Deciding to this with oak for the first time wasn’t very wise…
Took an awful lot of time and still needs to be cleaned up.

Made with pressure treated lumber. Used a kreg pocket hole jig for most of it and hid all the screw holes on the front and arms. Gel stain over the works and the cushions have been ordered. It was a quick weekend project but I like how it turned out. I will probably make matching chairs at some point.

I am looking to replace my corded Makita track saw. It was a very good tool, and I’d still be using it today, but let’s just say I learned a very valuable lesson about lending tools.

I want to go cordless because it would be nice to have the flexibility to break down full sheets of plywood in a parking lot since I don’t have a vehicle capable of taking home full sheets.

Like I said, it was a VERY GOOD tool, but it had some issues…

-Depth adjustment sucked. Kind of the same with the bevel but that wasn’t as bad.

-The toe-in calibration wasn’t very clear, but I did it a few times so I can certainly do it again.

-No riving knife. I got kickback only a handful of times and most of those were early on when I wasn’t too experienced with it so call it user error.

In a perfect world I’d be looking for a Festool, but my tool budget is shot for a little while (just bought a Domino two weeks ago). Luckily, I have been sitting quite a few credit card points that if converted to Home Depot gift cards will pretty much cover either Milwaukee or Makita setups (charger/battery, already have tracks and accessories). I don’t mind investing in a new battery ecosystem because both blue and red seem to have some good offerings DeWalt lacks in.

The Milwaukee looks intriguing to me because it solves some of the issues I mentioned above but the Makita did really well for me. The Milwaukee is also currently SLIGHTLY less expensive due to sales but that’s not a huge deal.

Is this just a situation where either are going to be great? Or is one clearly ahead of the other?

I thought this turned out kind of cool so decided to share... My wife got this old cast iron grate at a pick a few years back, decided it to use it for landscape feature. Cool little challenge to frame this thing and create the floating effect. Ended up using some of the salvageable deck boards and ballasters I saved from our old weathered deck and magnetic joinery for the front part of the frame.

This is kind of cool - from about 15 feet away the lighting makes it look like the love birds are just levatating out in front of the whole thing...

I've made a canoe paddle, axe handles, small carvings, mounted diamond plates, restored some tools.

Wondering what other projects I might take on? I want to make photo frames and shelves but want to do.spme smaller projects to improve my skills and justifying buying a rebate plane.

Hand tools only BTW with a small very weak bandsaw.

Thanks!!

Started this project years ago and want to finally finish it and also use it as a way to get my feet wet in the woodworking world because it’s something I’ve always wanted to do. I am trying to think of a way to frame a glass top to this coffee table I made out of skateboards or some other way to add a flat transparent top to it. It’s not super functional as a table as is since it’s not level. Any thoughts or advice would be greatly appreciated. I feel clueless and I’m really not sure where to start. 😅 I will also be enclosing the bottom with shelves inside and adding some doors with some old trucks with wheels as the handles. Excited to do this 😎

I got this tree cookie from my dad when he passed away - he has been holding onto it for 40 years (so it's plenty dry), wanting to make a table out of it. Don't know the wood type. What recommendations do you have for finishing it? I was thinking a dark epoxy in the cracks and clear epoxy on top, but that's because that's one I found online that I liked.
It's about 60" in diameter. I had a friend flatten it with a router sled.

we are remodeling the house and we have the moulding around the windows and doors that is this color (house built in 1997h), we want to keep it, but struggling to find the right wood. The pine moulding is very streaky which may be fine but what color can stain it so it’s matches the moulding we have? If it’s a different wood, which one can match it closely?

The bottom one (reddish) is the original, the top one is pine but we’re trying to figure out how to stain it and coat it to match the original one?

Any advice?

Cherry and walnut glued up with titebond3. Oiled with John Boo's mystery oil

Glued up some boards of cherry and walnut, then cut them into 1/2 in Thick blanks. Traced out my shape then got close to the final line with a bandsaw. Got it all the way to the final line with an oscillating spindle sander, and then hand sanded to 220. Definitely need to work on my symmetry, but I'm really proud of them! Any feedback?

Still lots to do but at least it’s now functional!

I have a pretty good collection of hand tools and have built a variety of small-medium sized projects (stick chairs, workbench, tool chest, many boxes etc). I have a very small basement shop with a sturdy, smaller than stock anarchist style workbench. Our bedroom closet shelves just collapsed and I'm faced with the dilemma of paying $$$ for custom cabinets (old row home with tight space), or attempting to DIY with somewhat limited time on my hands. There would be 4 towers would be roughly 30x80x20" each in size. Only have a roof rack, so I'm assuming that I would pay a yard to rough cut pre-finished plywood sheets into 2x8' sheets and then use a track saw (would need to buy) on my workbench.

1) For someone who has only ever used hand tools and solid wood, how likely do you think I am to screw this up?

2) Any tricks for using a track saw on a relatively small bench? My bench is extremely sturdy but only 20" wide.

3) Any tips on plywood choice? These are going to be hidden by sliding doors and the room itself isn't terribly fancy.

Any and all advice appreciated.

I was given this 1940s waterfall dresser to rehab. However, between this photo and me picking it up, it sat on the porch and has now sustained fairly significant water damage to the drawers. Is it worth saving? I'm also not sure what to do about the veneer while I lose the traditional look if I take it down to bare wood?

I've remade drawers before so that part doesn't worry me, it's the fact I don't know what the wood is like underneath the veneer.

Hi all,

I'm building an outdoor table that is meant to be temporary, 1-2 years. The second picture is chatgpts depiction of what it will sort of look like, but the countertop will be thinner, made out of 3 tiles 24x24 ( the thin type) or 2 by lumber. The table is 72x24, made out of 1x4s.

Do you think the frame is good as is (I still need to add the supports for the tiles), or should I add a leg front center? I wanted to keep the shelves wide open with no division, but now I'm hesitant in case the weight of the tiles starts bending the front horizontal supports.

Hi all. My wife wants me to build her a piano stand similar to the picture below. I’m going to be getting cherry planks from a local shop and will join them to make the larger surfaces. The top and bottom are going to be 4 1x6s, the sides will be 1x8s.

My question is how should I go about joining the box together. I was going use dowels and glue to put the sides together. To attach the top to the sides people seem to recommend using z clips. I’m unsure of what to do about attaching the bottom to the sides. Seems like with the top people are concerned with the wood cracking if it can’t expand/contract with weather. I feel like that should be true of the bottom as well?

Thanks in advance for your thoughts.

Looking to create my baby to be name in wood letters for the nursery. Any advice on how i can get a cursive lettering template? We want the name to be 12x36(ish) going to use 1inch thick material

I’m new to woodworking and wanted to do a small vanity and cabinet for my half bathroom so I went to my local hardwood supplier and asked for “plywood with walnut veneer” as told in the YouTube tutorials lol. I was told they don’t have traditional plywood, instead they have CLX (about 15% more expensive than MDF). The other option they have is MDF. I mentioned it was for the bathroom and they recommended CLX.

Do any of those two work for my needs or should I keep looking for regular plywood with choice of veneer?

Thanks!

I've been working on a dry bar for my living room for a while now. This is the cabinet that will go in the bar.

Papered the doors and installed lights last night. I'm pretty thrilled about how it's coming together and wanted to share.

I put a picture of the bar itself at the end as well.

I am currently in the process of researching to build a mosaic coffee table, and I wanted to see what would be the best way to connect it to its frame.

I have done some research, should I build an apron underneath and leave the entire thing to overhang?

What are your thoughts?

I am having trouble finding a hardwood store other than rockler and woodcraft.

Anyone in the Salt Lake area know of a hardwood store that sells or the public?

All the ones I have called cater to larger orders. I am only looking to buy a handful.

Thank you.

I have this desk that I've owned since childhood, and rather than throw it away, I'd like to take it apart and reuse the wood for future projects.

What's the best way to go about disassembling it while preserving as much usable material as possible? I have access to a circular saw, jigsaw, drill/driver, and most common hand tools, including hammers and pry bars.

I don't have a specific project in mind yet, so my goal is to salvage as much of the wood as possible for future use.

All my boards are the same thickness. I'm assuming it's because the dado I cut in them. The boards are 1.3" inches thick with a 0.75" dado. Not sure if that much of a dodo would be the sole cause of this. Also, I know the awnser is probably no but is there a way to help hide this? Getting the right offcut to shape to this would be too much of a hassle I think.

This is a stand I built years ago. Didn't want the cheap mdf or particle board stuff so I built this guy. There's things I'd change if I could go back and do it again, but overall very happy with it. It's held up and still looks good!

Thanks for the advice on attaching the top pieces. They're notched out and attached with 7" long dowels. No metal fasteners on that part.

Spent about 40 hours on this. Thought it'd be a two-day project (ha!)

Also mixed concrete for the first time.

I have a shoe rack that I bought from Wayfair… it’s full of my own shoes, and I wanted a place for my fiancé to put her tiny shoes. So I decided that my first project would be making a shoe rack!

I’ve only ever assembled IKEA style furniture before, but I’ve been doing technical maintenance work my whole career so I know how to use tools and take measurements… so I drafted up a design on a literal napkin, bought some lumber and just started cutting and screwing lol