Community Brag Posts

This is my very first project. Never used a saw before until a few weeks ago. I am really happy with the way it turned out.

I shortened the plan and modified the second shelf. I was planning on an "X" brace for both sides but got carried away and realized it wasn't going to work on the one side. I like the end result and don't mind that its missing.

I would have finished it sooner but was a bit intimidated by the angled cuts. My miter saw only cuts 45.

I built this Counter for a new business in Chatham, Va. Will add lighting in side !

Had to trim a little off the barn door track so they would fit, but overall, great project!

Loved this project. Modified it slightly with a side mounted roll away laybox. Also I made my own dual linked chick lifts system.

Solid garden lounger and side table to match our garden chairs and table.

I followed the plan, and used plain pine wood.  The wood cost $106 at my local Home Depot.  The Kreg R3 Jr. Jig, Clamp and Screws I already had from a previous project. This is a weekend project.  Biggest obstacle here is to make sure the shelves stay level.  After it was built I sanded everything with 180 grit before going to the staining step.

Stain...  I made a pot of STRONG Tetly Black Tea and painted the entire table.  I decided to go with this Oxidizing Stain (http://www.sweetpickinsfurniture.com/2011/01/how-to-weather-new-wood.ht…) for the wood.  The Black Tea increases the tannins in the wood, which makes a stronger reaction in the woodgrain after you apply the oxidizing solution.  After the solution dried I sanded lightly with 180 grit again and now it's ready for Wipe-On Poly to be applied.

Just one small hint.. The Oxidizing Solution takes a few days to react, so plan accordingly.  I let mine set for 7 days before use.

Thank you for helping our family stay organized and keeping our entryway clean.

Here is the Easy Kitchen Island all finished. I learned to use my k-reg with this project. To attach the top I instead used corner blocks in each corner of the bottom unit and screwed the top in place. I found this made the piece more sturdy. for the 1x2's I used furring strips which are not very nice however I painstakingly picked through a large pile till I found ones that were straight and without knots. I then had to sand them like crazy. Saved a ton of money but worked very hard. This project actually took 19 - 1x2's rather than what the plan called for. When complete this piece was very heavy...I love it and have found the perfect home for it.
Thanks again Ana!
Janet

Rustic tv stand made from pallets and reclaimed ship lap and 2x4's

I used cedar, stainless steel rails and finished with marine spar varnish.  Gave to my son for Christmas to hold his smoker/barbeque!   Thanks for the super project idea!

Took the farm house desk and mirrored it. It has four file drawers and a desk drawer on each end. The frame and drawers are clear coat polyurethane and the desktop is stained chestnut with warm satin polycrylic clear coat. - 

After my daughter started escaping from her crib I knew it was time to build her a new bed. I didn't think she was quite ready for a full size yet so I thought a toddler size would work for at least the next year.

I started with the Traditional Toddler Bed plans and scaled down the size of the Rustic Headboard and incorporated that. The biggest thing I learned in the process was to measure your mattress first! I don't think I realized the size variation in crib mattresses and ended up having to recut my slats and rails to accommodate my larger mattress. Also, our mattress is 5 inches deep, which means that the safety rails only extend about an inch over the top of the bed. This seems to be fine for my daughter and she hasn't fallen out - yet - but I think if you have a very restless sleeper or just want to play it safe, you might want to add an extra inch or two to the height of the guardrails.

I also used a 2 x 6 for the foot rail as this allowed the legs to be inset further and gave it a more solid look on the bottom.

This was an easy build and I'm so happy with the finish. I used Hilary's oxidizing vinegar solution first. I didn't feel it was "grey" enough so I put on a coat of Minwax Weathered Grey. Let dry. Added a coat of Minwac Special Walnut and finished with Pastewax. Love, love, love!  They are very sturdy!

My wife wanted an island so bad and didn't like any of the plans but this one. This was my first big project but it worked out well. In the front middle section, I went with a two trash can sliding cabinet. Took me around 36 hours to complete. I also found plans for tall bar stools that I used and made the chairs with the island. We found a stone place that had scrap granite that we bought cut to size. My wife loves it. Great Christmas present!! 

So we wanted to build a simple twin size bed for our 5 year old son. That quickly expanded into my wife wanting me to build this PB replica (which happens to be her favorite kids bed). My response was "honey, you really don't understand my lack of ability." She insisted and after a couple of weeks the bed is done! Using Ana's plans made this not only doable but much easier than I thought (this was my first build).

We changed the design very slightly because the original was a few inches too tall (we have a ceiling fan that would have hit the top). We simply shortened the top half of the bed by 3 inches. At the suggestion of a friend (who's mitre and table saws we used for the cuts) we used dado instead of pocket holes for the stairs. We also used a lot of countersinking instead of pocket holes (for example to attach the vertical slats on the side walls).

We bought the cheapest wood we could get at Home Depot. All the wood and stain and materials cost about $250-300 (I still haven't checked the receipts exactly). However, I was told (quite sternly) that I severely overpaid for the wood by not going to a lumber yard. We used a Minwax oil-based stain (mission oak). We only did one coat.

Now that we're done with this we can't wait to get started on the next project (right after I get my dissertation going).