If you're curious, here's a repo with all the CAD files, schematics, etc. I don't expect anyone to make one of these but I wanted to put it out there in case anyone finds the techniques useful!

I started this in May and I've been working on it for 2-3 evenings + 1 weekend day per week pretty consistently since then.

I couldn't seem to add progress pics alongside my video so I'm attaching them here

Finished this table pretty quick because there are plants that need to come inside, it’ll go under a window and hold pots. Tried Rubio monocoat 2c because it cures quick, I like applying it but I wish it gave the wood more depth. That’s ok though, the request was just for a plant stand.

It’s all cherry from one 8/4 board shown in the second picture. The thick short piece became legs and the long piece is the top and aprons. Hand tools plus band saw, and the band saw is a great addition. Another decade and I’ll want a planer.

The shaped legs went a long way toward making it less clunky!

I just kind of winged it. I found a piece of scrap. I had around, figured out a comfortable angle to hold it and cut out a hand alot at that angle close to the center for even pressure, trimmed it down a little, filed the sharp edges, and glued a piece of of plywood to the bottom to push the back of the board.

It's about 11" long, 7" tall, and 1.5" thick.

Never made one before so I'm not sure what constitutes a good one, figured I'd post it up and ask more expeienced people before using it if there's anything I've overlooked.

This is the first door that I have made, I don't have anymore pictures of this project as I always forget to take them but by now it has been painted and fitted in someone's house.

Bought a few Katalox boards went to process them and to my surprise they were figured sometimes you get lucky

I am not sure what to do with these edge grain checks and cracks. Should I attempt to fill them or will it be ok to leave them without any filling.

Its a 2" thick slap of laurel wood 18" Wide 72" long and it will be holding a tv.

Currently got into model making. I'm a trained bench joiner anyway but can't really do real life sized projects due to work and physical limitations but I can make it mini!

Experimenting with making wattle and daub walls for a timber frame model house, this took far to long but it's turned out lovely even as a test piece!

In the process I've used general small bladed tools, such as a Stanley knife/ scalpel blade and a small thin kerfed hobby saw that is getting a bit blunt but it at least gives me a second to not cut too far.

I've marked out joints in the same way you would on larger timbers. It's not as forgiving but it's wedged in nicely and if it's loose then I've got super glue 🤣.

It's taken far longer than expected just due to the small nature of the pieces though

Right now I'm trying to get an initial project portfolio to actually try to get clients, and this is piece #1.

I've made a few cutting boards before but nothing more complicated, so I wanted to figure out a design that looks nice but is also forgiving in case parts don't perfectly match or come out slightly out of square.

I also wanted to throw several learning opportunities into one piece, because I'd never done curved cuts, template routing, miters, splines, dyeing, dowels, threaded inserts, large glue-ups, or used a real wood finish before.

Definitely learned a ton with this one, but I'm really pleased with how it turned out.

Most stressful parts of the build were cutting the miters (should have done it before cutting the curves) and dyeing the legs with Rubio Monocoat Precolor Easy, which wasn't easy and didn't look good at all at first (to me). I almost sanded it off and started over, but I figured it was at least worth a try to finish them and see if that evened the color out, and to my great surprise it did.

10 boxes moving to the next phase. Got 6 of 10 miter splines done and 4 drying. They will be completed tomorrow. This is step 9 of 19 steps. The inlay is next which is one of the longest steps. It's almost all downhill after that step. Hinges are the only real obstacle after that.

I got some flat sawn sapele for like $2/bd ft from a guy cleaning out his shop so I started building the sides for a dresser. I then came across another batch of wide rift/quartered sapele at a good price (with all the stripey goodness 🤩). Now I'm looking at the plain sawn stuff and wishing I'd used the striped rift/quartersawn material for everything, but then again the sides of the dresser won't really be seen where it's going so I could still use the rift/quartersawn for the top and drawer fronts.

How do you manage this sort of stuff in your work? The differences between plain/rift/quartersawn pieces are more obvious in stuff like sapele, white oak etc so are you more picky about material selection using these materials? I'm curious how other folks are handling these decisions.

Thanks!

The hardest part of using the Rockler Jig-It system is getting the 2 halves of your box at the exact same level. I solved this issue with a simple jig I built using an adjustable scissor platform. The scissor lift has feet which I recessed into the MDF using a forstner bit.

Scissor Lift: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C2TP5L9X

I got a wood beam off Marketplace a long time ago, roughly 10”x8”x96”. Cut it half for two to make two 4’ benches. I think it’s spruce as it’s quite soft and doesn’t have the grain of pine. Milled it square.

The legs are made with yellow cedar with mortise and tenon joints. I’ll give it a coat of spar urethane and it will be ready for use!

I started this project months ago and it has been by far the biggest headache I've attempted.

The original plan was to mount the shelf and wine bar innards to the existing walls but I quickly realized nothing was square or level. So I made a box. Then I reinforced the box. Then I reinforced it some more.

Then the bookshelf got built which was pretty smooth. After that I added the innards to the wine section. The design committee (wife) changed the design a few times during this process.

Once I muscled the box into the wall I realized the front wall wasnt square either. So I had to get creative with the trim. The bottom of the box is flush to the wall, the top is recessed 1".

We stull need to paint a few things and do some touch up, but I am DONE with the woodworking.

Its mostly plywood with some 1×6, 1x2's and poplar sprinkled around. Most of the hardware was from amazon.

Every old door seems to come with its own set of problems. This one decided to bring most of them at once.

These are the surviving historic entrance doors from the Raukhverger House in Odesa, Ukraine. We’re dealing with distorted geometry, multiple layers of paint hiding the actual condition of the timber, missing details and hardware — and sheet metal installed where the glazing used to be.

As we started removing the sheet metal, the original wrought-iron grilles emerged underneath, with a complex floral scroll pattern. Once the glazing is reinstated, the ironwork will once again be visible from both sides of the doors — from the street and from inside the entrance hall.

The next step is careful stripping and assessment. We need to see the condition of both the ironwork and the timber before deciding where the original wood can be preserved, where repair inserts are needed, and which missing elements will have to be replicated.

There’s no standard repair sequence with doors like these. They tend to reveal the actual job one layer at a time.

And yes, we’re doing this work in Odesa during the war. Thank you for supporting!

My blade is dialed in, im on a 14/12 laguna and im making veneers for a glue up. Im slicing at 1/8” on the fence side before running them on the drum sander. How much thinner can i get before it becomes sketchy?

This is more woodworking adjacent, but I checked with the mods first.

I've just released my opensource (hardware and software) automatic blast gates, "HonkLock".

• 3d printed ball valve gate design
• Non-invasive tool detection using magnetometer to detect current
• Using cat5/5e/6 to connect the sensor (data+power) to the brainboard allows runs up to a theoretical 30m - I've only tested up to 10m - allowing the gate and sensor to be far apart. It's just using the cable, not actually ethernet.
• Custom PCB for sensor and brain boards - kicad project & gerber files provided.
• Uses a cheap ESP32-S3-SuperMini for the microcontroller
• Fusion 360, STEP and 3MF files for the gate (currently 5" to match my system, but thats what the F360/STEP files are for!)
• Currently HonkLock uses HomeAssistant for coordination of gates, which has the benefit of allowing any remotes/switches (like Ikeas zigbee/thread remotes) to be used for manual opening/closing.

It turned out better than I expected - not only are the gates more airtight than I thought they'd be, the sensor response is crazy fast - finger was still on the power button on my combo machine and the gate was already open.

Little one is turning 2 soon. I grew up with a little stool my grandpa made me. This is my go at it.

Questions:
what’s a preferred finish for red oak. (Shellac, wax, tung oil?) I’ve sanded it to 320 but am worried if certain finishes will make some of the grain straws stick out of rough to the touch.

How do people sand little details like the tiny text? In hind sight I would’ve made it all caps and a touch larger.

The holes are 1” and tilted out in both x and y by 10 degrees. I’m planning on hand rounding out legs starting with 1.25 x 1.25 pieces. Any tips for leveling the legs?

I'm going to disassemble a ninja gym in the backyard that has a bunch of cedar 2x6 and 4x4. I built it during the covid lockdown so the wood is only about 6 years old, it should last for a long time so I'd hate to throw it away if someone else can use it for a project.

This should give you a good idea of the number of pieces and size of them. DM me if you're interested and have transportation to pick it up yourself.

https://imgur.com/a/WFOpxqv

By replacing the ceiling i was specatating the joists and saw tiny holes from worms/bug. Do i need to take care the joists before closing up the new ceiling or is that not that big a deal? Btw the joists been there for 60 years

Thanks in advance

Does anyone have recommendations on what kind of finish to put on the mahogany screen door I’m building? I need something that can handle the rain, snow, and summers of Northeast Ohio.

The first image is after I sanded it with 80-grit sandpaper. The second photo is from when I test-fitted the door before any sanding occurred. I really like the “rose gold” colors of it before I sanded it. What’s the best finish to keep those natural colors but make them pop a bit more while protecting the door?

Appreciate the help!

I've planed this white oak and this board has a really dark section from one angle but not the other. I've done several passes and don't want to get it too thin.

I've planed a whole bunch of oak recently and this is the only board like it.

I had some pallet wood lying around and decided to turn it into a Halloween decoration this year.

I cut several pumpkin-shaped layers, hollowed out the middle ones, then glued them together to make the body. The front has the jack-o'-lantern face cut into it, and I added a small hinged door at the back with a latch so I can easily swap the tea light inside.

I stained the pumpkin orange, the stem green, and painted the inside black to give the face a bit more contrast when it's lit.

It took a bit more shaping and sanding than I expected to get all the layers reasonably close, but I'm pretty happy with how the 3D shape turned out. Best part is I won't have to carve another pumpkin next year!

One thing I’m still unsure about is the tea light. I’ve used a real candle for the photos, but now that I think about it, I’m wondering whether I should switch to an LED tea light for actual use (real tea lights do look better though). Has anyone here done something similar?

I built this for my nephews (only two years late!). It's an art easel with blackboard and whiteboard on opposite sides and a small drawer for each to store markers/chalk.

The frame is hickory. First time I've used it before and it's... very hard. Kind of tough to work with but I really like the color and I'm glad I have some leftover for another project.

The front and back boards are both 1/4 plywood with a self adhesive magnetic whiteboard/blackboard attached. This was probably the easiest way to go, but if I were to build it again I would probably just get the special magnetic paints.

The brace at the top and the drawers are 1/2 plywood. I learned all the worst ways to go about building the case and the two drawers, but it all came together, eventually, and I'm happy with how they turned out.

I used dowels to join the hickory frame but the rest is held together with threaded inserts and bolts (basically like an IKEA product). My sister in law is in the service and they will be moving around a lot, so I thought this would make it easier to pack.