Community Brag Posts

Built the sewing table for my wife Penney. It has a work surface that is 36" x 60" and is 32" high.

Used 3/4" Baltic Birch and used premium pine to add edge banding. Used 1/4" plywood for a back to the sewing table to add strength and I think helps the look of the table. My Kreg Jig was used everywhere possible when assembling the case. Used full length piano hinges with #6 x 5/8" screws to attach the leaves to the table. Made the doors using premium pine with a plywood panel. For the legs, I used folding, locking leg brackets from Lee Valley to attach the 1-1/2" square poplar legs. The casters are 3" double-locking from Woodcraft. 

Went a little over budget, but it turned out very nice and she loves it. 

Thank you for the easy to follow plans. 

I really liked the Large Wooden Dog crate but wanted the sides to be lower and wanted to make sure there was no easy chew escape.  Not sure if you can see from the photo but the cats have taken over... Will need to make a larger one for the dog!

I followed the plan pretty much other than lowering the panel on the side and replacing the wooden bars with rebar.  The rebar was a bit of a learning curve getting the holes lined up perfectly but I figured it out and I think it came out pretty good!

Used all pine 1x3 and 1x2s.  Picked up a pine panel for the top and the bottom is a 3/4 plywood. Made our own chalk paint for the finish and sealed it with wax.

Oh, forgot, added tongue and groove pine for the back and finished it and the top with Antiguing wax.

Lots of fun and I think I will make a double one next!

Instead of building a free-standing, 4-poster Pergola, I attached one side directly to the house. There are various Pergola design types and shapes. Simply Google for "pergola" images and decide which design you like best, or combine design ideas together (as I did).

Couple things to consider:
A: Is your Pergola more for decorative purposes or actual shade?
My design was more for actual shade (but with a decorative design), which is why I added the 1in x 12in x 12ft Pine boards between the cross beams at the very end (last picture). If your design is more for decorative purposes, you can space out your support beams and cross beams wider (using less wood and money).

You can also choose to use 2x4s as your support beams with 2x2 cross beams on top (essentially furring strips) either close together or spaced farther apart. This would also reduce the overall cost of your Pergola and make it much lighter as well. I chose to use all 2x6s for both support beams and cross beams.

B: What path does the sun follow across the sky over your Pergola?
If the sun passes directly over your Pergola and you want a lot of shade, you'll obviously need to consider this in your design (i.e., more cross beams that are close together).

C: Do you want your support beams and cross beams to inter-lock (by cutting square notches and assembling them like linking logs), or simply stacked on top of each other? (Again, Googling for Pergola images will help you see the differences in designs.)

I chose to interlock all of my beams by cutting notches and fitting them together. Obviously more time consuming to measure each notch, cut, and chisel them but the stability of inter-locking beams should hold up a little better in the strong winds of Las Vegas.

HOW TO (abbreviated)

Overall Pergola Dimensions: 10ft Height, 12x12ft

Tip: Paint or stain all your wood prior to assembly. Much easier. You can always touch-up scuffs and scrapes after it's built.

1. 2x6x12 installed directly onto the house (thru the stucco into the studs) using 3/8in. x 5in. lag screws. (Tip: Seal the top edge of the 2x6x12 that's against the stucco so water doesn't run behind it and down into the lag screw holes.)
2. Install the 2x6 Double Shear Hangers (as many as you need for your design)
3. 4x4 post anchors secured directly into the cement patio using Tapcon 3/16 in. x 2-3/4 in.cement anchor screws.
4. 4x4x10ft posts screwed on top of the anchors. Ensure level on all sides (use a partner to help hold the posts).
5. Attach the front and side 2x6 beams to the 2 posts (again, use a partner to help hold posts while you're up on the ladder screwing your beams to the posts)
6. Attach the remaining 2x6 support beams.
7. Attach the 2x6 cross beams on top (whether you inter-lock them by cutting notches or simply resting them on top, be sure to toe-nail screw them in with 2in exterior screws).
8. Lay 1x12x12ft pine boards on top in between the cross beams and secure with 2in exterior wood screws.
9. Construct the post bases ("sleeves" or "leggings") which greatly adds to the look, as outlined in the "Weatherly Pergola" plans.
10. Touch-up paint / stain any areas you need.

Video of the Build:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xH3ABM3X3uE

Build Instructions:
http://www.instructables.com/id/Garden-Trellis/

This adjustable garden trellis for cucumber/pea/bean vines is a quick project for the vegetable garden. The trellis gets the vines off the ground and is more productive in less space. No giant rotting cucumbers to find three weeks after the rest have matured. It is made from small lumber and twine. Paint is optional but gives a nice pop of color. Just in time for the rapid growth of summer!

These were inspired from a few different projects of Ana’s, great fun to build and have transformed our patio area

Ana's greenhouse plans modified to fit two vintage windows in the front.

We altered Ana's plans and made a little bit smaller version of it. :)

I built this bar for my mom to use i her dining room. I altered the plans for the X Style Desk to build this at bar height. This was my first time distressing anything and was pleased with the outcome. i used one coat of Minwax Dark Walnut stain and two coats of Minwax clear satin finish. White shellac Based primer, brown egg shell paint and Green egg shell paint for the base and sanded for the distressed look. I used dimensional pine lumber from the home center to build this with.

I started with the sturdy workbench plans ( http://www.ana-white.com/2011/03/sturdy-work-bench ) but enlarged it to 38x64x33 to accommodate my new CNC machine.  The plans give you enough enformation so that making a size change it very easy.  I used scrap wood I had and Plywood so the project only cost $85.00 to build.  I didn't have many 2x4's so I used the 2x6's I had instead.  Very sturdy table that took about 4 hours to build.

Thanks,

Janet Fox

I wanted to build a structure for the kids to play in and on. I used the playhouse deck design and made it 8 feet by 8 feet. The "roof" is removable to provide shade when it's sunny. It's just 2x2 and a tarp - pretty simple, but it does the job. I used treated posts, dog eared fence boards andlots of screws. I stained and built the walls in my garage before assembling it. Once all of the wood at been stained, it came together pretty quickly with the grandkids help...Lol

Modifications to the simple outdoor table plan thanks to Finn’s dad.