Every year before the holidays I make one
of these gift making videos. Every single year. I’ve gone through a lot of ideas over
the years (and I’ll leave a link to those videos in the description below) but somehow
I managed to come up with 6 brand new ideas to share with you this year. So without further
ado, let’s get started with number 1. Baguette Slicer Kitchen items are always a big hit for handmade
gifts, so here’s an original bread slicer to start things off. I have 3 pieces of walnut
that I’ll cut to the same length. And BTW you can find all the dimensions for all six
projects in the written article over on my website. I’ll leave a link to that down
below. With the 3 pieces cut, I’ll add some glue
and assemble the pieces into a U-shape, then clamp it and let it dry. You’ll notice the
glue squeeze out and that’s exactly what you want to see. It means you have enough
glue on there. Cleaning it up can be annoying though so here’s a simple little trick.
I use a plastic straw that I cut on an angle, then kind of pinch the tip, and run it along
the inside crease. Once dry I’m going to round over all the
edges to make it more comfortable to handle and it’ll just look better too. I’m using
my router table but you can use a handheld router with a roundover bit just as well. Next I want to cut a slot to guide the bread
knife as it slices the bread. Instead of making it perpendicular. I want it at a slight angle,
so I’ll rotate my miter gauge to say 15 degrees. That should do it. I’m kind of
nervous at this point that I'm going to ruin my piece so I took several passes, raising
the blade progressively until it skimmed the bottom, just barely cutting into it. I could
then nudge it over a tiny bit and make another cut to widen the slot. I’ll save you the boredom of the sanding,
but just remember to sand folks, okay? I want to add some feet to this slicer so
I designed and printed these simple templates. I’ll have these templates available on my
website if you want to print them out. I’ll use some light spray adhesive to secure them
to a piece of walnut, so I can then take it over to the bandsaw to cut them out. After
cutting out a rough shape I can refine it on the benchtop sander. All that’s left is to attach the feet with
a couple of dowels. In hindsight, I think I could have just screwed them on from underneath.
But of course I decided to make things complicated. I laid out my dowel placement and used a center
punch to create a reference for the drill bit. I’ll then use this drill block that
will help keep my bit straight and make sure I don’t drill too deep. Now I can simply
add some glue and clamp until dry. All that’s left is to apply a finish. I’ll
first wipe off all the dust with a tack cloth, and apply 2 coats of Osmo Polyx-oil. Now grab
yourself a baguette and enjoy. 3-in-1 bottle opener This one is a fun easy project for all the
beer lovers in your life. Now, you can make this bottle opener any shape
you want, but if you’ve watched any of my videos before, you’ll know I have a thing
for hexagons. I built this hexagon cutting jig a while back and I’ll leave a link up
in the top right corner if you want to check that out. The cutting process is simple: basically
just cut, rotate and repeat. And just FYI, I’m using half inch ash wood for this, but
again, any wood will do. The idea is to insert this bottle opener right
in the middle, so I’ll start by connecting the opposite corners to find the exact center.
Next I’ll mark the spot for 2 magnets. Alright, over at the drill press I’ll start
with a larger Forstner bit and make a very shallow hole. The closest bit size I have
is 1-⅝ but you can invest in a 40mm bit if you plan to batch a lot of these out. Looking good, so now I’ll switch to a smaller
bit and drill as deep as I can without poking through. It’s a good idea to practice on
some scraps first to dial in the settings. And lastly, I’ll drill the holes for the
magnets. I’m using 8x3 mm rare earth magnets that I got at Princess Auto. To secure them,
I’ll apply a dab of CA glue in the holes, and use the accelerator to lock them in. I’ll use a little more CA glue, then drop
in the insert, and secure it with the provided screws. Now you could stop there but I got myself
an early Christmas present that I couldn’t resist trying out. So I designed this little
logo and used my new laser to engrave the bottle opener. I think it came out pretty
nice. Now all that’s left is to pop open a cold
one, and enjoy. It’s a bottle opener, it’s a fridge magnet and coaster all in one. Floating Cube Tower Lamp This next gift idea was inspired by a design
I saw online that looked like a tower of floating cubes with light beaming up the tower from
the base. The construction is pretty simple: just make
4 open cubes and pile them up. I don’t want it to be too chunky so I’m resawing some
cherry wood into thinner pieces which I’ll then clean up with the planer. I’m going to create miter joints to assemble
the boxes, so I’ll start by tilting my blade to 45 degrees. Now you could simply run the
pieces through like this, but it’s not the safest or most accurate way to get a clean
cut. So instead, I’m going to use a 45 degree
crosscut sled. It’s basically a regular crosscut sled but dedicated to cutting long
miters or bevels. I’ll first trim one edge off all of my boards to create a reference
edge. I can then set up a stop block so I can cut every single piece to the same length
and end up with 16 identical pieces. Ok so with all my pieces cut, it's time to
assemble the cubes. The easiest way I've found to do this is to lay it all flat, edge to
edge, using some painter’s tape to connect the edges. I’ll then apply glue to the joints,
and fold it up into a cube. You’ll notice a lot more tape here, and this is just to
avoid having to clean up the squeeze out from the inside corners. Totally optional, but
it definitely helps keep things clean. The bottom cube gets a small lip that will
support a floating bottom panel and you'll see what that’s all about in just a minute. Once dry, if you find that your miters are
open, use a screwdriver to press the edges together and close the gap. Okay, now we’re getting to the tower part.
Here I’m marking where the cubes need to be cut. Now this will all make sense in a
minute. But for now, I’m just using the edge of my combination square as an arbitrary
measurement to make the mark. With my blade still set at 45, I’ll gently
run the cube through and make the cut. For some reason, this was super stressful, but
it all turned out perfectly. Once assembled, it will be hard to sand this
thing so I’ll get that done while I still can. Okay, time to add the light source. I cut
a panel to fit the bottom cube and here I’m making a small hole for the wiring. I’ll
be using an LED puck light that’s probably meant to be used as cabinet lighting, but
it’ll work. It has a toggle switch which will be perfect for a lamp. I’ll just secure it on-center with the provided
screws then seal it back up, and thread the wire through the hole. One last thing is to make a small notch for
the wire in the bottom cube by just running it through the table saw. Now I can drop in the panel and assemble this
lamp. Just a few dabs of glue and a careful balancing act to build up the tower. I’m
leaving it raw, but you can easily remove the bottom panel and apply a spray finish
if you want. Okay, let’s light her up! Festive Holiday Coasters Next we’re getting festive with some unique
holiday coasters. I’ll start with a thin piece of walnut, no more than half an inch
thick. I created a few holiday inspired shapes that I printed out. You can grab these for
free on my website if you’re interested. I’ll use some light spray adhesive to hold
down the template so I can then cut the shapes out on the bandsaw. If you don't have a bandsaw, this might be
difficult. The shapes are too small for a jigsaw, but if you have access to a laser
cutter or CNC, you can cut these out cleanly. As for me, I’ll do the best that I can on
the bandsaw using a thin ¼ inch blade. Cutting the curves is a little harder, but I seem
to be getting better at this. Maybe. Since the bandsaw leaves ridges along the
edges, I’ll do a little sanding to clean up the shapes.
You’ll notice lines on the templates on top of the shapes. I mean, you can’t have
a candy cane without stripes, right? So the idea was to use a small saw to cut on the
lines and create a bit of a 3D effect. We’ll see how it turns out in the end, but I’m
hopeful. Alright, with that done, it’s time to pour
these coasters. I’ve got these silicone molds, my shapes and some fast curing epoxy.
Oh and of course some white pigment for a winter snow effect. I’ll leave links to
all of these in the description below. Working with epoxy isn’t as hard as you
think. Just mix both parts in a cup - in this case 2 parts A and one part B - then mix it
up. Then I can add my white metallic pigment, and then maybe add some more, until I’m
happy with the color. I’ll first pour a thin base then drop in
the shapes face down and move them around a little to make sure no air pockets get trapped
in those lines I cut. I can then top them up but no need to go all the way to the top
of the shapes. We’ll be sanding those down later. The wood will want to float around in the
epoxy so I found some weights that I’ll use to hold them in place until the epoxy
cures. Anything plastic is a good option for this. The next day, I can easily pop them out. As
you can see they don't stick to the mold and come out nice and easy. Now, I want to get them all down to the same
thickness, about a quarter inch. I’ll use some scraps to make a simple sanding jig using
quarter inch plywood that’ll surround the coaters and hold it in place while I sand
them. This also happens to be the same thickness that I’m aiming for my coaster to be, which
means I can just keep sanding, feeling the edges as I go, until my sander bottoms out.
I’m using 60-grit paper to really grind these down quickly. Just be careful that you
don't overheat the resin or the shape might become deformed. And it helps to clean your
sandpaper often, using a rubber cleaning block. Once all four are done, they should all be
even in thickness. They’re looking pretty rough so as a final touch, I’ll polish them
up. I’ve set up a series of grits from 120 to 180 to 220 to 320 and finally 400-grit. All that’s left is to add some finish, let
it dry and enjoy. Cookbook / iPad Stand If anyone on your Christmas list loves to
cook, this one’s for you. I’m making a collapsible cookbook / iPad stand that can
also be used as a serving board. I cut up some walnut and some maple, and found a layout
that I liked. It should be roughly 16 inches long by 9 inches wide, give or take. Just like making a cutting board, I’ll apply
a generous amount of glue to the seams and clamp them all together. I won't be using
my planer for this so I made sure to wipe away all the glue with a damp rag. Once dry,
I sanded with 80-grit just to get the faces flat. I designed this cutting board handle on the
computer to make a printable template and you can download it for free on my website.
I’ll leave the link down below. Using some light spray adhesive, I’ll secure the template
to the wood, and press it down. I’m using this radius jig to round the bottom corners,
but you can use any circular object you have on hand, like a bottle cap or whatever. I’ll use my bandsaw to cut out the handle.
Now I’m a little embarrassed to show you this actually because 1- I was too lazy to
change my blade and this resaw blade is making it impossible to cut curves, and 2- I probably
could have and should have just used a jigsaw to do this. It likely would have been a lot
faster and a lot cleaner. But luckily for me, there’s nothing a little
sanding can’t fix. I started by smoothing out the lower corners, then used the spindle
attachment to refine the shape of the handle. Much better. I didn’t even notice I forgot to drill the
hole in the handle before pulling off the template, but I’ll go back and do that later. Moving onto the other half of this stand,
I’m going to attach these 2 pieces of walnut into a T-shape. But first, I want to break
all these sharp edges so I’ll round over all the edges on the router table. To assemble them, I’ll use some dowels.
Here I'm tracing some simple layout lines that I can use as a reference for my doweling
jig. I'll add a little glue - and BTW for kitchen items that might get washed, I always
like to use a waterproof glue like Titebond 3. I’ll add some clamps and let that dry. The last step is to cut a slot in the board
to fit the stand. First I’ll roughly mark the width of the slot, then use those as a
reference to trace out the slot. I’ll use a Forstner bit at each end and drill all the
way though. Next I’ll switch to a smaller bit and remove most of the waste, while staying
inside the lines. I can now use a router with a guide and an
up-spiral bit to finish cutting out the slot. I’ll push the bit up against one side, then
lock down the guide rail. Now I can fire up the router and run it along the first side,
then progressively lower the bit, and run it again until I’m all the way though. Then
repeat the same process on the other side. And voilà, a perfect slot. All that’s left are the finishing touches,
like rounding over all the edges, sanding, and applying a finish. Again I’m using Omso
polyx-oil just because it’s a no-brainer wipe-on finish that’s low VOC and can be
done in a single day. Now find your favorite recipe, and enjoy! Bookmarks The next one is really simple, but if you
want to give a little handmade something to a lot of people in your life, this one might
be right up your alley. Bookmarks. Yes, bookmarks. For this you’ll want really thin wood, like
no more than 3 mm. You can use plywood, but I wanted to try using solid wood. The bandsaw leaves rough marks and my pieces
aren’t even in thickness, but I can’t run these pieces like this through the planer.
They’re just too thin. A simple trick is to use a piece of particle board and stick
down the pieces with some double-sided tape. Now I can run the board though until both
pieces are even and smooth. Just be careful pulling them up because you can easily crack
them. Alright so now I’ve got some really thin
pieces that are under 3 mm which seems reasonable for a bookmark. Now this wood is so thin that I thought of
cutting it with a utility knife, but that was taking forever, so I decided to use the
table saw after all. I was careful to use a push block like this one to make these cuts
safely. Next, I taped the pieces together to make
the following steps much faster than shaping them all one by one. I used my small crosscut sled to cut them
to length, and then used the sander to round all the corners. And lastly, I made a small
hole at the top. And a little light sanding to remove any fuzzies. You can decorate these however you want. If
you’re going to paint them, I recommend first applying a coat of shellac to seal the
wood. This should help to prevent any bleeding if you’re masking off sections with tape. So have fun with it! Here I’m painting a
candy cane effect using just some tape and acrylic crafts paint, but I’ll definitely
use my laser engraver to make a few original designs as well for all the bookworms in my
life. Now just add some tassels, and voilà! Hopefully you found some inspiration for your
Christmas list. Here are some of my previous gift making videos that you can check out
for even more ideas. Until next time, thanks for watching, happy holidays, and see you
soon!
