Community Brag Posts

Changed the scale of the front panel and the window trim slightly.  Added window boxes for a drink, toys and book storage.

I saw this table on wyrmwoodgaming.com but I wanted to see if I could make it myself. I did it all in Cherry and used Tung oil to finish it. I have two coats of Tung oil on there for a finish. In all I paid about $800 for the cherry and flat steel I used for the magnetic rails on the sides.

My attempt at the murphy bar featured on this site. Still have to add the sash locks. Added pallet crossmembers at the back, an x in the leg, and a french cleat to mount to the wall. 

We wanted a round table that would seat a full Monopoly game. To do this we needed about a 5' diameter tabletop.  The base was made consistent with the plans.  

A few tips on the base:

1. Get your angles as close to 45° as you can.  Otherwise, there will be much sanding and puttying in your future.  
2. If you want to hide your lag screw like I did, I used a spade bit to recess an area for the screw head.  Then I glued in a plug made from dowel and sanded flush.  

If you want to make a round tabletop, here is what I did (there may be better methods).  Keep in mind this was for a ~60" diameter table, I was assuming that the perimeter arc pieces would be about 4.5" wide and that I would cut the inner circle at a 50" diameter.

1. Picture 1 - I built two 5' slabs of (7) 2x4s pocket-holed together.  
2. Picture 2 - Then I cut two pieces from each slab that would later make up the 90° "pie slice" pieces.  Make sure to remove the screws that will be in the way your saw blade. Also, you just have to concern yourself with the angle since the radius will be dealt with later.  There is a lot of wood waste with this method, but I think it avoided headaches. 
3. Picture 3 - I assembled (screwed and glued) the "pie pieces"to the cross pieces. The length of the cross pieces don't matter much since they will also be to cut to a specified radius.  Since I would be cutting a 50" diameter circle, the large cross piece had to be at least 50" and the two small pieces had to be at least 22.25" (subtracting the 2x6 width).  
   1. Picture 3 - I mounted my router to a piece of MDF and drilled a hole at the necessary distance to cut a 50" diameter circle. This distance is 25" + half of the bit diameter.  Since I used a 1/2" straight bit, my point was 25.25" from the center of the router bit.  I screwed this jig to the center of the tabletop assembly so the router could pivot and cut a circle.  As for logistics, I rested this assembly on some scrap wood and kneeled on the tabletop as I was cutting it.  It took a large number of passes with the router since I was cutting through 1.5" of material. 
4. Picture 4 - The perimeter pieces required some time and geometry. I found that I would need (8) 23" 2x8 pieces (the 23" is approximate because I was a little off for some reason, though I can't recall why).  From those pieces, I used the same router jig to cut the perimeter arc pieces. You will need to make two new radius holes in teh jig to accomplish what you need.  To cut the inner arc you need a hole set at 25" - half of the bit diameter (24.75" for me).  To cut the outer arc, I used a hole that was 29 5/8" from the center of the router bit.  You may need to do some fine tuning to these pieces to get them to fit correctly, but for me it pretty minor.  I trimmed a couple pieces with a miter saw but that was it. 
5. The rest is screws and glue. 

Couldn't be more thrilled with how these turned out. Plans were a cinch.

Last week we hosted a reception for our son’s wedding.  We built 8 benches and 2 banquet tables over the course of 3 weekends.

The banquet tables are 30” x 8’ and are constructed from 2x4, 2x2 and ½” plywood, with some angle brackets at each leg for extra strength.  We used the 2x2 for the tabletop apron/frame, attached leg assemblies made from 2x4 with some 1x3 furring strips for stringers, and topped the tables with ½” plywood.  Hubby and I put these together in an afternoon.  The tables were left unfinished because they were covered completely with tablecloths. 

The benches are 42” long, 14” wide and 18” high.  These were built from 1x3 furring strips for the bench top/frames and 2x4 for the legs.  The bench tops were assembled first, then we attached the 2x4 legs to the frames at the corners, with a 5^th leg in the center for stability.   This was a fun “mom & daughter” project for me and the bride, and we got the 8 benches built in one weekend and the finishing done the next.

The bench legs are painted (1 coat primer and 1 coat paint + primer).  The seats are topped with a clever combination of batting, fleece fabric and tulle ribbon ties, to create an upholstered look.  The fleece fabric will be re-purposed into some pillows and a memory quilt.

The head table is our ‘almost farmhouse’ table with 2 of the modified Harriet chairs for the bride and groom.

The newlyweds plan on re-using some of the benches for the dining set in their new place.  We’ll also be disassembling the banquet tables and re-using the wood to make them some more furniture, including a dining table to go with.

The wedding and reception was small and intimate and turned out beautifully.  We were thrilled to put this together for our son and his wonderful bride!

Easy to build, easy to customize, perfect for totes

We needed a couple of sturdy step stools for the bathrooms. My boys are not tall enough to reach the sink for hand washing and teeth brushing. Wally wanted $8 for a plastic thing. So I headed to the big orange store and bought a few 2X4's. $12 for both stools, plus the paint and screws which I already had.

I used the plans from the Skipper's Stool for some of my cuts. But I used 3-2X4 pieces for the top and shortened the legs to 10 inches. I was going to put on the side stretchers but it was super sturdy with the pocket holes and 2.5 inch pocket hole screws. So I left them off. A few coats of paint and they are good to go. Two of my boys can stand on one so that makes them a hit.

Cabin bed made into a barn for a 3 year old birthday boy! He. Was. Pumped!

This was my first project. It took me a weekend to build and prime. Since I chose to use a crackle finish, waiting time between coats extended the total time to one full week. My husband and I were supposed to make this hutch together, but I became obsessed and did most of it alone! I adjusted the size a bit to make it larger, so I could fit big pieces on shelves and in cabinets. Thanks for the plan Ana!!

We really enjoyed building this playhouse swing set for our kids.  We have a decent slope to our backyard, so we needed to sink our posts, which required a bit more work thank Ana's plans.  We also used a real window (my dad just happened to have in his garage) instead of the 3 open aired windows Ana's plans called for.  Inside we built a fold under table, shelf, and a chalkboard for thier entertainment.  

These chairs were easy to build, although I modified Ana's plans a little bit. I opted for solid wood 2x2s for the legs (I wanted it to be sturdier), and a solid seat instead of a slatted one. I notched out the back of the seat so it would fit flush against the back legs. Because of my modifications, my chair was just a couple bucks more.

Also, I was so excited to find solid wood balusters for the chair legs - they're not only better quality, but cheaper than furring strips!

Check out my blog link for a complete play-by-play!