Unnatural Resources

Unnatural Resources Custom furniture crafter, 14 years, commisions always open. Jeweler, 16 years, gold, sterling, brass, copper, bronze. Hobbit and gardening enthusiast, 45 years.

Major auction score this weekend. With the inclusion of the cab grinder I built a couple years back I’m now only a coupl...
08/31/2026

Major auction score this weekend. With the inclusion of the cab grinder I built a couple years back I’m now only a couple tools short of having a full blown cabbing operation. These old tools make my heart happy. Mainly 60s vintage big names that are still making them today. 13” Hillquist auto feed rock saw, Highland Park model 2 trim saw, and a Sapphire Faceter with tons of original paperwork and years of monthly publications. I also got an opportunity to talk to the 96 year old man that owned these and ran them up until the 80s. I won’t tell you what I paid but I will tell you just the slabs alone are probably worth 3x the number I paid 😬 The only downside is I got to sit on it all a few months while I finish up orders and get ready for holiday shows.

Most of the oak burl. Now we wait.
08/27/2026

Most of the oak burl. Now we wait.

Weird to think someone 100 years ago probably spent their entire life engraving flatware. Now all that work gets melted ...
08/26/2026

Weird to think someone 100 years ago probably spent their entire life engraving flatware. Now all that work gets melted down for $60 an ounce. Damn shame.

White oak Burl. Wild. Let’s hope it doesn’t crack. 🤞
08/25/2026

White oak Burl. Wild. Let’s hope it doesn’t crack. 🤞

Attempting to sneak in one more round of potatoes. I’m about two weeks late planting them but I have high hopes. I think...
08/21/2026

Attempting to sneak in one more round of potatoes. I’m about two weeks late planting them but I have high hopes. I think we are gonna get a pretty decent bumper crop of tomatoes this year as well. Garlic planting next week, still need to find some onion sets.

I stumbled across some really cheap brass zippo cases a year or so ago. I actually didn’t think they were brass or real ...
08/19/2026

I stumbled across some really cheap brass zippo cases a year or so ago. I actually didn’t think they were brass or real because they were so cheap. Turns out they are both brass and real. Just had to burn a horrible lacquer coating off.

This was a test run to see if they would take solder with a brass piece from one of my favorite spoon rings I’ve made over the years. I’ve probably found less than half a dozen of these. It’s from a harvest festival in Nebraska sometime in the early 40s. Coming off the depression and dust bowl, I can’t imagine the vibe at the function.

This one is available now, more to come.

Rubbed a couple spots through trying to get more detail, but I’m happy with this. Need to improvise the rubbing device a...
08/17/2026

Rubbed a couple spots through trying to get more detail, but I’m happy with this. Need to improvise the rubbing device a bit. 135 year old oak, approx 12” print area

I actually counted 135 rings the second and third time I counted. At around 12” that’s a lot of history in a short space...
08/13/2026

I actually counted 135 rings the second and third time I counted. At around 12” that’s a lot of history in a short space. Definitely qualifies as old growth. This was given to me and I was told it had been sitting in a garage on St. Louis street for decades, trimmed from a tree on the property after a large storm. It’s been in my possession for several years and I think I finally found a fitting use.

Well, it finally happened. After around four years someone called the city on our meadow. Luckily the city code enforcer...
08/13/2026

Well, it finally happened. After around four years someone called the city on our meadow. Luckily the city code enforcer was super cool. He admitted he was unversed in plants and asked what was flowers and what wasn’t. We decided the call was for some random weeds I missed and had since cleared.

I showed him I mow around it all to keep a decent border from the sidewalk and neighboring properties and explained it all gets cut down in the fall. I explained how the meadow is pretty crucial to the success of my fruit and vegetable gardens. I also told him if he went to the nicest looking garden in town and asked the owner how it was going they would most likely tell him it’s August and they are lousy with weeds. We had a laugh and he gave me the all clear. Gotta keep an eye on those menacing gardeners, they’ll drag the whole town down with them. 🤣

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Edwardsville, IL

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+16185412389

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