Products From The Mind of Chris Wong
Looking for extraordinary? Do it with Flair Woodworks & Design.
A couple of years ago while working on a chair, I found myself needing to lay out the position of the seat slats on the centre rail, which was basically a cross-lap joint. Normally, I'd use my marking knife for this operation, but due to the thickness of the components, my marking knife wasn't able … Continue reading Making a Long-Blade Marking Knife
In my last Craftsy blog post, I covered techniques to cut perfect mitres. If you've ever made a mitred joint before, you probably discovered that cutting them accurately can be finicky, but assembling them was downright agonizing. However, with a couple of tricks and the right clamping tools on hand, and some practice, assembling mitres … Continue reading How to Perfectly Assemble Mitre Joints
In 2007, I was into turning in a big way. I got into turning pens using exotic woods carefully paired with a package of pen hardware. My preference was chrome-plated hardware for its durability and affordable price. The result, when paired with African Blackwood, was an undeniably classy pen. One special piece of wood was … Continue reading Roots of Flair: Pushing the Limits
After routing the jigsaw puzzle design, I made a base out of four mitred lengths of black walnut to raise the table up off the ground. That way, it didn't just look like a cube sitting on the ground. Then came finishing. Let's just say that it required some patience to get an even coat … Continue reading Finishing Puzzle Table
After a week making the inside surfaces glossy and blue, I was back to making sawdust. I mitred the ends of the panels with my sliding table saw, using a stop block to ensure that they were all the same length. I appreciated the fact that my carefully-painted surfaces were able to just sit on the … Continue reading Assembling Puzzle Table
At some point in time, every woodworker has cursed the fact that wood expands in humid weather and contracts in dry weather. Because of it, lumber that was once straight became curved, twisted, or both. Parts that once fit snugly became loose, or impossibly tight. Turning green (freshly cut) wood was how I learned firsthand … Continue reading Roots of Flair: Accepting Wood Movement
Recently, I received a commission to build a coffee table with a jigsaw puzzle design on the surface. The idea was to use a dark wood on the outside and paint the inside blue. I wanted straight-grained walnut for the outside so not to distract from the puzzle pieces being routed on the surface. Since I wasn't … Continue reading Puzzle Table
The large majority of the wood that I have is sawn in slabs. While the live edges allow more design possibilities, there are times when I don't need them. Layout To process this slab, I start by aligning my straight edge just inside the bark. This results in the straightest grain with the least amount of waste. … Continue reading Breaking Down Slabs
After a day of work at Lee Valley Tools, I came home and found myself in my shop with a bit of time. I had a simple project already started and only a little more work remained before assembly. I finished cutting the 6mm mortises with my Festool Domino Joiner and began the glue-up, which … Continue reading Unforeseen Challenges
It's been a wild few days on the west coast. Saturday it began snowing, and two days earlier I spent the day in warm, sunny weather. It was a beautiful Thursday morning when Dave Kilpatrick and I set up to cut some small, live-edge walnut pieces, destined to become cribbage boards. I positioned the chunks … Continue reading The Start of Black Walnut Cribbage Boards
