Show Off: Issue 2

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A handcrafted wooden canoe resting on the shore beside a river.

16' Abenaki Canoe

Matthew FitzGibbon, Orlando, Fla.
FitzGibbon patterned his canoe after one that appeared in “Stripper’s Guide to Canoe Building,” by David Hazen, and built it over a seven-month period with his friend Mike Morris. The main body of the canoe is made with 3/4" strips of Western red cedar, while the gunwales, seat frames, decks and thwarts are of Honduran mahogany. The canoe is covered inside and out with 6-oz. fiberglass cloth and numerous coats of varnish.

Hand-turned wooden bowl with smooth finish resting on rough tree bark piece

Turned Bowl

Ellis Walentine, Springtown, Pa.
Walentine, webmaster of the popular WoodCentral.com woodworking Web site, crafted this bowl of tropical almond crotch, a wood native to the Caribbean and the Florida Keys. Standing 8" high, the bowl measures 12" in diameter.
Detailed miniature Tudor-style timber-framed house model with shingled roof and bare twig tree on wooden base

Acorn Cottage Dollhouse

Karin Corbin, Poulsbo, Wash.
Corbin, a professional birdhouse and dollhouse builder, designed the 1:12-scale Acorn Cottage in the 19th-century “cottage orné” style. European royalty and well-to-do during the 1800s often built such ornate but rustic cottages on their sprawling estates, visiting them for short times to play at living the rural life.
Two round side tables with leaf inlays and tapered legs, showcasing fine woodworking craftsmanship.

Aspen Tables

Kam Ghaffari, Westerly, R.I.
Influenced by the classic Danish designs of Hans Wegner and his own appreciation of the aspen leaf, Ghaffari designed these small tables for batch production without sacrificing a handcrafted look. Made of walnut veneer on Baltic birch plywood and with solid walnut legs, the tables knock down flat for storage or shipping. The veins were first routed with a computer laser-cut template, and inlaid with ivory resin (left) and laser-cut anodized aluminum (right). The tables measure 21" x 23" x 21".
Rocking chair showcasing spindled back and curved rockers, crafted from light-colored wood.

“Louisville Slugger” Rocker

Fred Friar, Lavalette, W.Va.
Appropriately made of ash, Friar’s chair also features walnut and purpleheart accents in the seat. Since he was incorporating genuine Louisville Slugger bats into his design, Friar contacted Hillerich & Bradsby Co. of Louisville, Ky. (the makers of the legendary baseball bat) to secure permission. Pleased with his prototype chair, the company granted him a license to produce them. The rocker shown here now resides in the company’s main office in Louisville.
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