Community Brag Posts

Thank you for the idea for the rustic x end table. My wife is extremely happy with her new end table. Happy wife = happy life!!! I constructed the end table of 2x4 douglas fir rough sawn material I salvaged from a project where we removed a trellis from the house. My son helped me remove all of the nails and we let the wood dry out from the rain. I cut the 2x4 to the lengths described in the directions (I had to modify the x braces in length), sanded the wood and applied natural finish stain. We also added 3 coats of polyurethane to the table top to give it a nice finish and hopefully help with wear and tear over the years.

Built using the Wood Mail Holder w/ Key Hooks plan. Primed and painted the slot fronts with chalkboard paint before attaching. Stained the front lath pieces (frames around the chalkboard) before attaching. Stained with Minwax Dark Walnut. Hooks from Lowe's. 

Rustic X Coffee Table. Stain is wet in the photo, so a bit glossier than I'm anticipating. Kept diagonal "X" cross-beams whole and staggered to create more depth in the look of the structure. One coat Minwax "Ipswitch Pine." Changed mind and went with 2-3 more of Minwax "Driftwood." Would have been more grey, less red had I gone with "Driftwood" from the start.

Building this was pretty fun. I've never done the type of carpentry where you would notch out a piece of wood before. I've seen it done, but never done it myself.  I altered the size of this build and omitted the center divider piece as I just felt that with a 5' length, it was un-necessary and obstructed the view. Plus I wanted to use baskets underneath to have hidden storage. I also added a shelf for the TV components.

I made this Becca Trunk for my daughter for Christmas.  I wanted it bigger so I made it 48" wide.  I also lined it with cedar.  It turned out pretty darn good!!

Used cedar wood so I applied a few costs of oil based polyurethane to compensate for the softness of the wood.

Custom shoe bench I built for a friend.  See post on blog for more detail: 

http://www.tools4moms.com/2012/06/build-corner-shoe-bench.html

Ana, we saw your plans for the barn door cabinet that was pinned in pinterest and absolutely loved it and felt we had to build it but we had to completely modify  the plans to have it custom fit our bathroom. It was a trial and error experience never having built anything before. Thank you for giving us the idea.

Build the open toy box using pocket holes for a smooth, secure and easy build.

my daughter needed a new bedroom set... i refused to spend thousands of dollars on a new dresser and a bed. with a little hard work and help from Ana's plans... i was able to put these together and they turned out AWESOME!

We made smaller ones for each side of the closet. Love it!

My ex-marine uncle helped me build the modern farm table and benches. We bought pine from Lowe's. Not all of the pre-cut pine slabs fit the exact dimensions from the modern farm table and benches plans. We knew some of the wood would have to be cut again. A Lowe's worker was kind enough to use the store saw to cut some of the wood into the dimensions needed for the table and benches. He measured and remeasured.

Once in my uncle's garage, we first dry fit the furniture. My uncle started with the table. We dry fit the table on its back (in other words - we assembled the table upside down without drilling the table together). He then remeasured all of the wood for the table (while on its back). He wanted to be sure that all pieces would fit, once we started to actually assemble the table with drills. We did the same for each of the two benches.

Then we buffed out any dark marks or stamps on the individual pieces of wood. We did this by hand and not with an automatic tool. That part was BRUTAL.

Next we conditioned the wood. Wood conditioning is necessary, because pine stains unevenly. We waited 3 hours before applying the first coat of stain.

We applied the first coat of stain. Our stain was a mix of early american and golden oak. I did not intend for the table to come out as dark as it did. We mixed more of the early American stain than I had intended, because the table came out darker than I expected.

We waited in beween coats and we assembled the table and benches in between the first and second coat of stain.

We applied a second coat of stain to the assembled table and benches.

Then we applied polyurethane to seal and protect the stain.

After the polyurethane, we used wool to sand out any bubbles.

After the table and benches were assembled and everything drilled in place, we put wood putty in the places where holes were drilled.

Then, we stained the wood putty. The wood putty accepted the stain very well.

Duration

We built this table during the second week of August 2011. The project lasted between 28-30 hours over 5 days.

Make sure your boards of wood are fairly free from cracks. After inspecting them we put several boards back.

I love my table! I'm always complimented on its beauty. My materials cost around $230.00. I built this table, because the farm table and matching benches I wished to purchase totaled $2,000.00. Thanks to my ex-marine uncle, I have a fabulous table to last a lifetime. I mention his ex-marine status, because the military taught him perfectionism. Building a table with in 100 degree heat with a perfectionist was tedious and hard work. However, it clearly paid off in the end! Thank you Uncle!

Great site and projects! I had to add glass doors after I thought I was finshed. Then it was strongly suggested to add doors to keep gglassware safe from our four cats.

This is a simple and fun project to make.  The black set are 3" x 1.5".  The xlarge pieces are 8" x 4".

More Info / Build Instructions:
http://www.instructables.com/id/Large-Dominoes-From-Pallets/