that birdseye maple is about the hardest thing to plane.