Projects of Otto Lottmann

These are projects sent in by Otto Lottmann of St.James, Missouri, USA doclot@fidnet.com

"This Shaker style stool is made of walnut and measures 16" L X 14" H X 13" W. I put a cherry stain on it to better match the bedroom furniture, and the final finish is shellac.

"This rolling pin is walnut and maple, the finish is Deft glossy, with a final rub of rubbing compound."

"I made this little box for My Lady, it has locking miter jounts and the top is a raised panel.  Made from left over white oak flooring.  It measures 2 3/4 X 3 7/8 X 6 7/8."

"This is a hope chest of maple, that's cedar lined, with spalded soft maple trim - 19" X 20" X 46". This smaller photo just below, shows the top figuring."

"Here's a walnut and maple step stool, joined with miller dowels."

"A cherry and maple finger joined box. The beading on the top is done by hand."

"This step stool is of soft maple, stained with minwax pecan, with a coat of deft."

"I tried the new Miller dowel system, simple and seemingly strong. You cut the wood to size, clamp it and drill the holes, put a little glue on the dowel and drive them in, cut off and plane down. Quick, easy, solid, I'll use them again."

"A small table that I duplicated for my lady.  Made of red oak, stained with a mixture of walnut and red mahogany, to match a table that she had bought."

"A small pine box with a cedar top, a practice piece made with an Incra jig"

"I needed a gift for a friend, it was inspired by your tray. Mine measures 11 1/2" x 21", and is made of 3/8" red oak. The bottom is 1/8" red oak ply, dado'ed into the sides. The handles are square, mainly because I do most of my work with hand tools & it was easier."

When I received this photo showing the use of "Bow ties" at the corners, I asked Otto if he might explain his method of making this joint. He kindly obliged and here are his comments.

"The bowtie is essentially a dovetail joint. I cut mine by making the pin of cherry, marking the dovetail with my striking knife, setting the corner in my vise at a 45 degree angle and removing the inside with a Japanese saw. (a backsaw would do as well). The finish cuts were made with a 1/4" chisel. When the pin fit the dovetail, I added glue and drove the pin in with a mallet. I then cut the ends off with a saw and trued up with a 3/4" chisel. It takes more time to do it than tell how.  This could be done on a router table by first making a jig that will hold your corner at a 45 degree angle, clamping the corner to your jig and passing it over your dovetail cutter.

I used no stain only zip-guard, an old product I buy at my local hardware store. Then I waxed it with Johnson's paste wax.

The gift was well accepted."

This striking or marking knife, made of cherry wood, has a brass ferrule, the blade is a cut down 1/2" handyman chisel. The pieces are held together by epoxy. The handle was hand carved with a drawknife and a few chisels but could as easily be made on a lathe.

I found this laying in this piece of cherry that I had recently bought. It took some work to carve it out but I think it was worthwhile. It came with 2 rods, one 5" and one 7" long, the bottom is cut from 1/8" brass strapping material. It comes 1/8" thick, 1" wide and 12" long, it cuts easily with a hacksaw. The rods are from one 12" rod.

This one started off as a piece of firewood that I was given by a friend after stating that I was going to make a plane. I had an old plane that was shot but had a good blade and chip breaker. I copied the plane but made it about 2" longer. The throat is the hard part, I removed some of the material with a drill, some with a small saw, and a lot with chisels, and rasps. The outside was shaped with other planes, rasps, and files. It cuts fairly well but I still get more chatter than I like.

Here is another of Otto's projects,,, a decorative and functional box. He describes it as follows: "It has what I call a parchment top, carved to resemble a piece of paper folded and opened. I painted the carving and immediately wiped it off, then finished the whole thing with urethane. It is a simple box with mitered sides and the bottom slides in a groove cut onto the sides."

"This white oak step stool is built from some left over white oak flooring that was given to me by a friend. I attempted to use the tongue and groove joints but was disappointed with the tightness of the joint, so I made another but I planed off the tongue and groove before I glued up the stock. Some of the decorative carving can be seen."

"This is a quilt stand that I've recently finished. The stand is made of red oak, it stands 31" tall is 33 3/4" long and the base is 20 1/2" wide. As you can see it holds 3 quilts for display. It was built mostly with hand tools and the finish is zip-guard."

"I have been working on this off and on for several months and just put the finishing touches on it today. The box is of cherry and soft maple, the base is a piece of spaulted maple. The top is 5" X 6" and the box stands 4.5" tall."

"I made this from scrap red oak - the shelves are solid - the legs are glue-ups from several scrap boards. I used it as a practice for several different types of joinery.  

"The plane is a spill plane that I made from white and red oak. The blade was cut from a circle saw blade."

"This is a Windsor style stool and an end table for my couch, made from red oak with a finish of water based zip-guard. I find the water based product is harder to work with. As you can see I now must refinish the coffee table: seems like we sometimes we make more work for ourselves."

"Here is a small box, Poplar wood, 4.4 High X 4.0 Wide, by 6.0 long, lined with blue felt. Made for a friend who likes books and boxes. The finish is hand rubbed minwax."

"I wanted the experience of making a chopped bowl, a friend had a tree destroyed by a tornado and I received a large chunk from it. After squaring it with hand tools I began the task of removing that which did not look like a bowl with a hatchet, gouges, even a small compass plane. The result was finished with walnut oil, 3 coats, it will not get rancid.

To E-Mail the project maker, please click this button above!

To return to the Thumbnail Directory page of our Visitor's Projects, please click on BACK. To return to the Main Directory page for Grampa's Workshop, please click on HOME.

Email Webmaster
In an attempt to decrease the spam I get, my email address is
no longer clickable but instead is shown as an image in the box below.

If you wish to email me, please record the address below and email me there.