Awesome Wood

Woodworker Frank Howarth shows off a truly amazing build – a giant version of a human eyeball, meticulously handcrafted by layering and turning rings of cherry, birch, walnut, and ebony wood. We love the way it shines in the light under all that lacquer and wax.

Dress up your space with these laser-engraved cherry wood prints which feature illustrations from significant patents. Choose from objects like the computer mouse, space capsule, hard disk drive, and more. They measure 13″ x 9″ and come with hanging hardware.

If you’re looking for one-of-a-kind Bluetooth speakers, check out Room One’s Surface. It’s a wall-mounted Bluetooth speaker that transmits sound through its minimalist oval disk, which is crafted from layers of oak veneer. Available in natural, indigo or red.

Natural Nerd shows how to build a countertop machine which can dispense multiple beverages. It uses aquarium pumps to move liquids into your cup. It’s best for tea, juice, and other non-carbonated drinks. Full materials list and build details available on Instructables.

Oak Lane Woodworks handmakes these beautiful and substantial pens using reclaimed wood from whiskey barrels. They can be had with a twist or bolt-action mechanism, crafted from Jack Daniels, Wild Turkey, or Makers Mark barrel wood.

Vietnamese shop Wood Marble Machine shows off one of their super cool kinetic toys, a modular machine which sends dozens of marbles rolling around in perpetuity. It looks like you can even order their machines, though we’re not sure if they ship internationally.

The Modulos desk consists of solid wood tiles that can be connected to each other using wooden pins and a screw. There are square and rounded tiles, as well as ones with added features such as a hole for cables or even a built-in USB port or wireless charger.

Builder Peter Brown takes a hunk out of a log of worm-eaten walnut wood and gradually lathes and shapes it into a beautiful work of art. The defects in the wood make working with it much harder, but result in a stunning organic look to the finished piece. Needles to say, it won’t hold cereal milk.

The latest from gadget wizard Love Hulten. The Zette System looks like a toy boombox, but it’s actually a portable retro video game console. The tape deck splits into two controllers, and one of the speakers has a 480p projector. There’s also a variant that has an arcade stick.

A look inside the studio at OVi Watch, where they use a combination of CNC carving and hand finishing to create sculpted timepieces from blocks of elm, cherry-tree, walnut, or teak wood. With a sapphire glass crystal and Swiss movement, they’re a steal, at under $200 each.

Transform your ordinary toggle light switches into interactive works of art with these whimsical wood light switch plates from Green Tree Jewelry. Each one adds an unnecessarily complex gear mechanism to make turning your lights on or off more entertaining.

Like the Switchboard, the more pricey Piano Coat Rack’s hooks can be folded flat when not in use. Having four rows not only lets you hang more items, it also lets you play with the arrangement of the rack’s hooks. It’s available in two sizes and three wood types.

The Marc is perhaps Original Grain’s most stunning watch design, packing chrono features in a brushed stainless steel case with elegant burled wood around on its face, bezel, and wristband links. It also comes in rosewood or ebony with espresso stainless.

Most beer koozies are made from foam or fabric. But Ollari’s shows us how to make a super slick koozie from carefully segmented blocks of walnut, maple, and padouk, glued together, then turned on a lathe. A layer of clear lacquer protects it from condensation.

San Diego’s Upsidedownpyramid handmakes superb surfboards such as this beautiful model made with a durable, lightweight Marko foam eco core, wrapped in a carbon fiber skin with wood veneers, and sealed with a long-lasting, UV-resistant clear epoxy resin.

Builder John Heisz shows us the steps required to transform a couple of simple blocks of wood into a wonderful decorative knife. It might not be a practical tool, but it sure looks pretty. Want to give it a try yourself? Grab the template here. A parts kit is also available.

Created by Ukraine designers The Elray, this sweet ambient desk lamp is crafted from interlocking circles cut from plywood, with energy efficient LED light strips set along the interior loops. Measures appx 9.8″ x 9″, and available in brown or black finishes.

Back in 2009, genius woodworker Matthias Wandel shared one of his childhood projects: a LEGO machine that laid out an evenly spaced row of dominoes. He recently upped the ante and remade the machine out of wood. Skip to 5:23 in the video for the finished machine.

From Hungarian Workshop, the guys behind the beautiful the beautiful whiskey barrel adirondack chairs comes a wonderful wooden chess set, handmade from a reclaimed bourbon barrel.

Ollari’s walks us through the process of transforming rough reclaimed wood into a gorgeous hand tool we’d be thrilled to have on our workbench. There are few things more satisfying on Earth than turning things on a lathe. Full build details on Instructables.

Stadium Map Art makes framed and laser-engraved wooden maps featuring famous United States baseball or football stadiums. The maps come in two designs: a detailed city or campus map or a state-shaped map outlined with major roads.

A look inside the factory where craftsmen painstakingly select, attach, laminate, sand, shape, glue, and finish each piece of wood that goes into Bentley Motors‘ extravagant vehicles. We appreciate the lack of music or voiceover so we can focus on the work at hand.

Matt Gilbert’s Crane Lamp lets you drastically change its height and shape just by pushing or pulling its body. With its exposed scissor structure, it revels in its mechanical form and encourages you to use it and inspect how it works.