Art by Lis Bokt

It’s been hard not to notice lately, I’ve been doing a lot of woodworking. What’s up with that, you may ask?

I’ve had an interest in doing this sort of thing for quite some time. A couple of years ago we got a small CNC mill from CNC Masters that was working great… until our lab was broken into one night and the mill was destroyed. It took a while to get the money to get some replacement parts, and some generosity from CNC Masters. And then we discovered it was broken than we anticipated.

So my plans were put on hold. And then, over this winter, we received three pieces of equipment from Haas. A mill, a lathe and a gantry mill. (It does big things) Hoorah! I finally have the machines I’ve been dreaming of for years. And they work, beautifully. They are *far* more precise than anything I reasonably need, but that’s how it works sometimes eh?

so I jumped right in with both feet. Wee! Let’s make things! And make things I have been doing. I’ve been working with a local sawmill who does recovery work – they gather trees that have fallen, they go into the Great Lakes and rescue wood that has been lost to the tiny seas. I take the pieces that don’t work for that they’re doing (kitchen cabinets) and turn them into artwork. The knots and grain that make it undesirable for a large, even countertop make it absolutely gorgeous in a piece of small artwork.

While they are made with a CNC machine they are definitely “handmade”: I design the patterns with the particular piece of wood in mind, work to get the best placement with the grain, and then plane and sand it by hand. I also paint them, seal them, and prepare them myself.

I have set up shop on Etsy! All of my woodworking is available there. Etsy’s a really awesome service and I’m happy to be a part of the giant Etsy cloud. I do custom orders – I love custom orders – so if you want a piece of artwork done just for you, let me know. I’d be happy to make something to your description and make a reserved item for you.

The items below are nine of the most recent items I’ve put up for sale, to give you an idea.

Check out my full page, browse around and please buy something! Sales of my artwork are a win-win for everybody: They help me out, they help out The Geek Group and you get a unique piece of artwork that will last for years.