Community Brag Posts

So I finally broke down and decided to make the table that my wife had been asking for sometime. This after our last table was damaged by mold in our last move. I have completed a few woodworking projects before this so from a skill level on this project it was not too hard. The problem was that I wanted the table to be perfect but my wife wanted the dings and dents that came along with a farm table, so we compromised somewhat.

I did run into one significant issue that will be a life long lesson. The Douglas Fir wood that I bought had a very high moisture content and during the course of the project most of the wood began to shrink up to a half an inch in some parts as the wood dried out. I was talking to a construction friend in the area when I was finishing up the table and he confirmed that he had the same issue with this wood locally. Would have been nice to know this from the beginning.

Anyways, we followed the Triple Pedestal Table and Bench with the following adjustments. We used all 2x6 boards for the table top in order to provide additional thickness for durability, we also removed the center divider and just opted to use the full length of the 8 foot boards. We then framed the table with 2x6 and then added another lip of 2x6 below the table top. The purpose of this was to create a large enough area to notch the boards for a resting areas of the leg tops. We also rounded all of the 2x6 edges on the top with a router as we didn't want to have any sharp corners for the kids to run into.

On the legs, we opted to use 4x6 posts for the leg bases and tops, as well as the leg post. We (meaning me) wanted to have a nice clean look rather than the layers of 2x6 and 2x4's in the original design. I used the router to create the hole in the post for the runner beam, and used a 2x8 beam rather than the 2x6 beam. Finally I did not have the patience to cut out all of the arches for both the table and the bench and my jig-saw was not working properly, so we just decided to improvise with the design as shown in the pictures.

Inspired by Ana's Flip down wall art desk. It has different dimentions since wall space was limited. I used a magnet as a lock, added upholstered back, dowel for storage and extended the bottom part to add some strength. It is very handy!

I have 4 young Granddaughter's. They each got a chair from Grampa.

mtnmike

used the plan on this site then modified it.

We used Ana's plans for her Tiny House shelves and the only real difference was that we decided to use slightly thicker wood. We stained the wood espresso and painted the brackets Albaster by Sherwin Williams. 

The longest part of this process was the staining because the sealer took quite a bit of time to dry before being handled, but this was overall a very simple project with not a lot of effort. It just requires patience! 

We couldn't be happier and it was MUCH cheaper than the custom shelves we had quoted! 

Thanks Ana! 

I built these for my daughter's birthday, after she showed me a set of night stands that resembled these from the site. I used cedar with a steel wool and viniger stain to give them a aged look. With 4 coats of a water based urathane as a finish. Your plans were accurate and simple to follow. Thanks

Made from Pine and great for Wine! A couple lengths of pine, some bead board, and coastal accent paint and ...Boooom! Show it off to all your friends and family.

What could be more luxurious than an upholstered leather headboard? The inspiration for the design of this headboard came from the super cool textured wallpaper I recently installed in our master bedroom. See the full tutorial on my blog, The Handyman's Daughter!

Super fun project!!

This is my first furniture building project and I was initially nervous that I have taken up more than I can handle. But things turned out just fine. My wife said she would pick this table if it were in a store and that made this project a success. My wife and I both like the distressed look and nothing in the stores impressed us enough. Three weekends worth of effort and we have a gleaming new table exactly as we wished. So, if you're a beginner like me, do not fret. This is a good starter project if you have the right tools.

The basic specs were from this site but I had to change it to suit my size. Also, for the top I used 2X6's throughout except the center piece which is 2X12. I liked this look a little better. I do not know how much work Kreg Jig will save as I have no experience doing it the other way. Kreg jig is not very common and I did not find it in Home Depot. Lowes carried it. With this design note that you cannot put any chairs on the smaller side of the table as the bottom stretchers will obstruct you.

I had to use a hand planer on many occasions to level things out, especially between the table top planks and the breadboards. With construction grade lumber there will always be warps and twists, so this is something you need to plan for.

Now to the build part,
Top is all 2X6 with center piece 2X12. Rest as per Ana's plans. Construction grade lumber - Douglas Fir.
I did not sand too much - used 120 Grit throughout - did not sand with anything finer than that and it turned out ok. I did this to retain the feel of the grains. It was fun distressing it. We used hammer, chains and nails, but the best effect was from chiseling on the sides. Practice on spare wood first.

For Finish I used Dark Walnut from Rustoleum. One single coat. Then I wiped on Minwax Red Chestnut on top and quickly wiped it off. That gave it a pop. I used 5 coats of Rustoleum Poly on top. Rustoleum makes a huge difference to your project time as it dries much quicker than minwax. Also one single coat of stain did the job as advertised. Note that Rustoleum Poly is milky in color, but dries clear.

Good luck to your project and hope this helped.

Shortened the plan to fit my space. Used Georgian Cherry stain. 

Needed a dresser/changing station for our baby boys nursery. After pricing the "cheap ones" at target ($225). Decided I could build one for much less and much better quality. Found the Fillman Dresser/Changing station plan on Ana's site and felt that was the plan.

One modification I did to make the drawer bottoms stronger was to route a ¼" rabbit ⅜" from the bottom of the drawer to help hold the ¼" plywood.

This was my first time using milk paint and after the first coat I felt I ruined the project because the color was so uneven. Thank goodness for the internet because when I looked milk paint up every site had a "don't panic" paragraph about the first coat going on uneven. Quick sanding and a second coat Made me a believer.

As this was my first project I am very pleased with how it turned out. I learned a number of things to avoid and look forward to my next project.

Thanks Ana for all of the inspiration and ideas.

This was the first Farmhouse bed I have ever built!  I am totally in love with it!  I found the plans very easy to understand and follow.  I used the Twin Farmhouse bed and adapted it for a double and also added some trim details in the head and foot boards.  I also changed the way I attached my bed frame as I wanted to be able to take apart easily if ever needed.  So I used 2 by 10s and attached them to my posts.  I also made a trundle for underneath it. Finally totally complete!!  Love the way it turned out.