Author: Keith Larrett

A friend of mine, a fellow woodworker, passed away and left behind a stack of lumber that he’d collected over the years. His wife asked if I could make her a desk using some of the lumber. She did the design for the desk and together we went through the stack of lumber determining what we could use and how best to arrange all the different species of wood. We managed to incorporate most of the lumber in the desk and combine it in a way that the various woods worked together.

The desk is made up of maple, lacewood, zebrawood, padauk, purple heart, South American mahogany, Spanish cedar, and butternut. As most of the wood was around 1″ thick it would have been too thin for the span of the desk. So it was resawn to 1/4″ thick and the shopmade veneer was laminated on both sides of a 1″ thick core of plywood.

Working on the desk and seeing the final result brought back memories of a good man.

These floating vanities were built and installed for some long-time clients. My client has a great sense of design and did the majority of the work there with input from me about what was possible, although that limit was pushed to its maximum on occasion.

There are two sets of cabinets, his and hers, one on either side of the room as well as a laundry hamper and shelving. The laundry hamper is reminiscent of R2D2, but I don’t think that was part of the design intent.

The cabinets are veneered with dyed ambrosia maple and the drawer boxes are quilted maple. The veneer was laid out so that the grain ran continuously across the entire width.

A lot of care and attention to detail was required for this project and I’m very pleased with how it turned out.

These bowls were turned while I demonstrated at the Florida Woodturning Symposium earlier this year. I finally got around to sanding and applying a finish to them.

They were turned two at a time using a paper glue joint and a sacrificial piece of wood between the bowls. Before turning, I veneered the blanks and carved out the interior on my CNC.

The woods and veneer are maple, walnut, and makore.

I call these oval-fluted bowls although they’re like little boat bowls.

Two demonstrations and two bowls per demo. Needless to say, I have a boatload of them now.

Many years ago, while I was still installing factory cabinets in new construction, I often looked across the living room from the kitchen I was working in and saw a niche or, as I referred to them, “a hole in the wall”. I’d think, “I bet someone could make a living filling those holes with custom-designed cabinetry”.

Well. Here we are.

Both my client and I were pleased with how this project came out. A simple but elegant design provides a backdrop to the TV and some cabinet space below. The cabinets feature inset doors and “push to open” hinges allowing them to blend in as wall paneling. The shiplap added some interest to the area behind the TV and the stained alder mantle and floating shelf contrast beautifully against the white shiplap.

My clients had replaced the TV built into one of their kitchen cabinets. The different aspect ratio of the new TV meant the frame around needed to be modified to fit. The frame was covering the TV on the sides and there were large gaps above and below the TV.

I cut the sides of the frame and trimmed it with molding and a speaker mesh panel to conceal the gaps. The TV mount also had to be raised slightly within the cabinet.

The TV fit perfectly within the new opening and the modified frame with moldings and speaker mesh worked well with the existing cabinetry.

A window bench with filing drawers and a bookcase built from Makore and curly maple.

This should go a long way toward organizing paperwork in my client’s home study.

A previous client’s father’s home was flooded and my client reached out to me for help with the renovations. The cabinets were ordered from my friend Mike at Quality Cabinet Services and I installed them. I built and installed the butcher block countertops.

Not work-related, but a highlight from last year, our trip to Zimbabwe. A wonderful vacation with my family. We spent time at both Victoria Falls and Lake Kariba.

So many memories, but I’ll share one with you. Early one morning as we were leaving the town of Kariba, traffic slowed to a crawl coming down the hill. The road was partially blocked by a small herd of elephants walking down the road.

For those of you who had to trudge to school through the snow, uphill both ways, I can assure you that elephants blocking the road is way cooler.

Anyway, as we maneuvered past the elephants it was pretty obvious that the traffic was agitating them and one of the elephants trumpeted loudly. I’ve heard that often on TV and in movies, but there is very little that compares to hearing it up close in real life. So amazing.

The call of an African fish eagle, very similar to that of the American bald eagle, has always, to my mind, been the cry of Africa. To that l can now add the trumpeting of an elephant.

Two projects, including some in-progress shots, for my best client. My lovely wife. A console table and a quilt rack.

Her projects often take a back seat to others so it’s really nice to be able to build something for her.

I was fortunate to be invited to demonstrate at the Florida Woodturning Symposium in February of 2023. Well technically I was re-re-invited as the original invitation was for 2021 then Covid canceled that as well as 2022. Needless to say, I had a long time to prepare.

The Symposium was held at a new venue this year in Lakeland, Florida. The new venue was great and the organizers did a great job. I hope the Symposium goes from strength to strength at this venue.

I demonstrated on three topics, Christmas Birdhouse Ornaments, paper glue joints in woodturning, and threaded pewter collars and finials. Keeping three demonstrations in my brain made my head hurt, but for the most part, I think they went well and were well received.

One of the highlights of the Symposium for me was to have a piece I had placed in the Gallery chosen for public critique. There were only five pieces chosen for this so it was a real honor. Of the five pieces chosen, four of them were by members of my woodturning club, an amazing achievement.

Later in the weekend that same piece, my “Cracked Ice Platter”, was voted 3rd place in Best of Show. The prize was a gift certificate from sponsor Viable Lumber in St. Pete. This is another way of saying I’ll be making a road trip to St. Pete in the near future and returning with a truck full of wood and a big smile on my face!