Community Brag Posts

My wife found this plan so I decided to tackle it. Spent about $80 in supply's and had some 2x8s from a shed we tore down. Planed them down and made this beautiful piece. Now my wife can't get me out of the kitchen. Sorry for the mess in the back ground.

Built this for my cottage out of 3/4" birch purebond and pine. I finished by pickling the purebond and painting the pine and then used a laminate countertop.

I took these plans and changed the dimensions to match my dining room and made the cross members out of 4x4's. I wanted the bottom to be bigger, as well as making the top look like used yarn wood planks. Turned out great. It was wonderful to be able to have all the family around the table for Thanksgiving. Thanks Anna for the inspiration. 

We were able to pick up pallets for free. There were 6 boys aged 10-13 years old. They each took apart 5 pallets. Their pallets with time and patience became two adirondack chairs each. We love the chairs and the boys learned quite a bit. The challenge was that the pallet peices differed in thickness and widths so the boys had to really focus on each piece and the overall look. They look fantastic. The finishes were all different. We are so thankful that Ana has put together such a wonderful website.

Thank you Ana! These boys learned that if they need something, they can make it themselves! They also learned that trash can be a treasure.

Thank you,
Amy

Very easy and fun project.

This tower is from two or three plans found on Pinterest as well as the plans on Ana White.  The materials are from 2 x 2 or 1 x 5.  Length of legs are 34 inches, all cross members are 17 inches  basically your cutting list is :

Quantity         Size                             Description

4                      2 x 2 x 34                     Legs.  You can change this to taller or shorter.

14                    2 x 2 x 17                     Cross members

3                      1 x 6 x 17                     Safety sides

1                      1 x 6 x 16 7/8              Door (optional)

3                      1 x 6 x 16 7/8              Floor

2                      1 x 2 x 17                     Floor Braces

1 set                                                   Hinges (Optional)

1                                                          Latch (Optional)

1                      ¾ x ¼ x 3                     Door stop (Optional)

Distanced between parts-I used Ana Whites dimensions.

Basic unit.

1. Cut, sand, rout, sand, to size.Do not rout the floor as yet.Save that for later.
2. Drill Holes for fasteners on the cross members.I used the Kreg unit for this.Be careful as the 2½ screws can come out on the finished side (the point) if you tighten too much.
3. For the Safety sides, drill using the Kreg unit.
4. Finish sanding.I finished with 220 grit.
5. I stained before I assembled.Worked great.If you are going to spray paint, assemble and paint.See floor assembly now if you are going to paint.
6. Assemble is easy.Use glue if you want.Fasten 2 cross members to the legs at the top.You now have 4 legs and 2 cross members fastened but do not have cross members fastening all four legs together.They are two separate units.
7. Now measure for the cross members for the floor and attach.Install the top cross members first and work your way down.
8. If using the safety sides, attach these.Install the door if you want at this time.I waited unit I finished spraying the finish to install the door.Install the doorstop when you want.
9. Now attach the remaining cross members to form the basic unit.
10. Admire what you have accomplished.

Floor Assembly

1. I did not use the Kreg drill to assemble the floor.I used glue and 1 ¼ inch nails to assemble the floor.
2. Lay the floorboards on the cross member as if the unit was finished. Scribe a light line on the bottom of the floorboards next to the cross members the floor is sitting on.
3. Remove the floorboards and turn upside down.Put some glue between the boards and clamp.Lay the braces near the line you drew about 1/8 to ¼ inside the lines.This is important-you must have wiggle room for the floor to wiggle.
4. Fasten the braces to the floorboards.After the glue dries, check to see that it fits.
5. Sand, rout and sand the floor.
6. Stain the floor.

Final Finish

1.         I love rattle can finishes.  Deft is my favorite.  Use what you like.  Take your time.

This was our first project and I am VERY pleased! We modified Ana's plans to add a shelf... super easy to do. You do NOT have to have the Kreg-Jig to do this. We only have the basic tools (saws, drills and sanders) and didnt want to purchase another tool for our very first project, and it turned out fine. I painted directly on to the wood (no primer) with a semigloss paint and added floetrol paint conditioner and it turned out beautiful. You can still see the grain of the wood, which I like. I painted the table brown, except the tabletop and the backing is burgundy to match our decor. This is going to look GREAT once it is loaded with pictures and books and Im going to sit a couple of baskets beneath it. I estimated $45 for the cost assuming you already have paint & nails to use. You need the lumber, wood filler, sand paper and paint conditioner..

Love these two projects in getting my son's room organized, and he loves having a desk for his lego creations and his "projects". We used poplar for the sawhorses that we had cut from family land and planed down ourselves, then purchased a premade project panel for the top. Used a paint sprayer for the blue and finished the top with Rustoleum stain in Wheat with several coats of Rustoleum Satin poly. For the toy shelf we just purchased pine and finished with the same stain and poly.

Loft bed made from the camp loft plans. I used 4x4s for the legs for extra support.

Here is my first woodworking project. I followed the plans (that were so user friendly) for the cheap and easy console table. I spent 40 in material only because I bought a 8 ft board of decorative molding for the aprons that cost 20 bucks. I used a circular saw (that was scary and fun) and I hand nailed everything. Ugh My hands are sore. I really am in love with Spanish Colonial furniture and really dont have 300-3000 dollars to spend on a piece.
I beat the peices of wood with a metal chain and gouged it with the back side of a hammer. The kids had fun helping me with that! I also added more boards to the bottom shelf. Then used a wood conditioner. The stain i used is a dark walnut 2 coats and a satin poly on top.
This was the best web site for me!

Months ago while browsing online I stumbled across a cool coke bottle opener. I had no idea what I would do with it but I knew I had to have it! So after months of procrastination I finally decided it was time to use it.

I found a cheap esky at kmart and decided that I would be able to make an esky stand and use the coke bottle opener on it. So after a trip to Bunnings for some new timber I got to work. It only took about a week to get it done including staining it.

I am one of 11 children. My parents purchased a new home this summer that had a huge dining room.  I new exactly what I wanted to do for them for Christmas. I collaborated with several of my brothers to build them the tables and benches. I used sketchup to modify the design and then to create a cutlist.  My brothers and I worked on the project over several weeks as time permitted. The results are 2 tables that measure 14'4" long and 44 inches wide and benches to match. All the material was purchased at Menards. 

I built the loft bed and bookshelf for underneath.

My little boy asked for a "big boy bed with a ladder", and we wanted to make good use of space in his room, so I built this loft bed. I continued the 2x4's down one side instead of adding stairs, and raised the height of the bed a bit. I added space in the middle of the ladder section for him to have room to climb in safely. I also added a rope swing on the bottom, where he now spends much of his days looking out his window.

Awesome plans for the farmhouse table. Very easy to follow and the pictures were very helpful.  It took longer due to my schedule but the top took about four day to poly. The bench is also from Ana White. 

Picnic Table that Converts to Benches