Red Oak Hollow

There have been a lot of very interesting, and sometimes very strange, things which folks have wanted me to make for them. Many have been quite a challenge in figuring out how to make them. I hope to keep adding to this article as new, interesting, and unusual requests come in.

Reeva Shaffer is a lady who makes Torah mantles. These aren't just Torah mantles, but TORAH MANTLES. They are beautiful and very elegant. Her web site, Reeva's 'ritings with ruach has pictures of the many things she makes for the synagogue. Click on the picture of Torah Covers, bottom right, and then click on the top left picture. Since her mantles go over the scroll upon which the Torah is rolled, the handles of the scroll stick up through the top of the mantle. My wood rings go in those holes, sort of like grommets. In that picture, you can just barely see the edge of the rings sticking up above the top of the mantles. If you are in the market for these kinds of items for personal use or for your synagogue, let me tell you, you are getting top quality work from a really nice lady. And if you need Torah mantle rings, let me know.

This is a shop stool, but it didn't start out like that. A company which duplicates hard to find electrical insulators for power companies asked me to make a pattern for one so they could use it to cast a mold by which they could duplicate the insulator. This was my first one and I made an error of 3/16" so started over. Having this piece in the shop for several weeks finally led me to turn it into a shop stool by putting a seat and a wider base on it. The actual insulator pattern was about twice this tall and I have done others, both large and small. As you can imagine, it gets a lot of comments in the shop.

Another job I did was to make a replacement roller for the rear of an antique push mower. You know, the kind with no motor and you have to actually push it along the yard to mow. I used mahogany since that would be pretty weather resistant. We'll see how it works once the customer gets it installed.

These spires were from a house roof and served as decorative additions for many many years. Their deterioration demanded they be replaced and I was just barely able to discern what I am pretty sure was the original pattern. I made a mahogany replacement based on my best guess of the original, and then just made two more like it.

Red Oak Hollow Lathe Works is NOT a rocket company, but there I was, making rocket parts. The story is that a company which IS in the rocket business needed a couple display rockets. They went to my customer who came to me to turn the two rocket bodies and the six fuel pods. I don't have a photo of the final product but now I can say I have turned rockets!