Turtle Woodwork

I suppose today is good as any day to start a new thread.
Looking forward to sharing my work and the journey with my friends here.

My name is Mollie and I am a brand new woodworker. I started a few wood projects for fun in August 2022, which progressed to making gifts and taking a few requests from family members. The last day of January I launched a business that is in its youth, but its an exciting ride so far.

Here's the photo progression of my work through 2022.

First project, a pond made entirely of pallets I picked up for free.


Decided we needed more storage in the bathroom upstairs.


The birds needs a place to wait their turn for the feeder.

My sister wanted a nightstand.

I wanted a bookshelf and a frame for the truck bed.


Dad needed some potato bins for the basement and we had tons of scraps in the greenhouse.

Hmm. What else can I do with some random materials.

My niece wants a desk with a detachable bookshelf on top. Guess we'll figure it out as we go.

You know, I should try this cutting board kit and make them for my sisters for Christmas.


I have a store and Facebook page if you'd like to see more.
https://www.etsy.com/shop/TurtleWoodwork
Welcome!

 

In light of the holiday today, this goes out to all my fans. Happy Valentine's Day folks!

 

Congratulations, Ms. Mollie!








following!

 

Thanks Troy!!

 

Great job!
Dont forget your easle you made also!

 

Congratulations Ms. Mollie and keep up the great work!

 

True. I have a photo of it on the Facebook page, but its in a pile of pictures.

So here's the easel, stove cover and chessboard I've done recently. I'm working on another easel at the moment so I'll have some photos of that soon too.

 

Thank you!

 

You rock Ms Mollie!
Best of luck in this new endeavor. You got the skillz for it!
Now where is my guitar hanger….

 

Thanks G8R man!

Its on the to do list.

 

Yeah!
The easle is my favorite.

 

I would never have thought of making a pond from pallets! So creative!

Can you post a few pics of your shop?

 

How green is the wood you're looking to kiln dry? Has it had any time at all to air dry?

 

The items in the photos above were done under my carport on a picnic table with a circular saw, an orbital sander and a drill. I am making space in the greenhouse out back to set up a shop, but I don't exactly have the money to really set up a shop yet. So that has all been improvising. In December 2022, a friend of mine who has been a carpenter for 30+ years saw what I was doing, came to me and said "I'd like to offer you my workshop to work from. It won't be available all the time but I want you to use it when it is."

So I'm incredibly blessed to be able to work many days from here:

 

It's been down in the forest for a while. We milled it Saturday. I got it stacked, painted and covered yesterday. So not long. I havent had time to research yet, but I imagine it needs at least a few weeks first to air dry.

But I invite anyone to educate me on this.

 

Best thing if you air dry is to check the weight...once it quits losing weight its dry..bout all i know

 

There's a lot of factors at play but generally speaking green wood needs to air dry at least 1yr per inch of thickness. But if it was standing dead or already down it could vary greatly. Best advice is to invest in a moisture meter. You'd want the moisture content (MC) to be around 8 percent but that can also vary depending on where you are located in the country and how the wood is to be used.

My dad operated a small hobby mill and I had a dehumidifier kiln set up in my basement and we did quite well with that for some time.

 

Here's my lesson in planning and accounting for the wood that the saw blades eat.