Community Brag Posts

Hi all,
This is my second project I have build from plans I have found here. I'm a novice at woodworking and only get a couple hours on the weekend to work on projects. So it takes a while to finish one. My daughter loves her new toy shelf. The hardest part for me was to attach the doors straight. I'm sure there is a secret I just haven't figured it out yet.
I primed the whole piece, applied three thin coats of latex paint and sanded with 320 grit sandpaper in between coats. I applied two coats of finish after 48 hours and sanded with 400 grit sandpaper in between.

We decided to build this a bit bigger and taller. I will caution you to be careful as we came inches to not making it through our doorways. We expanded the depth 15" to make it a full bed and we extended the length of the legs to allow for 48" clearance underneath.

We also went with a rock wall instead of a ladder. I 1st built the angle too steep; recommend at least a 30 degree angle on a wall. Kid's love it; mom not so much when attempting to make the bed! :)

We went with military theme - green rope lights, camo netting for a roof, and sandbags filled with old clothes from my high school years for a bunker underneath.

Great project! Thanks for the idea!

Both dressers were completed in one (long) day by my boyfriend and his father. Modifications were made to make it fit square Sterilite 1.5 Bu./ 53 L laundry baskets (serial/bar code # 073149121789).

I'm not sure what size pieces they purchased, however this is the cut list (for one dresser, 3 laundry baskets):
2 - 48" x 20" (sides) - could possibly be shorter, we had a little bit of extra space
1 - 20" x 20" (bottom)
1 - 21.5" x 20" (top)
1 - 48.5" x 21.5" (back)
6 - (2" x 2")'s cut into 20" pieces (or the metal angle option in the original design)

They did not distance the spaces perfectly for the (2" x 2")'s, but every 14-16 inches should be about right.

I'm sorry these instructions are void of a lot of information, but I hope they can help.
I think this project can take a shorter amount of time if no mistakes are made. They had to run to Lowe's 2 times in the middle of the project because they forgot to purchase a second size of screws and then they cut the back too thin.

Good luck, and have fun! It is a fabulous project and oh so very useful.

I needed a better way to store my fire wood. The rack that we had only held enough wood for to load the fire place and add 2 or 3 as needed before the wood was gone. I wanted something that I could hold more wood.

I was looking online at different racks and came across something that looked like a bookcase with no shelves filled with wood. I then looked at where I had my wood and saw that I had a nook to put something like that in. The photo of the shelves with only a little wood is all the wood that was in the metal holder. I had a lot of space left.

After looking at various store for bookcases and shelving, hoping in vain that I could find something cheep that would fit the size I needed, I came to see what plans I could use from Ana's site. I looked at the cube tower and the locker cabinet and finally used the pdf from the locker cab resized to fit my needs.

My wife remembered seeing something about banding on here,( http://ana-white.com/2013/11/momplex/finishing-plywood-edges-edge-bandi… ) So we found some white to match the wood. I think the banding turned out good.

I did have a hard time getting the drill in to the pocket holes for the second side of shelf. I started to look on line and found 3" bits at Lowes and HD, but it was 10:30 at night. After looking some more I found a great post on Kreg's site for using a ratchet with a 1/4" socket to hold the bit. http://kregjig.ning.com/photo/ratchetasrtangledriver-1?context=user

My wife also said I should add one more shelf for keeping the wood stable. I told her that I would be fine. Now that I have filled it up all the way I think another shelf would be good to keep the wood rotated. Have one stack of room temp wood, and one of just from outside trying to warm up. So she was right that I should put in another shelf. ;)

I think it has opened the space by the fire place and should help my daughter not to stub her toes like she did with the rack.

The wood was $30 and HD cut if for no charge. It only took one sheet. The banding was around $5 and I had to buy some more Kreg screws.

The Size is 12 1/2"W 18"D and 79" high.

The blue bag under the shelving is an Ikea bag. It is just the right size and strength to carry the wood in.
Mike

Built for my parents 50th anniversary 

This was inspired by a Potter Barn table that looked similar. It was one of my first projects. I couldn’t afford the 2000 plus from there so built it. Sanded very fine and used Dark Walnut stain. Sealed four times with polyurethane sanding between each. Rubbed last coat of polyurethane on with cloth and used 0000 steel wool to give it a very soft and smooth finish.

Lynn

I took the Hailey Platform Bed plan and cut to a twin bed size. I used some old wood I found in the garage for the head and foot boards and the legs. Notice the legs are 4x4s. The grandkids had some old bed springs under their mattresses so I incorporated the spring into the build. That required that I lower the cleat a couple of inches and it meant I had a very complicated leg geometry in order to get it deep enough to support the bed. I built the frame with Kreg Jig pocket joints and they made the work very easy with such large and heavy timbers. Notice I attached the legs to the frame with 5/16" lag screws which allows easy removal of the legs if you need to make it easier to move. Came out very good but I think I will build the second bed without the springs and go for the slat method as shown in the plans.The result is beautiful. My neighbor commented that it looked very Pottery Barnish!

The second bed I finished yesterday is made with slats. A very smart move. The legs are so much easier to attach to the frame. Both beds are beautiful and sturdy. One grandkid told me that when the hurricane comes he is going to get under his bed because it is so strong. He may be right but I will be in Laredo or San Antonio.

This is my first project and I've spent a couple of months preparing for it. My wife loved the plans for this bed and I loved the challenge. I reviewed the plans for both the king and queen size beds and read through all of the comments before starting. The comments were especially helpful, so thanks to everyone for contributing. I took my time with project hoping to minimize beginner mistakes. We recently upgraded to a king sized mattress and already had a bed frame (we highly recommend this one)

So I adjusted the plans for making just the headboard and footboard along with the runners. I omitted the 1x3 boards to account for orienting our king bed so that it is 76" wide and 80" long. Initially, I made the mistake of thinking that 1x6 boards would be adequate for runners. But that wouldn't withstand the constant onslaught of our kids climbing into our bed, so I switched to 2x6 boards and it's much sturdier. I cut the runners 3" longer than the bed frame to allow for room for the bedding and to account for the 1" overlap from the 2x6 cap on the footboard. L brackets were perfect for attaching them to the headboard and footboard. Now that this is under my belt I'm looking forward to my next project.

Wanted to make something for the house and seen these plans and though I would give it a shot. didn't think I would love them as much as I do! My wife loves them even more I think. Also added my own little touch with an old paddle that I burned our last name into. I think it makes a nice little touch. 

Very inspired by this design. As well as the solid and bold colors, these are very functional. Thanks for the inspiration!

This morning my dad decided to help my build the workbench I've been wanting since we moved to our new house. I would usually do it myself but being 37 weeks pregnant I wasn't wanting to get out there on my own and lift a bunch of 10 ft boards. So we got a bunch of 2x4s and some 2x6s and threw one together... it ended up being 10 ft long and around 28 inches wide and a good 36 inches tall. Now I have a nice place to put my new saw I got for Mother's Day

This was my first attempt at building actual furniture. It went pretty well I think. I followed the plan pretty much. I made the bench longer and taller. I also added a few inches to the height if the hutch.
A couple other changes I made that I thought it needed was 2x2 bracing on the bottom if the bench for stability. I also added a band of 1x2 to the bottom of the hutch so I could screw the hutch to the bench without having to go inside of the bench and try to line it up .
I then added another board to the top band of the hutch, because with the one small board there it want wide enough to mount a decent size hook to.
That's pretty much it. If you have any questions, let me know.

Very easy farm style night stands. Made from pine and leftover butcher block top from another project. Went exactly by the linked plan with the exception of the top. 

I actually designed & built this table on my own but it is very similar to Ana’s Simple, Cheap, & Easy Console Table. When we moved from an apartment to a house our lil neurotic jack Russell terrier decided he wasn’t going to eat unless we were both in the same room as him. So his food was put in a spot where he could see both of us even if we were in separate rooms, it just turned out that where that spot was, is the exact spot I wanted a console table. Well I couldn’t find a console table with a raised dog bowl shelf in it so I built my own. Now the dog bowls are up off the floor at a comfortable level for our fur babies & I keep all their vet paperwork, sweaters & toy stash in the drawer, all puppies things in one place.

Grabbed some cheap whiteboard for my first project. My wife was looking at buying an island and I decided to surprise her by trying my hand at building one. Turned out to be an enjoyable new hobby that I hope to continue (plus, Laura now says I am her "favorite husband!").

Materials breakdown:
The lumber is white board from Lowe's for $115
The countertop is laminate Pragel from Ikea for $59 (cut to size)
Paint, polyurethane and drawer hinges were $50

I had another $75 in tools, glue, wood filler, nails, etc, because this was my first project.