I am – at long last – on the cusp of getting your special orders done. This is my humble attempt to update you and apologize. Again.
I lost my way in 2025, without question. We sold the familial home of 37 years, bought another home with no 2nd story … and then decided to remodel the new home with me as acting general contractor. I began to juggle balls.
Lots of them.
The remodel consumed me, as such things do, and it became my obsessive focus in April of last year. We moved into the house during the still-active remodel in late May. The woodshop in the old house got shut down … but the new shop didn’t get up until September. Sort of. It’s still sort of up today. Cabinetry is not built. There is no storage. None.
Black Walnut, right on top. 2 days to find this.
Dust collection is almost done … but the temporary connection to my table saw is still zip tied, leaning, and not that good at sucking, honestly. Hand tools & supplies are always a challenge to locate. I’ve bought 2x sets of drill bits (and still haven’t found my old ones). I can’t find anything, truly. I lost my black walnut stash this week. 2 days went by. I looked everywhere to find the lumber … in the corner behind the band saw, right where I put it. Along with some Hard Maple I didn’t know I had.
It hasn’t been pretty.
In November, both of my knees went into an arthritic crisis, apparently. Walking became a huge issue for 3 weeks. Standing … not possible. More time I was not in the shop because my knees insisted I sit down and put my feet up. Beyond scaring the hell out of me, I learned to take it easier and nursed my knees back to health. They are largely back, but I certainly baby them more than I did when I was running marathons 15+ years ago (and my knees were *never* an issue then. Go figure.)
As many of you know, I have been powerfully distracted by some of my other prominent roles … PaPa was needed to help with Sloane, as Little Girl’s geriatric pregnancy put her in the Dr’s office 3x every week in the final weeks. Good news: Grandchild #4 is here, everyone is healthy, but I now miss breakfasts with Sloane. So, a happy ending, but Papa was not in the shop as much as I was during my old normal.
New normal? Not there yet. That’s the problem.
Then my mother’s health took a turn for the worse, and I traveled to see her in Missouri a couple of times this year. She lived a long and fruitful life, and helping my sister, brother-in-law and mother over the last few months was treasured time that was well spent. Mom saw her 96th birthday, and died 11 days ago. I will now be traveling to Missouri as needed to help sell her house & do the tasks that need to be done. Her Celebration of Life is on April 18.
While helping with my mother, obviously, I was not in the shop.
Which brings me to my oldest special order. It was from Mom: she wanted me to make the box to hold her ashes. I, of course, accepted the order. The box is now complete, and it was one of the hardest things to make I have ever done. Oh, the design was simple. Joinery not that challenging. But I found it impossible to work with tears in my eyes, so it took a while to finish the box. It is now in the truck, ready for me to drive it to Missouri.
Which brings me to my remaining special orders. The required time is set aside, irrevocably. The pieces are picked, processed, glued up and smoothed. I still have some CNC work on some of these pieces. Some sanding. Finishing. But my plan is to be done done done with these pieces and ship them out next week. Honest.
I have accepted one more order, for a Soap Drying Rack, that is next up after these pieces … and my return from my 3rd trip to Missouri this year.
Moving forward, I believe I will shut down my website for the rest of the year. I have made promises, you see, to the Lady of the house. I am to build a bed, nightstands, dresser, garden bench … plus a new office & master closet for me. If I don’t block out the business … I’ll never get to the personal. I know me.
I am committed to 3x events this year: April’s KHTS Home & Garden Show. November’s Boutique Fantastique at Saugus High. And, December’s Santa’s Art Shop in Ridgecrest. I will be there. And maybe, just maybe … you’ll see the grand return of Mrs M’s Handmade in the 4th quarter. But her product offerings … as well as mine … are very much TBD. Stay tuned for those updates.
So dear friends, there you have it. I have juggled far too many balls and am ashamed that so many of them were dropped. My special order backlog, though, is about to get handled. God willing.
Thank you so much for your patience. I don’t deserve it. I must do better as I search for my new normal.
And, yes, I heard the hysterical laughter as I typed the last sentence.
We approach the culinary summit of the year … in Mrs M’s dream kitchen. She had a thought. Could she get an old cutting board that I have (huh?) to use an electric knife on? WHAT?
I do give her credit that she learned her lesson and knows she cannot use an ELECTRIC SAW on her cutting board. But, she thought I had “old cutting boards” just laying around that she could destroy with her ELECTRIC SAW? No.
Well, she wondered out loud, could I just make her a board “out of scrap” so she could cube the bread for her renowned stuffing easily? So, a board out of scrap.
She doesn’t know me at all.
The board was made. It’s a 2-sided, no-foot light weight board to abuse as she wishes. I would have preferred more time and bread board ends on a cutting board this thin … but ’twas not to be. After all, this is just for her to destroy.
Black Walnut for the win. 15x21x.75″ A board good enough for her to destroy. After all, her stuffing is at stake.
Since I was in the shop and hungry, I re-surfaced & oiled her main board, sous chef board and the cheese slicer for good measure. Big doings in the Mowry kitchen this week. I am at her service: I don’t starve that way.
Mrs M’s Go To Cutting Board. 16″x21″x1-1/4″. Edge Grain. Goncalo Alves, Black Walnut, Honey Locust, Jatoba & Cherry. The board just got a rare tune-up … and will be 12 years old this Christmas.
The above board is the first cutting board I ever made. Hardwood for the win.
The companion sous chef board is smaller, lighter and had blown a foot. After the footectomy, I replaced all 4 feet. The small feet that I install (1/4″ thick) on small boards & serving pieces do fail – especially when pushed, not lifted. I’ve tried many sources; can’t find better feet. Let me know if you ever need a new set if you have had a failure.
Our cheese slicer also needed a quick resurfacing … and a footectomy. The slicer now has a smooth top and 4 new feet.
If you find your cutting board(s) need some love after your big doings this week, I am happy to resurface your board for free. It takes me about 10 minutes.
I really got waylaid on the way to 2025. Mrs M went bionic this year, and got 2x new knees. We bought our new forever home in February while she was still fresh from surgery # 1 … and sold the home where we raised our family in May, right before surgery # 2. We stayed in the Santa Clarita Valley, but we moved about 8 miles to the wilds of Castaic.
This was a big idea … before we could move we needed to process the 37 years of, uh, accumulation that didn’t have to go to Castaic, but could not stay in Valencia. In addition, we decided to do an extensive remodel to our new home … and I acted as project manager. And with the shop in Valencia closing as we moved, I stopped making until I could get the shop back up.
And, tic toc. What is only the second event I am doing this year is coming at me like a freight train. This event is the ONLY event that I have done every year since Mr M’s Woodshop began in 2012. I couldn’t miss supporting this neighborhood scholarship fundraiser, so it was time to get on with the making. Or else there would be a fairly empty booth at the Saugus High Boutique Fantastique, and that was just not OK.
Here then, are pictures of 13x cutting boards that are the first made with my new table saw in my new shop. See them – and more! – this weekend, Saturday & Sunday 10a – 4p in the Centurion gymnasium. You’ll find me at the end aisle booth I’m always at: #222.
All of these cutting boards are made from hardwoods, both domestic and exotic. Those exotic woods come from Central & South America as well as Africa, and include Purpleheart, Zebrawood, Iroko, Brazilian Cherry and more.
First up, eye candy for you. The big end grain boards. All are approximately 16×22″, give or take an inch. Thickness is 1-5/8″. All come with 3/4″ wide juice grooves, non-skid rubber feet, weight as much as 15 pounds and are made for robust use.
Next up are 2 smaller, simpler cutting boards. These edge grain boards, perfect for smaller kitchens are 13×17″ and 16×19″.
Finally, I have eight new “Juicy Boards” which are perfect small cutting boards, or perhaps the best way to serve that steak Mrs M is promising me. These are all 11-1/2″ square and 7/8″ thick. I make them in pairs, but you can buy just one! That’s good, because one of the “brown blend” boards, the 3rd picture, is already sold.
It is GREAT to be back in the shop. I will be making new stuff all through November, including special orders … so for everyone I have disappointed this year because I was not available, now is the time to tell me what you want!
If only I had any storage. But the shop, for the first time, is basically functional.
February 19: We bought the house.
May 16: I moved in with Walter the cat. Mrs M followed a couple of weeks later.
October 19: Dust collection & floor tools were all up & running.
Yup, it took 8 months. But I can turn on any tool in the shop, and it has dust collection connected. Here’s what it looks like:
The ceiling is where I started … with 6″ ducting running to the 3x major distribution points in the shop. From there, the detail work got … harder.
This wall mount joint serving suction to the miter saw and the router table was the first one I put up … and ironically, the last one to be fully functional. Part of that had to do with the death of the router lift mechanism, with meant I had to buy another tool. Thank God Mrs M got her dream kitchen, so I have leverage for at least a few more days.
This funky joint in the center will not survive long. It serves suction to the new table saw & the planer, and does OK … but I used 4″ pipe and adjustable 90* elbows to get around the garage door when it is open, and those adjustable elbows – Home Depot specials – have, uh, adjusted. When the table saw gets the custom outfeed table (build in progress, but on hold due to other projects), then that table will provide superior anchor points to support the pipe as it descends from the ceiling & works around the moving garage door.
The “outfeed table” is currently a folding table and 2 large pieces of plywood stacked onto smaller pieces of plywood to give me the illusion of having an outfeed system. It is still my only assembly table in the shop.
This funny looking bunch of flexible hose actually feeds 4x blast gates for 4x different tools: my CNC, a floor sweep, the drum sander, and a bench feed for my oscillating spindle sander (perfect for concave curve smoothing).
The CNC also required some special design to deliver suction to the machine while avoiding the garage doors. The hose feeding the moving CNC router head needs cantilevered support, provided by the red painted pieces of plywood which are now standard throughout the shop for support tasks.
Beside the CNC, and between those garage doors, is a custom battery charging center for all of my Milwaukee tools. One place to go for all of the batteries. Finally. Kudos to my electrician, Ben of Precision Electric, that suggested this location because he was installing my “center stack” of outlets just below:
Tucked behind the CNC, and between the 2x garage doors, are individual circuits for each of the tools in the middle of the shop and in the tool line between the garage doors. 3x of these circuits are 220v, for the saw, planer & CNC router. 3x other circuits are regular 110v, for the drum sander, CNC computer and the, uh, refrigerator/freezer that Mrs M will not let me get rid of yet. Maybe someday it will leave the shop and give me more room for … well, my stuff in my shop.
I am an optimist, you see.
The biggest problem with the shop NOW is that I have virtually no storage … my old workbench has 4x drawers. Other than that, I have floor space, wall space and corners I can’t get into because of all of the stuff that is laying around waiting on me to build custom shop cabinets to hold everything.
So, we bought it. We had our Unicorn. Now, what to do with it?
It was clear that we needed some transformation to make our forever home. I started making lists. Lots of lists.
What did we want?
New kitchen with island.
Custom cabinets throughout the house.
Creation of a new walk-in pantry between the kitchen & the hallway. Kudos to Kim, our superstar real estate agent, that saw the opportunity to build this pantry by converting a space that had a built-in television. We added found space on the other side of the back wall, that had some cabinetry in the hallway … delivering a space that is 4’x6′. Perfect for a pantry.
New appliances for the new dream kitchen.
New plumbing fixtures for the new bathrooms.
Recessed lighting + ceiling fans in all rooms.
Smart controls for appliances, lighting, thermostat, sprinklers … and more.
Finally, the home’s 3 car garage would become a 1 car garage for Mrs M, and a 2-car garage shop for me.
A new table saw. And, at long last, a miter saw to easily break down lumber.
So then I started making spreadsheets. Lots of spreadsheets.
We met with our first contractor before we had the keys. That didn’t work out. He was in a transition – building his new shop/retail location, we were still developing the plan, we didn’t have possession yet … no. Strike 1.
Lots of planning went into every room … or in this case, shop. I get a purpose-built space that has the tools & space for the work I actually do. I can break down a 4’x8′ sheet of plywood, or cut a 12′ long board without breaking a sweat. In the shop. Without moving tools. Without using the driveway.
We met our 2nd contractor on February 28, the day we took possession. This was a big idea guy that had a particular way he wanted to do a big job like ours. Big job. Very professional presentation from the jump. I met all of the sub contractors he would recommend to us, and then the wheels started to come off. The cabinet guy was on vacation and could not meet with us for a week. And we lost a week before we even got started.
OK, that happens. But then this cabinet maker came back to meet with us, and couldn’t commit to a time he could begin construction. After several days, we got his quote (he accidentally sent it to us directly. Oopsie.) Then we got the entire consolidated quote from the general contractor a few days later.
The quote was over our projected budget, but more importantly, there was no promise of timing AT ALL. No projected date to begin. Just … approve this budget and we will talk about it.
Uh, no. I was in sales my whole life, and as we saw with Williams Homes, when sales techniques annoy me, I run for the hills. Strike 2.
I started to look for tradesmen myself. Then, I finally listened to our son-in-law. He knew a guy.
This guy, whom I met when Little Girl married son-in-law, was a childhood friend that grew up to be a contractor. And a groomsman, for that matter.
It happens. And life-long friends can be a wonderful thing.
Contractor #3 promised to introduce me to the right people. He would help & advise, but I would be left to supervise the process that we were oh, so invested in.
I began to stitch together a team. Some vendors were recommended to me, some we found on our own. All were available to begin work … soon. Very soon.
I created floorplans. Worklists. Ideas to be incorporated into each room.
We hired crews for garage door opener installation, epoxy floor installation, kitchen demo, plumbing, stone work, electrical, cabinetry, HVAC, roofing, chimney service, paint, carpet, and a keymaster. We bought appliances, plumbing fixtures, tile and stone slabs. We chose colors. We bought carpet.
It was time to embrace the chaos and make some chaos boards. I mean, look around. Right?
I last did this 5 years ago, and my techniques have been refined a bit. To make these boards, I selected 256 boards, each 24″ long. The boards were from 21 hardwood species, and were glued up initially into 15x different laminates. These had 3x different thicknesses, which were smoothed and then cut into strips that were 1-5/8″ wide to turn them into end grain boards.
And I was just getting started.
Those 1-5/8″ strips were then selected so that each of the 13x end grain glue ups I made had at least one strip from each of the original laminates. After the glue was fully cured, each end grain glue up was cut apart at a 5* angle. Glue cured, and they were then cut again, each at a different angle. Different widths. More glue curing time, and then I did it again. And then a 5th glue-up to get to where we are today: 9x very colorful chaos boards. Each is a minimum of 13-1/2″ x 19″; most are 14″ x 19″.
And there is a bonus, a new design of chaos board that in this case only has 2 species of wood. I call this design Confetti. Here you see that board as it started through the CNC for initial smoothing. That is a difficult step, as the multiple glue-ups leave a very ragged top and bottom that requires significant machining to get smooth. That process started on the CNC, and then moved to the drum sander … then finally to hand sanding and my normal hand-rubbed finish of mineral oil and locally-harvested beeswax.
The main project, though, was what became 9x Chaos Boards featuring 21x species, from 3 continents. Here are the woods used:
Afrormosia
Ash
Black Walnut
Bloodwood, AKA Satine
Bubinga
Canarywood
Cherry, AKA Black Cherry
Goncalo Alves, AKA Tigerwood
Hard Maple
Hickory
Honey Locust
Jatoba, AKA Brazilian Cherry
Makore
Osage Orange, AKA Hedge
Padauk
Purpleheart
Sapele, AKA African Mahogany
Wenge
White Oak
Yellowheart
Zebrawood
All of the boards have a chamfered edge (a cut, in this case, at a 45* angle) on each side, for easy pick up of the board. To ensure a dependable, un-moving work surface, all boards have non-skid rubber feet held on with stainless steel screws for long life. 5 of these boards have juice grooves that are 3/4″ wide and 3/8″ deep. 5 have no juice grooves, just the way Mrs M likes them. You get to choose to be groovy, or not. Mrs M made her choice. Just saying. I mean, she married me. Obviously.
Chaos 1 of 9. End Grain. 13-3/4″ x 19″ x 1-3/8″. $300.
Chaos 2 of 9. End Grain. Juice Groove. 14″ x 19″ x 1-3/8″. $325.
Chaos 3 of 9. End Grain. 14″ x 19″ x 1-3/8″. $325.
Chaos 4 of 9. End Grain. Juice Groove. 14″ x 19″ x 1-3/8″. $325.
Chaos 5 of 9. End Grain. 14″ x 22″ x 1-3/8″. $325.
Chaos 6 of 9. End Grain. Juice Groove. 14″ x 19″ x 1-3/8″. $325.
Chaos 7 of 9. End Grain. 14″ x 20-1/2″ x 1-3/8″. $325.
Chaos 8 of 9. End Grain. Juice Groove. 14″ x 19″ x 1-3/8″. $325.
Chaos 9 of 9. End Grain. 13-3/4″ x 19″ x 1-3/8″. $300.
Confetti Chaos Board. First one made. Hard Maple & Purpleheart. End Grain. Juice Groove. 14-1/2″ x 22″ x 1-3/8″. $325.
There are 4 questions to answer before you buy a cutting board … but I have some tips that will help inform those decisions for you. No wrong answers here: your cutting board is yours, and you need to like it. What other people do is their business. Thank goodness.
So, here are those all important 4 questions:
What size do you want the board to be?
What color do you want the board to be?
End grain or edge grain?
Juice groove or no?
When you answer those, you will make sure you are getting the board or boards you want and need. But here are those tips that will help smooth your process.
Where are you going to use the board? Is it mobile? Beside the sink? Beside the stove? On the island? Or … ? Wherever that special place is, get out your measure and see what the dimensions of the space are. If you have a galley kitchen with standard cabinets, you have 24” of depth to use. If you have appliances against the wall, then you only have 12” or depth or so to work with.
How many are you cooking for? Cooking for a family of 4 is different from cooking for you and your spouse. If this is a general purpose board that will be used to prepare large meals, I would recommend at least 14” X 18”.
Is this board single purpose? Some cooks like a dedicated board to only do onions and that stinking rose, garlic. Every cook is different. Maybe you want a set of 3 that are dedicated for meat, vegetables or bread. You get to choose. But, each of those purposes can dictate a different size and shape.
Does the board live on the counter, or do you need to store it at times? Storage of a board can be difficult the larger the board is. A handled board, though, can hang on the wall and add to the warmth of your kitchen.
Bigger is not always better. Cooks that prepare large hunks of meat often want very large, thick boards – but those come at a cost. Heavy is difficult to move, big is difficult to clean, not to mention storage! There is no need for a board to be more than 1-1/2” thick. More than that is making a statement, for sure, but it is not improving the performance of the board.
Smaller is not always better, either. The thinner the board, the less stable and more prone to warping or twisting it becomes. I do make my smallest boards, AKA Cheese Boards, about 8” x 10” x 5/8”, and those laminated assemblies are stable. People that use the ¼” thick bamboo boards sold in grocery stores … well, they will have issues using them, almost immediately.
End grain boards are harder and show less wear, but they require more time and better tools to construct properly. Time is often needed to custom order a “perfect” end grain board. Plan ahead.
Edge grain boards are perfectly fine when made from good hardwood. A quality cutting board will last for decades with minimal care. It all comes down to … do you like stripes? Or fancy patterns that look a little like a chess board?
Mrs M is a hard NO for juice grooves, and she is a serious cook, smoker & BBQ boss. Many people want juice grooves (they get to choose!), but the grooves do shrink the usable space available on the board. Add 2” to the height and width if you are getting a juice groove.
If you get a groove, make sure it is big enough to clean with your finger. And a brush or cloth! My standard is 3/4” wide x 3/8” deep. Smaller and deeper will cause you problems. I do also make grooves 1-1/4” wide on my Carnivore Boards, which is needed if you want to corral the juices from your Thanksgiving turkey.
Before you buy your board, pick one up. Move around with it. Cleaning it is a daily task, frequently multiple times in one meal when you practice good sterile technique. Make sure the board fits you as well as your kitchen.
I love talking to people about cutting boards. Good thing, huh?
But, seriously, I love the subject. Part of the joy I find is that everyone has a different view of what their cutting board should be. I think there are 4 questions:
What size of cutting board do you want?
What color do you want your board to be?
End grain, or edge grain?
Juice groove, or no?
No answer is wrong. Everyone’s situation is different! My job is to (hopefully) have a nice selection for people to choose from … because the choices are truly infinite.
Here are the latest additions to the selections I have on hand.
The sign in my booth says “Mr M’s Trivets – Protecting Hot Stuff Since 2017.”
And people still ask me, “What’s a trivet?” It’s a funny word, so I can see how people that are non-native English speakers might be challenged, but it’s more than that. Many people just aren’t familiar with the term – in any language. I’ve watched the younger generation ask their elders what a trivet is in their native language and get blank stares.
So that’s the first surprise: many people do not know what a trivet is. So my task is to help educate people, one trivet at a time.
The second surprise is much more artistic.
My trivets are popular, and the most popular purchase … is two, mismatched trivets.
I make the trivets from “blanks,” as I call them. Each blank makes 2x trivets, so people can buy a matched pair. They just don’t want to!
Well, not usually, anyway. Mrs M did want a matched set, so she did not embrace her love of chaos in this particular case. Not predictable, that one. Believe me, after 45 years, I don’t even try to predict her.
But I do work to protect the wonderful hot stuff coming from her kitchen.
Here are the latest trivets for shoppers this holiday season.
And with that statement, I define the most interesting thing about Lazy Susans.
No one knows WHY we call Lazy Susans … Lazy Susans. No one.
The first written instance that has been found was in a Vanity Fair magazine over a 100 years ago. My first Lazy Susans introduced this fact way back in 2014, when the Woodshop idea was but a dream. I did quickly learn that I could make Lazy Susans that people really liked … even as they had no idea why they called Susan Lazy.
See the link below back to that original post that explored the origins of a favorite serving piece. And, here you see the latest additions to my collection of the latest torments to all of the Susans in the world.
My Susans are about 17.5″ in diameter. The bearing that revolves is rated for 500 pounds … but I wouldn’t go there. As the weight increases, inertia will be a powerful problem to overcome. Because … physics.
Who knew that Susans being lazy could be so instructional?
