Community Brag Posts

I built four pieces of the sectional (1 corner, 3 reg) It took me a long weekend, I would come and go so actual hours are hard to estimate. For the stain I used steel wool and vinegar, followed up by strong black tea. Teak oil was used for the sealer. The second photo is a picture of one stained chair approx 30 mins after stain applied, the other one has no stain yet. The pillows I sewed myself, outdoor fabric is from Jo-anns (use the coupons!) and inserts are from ikea. The only large investment were the cushions! Pine Wood - FREE. My dad works for a lumber company. Outdoor fabric - Between $6 and $10 a yard Pillows - $3 for small, $6 for large Cushions - $29 each **my picture wont display correctly even though uploaded correctly!!!

Love these outdoor Chaise Lounges. They are very sturdy and comfortable. I am hoping to make a loveseat and tables to match. Makes a perfect patio sent for my back porch and pool!

Great plans!  I modified the bench by adding a slanted back (which enabled me to put the slats closer together), extending and curving the front of the arms and extended the seat to the outside of the legs.

This was made using Ana's "Garage Shelf" plans. I modified it for a corner spot between two exiting cabinets, so it took a bit of thought, but the Ana's technique for the build made it so easy.
AND I used up scrap wood that I'd been hording in the garage for the build.
Thank you Ana!

Since making a twin size daybed still seems intimidating to me, I decided to get some practice by making a small version for our dog. I modified the doll farmhouse bed making it a bit larger and in daybed style. We'll see if our doggie takes to it. If not, it will be a toddler couch!

Made this for my mom for a Christmas gift. I had to modify the height for space requirements. Used white semi gloss that I already had in the basement, and distressed the edges with golden oak stain. Quick and simple job.

This 7 ft fancy x farmhouse table was built as an anniversary gift for some close friends, so they'd have a dining table large enough for their blended family.

Modifications to original plans

I shortened the top to 84" long, widened the top to 40"wide, and the (outside edge to outside edge) of the legs / supports to 60". This left plenty of room for a chair on each end. The diagonal support brace cuts were not modified.

Instead of pine, I used kiln-dried Douglas fir 2x4s for legs / supports. My local lumberyard sells in 8 ft pieces for well under $10 each. I rifled through the racks to find a bunch of straight, virtually knot free (ie clear) ones.

For the top, I sourced Clear Mixed Grain (CMG) Douglas Fir. Four 10 ft 2x12s were over $250 delivered. Not cheap! But they were straight and flat. No messing around with racked or warped big box stuff this time!

I ripped them down to 10" wide with a good table saw, rip fence, and fresh 60 tooth blade. I did not cut to 7 ft length immediately. Rather, I cut down to a few inches over that (more on that in a moment). I used the Kreg jig to drill pocket hole screws underneath, but I used Titebond III wood glue and pipe clamps / 5' galvanized pipes (6 of them, in alternating directions) to clamp the top together. I added 2" coarse thread blue-coated pocket hole screws the next day - really more for peace of mind.

To cut down to 84" length, I marked the lines with a straightedge & carpenter's pencil. I then used my circular saw (also with a fresh 60 tooth high quality blade) and a straight edge clamped to the wood as a guide. This gives you nice smooth end cuts without the worry of lining everything up perfectly during glue-up. Warning - you can splinter the ends if you aren't careful.

Sanding

I used a cheap Harbor Freight belt sander with 80 and 120 grit (be careful if you've never used a belt sander before, especially with coarse grits!) to even out the top and bottom. It didn't take much, luckily. (I bought a planer *after* completing this piece).

All cuts were sanded 60, 80, 100, 150, 220, 320 and 400 grit. Lesson learned: in the future its okay to stop at 220 or so. Sanding was done with a basic Dewalt quarter-sheet sander, with a 3m rubber hand sanding block, and plain ole-sandpaper in my hand. I shaped all edges by hand with 100/150/220.

Nails & Glue

I used a pneumatic nailer and Titebond III wood glue on the legs and supports, then a nail punch and wood filler to hide any nail holes. The aprons / stretchers were fastened with pocket hole screws and glue. I used plugs on the lower one, as it is more visible. The plugs are pretty much seamless - use glue and wood filler and sand out, nobody will ever be able to tell :)

A Quick Word on Wood Glue Selection

Many of the project plans on this site (and brag posts) mention the use of expanding glues like Gorilla Wood Glue, Elmer's Carpenter's Glue etc. These long open-time adhesives are easy to work with but they expand and are not as strong as Titebond.

Stain & Poly

I used a clean rag (cut up an old t shirt..) to apply a generous coat of Minwax wood conditioner, wiping off any excess after about 15 min. I then immediately applied a coat of Minwax Dark Walnut stain. I used stain applicator pads but a good rag works just fine and wiped off excess after 10 or 15 minutes.

The top received 2 coats, the second coat applied a week later.

2 coats of Minwax fast dry polyurethane were applied via brush (high quality natural bristle brush). I lightly sanded with 220 after the 1st coat was fully dried, and with 320 after the second. Semi gloss was used for the 3rd and final coat. If I had a 'do over', I would have used wipe on poly and thinned with mineral spirits to eliminate brush marks more effectively. OR I would have used a foam roller (still thinning a coat or two with mineral spirits).

Important: I applied a single coat of poly to the underside of the table as well. Coating the entire piece stabilizes the wood, according to a few articles. This means its less likely to shrink or swell unevenly over time.

Attaching the Top

In Ana's / Shanty 2 Chic's original plans, there are comments from people wondering how to attach the table top to the supports. Originally, I planned on drilling through the sandwiched 2x4 supports and deeply counterinking screws. You can buy a surprisingly decent countersink drill bit set at Harbor Freight for very little money. You could also use something like 3M velcro tape. Either way, you would be able to separate the top from the legs for transport. If you do use Titebond III to glue it down, I'm confident it will never come off.

This is my first brag post and only my 4th completed DIY furniture project, so please LMK if I've forgotten to cover any important details.

Dan Gendreau
S Kingstown, RI

Just My Size Closet!

Built this from Ana's plans with a few modifications.

Started with a big empty box after ripping the old stuff out and finished with this look.

Adjustable shelves and all !

Using the Michaela Island plans, I modified them for this croquet-inspired island, complete with black iron foot rail, sewing spindle drawer-pulls, and iron-supported cantilevered top. The extra boards making up the overhang are also supported by a trio of 1/2-inch dowels drilled through several of the planks.

The top was stained using several colors, with sanding in-between, and finished with paste wax.

The bottom shelf is supported, albeit not visibly, using a croquet mallet head.

We changed the plans for this kitchen island a bit to best suit our needs. We removed the middle shelf and the bottom half of the center divider in order to create a large, open area for storage. We also extended the bottom slats to the full depth of the island, or 21".

The drawer depth was also increased to the full depth, or approximately 20". Instead of using 2x2 cleats for the drawers, we installed 20" self-closing drawer slides from Lowe's. This allows the drawers to be fully extended as well as have a soft-close feature. 

The top measures 26 1/4" x 56 1/4" and was made by securing two pine panels together using pocket holes. We couldn't find an appropriate size at Lowe's, so we purched two panels instead. After sanding and staining, it is impossible to tell where the boards are joined together. 

In the future, we might distress or add an antique finish the white base. Overall, we are very happy with the kitchen island. It's wonderful to have a little extra storage in the kichen! 

Thanks Ana!

-Anna

I made the worm composter from Ana's plan and built a cabinet out of old pallets. The stack of worm composters drawers slide in and out of the cabinet on a heavy duty drawer glide set. I used cedar fence board. For 3 bucks a board, it was worth the work to rip them down and sand them. The bottom drawer has a tray built out of old flashing and slopes towards a hose bib in order to collect the worm tea. I designed the drawer insert out of cardboard and cut it out of flashing, using a pop rivet gun to put it together, sealing the seams with flashing caulking. The drawer has a sheet of aluminum window screen under the top square of cedar.

My 4yr old son had been asking me to build him a Super Hero Clubhouse. He thought it was going to be outside! I added the slide and door and the back inside wall is a whiteboard. He absolutley loves it!! It took about 9 weekends, the painting was the longest task.