Awesome Frank Howarth

Woodworker Frank Howarth wanted to turn a slice of a fir tree into something different than a typical coffee table. So he set out to create a giant version of a LEGO gear. After patching a crack in the wood with bacon-shaped ties, he encountered a frustrating obstacle while cutting the pattern but persevered.

Woodworker Frank Howarth has two cats: Cinnamon and Waffles. He wanted to give them a place to hang out in his craft room, so he built a series of hexagonal units that hang on the French cleats that he previously installed. The modular system allows for reconfiguration without permanently mounting its units.

When is a trash can not just a trash can? When it’s a beautiful work of art. Frank Howarth needed a place to toss the garbage in his family room, so he used his woodworking skills to conceal a plastic pot. He formed its hyperboloid shape by cutting maple into segments, which he glued into rings, then turned on the lathe.

Artist Frank Howarth is back with another one of his beautiful spherical wood creations. Rather than following a strict, repetitive pattern, its triangular segments have a random look to them.

Carpenter Frank Howarth has made several wooden spheres in the past. This time he painstakingly assembled a globe with a funky mosaic pattern made from scrap wood pieces. It’s not as successful as his traditional globe design, but the build process was still quite interesting to watch.

Maker Frank Howarth wanted to make a unique ceiling light to install over his dining table. After playing around with a simpler design, he decided to go with a three-panel design comprising CNC-cut wood slices based on the topography of the lunar surface. They also look like a Joy Division album cover.

Woodworker Frank Howarth keeps getting requests to create a globe of the Earth. He started with 3D modeling software to project the map onto triangle shapes, then cut each of them and assembled them into a faceted sphere before turning the whole works on a lathe. It took lots of trial and error, but the finished piece is amazing.

Frank Howarth knows a thing or two about making spheres, so we couldn’t help but be transfixed as we watched him turn an ordinary block of walnut wood into a beautifully-smooth replica of an 8-ball. The round clamp he built for holding it on the CNC table is ingenious.