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my first build

Loved working on this table. An easy build for sure. Couldn't find wheel casters that I liked so had to use another 4x4 to give it height. Will be building another one soon :)
Thank you so much for sharing the plans.

I built this indoor playhouse for my daughter who turned 2 in september. She loves to help mommy cook, loves to have little tea party's for her dolls and love to watch Chip n' Dale terriorize Donald Duck. So I thought I would give Alexandra her very own little house to do all those things. I hope you all like it and have just as much fun building one of these as I did. 

My wife wanted a small bench for our entryway/foyer.  I happened to have some reclaimed pine barn wood laying in my shop, so I whipped this up.  

The original plan was to use a colored wax or thinned paint on it to give it a weathered appearance (which is why I did screws and plugs from the top - I thought they were going to be painted over), but the wood turned out too beautiful with all of the character.  We couldn't bring ourselves to paint it.

There are a few more pics and details in my blog post about this small reclaimed barn wood bench.

This is my second woodworking project. I picked up this hobby with some spare time and with my tools that were collecting dust after I completed most of my home renovations. Cost: $80 wood ($35 just on plywood) $35 hardware (2 recessed handles and 2 drawer pulls) $20 finishing products $40 lego baseplates On the lego baseplate side, I stained but only poly'd just enough so that the border around the plates would be covered. Baseplates had to be cut in order to get the custom size I wanted. The "play area" on one side of the table is 20 inches x 13.75 inches. Each side of the table is made with three 10x10 inch plates. Two 10x10s are side by side. The other 10x10 was cut with a razor to make it into two 10 x 3.75 inch pieces. I cut the plates so that I always had a "smooth edge" on three sides. I affixed the baseplates with epoxy. Simply butting up the baseplates does not work as the gap between plates is too small. To get the proper size, hold the baseplates together with lego pieces. Wipe any excess epoxy with mineral spirits. (Note: I tried liquid nails first on a test piece. The glue heats up after application and slightly warped the lego baseplate. Not recommended). The "mom side" of the coffee table has two recessed handles. The handles on the "lego side" are made with lego bricks. I drilled a tiny hole in the lego bricks. I threaded 50 lb fishing line through the lego brick to the hidden recessed area of the "mom's side handle" and tied off the line in there. Project took me over a month of time (probably 20-25 hours of labor). It could have and should have taken less, but I'm a newbie and am very cautious with my work.

My friend "Lisette" asked for a small modern coffee table. For her small studio apartment. So I came up with this modern-ish table. Made of 2x2's and a 20"x40" glass top.I found it on the side of the road with a FREE sign on it in Pacific Beach. Oh how I love beach people and all the free stuff they leave around :)

I built this table using modified pocket hole plans and a mix of pine, spruce and cedar lumber.

When I laminated the boards together to the table top I also applied four culls to try to keep it flat as possible. When I removed the culls the boards weren't as even as I had wanted so I used a belt sander with a 120 grit to take out the high spots. I filled the knot holes with some 5 minute epoxy and I really liked the look. I would use decent epoxy if I do another large lamination of knottty wood as the $5 microtube I bought was thick and hand to work into the small voids around the knots. After the epoxy cured for 12 hours I gently used the belt sander gentle to remove the excess and then gave the entire table top a little 220 grit action. 

I left off the ends to fit a smaller kitchen.

This piece was inspired by Ana’s plans and built as a collaborative project with my son.  The stock was all salvaged from a century+ old railroad depot on the University of Idaho campus that was marked for demolition.  The green and cream boards were the ceiling of the depot, and the unfinished stock came from the flooring, which was 1” tongue and groove red fir.  The first agricultural crops, forest products, and settlers of the region (North Idaho, Eastern Washington) flowed through that terminal.  This piece, therefore, is iconic of the regikn’s rough-hewn beginnings and stands as a reminder of its important past.

Now that we've got two kids in school, the previous system of storing school papers just wasn't going to work (see pic below). I used the plans on Ana's site as a guideline and made the letter bin to fit my space. I decided to also make it a holder for the mail and all our keys.

This was made used all leftover wood hanging out in the garage. Luan was used for the letter bin, and strapping (1/2" pine) was used for the mail holder. I spray painted black and then painted it a creamy white, the color of our house trim. I distressed a little bit and then added the hooks. I hope it can stand the test of time.

First woodworking project!

I also created a build video here: https://youtu.be/h_oEu908-iI

built from Ana White plans for my son and daughter in law

I first saw this workbench and hutch on Ana's website, but didn't commit to the project until I saw them in person, as part of a model home that had been decorated by local Pottery Barn design services. I was sold. I built this for roughly $1900.00 less than PB charges. It was an easy weekend build for a guy with less than one years' experience in this arena.

We built this bed way back in April for my birthday, but hadn't gotten the bedding quite right until now. We love this thing and it is sooo sturdy. I wish I would have taken more time on finish work to get the paint just right. I will probably repaint it in the future but for now it is a beautiful and necessary addition to our bedroom.

Thanks so much for the plans Ana, this was our first furniture project besides shelves and boxes. It definitely gave us the confidence to continue building and even to start creating our own plans and furniture designs.

** updated photos on 11/21

I essentially followed the Rogue Engineer plans exactly with the exception of making the table on 50 inches long to help it fit better in my living space. I also opted to not add the lower support struts that would be perpendicular to the table top. I felt like that were bulky and were necessary for support. I may choose to go back and add them though. A miter saw and Kreg Jig are essential to get this project done with ease. I gave it a rough sanding to help keep the rugged texture of the original woodand maintain the reclaimed look. Feel free to post any questions.