I'm nearly finished with a couple of Ravioli Rollers. All that remains now is fitting the long ribs and then the final trueing of the outside diameter. Hopefully these will be ready within the next week. Making these is a long process, but it's getting easier as I learn from my myriad mistakes and misfortunes. I haven't settled on a pricing plan for these yet, but they'll probably run about $11.00 or $12.00 or so per ring for the 1-1/2" X 1-1/2" rollers.

The oval bowls project is also coming along slowly. What I thought would be a simple straight forward project is not so simple after all. At first I'll have a few individual bowls, each one a bit different. Eventually I'll have sets, more or less matched. These first groups will be about 3-1/2" wide by 4-1/2" long and about 3/4" deep, beech, and suitable for food use.

I do have a couple of oval bowls ready in Bois dArc, for decorative use. See my Treasures page for pix. These are around $45.00 each, and have a lacquer finish with felt or cork pads on the bottoms. They're great for coins, keys, rings, buttons, marbles, paper clips, or???

A new product being developed:

Stay tuned, I'm working on Espresso Coffee Tampers. The first ones will be of DuPont Corian with wood handles. Later on...who knows? Stainless Steel, Titanium, Glass? A lot of possibilities here. A lot of potential combinations of materials and forms.

 The one on the left is now being tested by a local coffee shop. The one on the right is a prototype, but not for sale as I have already improved the assembly technique. Both of these have Corian ends and hard maple handles.

More to come...stay tuned!

 I've been working diligently, and will have some great stuff ready to take to McKinney to the "Home For The Holidays" celebration next weekend. I have some new rolling pins...especially shorter ones for those working in apartments and smaller kitchens. I also have 4 new "holey" spoons and a couple more ravoli rollers. Tomorrow I start working on biscuit cutters.

See you next weekend, at MorningStar Treasures

 We've sold out of our "Classic" style rolling pins. I'm working on more. To make a rolling pin, I select a suitable piece of kiln dried Hard Maple, put in on the lathe, and turn it to a perfect cylinder, removing enough material to ensure that I've taken out any defects that are in the wood. Then I let this cylinder sit on the shelf and "relax" for 6 to 8 weeks before I return to it and make the final finishing cuts. This ensures that once turned to it's final dimensions the wood will stay straight.

So, it will be a couple months before I have any more of the "Classic" style rolling pins available.

 Bit by bit, as time allows, I have been working on a web page devoted to Bois de'Arc information...description, facts about the tree and the wood, pictures, etc. This is still very much a work-in-progress, but here is the link to what I've done so far. Enjoy!

Bois d'Arc Page