Community Brag Posts

I started with the original plans for the sandbox with the benches, and then just sort of took off with the modifications.

When it's open, it's a 4'x6' sandbox with a bench on one side and a canopy overhead. When it's closed, it's a stage complete with curtains, or can also convert into a puppet theatre.

I had to make several adjustments to the original plan to allow for enough support for the stage to be walked (and danced) on, including an extra armrest in the bench, and a few blocks built up from the base of the sand area. I also used 1x6 boards for the top instead of 1x4, to cover the entire 4' with only the one bench.

Thanks so much for the plans, my girls love it! (and thanks to KnittingEmily for posting the plans for the 6' sandbox, which gave me a jumping off point for the sizing I used.)

The story of how I built it can be found here:
http://www.thislemonyogurt.com/a-box-of-sand/

I made one table following your original plans and it turned out great! The top is American Walnut Polyshades from Minwax (stain and poly in one), topped off with paste wax. The bottom is just regular white paint that we had lying around the house. The plans were easy to follow and introduced me to the Kregg Jig. How did I ever live without it?! Thanks for posting them for everyone to see, we're so happy with how they turned out!

I made this book shelf with a reading nook for my daughters nursery. I found one you can buy online for $250 and decided I could make it for much less. I used 1 x12’s and the cushions were made by my mother and grandmother. All together it cost about $65 to make. 

First Project...really got me hooked! It's only 4 feet tall so it really was a cheap one...

We used ana's plans and they were great!
We did not do the curved pieces we made it square all the way around. We did the modification and used hinges.
We have all the pieces for the anti-tip and will be adding that later.
We added on extra side pieces for safety using industrial strength velcro so they can be removed in the future when our 15 mo old gets big.
We do not own a kreg jig....so we just did screws and wood glue...making sure to pre-drill holes since the wood is thin and could split...

It seemed as though this project started out as a nightmare. I didn't think it was going to happen. Working with 2x2 and soft doug fir is no fun. I bought a kreg jig and was super siked to use it but really couldn't figure it out yet so I just pre drilled and blasted screws in from the sides. Luckily I took some time to wood fill and do clean up work and you have no clue. I am so proud and excited about how this came out. It brought tears to my wife's eyes and maybe even a little to mine. Added some dipped blue legs and a simple blue band molding to pop off some color. Went to babies r us and purchased some canvas cubes and crazily enough the blue matched exactly!!! That was not planned.
All in all this will be in use for years to come.

Built triple pedestal farmhouse table and benches from plan, and added 2 end benches.

Finally had some nice weather and finished this entry way and shelf project! Did have to change the side cuts to 11 1/4" because 1 x 12's are not 11 1/2 " wide. But other than that this project went very smoothly. The building only takes several hours. However the finishing does take hours to days depending on the weather.
I also used the leftover plywood to upholster the bench cushion.

Here we have a Parsons style dining table built out of solid Alder wood. The table length is 72" but can extend up to 110" with two drop in leaves on either end. The table was clear coated with a satin poly.

This is my take on a classic rope and ring disentanglement puzzle. The goal is to separate the ring (the light colored one) from the puzzle strings. As with most disentanglement puzzles, the solution isn’t intuitive. Can you figure it out from the pictures? If not, refer to the video for the solution.

Build Instructions: https://www.instructables.com/id/Disentanglement-Puzzle/
Solution: https://youtu.be/cwdpTndAEw8

I made this entry table to go by our front door. It's a spin off from the "console table" posted by Anna. I read some of the comments from people who had problems with her plans as a result of different standards in lumber and decided to alter this some!

I cut the side braces short enough so when I included the measurements of the legs the actual table top extended approx. 3/4" further past the legs and apron of the table. I also went with one sheet of wood on the table top and finished it up with some trim around the edge of the table top.

I built this for my four year old son! He even helped me out so that made him love it even more :)

Thank you Ana for the plan my husband loves it. So functional yet requires very little space. I made it a littlest wider- 38 inches overall width and 83 inches overall height.

I found these amazing tables that i fell in love with! so i decided to take matters into my own hands! i adjusted the measurements to fit my needs and style, and after we purchased the wood, i got to cutting! with a little help from my daddy the project came to life in no time! now i have furniture for my living room that i can completely appreciate and adore forever! i was amazed at how easy this was and how beautiful! and for the price?! theres simply not a store to beat it! and i love all the compliments i get on them and the surprised reaction when i tell people i made them myself! i still plan on building the console table to match!

This is my second project. I used all pine. The top is stained special walnut then added poly acrylic sealer and the bottom I sprayed with Rustoleums heirloom white. This one was a lot of fun and I love the result. Since this picture, I added corner brackets sprayed with Rustoleums oil rubbed bronze (my fav-so good!).

This was my first wood project ever. No prior experience and no tools. I started really from scratch. Thanks to Ana's website I mustered the currage to take on this project. Thank you! 

I just want to leave a few tips for anybody that is an absolute beginner with wood working - things that I have learned along the way.

- First mistake. Practice your cuts with the circular saw before you get to used it. The offset of the blade thickness will puzzle you initially. Maybe I should also mention.. there is a certain way to hold a chisel. You got 50% chances of doing it right the first time :))

- The hardest thing for me was to find lumber that was in decent condition, not too wet, fairly straight and at low cost. I spent many hours in the big stores searching trough their stock. In the end one single board was a little too wet and soon after I was done is started to warp a bit. I did expect that and I used it as breadboards to prevent bowing along the tabletop.

Be aware that if your board is wet, most likely it will curve across width, especially if the section is cut through near the center of the tree. Looking through the section of the board, the outer rings are going to shrink more that the inner rings creating a bow that will push the center outward. See picture.

- If you want your boards to join perfectly you sould take them to a wood shop and get the sides straighten. Doing it by hand it will not get them right and it will take to much of your time.

At the shop you could also plane them and get them at the same thickness. I preferred to leave the imperfections on the surface of the boards but I wanted the same relative heigth along the edges, so the tabletop would be smooth across but not perfectly planed. If you are planning on taking some of the thickness off with a palm sander it will take you a week of sanding; the better solution is either using a belt sander or even a cheaper way is to get a Sanding disk that you use with a drill machine. See Diablo Sanding Disk Kit. It worked really fast for me removing material in the desired areas.

- Get some good quality Poly. It will give a professional look to your tabletop.

I tried the wood conditioner and then I stained the under tabletop with the Weathered Oak finish but I did not like the result. I let it dry and I was still not happy with it. I decided to leave the natural color of the wood and use only Poly.  Some of the better brands are Arm-R-Seal or Old Masters. I applied 5 coats of General Finishes Poly with slight sanding in between.

I hope this helps.

I also finished the bench that comes with the table and they look incredible.

The cuts/assembly takes about 30-40 hrs in total (for a beginner). The finished product was done in about a month after starting lumber hunt and tool gathering. Worked on it whenever I could and some weekends.

Dan