A Chemist's Craft

10/05/2025

15/02/2025

It's been a full time job keeping up with this summer's sales. My sets of coasters are disappearing as fast as I can make them. I have started making bottle openers. My boards are going well too. We found a heap of swamp kauri for sale, and then we got a ute and trailer full of rimu and matai. Just finished a run of 61 boards, 25 sets of coasters and 46 bottle openers. Time to start again.

30/12/2024

It's been a busy few days making these. I'm barely keeping up with sales in the bay of islands this year.

01/11/2024

Starting something new. What began a couple of days ago with some old ply offcuts is now this. Kauri snapper, vitex, kauri and kahikatea kingfish, and rosewood and tairere shark. I'm looking at expanding the scope, and things like seahorses, tuna, dolphins, penguins, and turtles have been discussed. Definitely open to orders.

26/10/2024

Christmas sale

I have a large number of jewelry/trinket boxes that I am putting on sale prices up to Christmas day.

Small boxes 80x80mm to 100x120mm. Wide range of native and exotic woods including kauri, rimu, oak, and ash. Usually $40, now $25.

120x120mm boxes. Lots of kauri and rimu, but also includes matai, jarrah, and a few others. Usually $50, now $30.

Large boxes 100x150 to 150x150. Exotic woods only: jarrah, ash, oak, camphor, mahogany (100x150 pictured only), teak, Rhodesian teak, and kwila. Usually $50, now $40.

What's in the cupboard is what's on offer. I'm not making anything new or custom at sale prices. Large boxes are also available in lots of native woods (and purpleheart) for $50 each.

07/10/2024

I have been a bit creative and I have made a set of nesting tables from camphor. Beautiful grain in them. These are for sale at $250. They will fit in a courier box so I can ship them out.

Dimensions:
Big table - top 450x350 at 570 tall
Middle table - top 350x300 at 500 tall
Small table - top 250x250 at 430 tall

My workshop also smells like a huge pot of vicks and my mum can't breathe in there anymore. Oops.

01/10/2024

I'm back in Russell after finally passing my PhD. A local shop that sells my things has asked for coaster sets, so I have a couple of different designs for them now. The round ones are cut with a hole saw, and then I use the centre hole as the storage mechanism. The big serving board is a gift for my PhD supervisor, and it's in kauri, jarrah and rewarewa (jarrah because he's Australian). I am still doing the coffee tables from recycled wood too. The big frame at the end is going to house my PhD certificate.

08/07/2024

Things that I have made at the men's shed this year. The two turned things are for my mum, the bench is a memorial bench, and the tables we have sold.

24/03/2024

The boxes have been collected. They're very happy with them

Left to right: Peter (the sander), Chris (the engraver), me, Rhonda and Brendan from the hospital, Alan (the shed's president) and Waimarama (a Maori junior doctor).

17/03/2024

Long time members of this group might remember this. I made this for my Poppa in 2019. Hand carved with a rasp. Sadly he is no longer around to use it, and it has been gathering dust since mid 2021.

My Nana and I would like to pass it on to someone else who can use it. Not really looking to make money, but a small donation would be appreciated.

Solid 28mm round oak shaft with a walnut handle attached with a long 16mm dowel and epoxy glue. 4 point base with the points at 90mm from each other. The overall height is 840mm, so it is suitable for people between 5'5 and 5'8. It's very solid, however this comes with a bit of extra weight compared to the usual walking sticks you find.

It is currently in Dunedin, however it is easy for me to put on a courier.

02/03/2024

I have finished all the boxes for the Otago and southland hospitals. All 20 put together with builder's joints and pegs.

16/01/2024

More photos from my Christmas break.