Constructed this from solid walnut with some walnut veneer plywood for internal shelving. These book-matched flexible tambour doors were a first for me. Cutting, sanding and finishing 100 individual strips of wood and then gluing them to the backing canvas took the majority of the time on this project. I also tried out a new wipe-on finish called Odie's Oil which was excellent - easy to apply and reapply, dries to a hard finish and brings out the grain of the wood. Not sure how durable it will be for heavy-use furniture but it will be my go-to for light-use pieces like this. Brass feet on the steel legs add a little something special.

Solid straight-grained oak with hand cut mitered-dovetails. This rift/ quarter sawn oak is 4 times the cost of typical oak, but its grain structure looks much more modern and clean. That's a perfect combination with the strength and durability of oak for furniture. The floating design draws attention to the intricate joinery.

While I typically prefer to hand-stitch leather goods, I finally invested in an industrial leather sewing machine, to use on long and boring stitch runs like on belts and straps.  While the speed of work on this bag was night-and-day compared to saddle stitching, I am still convinced that hand-stitching has some advantages. Firstly, machine stitching tends to leave marks on the leather from the pressure of the foot and the exit side of the stitch does not look as presentable as the top side, due to blow-out. Secondly, in complex areas where I was trying to draw multiple components together (against their will), it was quite challenging to achieve a perfect stitch. Hand sewing allows me to pre-punch the holes perfectly and use the thread to draw the pieces together. This bag used an interesting Italian leather called Gommato, which has a tough, rubber-ey and velvety finish. 

Peruvian walnut with baltic birch plywood. Inspired by a cabinet I saw at my granduncle's house 30 years ago that got me started on woodworking. Opens like a book with tools in every nook and cranny. Each tool sits snuggly in custom holders. My old peg hook wall worked just fine - this just feels way more special. Peruvian walnut is by far my favorite wood - uniform chocolate color, easy and predictable to work, strong and medium weight. It is especially satisfying for hand tool work.

Hand-stitched with tweed lining. This 4oz veg-tan leather came pre-stained and finished and had just enough stiffness to hold the shape of the bag, without being hard. I find that hand-stitching gives me much more control over the placement and accuracy of the stitches, and allows for more versatility in the complexity of the joints and layers.

High-carbon 1095 steel blade, rosewood and brass handle, walnut and aspen box. The design blends western style chef knives with eastern style multi-purpose choppers. I do not have a forge, so I cut this from a billet of knife-making steel and sanded/ grinded it to the final shape. Heat treated the cutting edge with 2 high-output plumbing torches and quenched in old engine oil. Honed on a leather strop to razor sharpness.

One of my favorite de-stressing activities is to hand cut unique Asian joinery for skill building, using just a ryoba saw, chisels and marking gauges. Each joint likely took a whole hour to complete. Made a pretty caddy to hold these samples. They serve as very effective inspiration when designing furniture and the contrasting woods produce beautiful showpieces.

Based on the Nakashima Conoid table. Solid black walnut. The entire base was constructed with interlocking joinery and uses no screws or fasteners. It was especially satisfying to get the joints perfect - walnut has a medium hardness which is perfect for hand tool work. I used steel reinforced epoxy for the final glue up because it does a good job of filling any gaps and its color matches walnut very well.

I made this hand tool kit for my daughter, inspired by the Wohngeist Swiss Tool Case. Curated the tool mix to be everything you need and nothing you don't. Each tool held in place by magnetic tool holders. Limited the color palette to silver, black and yellow. Bubinga wood with leather handles.

I built this doctor-style tool bag to last a lifetime. Heavy 6oz full-grain leather with strong Ritza Tiger thread and copper rivets. Has carbon fiber and spring steel stiffeners throughout to hold its shape and "spring" open when unbuckled. While I did apply some stain, most of the color comes from intentionally leaving it out in the hot sun to sunburn (exactly like skin would). This is a perfect example of how leather matures with age.

Chip carving uses a single super-sharp knife to cut intricate shapes by removing tiny pyramid-shaped chips. I used a slab of basswood which is soft, fine grained and uniform. This practice board of random designs probably took 20 hours to complete. I'm sure my technique was off, because I found it very hard on my wrists. Maybe I will try it with balsa or linoleum the next time.

In 2004, I led a team of fellow engineering students that built the first Indian Formula SAE racecar (powered by a racing bike engine) to compete in Australia. No CAD modelling or fancy jigs and fixtures - just a drawing on paper, an old door as the work surface, a shoestring budget and a lot of elbow grease. I designed every component using gut feel, based on what I learned from my (future) father-in-law, who was building a beautiful Lotus 7 in his garage at the same time. Both were fast, his looked MUCH nicer.

African mahogany and walnut. I drew inspiration from the Logan Bar Stool, but wanted something more delicate. The slender legs that are central to this design would not be strong enough under load. I was able to use fine brass tensioners to provide the required stiffness without needing bulky stretchers, while adding just a little decoration. No stains used - this is the natural wood color with a clear finish.

I wanted a simple bag for work with low bulk and no unnecessary elements -  no buckles, external pockets or shoulder strap adjusters. Both front pockets expand inwards, keeping the silhouette of the bag flat. 5oz veg tan leather for the body holds the shape with no stiffeners and thin sheep skin for the interior pockets provides flexibility and softness. I could have machine stitched some sections, but then the stitching pitch would differ from the hand-sewn frame, looking ugly. The thread used for both is also different.

My first job in 2005 was developing prototype animatronic robots for theme parks. I designed and assembled this one from scratch to demonstrate how realistic human movements could be achieved using pneumatic muscles. The eyelids even blinked using nitinol muscle wire! This one had over 30 active joints. I based the design closely on the human musculo-skeletal system - why reinvent something that works?

Peruvian walnut with woven rope backrest. Tweed upholstery. Peruvian walnut is by far my favorite wood. Rich, uniform chocolate color, great for hand-tool working and shapes great on a lathe. Lots of elbow grease was required to shape the armrests. I use "Beadlock" tenons for some of the joints. Upholstery stitching is quite challenging - too loose and it will sag, too tight and the cushion will buckle.

Replica of the classic paper grocery bag, but made from durable waxed leather. I matched the color as best I could. No more single-use bags for shopping! Folds flat exactly like the paper version. I even replicated the zig-zag pinking edge that most paper bags have. This is one of my favorite projects.

Solid cherry. Cotton rope for the webbing and full-grain leather for the upholstery. Stitched the seat cover using the famous $100 Chinese shoe patching machine, utilizing one entire animal hide. The pictures with the leather were taken a year after the bare frame. You can see how much more red the cherry has become in one year just from sun/ air exposure. Tung oil finish.

Stained aspen wood. Woven wood strips on the sliding doors made from humble construction 2X4s. Dovetail joinery highlighted with gold accents. Welded steel legs. This was my first time using aspen wood and would not use it again for furniture. It is too soft and has an unpredictable "fuzzy" grain.

My masters degree thesis was focused on an blast resistant fiberglass material that relied on a special 3-dimensional woven fabric. To produce my samples of this fabric, I needed to build this massive weaving machine from scratch. While there were some interesting insights from that work, the most enjoyable part of this process was building this beast. And yes, those are CDs that I used as spools !

Hand-stitched veg tan leather. No inner lining. The main seam uses an intermediate welt to add flexibility and provides an "accordion" style opening.

Hard maple. Large visible joinery. The central feature of this table is the cast iron center trivet. These beautiful pieces are repurposed heating floor grates found in most old Chicago homes. This is a surprisingly useful feature allowing hot dishes to be placed directly on the table.

When I travelled for work, I noticed that most business travelers used a brand of bag called Tumi, with its signature monogrammed initials. I wanted something different. Duck canvas and chrome-tanned leather. Stitched on a manual Tippmann Boss machine with bold contrasting thread. This looked like new after 6 years of heavy use.

Solid oak with a leather cushion. Made this before I discovered a supplier for straight-grain oak (which would have looked much more striking). This has to be my favorite shape for chair legs - clean, sharp lines

Wabi Sabi is a Japanese philosophy that celebrates natural imperfection (among other things). I tried to reflect that in this piece by highlighting the largest imperfections of this rustic cherry. This is juxtaposed with the most perfect joinery I could pull off with hand tools only. Base is stained oak with brass feet turned from plumbing fixtures.