Here's a cutting board I made for some friends, out of a giant maple that they had to cut down.

The tree started dropping huge branches around their car, so they figured it was time.

 It took nearly 2 years to make this.  I cut the branches up on my bandsaw, let them dry in my garage for a year, then cut them into sticks to make the cutting board.

There are owls hiding in it.

Here's some hooks Nigel and I made last year.

They are fun, but I won't presume I know enough about forging to instruct anyone.

However, I needed some matching fasteners.  Rather than make some screws from scratch, I bought some standard machine screws from the hardware store and put the heads in the forge.  Heating them up red hot and then bashing them around with a hammer gets just the right look, while the other end remains unchanged.  The hooks and screws are then warmed with a torch and painted with beeswax.

They have been hanging in my kitchen for almost a year now, no noticeable change in finish.

I'm interested in making more, contact me if you'd like some.