This was my first woodworking project. I created the design based on the tools that I had but made it a little beyond my current skill set/comfort zone so it would force me to learn some new tricks.
Learning how to tune and then use a hand plane to join the edges for the tabletop was probably the high point. Not checking for square and then trying to fix my mistakes for the table top was definately the low point.
Overall it looks better than I anticipated and has weathered the last 6 months - including a historically wet winter in Southern California - really well.
I started with 2x6x8 contrstruction grade redwood lumber from Home Depot for the tabletop and parts of the base. I used 2x4x8 of the same type for the rest.
I chose a lower grade of lumber because I knew I was going to make mistakes and didn't want them to be expensive. Besides, this is a patio table so it's fine if it's a little "rustic" in its final form.
I started with the top by cutting the boards in half and using a hand plane (Stanley #4) to flatten the edges for the glue up. This was a lot of fun and I was really surprised at how well it went.
The boards for the top were cut in half because I don't have a real table saw - it's more of a contractor's saw on wheels - and it's would have been nearly impossible to use a dado stack to cut tenons on 8 ft. boards. I had a hard enough time with them cut in half!
I've never done this before but I wanted to make the layout as symmetrical as possible based on the grain and amount of sapwood. I especially wanted it to flow across the breadboard in the middle. I'm pretty sure I got one half flipped upside down though.
I used a dado stack and the miter gauge that came with my table saw to cut the tenons. I also used a biscuit joiner to help with alignment for the glue up but I messed that up. From here on out there was a lot of making up for compounding mistakes I made early on. I'm still not sure if I should have done things in a different order - but I know I should have checked everything carefully at each step along the way.
After the I glued the top together it was obvious that biscuits only help with alignment if you have everything lined up before you mark and then cut your slots. I didn't make sure everything was square when I marked the boards and I ended up having to do my best to fix a stupid mistake.
I used a straight edge to draw a line and then used a little pull say and chisel to make a new edge for the breadboard. This took forever and was very frustrating because it was completely avoidable. There are gaps in the table and I think of this mistake every time I look at it.
I attached the two sections of the top at the middle with a breadboard and used breadboards on the ends as well. I did my best to account for wood movement so the pegs in the middle are glued top and bottom but the pegs on the sides are only glued on the top and the holes they went into were more like slots.
Once the top was assembled I used my smoothing plane (Stanley No. 4) to smooth the top. Once I learned the process (thanks youtube and reddit) it was pretty neat to see how quickly the plane knocked everything down and then smoothed it like it had been sanded. This was almost like therapy after the time I spent recovering from my allignment mistake.
I found out that having a breadboard in the middle of a 7 ft. table does not improve structural integrity. I added runners to support the length of the table. Realistically this should have been part of my original design. The runners made attaching the table to the trestles much easier.
When I made the groove (rabbit? dado? mortise?) for the breadboards I just ran them over the dado stack on my table saw. The problem is that once I learned more about accounting for wood movement I realized I needed to remove sections of the tenons to allow for expansion.
The end result was these ugly pockets that really showcased my bad planning and lack of skills. I definitely needed to fix this.
I had a small piece of maple that I used to cut into pieces that would fit in those ugly pockets. I cut them a little thicker than needed and used the plane to get them exactly right. I left them a little proud of the sides and used a block plane to shave everything smooth. Being able to fix this mistake made me feel a lot better about the overall look of the table.
Update - It has been an unusually wet winter in Southern California that tested how well I actually accounted for wood movement. My mistake was that I cut these pieces to completely fill the pockets and they have been pushed out about a quarter inch after the tenons expanded. Just have to cut them flush and no one will notice!
This was planned to be a rustic outdoor table so I wanted the finish to be as durable as possible. I started with a couple of coats of tung oil because I really liked the way it looked on the redwood - especially on the sapwood.
I made the trestles by laminating 2x4 and 2x6 lumber. I used the dado stack on the table saw to cut the mortises before I glued them together. I secured the legs and arms to the posts using 3/4 inch maple dowels and glue - lots and lots of glue!
I added a stringer in the middle and used pegs (and glue) to secure it in place. The tenons on either side are very different in size and shape so I try to only look at one end at a time. The top just sits on the trestles for now. It's snug and seems very solid.
I used a forstner bit to cut a hole for the umbrella in the top and into the stringer. I used a pin from a heavy duty trailer hitch to lock the umbrella in place. This has turned out to be a lot more secure than a set screw in a stand like most umbrellas use.
For finish I used 5 coats of spar urethane on the top and 3 coats everywhere else.
Overall the table turned out about how I expected considering my skill level, materials and tools. The layout of the wood grain is better than I had hoped for and it's very sturdy.
There are dull spots and brush marks visible in a few places and the wood filler I used looks awful and started cracking right away. There are several mistakes that I made that are tolerable in this context and will allow me to avoid them in the future.
Second woodworking project. Made some simple bookshelves in the mid-century modern style out of Okoume plywood
We needed some bookshelves and I was looking for another project. I knew I wanted to use plywood of some sort because I wasn't ready to mess up some expensive wood. I found this Okoume plywood at Ghanal Lumber in Los Alamitos, CA and thought it looked cool and liked that there weren't any voids in the different layers.
It wasn't until after I bought it that I found out it was light weight and buoyant. I was worried that it wouldn't be stiff enough to hold books but it hasn't been a problem.
I spent a lot of time researching designs on Reddit and decided that I wanted something with mitered corners because they look so good. From my research it seemed that I would need to make a miter sled for my little table saw so that's what I started with.
I tried to make a sled that could be reversed so it would work for both miters and cross cuts. I turned out to be too large to work with comfortably and I had to use weights to keep it from tipping sideways. I was able to make decent miter cuts but hated the process.
I drew plans out on graph paper and thought that was detailed enough. Turns out i can only calculate in 2 dimensions and was off by 3/4 of an inch. Miter + Dado = 1 1/2 inches less width than I had planned. Since no one else saw my original doodles, no one knows I made this mistake.
I didn't want to compound the issue by making another mistake so I tried to line everything up square in 3 dimensions before I made any additional cuts. Once I calculated everything my mistake made total sense - which gave me the confidence to make some final cuts on the table saw.
I thought I could glue up an entire bookcase using strap clamps but they didn't work so well. I made a quick run to Harbor Freight and got some clamps to help the process.
The corners use biscuits for alignment and additional strength. I did a much better job this time aligning things before marking for buscuits than I did for the patio table. You can see gaps if you know where you're looking but no one at my house has found them yet!
I made two bookshelves but they both looked like this. Pretty simple with the middle shelf riding on dados on the sides and in the back.
I had some real issues keeping my sled down as mentioned before. I really need to make a zero clearance insert for my table saw so I can just use the fence but it's not as simple as all the youtube videos make it seem.
Some slipping made it so the dado on one of the backs was too wide in one place. No big deal - just flip the carcass over and no one will notice.
I used plywood because I didn't want to risk messing up expensive wood but I still needed these shelves to look nice. I ordered walnut edge banding from Amazon and used that to make it look like solid wood.
I used one coat of tung oil and four coats of Epiphanes flat (following the Epiphanes recipe) to achieve the finish I was going for. Looks a lot like aged teak and exceeded my expectations for what plywood furniture can look like.
This is what the bookshelves look like in place. I love the feet I ordered from Amazon and the way they add to the simple, mid-century design. The other shelf is on the other side of a doorway so they act as mirrors to each other. The overall fit and finish is better than I planned for and they seem to be holding up just fin.
I thought I could significantly improve life by building a shelf for our printer that included drawers for storage. I designed in my head and then on paper based on the measurements of the printer.
This was never completed because once I brought it in the house it was obvious that it was way too big for its intended purpose. It now takes up precious space under my desk in the garage as I try to think of ways to recycle the cherry plywood.
I was conscripted to build a parade float for our church because my daughter really wanted to be in the parade.
I made a foam core replica of the church bell tower and replicated the stained glass windows with contact paper and LED lights.
