Community Brag Posts

An artsy twist on the typical coat rack. Instead of coat hooks I used railroad ties. Instead of paint, i used a blow torch and burnt it black and for the art.... I used a dremel tool and engraved a classroom of 1st graders artwork into the wood.

my mailbox was hit by a vehicle so I decided I wanted to do something creative/different but also didn't want to spend much money as it may just get taken out again in the future :)

this is a good project to get kids to help you with

instead of cutting into the concrete easement, I installed 2 post bases & locked them with sleeve anchors.  They're sturdy enough but will give if hit again.  drilling the holes for the sleeve anchors was the hardest part of the project.

I used a left over 4x4x8 for the posts, scrap 1x4s, 1x2s up the sides (1/2" gap between boards), and a 2x4 scrap to attach the mailbox.  I eyeballed the width between posts using the mailbox itself. I left over stain from another project (almost bought a quart of oops paint at HD)

I figure the total cost would have been about $100

It's a super easy project that took about 4hrs. I've already had a couple of neighbors come by to take measurements to try something similar.

FYI: USPS guildlines for installing a curbside mailbox: https://www.usps.com/manage/mailboxes.htm

When I saw Ana's plans I had to make this table for my home. I like the rustic look, and so I distressed the wood using a steel wool and vinegar solution. I modified the top by using four 2x8's and one 2x10. Otherwise everything is the same. It turned out great and everyone who has seen it at my home loves it.

Use the general idea of the kitchen island plans. I had an old butcher block work table top from June 1952. I wanted to cut it down and make a bathroom vanity. We used cedar legs for the posts and shelves.

So my sister in-law kept sending me tables on craigslist that were for sale. I didn't like anything I was seeing and to buy what I wanted I was looking at roughly $1000 so I found these plans and was like... YES! When I told the family I was doing this they were all pretty much like... "yeah sure, good luck"
I knew that I could do I just needed the plans which were here.

I pretty much stuck to the plans with a few exceptions. I made the table longer to accommodate the entire family on Friday Family Night...! It's a little over 10' long. Instead of 3 – 1x12x8 I went with 3 - 2x12x10. One because as I said earlier I wanted the table longer and two because I just felt that the 1x12 was too flimsy and I wanted something real solid. Because of that I ended up putting pocket holes on each side of all the 2x12 boards and I also put a 2x6 in the middle for additional support.

Everything was pretty much right on except for the base posts, for some reason they were about 2" too short which forced me to cut the upper parts of the X on the base a bit shorter as well. I ended up putting an additional 2 2x6 on top of the base to raise the table to the height I felt was necessary. If I did it over I would have just made my base post 2" higher and only used one additional 2x6 for the additional height.

I ended up staining it with a semi-transparent beige stain to give it a grayish look.

I gotta say everyone was like "holy crap...!" and thought it was beautiful. I gotta say it feels really good to build it yourself and especially when it comes out the way you want it.

thanks so much for the plans!!!

Square Outdoor Table

So easy. Being able to just use 2x4s was so convenient for transporting and cutting. This is a small room so the only hard part was figuring out the math to get 4 rows in this tight space. I made 2 changes: instead of 4-2x4s wide I did 5 so the bins fit better, and I didn't use a any 2x4s on the bottom shelf because they can just sit on the floor, so it saved me buying more wood. Super happy with this, now I just have to make another one for our garage so we can store more things!

Made some sliding barn doors for a friend.

I made this for my wife. It is a simply design but she loves it and I think it turned out very nicely. I had an 18" inch long western red cedar log laying around that I sat on sometimes and wondered how I could make it more comfortable to sit on, and this is what I came up with. I peeled the bark with a draw knife. and then marked out a 3" thick slab out of the middle lengthwise and carefully ripped it out using a chainsaw. I used the two end pieces as the base by turning the outer sides in while using the slab for the top. Out of a smaller log I cut the cross member about an 1 1/2" thick sized to fit between the legs. After lots of sanding I was able to get the marks from the chainsaw out and assembled the pieces using 5 1/2" x 1/4" hex head screws countersunk and holes plugged with 3/4" poplar dowels. After a final sanding I applied 3 coats of Spar-Urethane. The red parts of the cedar turn a rusty color quickly after sanding so a finish needs to be applied rather quickly. I hope you like it.