Todd's Handy-Work

Well...Another semester at BYU-Idaho has come to a close. During the semester, I (Todd) have been taking a cabinet making class. We worked all semester on bathroom vanities. The one I made was made out of a wood called Liptus. It is a Mahogany-esk wood that comes from South America. It is naturally a mid-red color, and with a little red mahogany stain, it came out just how I had imagined it. All of the lumber we used was rough-sawn wood, meaning the bark is still attached to the edges. We milled it down to usable wood, then put everything together. Also, because of my immaculate woodworking skills (insert laughing here...) my professor offered me a job building things around the shop and some cabinets for one of the computer labs here. So I have been spending a couple hours every so often working with nice, industrial shop tools. Someday they will be mine... Oh yes.... They will be mine!

We finished the cabinet with 3 weeks of school left, so we decided we would try to make a countertop to match. Nate and Heidi bought the vanity and countertop for their basement bathroom, and hopefully it won't fall apart! I got a 98% on it, so it shouldn't...I guess that does leave a 2% chance though!

One of the things I made for the shop was a band saw blade holder. I get to use whatever wood and material I like, so I decided to try a little wood inlay. Don't look too close and it looks pretty good! I later added some dowels to hang the blades on and it was done! All in all, I would say that was one of the most fun classes I have taken. Maybe next semester I should take fly fishing...?