A visual guide to my first year of woodworking, very picture heavy

Hello all,

Lets start with a little about myself. My name is Justin Byers, I'm a cardiac and transplant anesthetist friom Edmonton Alberta. I finished my exceptionally long academic career at the ripe ol age of 34. I've always loved the idea of woodworking, and being fairly good with my hands I decided that I would take the plunge and give it a go last May. I figured my 2 car garage would make an adequate first shop, so I spent the first couple months setting it up de novo. That was a humbling lesson on the importance of accuracy, as I was a framer before medicine you can probably imagine that I perhaps wasn't the best with being perfect, but we got er done.

First projects- Got my feet wet with some side grain cutting boards (I cry to think i used my first quilted maple for this, but oh well). Also made some side tables and a matching tray out of some beautifully figured walnut with wenge accents.
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First box (July 2019)- Learned the importance of accuracy with miters, moved past finishing only with oil wax combos. This box is tiger maple and walnut, finished in danish oil.
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August 2019- My friend asked me to make his parents a bench. I used this opportunity to learn some new joints, specifically a tusked mortise and tenon. For that I figured I needed a mallet too, so I made one of them as well. continued...
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August continued- The bench is made from one piece of 8/4 white oak, all traditional joinery. The mallet is curly maple and crotch walnut.

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September 2019- My second box was an urn for my Grandpa, my first project that really meant something. I wanted high gloss so I took the time to learn the art of shellac. This box is walnut and padouk, finsihed in padded on blond shellac.
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September bar tray- Verawood and walnut
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October to december 2019- I figured by this point I was good enough to make my Christmas presents. So I made a lot of them. The jewelry boxes are as follows- Claro walnut on walnut, dyed quilted maple on curly cherry, birdseye maple on walnut with maple inlaid dovetails. The crib board is quilted maple and claro. All finished in arm-r-seal varnish, polished to a medium lustre.
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December to Feb 2020- More boxes and my first endgrain board. The first is for a friends wife, its a walnut and rosewood wine box with a dovetailed insert. The second is a champagne box, also rosewood and walnut. The third box is a tea box for the wife, its quilted maple and curly bastogne walnut finished in shellac. The second is my first humidor. spanish cedar box with shop sawn quilted maple veneer and a cocobolo trim. I used the opportunity to learn how to hide glue (definitely worth the time), also this was my first go at high gloss. Its finished in Emtech 6000 lacquer sprayed with an HVLP gun and polished with Menzerna compound to glass. The end grain board is walnut, padouk and wenge. Its the reason I now have a drum sander, haha.
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Feb 2020- The crib boards proved popular, I was asked to make a bunch for some friends birthdays. The first two are curly maple, walnut and sipo mahogany. The last one, with the new design, is bastogne walnut and maple. I also whipped off a loupe box for a plastic surgery friend of mine, its made of east indian rosewood and quilted maple, finished in high gloss polished varnish for durability.
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Last couple months- Despite an ongoing pandemic, and my hospital being in absolute chaos, I've managed to be quite productive in the shop. It helps keep my mind at ease. I finished two humidors. The first is pomelle sapele and mun ebony, finished in garnet shellac and emtech 6000 lacquer. The second is being used as a memory box for my wife's father, he died when she was 20 and loved cigars, so the cedar is apropos. It's shop sawn brazilian rosewood veneer and mun ebony. Also in there is a sipo mahogany silverware case, an ash end table, a sipo-maple-cocobolo nespresso box and a quilted maple-ebony and walnut jewelry box on the next post.
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continued

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The culimation of this journey thus far has recently come to pass, I'm due to welcome my first child into the world in November. This was an opportunity for me to build something truly special. I made this crib from a single piece of 12/4 walnut. Its all mortise and tenon, the stretcher is a sliding dovetail. Finished in rubio monocoat. It was the first project I branded, I truly hope this becomes a family heirloom and someday someone down the line will bring up great grandpa Byers and his fanatical woodworking.
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So, all in all what have I learned? First, it never pays to stick with the same approach. I've finished projects in almost every finish possible, learned tons of new joints, failed countless times and redesigned and redone all my designs. And I feel I'm better for it. With such an amazing, knowledgeable, online community you can truly pick up any of these skills. Second, there is no substitute for accuracy. Third, the wood I've had the pleasure of working with is so stunning that it does the work for me, so I try to just let it shine with simplicity. Thank you for reading this, I'll try to reply with any specific queries. Thank you so much people of sawmill creek, theres no way I would be where I am without your collective knowledge.

Sorry for the formatting disaster this post is, Its my first post... still learning the ropes.

Wow, for your first year, you've been busy. It's obvious you have a bright future ahead as a woodworker. And I wish you success as a cardiac and transplant anesthetist, also.

You obviously have a lot of energy and drive.

Mike

Beautiful work!! What type of maple is that for the box or humidor for pictures 5 and 6? And what finish do you use on that box as well as your curly maple? It looks fantastic!

Justin, is your father a woodworker too?

Sorry guys, I kind of missed these replies, work has been a little nutty lately. Nick, if you're referring to the maple and cocobolo humidor, its called blister quilt, really nifty figure (albeit a little over the top). Finish on that guy is as follows: BLO (quick wipe on wipe off), immediately followed by 3 coats ultra blond dewaxed shellac, then after 24hrs 10 coats of sprayed on target coatings emtech 6000 water based "lacquer". After that i give it a couple weeks to fully cure, then sand to 2000 grit wet and polish with mirka polarshine with a porter cable polisher. The curly maple box (the first one posted i think you're referring to) is finished in danish oil and wax.

Bruce, my pops owned was in agriculture before he retired, now he's a hobbyist metal worker. He's also a beautiful leatherworker, makes lovely saddles and things. I honestly don't know what drew me to woodworking initially. I got my hobby start with fiberglass work on my first truck, I couldn't afford to pay someone to make me what i wanted, so I taught myself how on the interwebs and went about it. pic attached for how that turned out. Something about woodgrain and figure, the flow of the whole thing, is whats so appealing to me.
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Your work is spectacular.

In particular, your sensitivity with Walnut stands out.
The serving tray, with its low sheen finish is my favorite.

*****

Please bottle whatever it is you're feeding Connor McDavid and send some to my Habs.

Kudos

Justin,

First of all, beautiful work! As a fledgling woodworker, it inspires confidence that I will one day be able to produce something similar.

Second, would you care to share with us the different pieces of equipment that you are using? Of particular interest, what tools help the most with attaining the accuracy you are achieving?

Thanks,
Scott

Hey man,
thanks! I’ve come along way since this was posted, couple years more experience. I started with a cabinet saw, bandsaw, jointed planer combo and a miter saw. As for the accuracy bit, I’d say the biggest improvements were made with an accurate miter gauge (I used an incra HD at the time), the incra rules, and an accurate digital caliper. You can do most anything with that as a starting point. The bandsaw isn’t a necessity, but it saves an awful lot in not buying dimensional lumber. Also, my jointer planer combo has a 12” capacity, which is really nice. A good router table (I use a jessem) is also really handy. I wish I would have made a well squared cross cut sled earlier (read about the 5 cut method), they’re incredibly useful and, if done correctly, exceptionally accurate.

now 3 years in I’ve upgraded to a 3hp sawstop, I have a 26” drum sander (to make veneer). The biggest change for me over the past few years is my use of hand tools. Now when I need to adjust length, square or angle I reach for a shooting board. I used to think I could make fine adjustments with power tools, but honestly you can’t even come close. Lastly buy some good books, I’ve read and re-read flexner’s finishing bible and continue to reference back to it as I work now. Good luck getting into the hobby man, it’s super rad, just make sure you’re not afraid to fail and seriously don’t get pigeon holed into doing the same thing over and over again, trying new techniques and getting new skills is the name of the game!