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I made a tool caddy last week like this one, designed and created by my friend Preston and a re-purposed poker chip carousel. (Preston is a lute and dulcimer maker, plus maker of bowls and spoons--and spatulas it turns out. Click here for more info.) I started with this poker chip carousel and did all kinds of stuff to it. Preston led me by the hand, of course. After removing the hardware and the rotating base, I sanded with a belt sander and then used contact cement to glue a veneer around the circumference of the holder. Here it is with clamps on the seam. It all glued beautifully, except the seam didn't want to adher. The seam took some extra wood glue and 24 hours. Otherwise it all went according to plan. We went ahead and glued veneer to the bottom of the holder while the wood glue was busy curing. Trimming the veneer was the next day's first step, using a planer and belt sander. Then some spray shellac and more sanding, shellacing, sanding, shellacing, etc. Here it is during one of the shellacings. Then the hardware and base was put back on and voila! A tool caddy! I can't wait to fill it up with stuff. Colored or graphite pencils? Brushes? Oh the possibilities!

I think the most important thing for me during this exercise was just to get out and learn something new, and allow me to take a break from my usual creative outlets--the actual caddy was gravy. I was given a jolt of enthusiasm by expanding my tool repertoire, plus it was fun needing to problem solve in a completely different medium. Even though woodworking may just be an annual deal, that's OK. It compliments my other work just by being different. Does that make sense?

Posted by Cathy Savage at 2:28 PM