In this episode, I build an arched-top, custom built-in bookshelf for my Colorado Springs Client. The frame and shelves are made from walnut, while the back walls and sides are painted with reflective paint that reflects the LEDs integrated into the bookshelf’s frame.

This week, I tackled a beautiful arch-top built-in bookshelf for a client. The design features LEDlit shelves, requiring careful planning to hide the light strips while maintaining a clean, seamless look. Here’s how I approached the build:

While I built the components, the client had their electrician run wiring for the lights, and their painter applied a metallic paint/plaster mix to the alcove walls, enhancing light reflection.   This project was all about precision—from the arch shaping to the hidden LED details. The final result? A stunning, functional bookshelf that blends seamlessly into the space!

In this episode, I build a custom floating Shelf with a live edge for a Colorado Home.  The shelf is made from a walnut slab and is adorned with ebony bowties inlaid into a defect in the slab.

I’ve had this walnut slab sitting in my shop for a while, and I finally decided to turn it into a floating shelf. It wasn’t without its challenges—the slab had a rough chainsaw cut where a branch had been removed, and one end was pretty rotten. But I saw potential in its natural cracks, which I planned to highlight with hand-inlaid ebony bow ties.

The slab had a slight twist and was just a bit too wide for my jointer, so I had to get creative. I used a router sled to flatten one side, then ran it through the planer to smooth out the opposite face. After flipping it back, I cleaned up any remaining marks for a perfectly flat surface.

Next, I power-carved the rough chainsaw-cut edge to create a more natural, flowing shape. I imagined water running off the edge, following the contours of the wood as if it were stone. The initial carving went well, and I refined the curves later with a sander for a smoother finish.

The rotten section needed attention, but instead of cutting it off entirely, I opted to preserve its character. I used a wire brush to remove loose material, then sealed it with resin to stabilize the wood.

To accentuate the natural cracks, I sketched out several bow tie designs on paper, chose my favorites, and glued the templates onto ebony. After cutting them out on the bandsaw, I cleaned up the edges with a chisel and added a slight bevel to ensure a snug fit.   I secured the bow ties in place using double-sided tape and carefully traced their outlines with a razor blade. Then came the meticulous process of chiseling out the mortises—working from the corners inward to avoid overcutting.

I decided to angle the cut on one end to make the rotted section a focal point. The idea was to create the illusion that the shelf was emerging from the wall, as if the wood was naturally decaying into it. It was a small artistic touch that added depth to the piece.

Installing the shelf in a stairwell meant dealing with an out-of-square wall. To simplify the process, I scribed the wall’s shape onto a plywood template, sanded it to fit, and then transferred the profile to the walnut slab. A few adjustments with a block plane ensured a perfect fit.

Since the floating shelf hardware required precise placement, I taped kraft paper to the wall to mark stud locations and transferred them to the slab. Using a block of wood as a guide, I drilled straight holes for the mounting brackets and chiseled out recesses for a flush fit.  To fine-tune the shelf’s level, I added countersunk screws along the bottom edge, allowing for minor adjustments. A story stick helped me accurately position the wall-mounted hardware before the final installation.

With everything prepped, it was time to hang the shelf. After a few nervous moments, it slid into place perfectly—floating effortlessly against the wall, with its organic edges, ebony bow ties, and weathered character on full display.

This project was a great reminder that even flawed materials can become stunning pieces with a little patience and creativity. The walnut slab, once rough and uneven, now serves as both a functional shelf and a unique work of art.

In this episode, I make 3D wooden puzzle cubes for Stocking Stuffers. One of my kids’ toys inspired the design, and I thought I could make a fun version for all ages. If you are interested, you can purchase a 3D Puzzle Cube or build your own; plans are available.

Brian discussed his recent project of building 3D puzzle cubes as stocking-stuffer ideas for Christmas. He shared his process, which included milling and cutting the lumber, sanding the board before cutting, and setting up a stop on his miter gauge. He also built a jig to hold the puzzle pieces accurately and safely. After making test cuts, he cut the puzzle pieces and added a chamfer to the ends using his router table. Finally, he applied a few thin coats of finish to complete the project.

Christmas is just around the corner, and if you’re looking for unique stocking stuffers, why not try building some 3D puzzle cubes? These little wooden brain teasers are fun to make and even more fun to solve. Below, I’ll walk you through my process—and if you’d like to try it yourself, I’ll have a downloadable template available!

Like most woodworking projects, I began by milling the lumber down to the required size. Since cutting and sanding a bunch of tiny individual pieces can be tedious, I decided to keep the workpieces as a single board until the final cuts. To ensure consistency, I set up a stop block on my miter gauge and cut all the pieces to the same dimensions.  As a precaution, I cut an extra piece to use for test cuts—this helped me dial in the fit before working on the actual puzzle pieces.

Next, I prepared two strips of wood matching the thickness of my puzzle pieces to serve as setup blocks. Then, I constructed a jig to hold the pieces securely and ensure accurate cuts. (All measurements for this jig are included in the downloadable template.)

Using scrap plywood, I cut two parts: One piece is attached to my miter gauge, and another to act as a hold-down.  I used the puzzle pieces as spacers while assembling the jig to set the height correctly.

Before making the final cuts, I ran a few test passes on scrap wood to adjust the width and height. Once satisfied, I took one of my test spacer blocks and secured it into a notch with CA glue.   After the glue dried, I used the second spacer to position the jig on the miter gauge, clamping it temporarily for further adjustments. Once everything was perfectly aligned, I screwed the jig in place to prevent any shifting.   Since holding small blocks near a spinning dado stack felt risky, I added toggle clamps for extra safety.

If you’ve cut box joints before, this process will feel familiar—except you’ll need to pay close attention to the puzzle’s design to ensure notches are cut in the right spots.

Following my template, I positioned each block either:  Against the spacer strip, or aligned with a notched section.  One piece was shorter than the rest, so I saved it for last and adjusted the toggle clamps accordingly.

After cutting the pieces, I cleaned up the notches using a benchtop sander. I ran each piece through my router table with a chamfer bit to add a polished look.  Since the router bit couldn’t reach the inside corners, I hand-sanded those areas for a smooth finish.

All that’s left is to apply a few thin coats of finish, and these puzzle cubes will be ready to stuff into stockings!

In this episode, I built a custom fire-rated door for my Colorado Springs client.  Now, to build a custom fire-rated door would be pretty expensive because I would have a ton of hoops to jump through and get the stamp certifying it as fire-rated.  So, it is not feasible to do a one-off piece.  However, talking with the builder, we came up with the idea to veneer a pre-made fire-rated door to look like the rest of the doors.  After a quick consultation with the building department, they approved the door as long as we didn’t cover up the certification stamp on the edge of the door and we couldn’t make any cutouts.

Brian discussed his woodworking project, specifically a fire-rated door for a client’s garage. He detailed the process of shop-sawn veneers, ensuring the material was perfectly square and using a helical head in his planer to clean up the veneer face. He also shared his method of laying out the veneers and the challenges of working with large, heavy pieces. The door was veneered to match the rest of the doors in the house.  The rails of the door were a quarter-inch thick and were glued onto create a door stile illusion and accommodate stainless steel thickness. Brian also shared his challenges with using a vacuum bag for epoxy application on a large door project and his plans to find a better solution for future projects.

When a client commissioned me to build all the doors in their house, the goal was simple: ensure every door matched perfectly. That is, until I reached the garage entry. Unlike the others, this door needed to meet a 20-minute fire-rated building code requirement, adding an unexpected twist to the project.

The builder suggested veneering a fire-rated door to match the rest of the custom doors. While this sounded straightforward, the execution required precision and problem-solving at every step.

Like any woodworking project, this one began with milling and planing the material to rough dimensions. However, working with shop-cut veneers demanded extra attention to detail:

Precision Squaring: To prevent blade drift on the bandsaw, I ensured every piece was perfectly square before resawing.

Flattening Between Cuts: After each pass on the bandsaw, I returned to the jointer to flatten the face and maintain square edges.

Planer Tricks for Thin Veneers: Without a drum sander, I used a planer with a sled to clean up the veneer faces, minimizing chip-out. A helpful tip? Cut veneers 3-4 inches longer than needed—any blowout usually happens at the ends, so you can trim the damaged section later.

Once the veneers were prepped, I laid them out on the door, taping them together before glue-up. One advantage of shop-cut veneers? Their thickness allows for re-jointing if a seam isn’t perfectly tight.

Why Not Blue Tape?

Veneer tape shrinks as it dries, helping keep joints tight.

Blue tape is stubborn to remove after vacuum pressing, whereas veneer tape can be wet-scraped or sanded off.

To mimic the look of traditional door stiles, I glued ¼”-thick x 4″-wide strips along the edges. This not only added visual depth but also provided space for stainless steel edging.

Given the door’s size, I broke the glue-up into four sessions:

Main Panel First – Clamped a stile to the edge as an alignment guide, taping off the opposite side to prevent glue interference.

Stiles Next – Ensured clean edges for subsequent glue-ups.

The first attempt included glue-absorbent paper, but managing it with the breather mesh was a nightmare. For later glue-ups, I skipped the paper—only to face a new challenge: epoxy foam disaster.

Lesson Learned: Never put epoxy in a vacuum bag unless you enjoy cleaning up a sticky mess.

Despite the hurdles, the finished product blended perfectly with the rest of the doors, meeting fire code without sacrificing aesthetics.

Thicker shop-cut veneers allow for adjustments mid-process.

Veneer tape > blue tape for clean, tight seams.

Plan for extra length to account for planer mishaps.

Avoid epoxy in vacuum bags—trust me on this one.

This project reinforced that even code-mandated challenges can be overcome with creativity and patience. Now, the garage door looks just like the others—only with a hidden fire-resistant core.

In this episode, I build a whole house of Modern Contemporary Doors featuring a stainless steel accent.  My Colorado Springs Client was remodeling their entire home and wanted me to make all the doors.  They were going for a contemporary, modern feel, so the doors I came up with were panel-style, with each panel divided by a stainless steel band.  I modified the design of the doors to fit each application.  I designed all the custom doors to fit all the standard-sized doors, pocket doors, fire-rated doors, and barn doors.

Brian discussed his experience in creating custom doors for a client’s house, including four barn doors, a pocket door, and several bedroom and bathroom doors. He detailed the process of milling the lumber, cutting dados for the panels, and creating mortises for the tenons. Brian also shared his strategy for managing the large number of doors, which involved using a jig system with stop blocks and a domino for alignment. He demonstrated how he used the table saw to cut all tenons. Brian also discussed the process of creating custom doors with stainless steel accents, highlighting the use of a protective coating, a jig for centering the stainless steel pieces, and self-tapping screws for assembly. He finished the build by showing off the cherry wood with an espresso stain, highlighting the stainless steel accents.

When I was commissioned to build all the doors for a client’s home, I knew it would be a challenging but rewarding project. The order included four barn doors, a pocket door, and several bedroom and bathroom doors. Each door required precision, patience, and a few clever tricks to streamline the process. Here’s how I tackled the build.

As with any woodworking project, the first step was milling the lumber square. The doors featured a six-panel design, separated by stainless steel accents. To create the frame, I cut a dado down the length of the stiles to accept the panels.

Each panel needed a centered tenon to hold it in place while allowing the rest of the panel to expand and contract within the dado. To ensure consistency across all doors, I set up a jig system using stock blocks matching the width of the tenons.  By screwing these blocks in place, I could quickly position them for each door and remove them as needed. This saved a ton of time, especially since I had 12 doors to build!

We’ve all heard the saying, “No woodworker ever has enough clamps.” This project was no exception. With so many panels to glue up, I had to get creative.

The tenons were cut on the table saw in two passes—one to establish the initial width and another to refine it. Since the panels were wide, I avoided fullwidth glue joints to prevent splitting due to humidity changes. Instead, I only glued the center of the tenon for added strength while letting the rest float in the dado.

The stainless steel accent pieces added a sleek, modern touch. To attach them:

The protective PVC coating on the steel was stubborn to remove—more like vinyl than plastic—but a little mineral spirits cleaned up the residue nicely.

To prevent panel rattling, I added weatherstripping inside the channels, ensuring constant pressure even if the wood shrank. Since the panels were prefinished, I used blue tape on the tenons to avoid glue squeezeout.  For assembly, I opted for slowset epoxy to give myself plenty of time to align everything perfectly. Once clamped, I did a final cleanup before delivery.

The doors were crafted from cherry wood with an espresso stain, complemented by stainless steel accents. They looked stunning as barn doors, traditional swing doors, and pocket doors.  This project was a great reminder that with the right jigs, a bit of ingenuity, and a whole lot of clamps (even if you never have enough), you can tackle even the most demanding woodworking jobs.  What’s the most challenging door or panel project you’ve worked on? Let me know in the comments!

In this episode, I built a Modern Contemporary Bench for a client in Telluride, Colorado.  One of the great things about building custom furniture in Colorado is visiting all the beautiful mountain towns.  This client wanted a custom bench with a mitered corner so the board’s grain flowed along the top and down the side.  The Bench is made from walnut and is about 18″ tall, 14″ deep, and 72″ long.

Brian discussed using dominoes to join boards together, primarily for alignment purposes for the bench top and to add strength to the miter joint. He mentioned the challenges of working with tight tolerances and the need for a deep-cut handheld saw, such as the Ts. 75, to cut through the thick wood. Brian also highlighted the use of West System epoxy glue for its gap-filling and grain-soaking properties.  He used a glue block technique to clamp the miters shut. He concluded the build with a final finish of a wipe-on poly.

Creating a sleek, modern bench with mitered legs—where the grain flows continuously around the corners—requires careful planning and precision. In this project, I’ll walk you through my process of building an eight-foot-long, two-inch-thick bench with seamless grain matching and sturdy joinery.

Since the bench needed to be thick and long, I chose 12-inch-wide boards to ensure the grain would remain continuous around the miters. The boards were too wide for my jointer, so I spent extra time at the lumber yard hand-selecting the flattest pieces possible.

I used the skip plane method to get the surfaces smooth and flat enough for mitering, removing high spots before running them through the planer. Once flattened, I:

Jointed one edge of each board.

Ripped them to width on the table saw.

Pro Tip: When setting up my shop, I arranged all machines to face the bay door. This allowed long boards to extend outside, making handling much easier.

I used roller stands on both ends of the jointer for edge joining, set slightly lower than the table. This ensured the boards registered flat against the jointer while preventing them from tipping or slipping.

Since I couldn’t flatten the full width of the boards on the jointer, I relied on Festool Dominos for alignment. They saved me hours of sanding by keeping the joints perfectly flush. However, I may have gone overboard—the tight tolerances made assembly a bit of a struggle!

To achieve the waterfall grain effect, I carefully cut the legs from the ends of the boards, keeping track of their orientation. Cutting the miters required a track saw set to 45°—my only tool capable of handling such thick stock at an angle.

For reinforcement:

I used multiple dominoes in each joint.

I used West Systems epoxy for its gap-filling properties and deep grain penetration, ensuring a rock-solid bond.

Challenge: Aligning the mitered edges perfectly was tricky. I ended up using shims under the legs to fine-tune positioning before clamping.

I used CA glue blocks to clamp the miters tightly—a quick and effective method. The blocks pop off easily, and any residue cleans up without damaging the wood.

The final step was applying a wipe-on polyurethane finish, enhancing the natural beauty of the wood while providing durable protection.

This project tested patience and precision, but the result—a seamless, modern bench with flowing grain—was well worth the effort. If you’re tackling a similar build, take your time with alignment and don’t shy away from using Dominos or epoxy for extra strength.

In this episode, I built a Mountain Modern Entry Door for a Colorado Springs client’s home.  The door was inspired by the Mountain Contemporary Modern Style and featured some timber-framing architectural stylings.  The custom door was sized to fit the home’s extra-large opening.

Brian discussed his woodworking project, a custom door with intricate designs and angles. He detailed the process of cutting and fitting the various pieces, including using a bandsaw, jointer, and miter gauge. Brian also explained the use of craft paper for marking templates for the angles and the application of veneer for the door panels. He mentioned the challenges of assembling the door by himself due to its complex design. Lastly, he discussed the construction of the door jam, including the installation of an adjustable threshold and weather stripping. The project is nearing completion, with only the final finish and installation at the client’s home remaining.

Every woodworking project begins with a vision and a pile of raw materials. This custom door project was no different, starting with rough-cut lumber, milled to a final thickness of 1.75 inches. But this wasn’t just any door; its intricate angles and joinery demanded precision, patience, and a few clever tricks along the way.

The left-hand style of the door featured a decorative angled cut. After marking the angle with a straight edge, I carefully cut it out on the bandsaw. Bandsaw marks were cleaned up with a few passes on the jointer—safety first, of course (no stray buckets under the machine!).

The inner panels would sit in a rabbet, so I opted for square stick joinery to connect the rails and styles. To reinforce the joints, I used dominoes, trimming them down by half an inch to fit the groove depth. The tenons were cut slightly oversized, then fine-tuned with a shoulder plane until the fit was perfect.

Working with multiple angles meant precision was key. I taped kraft paper to my bench and drew out all the angles, using it as a reference to mark and cut each intersecting piece. The steepest angle required a glued-on guide block for stability, though in hindsight, a track saw would have been safer.

Each board was only cut and fitted on one side initially, allowing me to push it into place and accurately mark the opposite side. For angled tenons, I butted the ends against the fence and adjusted the miter gauge to support the board during the cut.

The center panels needed to fit the complex shapes, so I traced their outlines onto kraft paper, extending the lines by half an inch to account for the groove. After cutting the templates with a utility knife, I used spray adhesive to attach them to plywood, then cut out the shapes and prepped them for veneering.

For the veneer, I restored some vertical-grain Douglas fir, cutting it to fit each panel. After taping the pieces together, I placed them in a vacuum bag with mesh and let them press for an hour. Once cured, I trimmed the edges flush with a router bit for a seamless fit.

Pre-finishing the panels ensured no unstained areas would show if the wood shrank later. Then came the real challenge: assembling all those angles. It was a bear to put together solo, but clamps helped pull everything tight.

The decorative cross pieces were inlaid along the diagonal, marked with a knife, and chiseled out. A router plane removed most of the waste, while a chisel maintained clean shoulders to prevent splintering. The final inlays became my favorite detail of the whole door.

Since the door was a non-standard size (42″ wide by 7′ tall), the jamb had to be custom-made. The first cut accounted for the door’s thickness plus weatherstripping; the second removed waste to create a channel for the weatherstripping to slide into.

After test-fitting the lock set and hinges, the jamb was assembled with dados and staples. An adjustable threshold was installed at the bottom, and weatherstripping was cut to fit. After everything had been tested, the final step was to apply the finish and install it at the client’s home.

This project was a lesson in precision, problem-solving, and patience. From angled joinery to veneering, each step required careful planning. But the end result—a beautifully crafted, one-of-a-kind door—made every challenge worth it.

In this episode, I build a rustic-style barn door for my client’s Denver home. I used authentic barnwood reclaimed from a 100-year-old barn. The client loves the gray-weathered look. To create the door, I made a welded steel frame to hold the barn wood.  This was a great way to create a custom door.

Brian discussed his process of creating a reclaimed wood door. He sourced the wood from a salvage business.  He started the build by cutting it to rough length. To avoid pencil marks on the beautiful weathered barnwood, he used blue tape to mark the locations of the dominoes. He glued the wood pieces together in smaller sub-assemblies before assembling them into a complete door. To prevent bowing, he used an F-style clamp. He then cut steel to length and mitered the corners, grinding a bevel along the miter for a seamless finish. He welded flanges on the back to hold the wood in the frame and marked bolt locations using a drill bit. He performed a test fit of each bolt to ensure smooth operation of the door.

There’s something special about working with reclaimed materials—each piece carries its own history, texture, and character. For this project, I sourced most of the wood from a salvage business down the highway. The owner has an incredible collection of materials, and after picking out the perfect boards, I headed back to the shop to begin crafting a unique, distressed wood and steel door.

The first step was cutting the boards to roughly the right size. Since the wood had been part of batten boards (used to protect it during storage and weathering), there was a brown strip left behind. To ensure clean edges, I jointed one side straight, allowing me to safely rip off the weathered strip.

Because I wanted to preserve the wood’s natural distressed look, I avoided sanding it. Instead of marking measurements directly on the wood (which could leave permanent pencil marks), I used blue tape to indicate where the domino joints would go.

I aligned the dominoes toward the back of the door so any minor unevenness would appear on the show side, adding to the rustic aesthetic. Since excess glue could ruin the unfinished look, I applied just enough to hold everything together without squeeze-out.

Given the number of pieces involved, I broke the assembly into smaller sub-sections, gluing them first before combining everything into the full door. To prevent clamp marks or black staining (a common issue when metal clamps meet glued wood), I used cauls as buffers.

The door’s length exceeded my longest clamps, so I improvised a reverse clamping system. By securing one end of the door to the workbench, I could push the final board into place while maintaining even pressure. A style clamp helped prevent bowing during the glue-up.

Once assembled, I trimmed the door to its final dimensions using my track saw.

With the wood portion complete, I shifted focus to the steel frame. After clearing the workbench, I cut the steel to length and mitered the corners for a clean fit. To ensure strong welds, I added a slight bevel along the miters, allowing the weld to penetrate fully. Later, I ground these welds flush so the frame would appear seamless once painted.

One of my favorite parts of welding miters? If there’s a gap, you can just fill it with molten steel—problem solved!

I welded flanges onto the back of the frame to secure the wood panel. Even though the wood was already distressed, I took precautions to protect it from sparks and heat, including using a welding blanket to prevent scorching or accidental fires.

For the header above the door, I marked bolt locations by spinning a drill bit backward in the hole to create an indent. For precision, I drilled pilot holes using a drill press instead of a handheld drill. A slight misalignment could cause the door to hang crooked or roll unevenly on its track, so I test-fitted each bolt with a wooden block to keep them straight during installation.

This project was a great reminder of how reclaimed materials can be transformed into something functional and beautiful. The natural wear of the wood, combined with the industrial steel frame, gives the door a rugged yet refined look, perfect for a workshop, barn, or modern rustic home.