Community Brag Posts

I'm still getting to know my Compound Miter Saw, so I wanted to get another small project under my belt. Not to mention I had a whole other picket and a half left over from yesterday's project. This just seem to be the perfect project to do. And needed since we actually needed a few more planters.

This was very easy but was still one of my favorite builds.  I used oak for the bench top and poplar for the rest.  I used the pocket hole jig and gorilla wood glue and it is incredibly rigid and sturdy.  I changed the height to 24 inches so I could raise the shelf platform up to 10 inches from the floor.  This allowed me to place shoes under and on the shelf.  I stained with polyshades mission oak and added an additional coat of satin polyurethane.

I made this for my outside patio but since completing the project, it's been raining. So, it's inside the screen porch for the time being.

I've been needing a patio table for some time and this fit what I needed. Ready for next project!

After building the playhouse loft bed recently, I whipped up the fancy doll crib for my daughter. My mother made a beautiful pillow and quilt to match the one of my daughter's bed.

I followed the instructions at 517 creations to make this: http://517creations.blogspot.com/2011/04/ruler-growth-chart-pottery-bar…. It was relatively quick and easy project that I made to chart my daughter's growth on her second birthday (and our little ones' future birthdays). I printed the numbers off my computer, made an indent with ball point-pen and then traced with a paint marker. It took a little patience and concentration, but I drew the lines and numbers without barely making a smudge.  

Plans make this a fairly easy project. Im looking forward to making a dresser to match as time allows. The bed ends up being a bit higher than i expected but still very happy with it. This made for a good 4 day father son build. 

X rustic coffee table

This Firetruck bed was made from the plans from Ana white !
We did some little modifications to it.
All sizes where changes to cm instead of inches (we live in the Netherlands, so no American sizes will do here, since all sizes are different.)

Al the electric is 12 volt, and everything works with the key.
Put away the key, and there will be no electricity... :)

it was a hard work (about 1,5 week) but its worth it.

The bed is made out of MDF. The structur inside is pine (so it can keep a big time of weigh)

I made this to fit an empty wall in the kitchen. It's an additional work space not really an eating space. I made the table smaller 6ft. by 22.5 inches. I decided to use 2-1X11's for the top instead of smaller boards. I figured less boards to join left me less room for error! I measured my dimensions for the smaller table and then built a matching bench also. One thing I did different on these plans was that I used pocket holes underneath to attach almost all my boards so I wouldn't have any outside nail holes to fill. If you are planning on doing some building and don't have a Kregg Jig or similar tool I would definitely recommend one! I got a mini version and I've used it a ton already. Also if you are thinking about making this table I would consider using 1X4's or cutting down a 1X6 into a 4 or 5 to make the aprons a little smaller. There is not much leg room between the top of the bench and the apron of the table. Overall I loved this project.

This is a matching book shelf to the 55-fancy-x-desk.

Build Instructions:

http://www.instructables.com/id/Rustic-Book-Shelf-or-TV-stand/

I probably took this project on at a bad time (final semester of college, planning to move for my first job, and getting married) but this was my wedding present to my wife. I modified the plans and made everything (except for the drawer boxes) out of white oak cut from my father in law's farm. The headboard, footboard, and drawer faces are edge glued planks. I made the corner posts by gluing 2x4s together (actual dimension of the post is 3x3). I used threaded inserts to make it come apart into 4 pieces (headboard, footboard, and drawer boxes). This thing is HEAVY (the headboard alone probably weighs ~150lbs) I learned a lot during this project and these planse were a great guideline!

This is my first wood project. Thanks Ana for the plan. My wife and I will enjoy the dresser.

Douglas Fir 4x4 truss beam table, made from the listed plans (modified for a 72" table top and concrete used for the top).  Also, added steal gusset plates with lag bolts to replicate appearance of exposed truss beams.  Used pocket screws in conjunction with lag bolts.  Benches were altered with half-lap joints for strength (very time consuming).  Concrete table top made with Quikrete countertop mix (charcoal powder pigment added), an aluminum "M" inlay, and slurry coated with a lighter gray grout to fill in bugholes/ voids.

Table was fairly easy- hard part was finding straight wood (mostly green DF is sold near me, so some beams would warp beyond suitability as they dried).  I had to purchase a few extras to get the pieces correct.  If KD is available, go with that.  I was able to find KD DF at another hardware store for the benches.

Concrete was a PITA.  I never worked with concrete before. Watched a million youtube videos, read countless blogs, etc.  So much good info out there and I probably over-researched it.  I despise concrete, now (the mixing/ pouring/ screeding/ and weight) but I LOVE the result.

The project was my secret excuse to buy tools Ive always wanted.

If I wouldve been able to work straight through, I think I couldve completed this in a month.  The table and benches were a couple of weekends worth.  The concrete took most of my time with making melamine molds, special ordering the bags, renting the mixer, waiting it to cure, polishing and filling the top, etc.  A wood top wouldve cut down on the overall time considerably.

If you do a wood top (as I did for my benches), either use some type of joiner to get the board edges perfectly squared against one another with no gaps, OR leave gaps big enough between boards to let crumbs fall through, OR (this is what I did for my benches) I used a super clear (Lexel) caulk for the seams of the boards and then went over it after it dried with the satin polycrylic to take away any gloss.  Now all those crumbs dont get wedged between the boards.  They wipe away with ease.

Finally, I used heavy duty felt (4x6") from the local HD at $2.50 a pair.  Cut them to size and used the self-adhesive WITH gel superglue to put on bottom of bench and table legs.  A must.

My girlfriend requested I make this stand for our TV which is 46". (It looks like something she wanted from a furniture store that was being sold for around $1,100.)  I followed the plan, but customized the size. My table is 60" long and 24" high.

We wanted to make a weatherbeaten "driftwood" look. The Classic Gray was darker and had more opacity with one coat than expected, so we stopped at one coat.  Classic Gray is a lot "cooler" in tone before the clear coats, because the clear polyurethane I used  has a warm tint to it. (In the future, I also want to try the crystal clear Minwax Polycrylic, which would not warm the tone of the gray.) After the stain, we added some brown dry brushstrokes to make it look rustic or aged. 

I lightly sanded between each of the clear coats. Two coats on the under parts and three coats on the top. 

I added felt pads that I cut to fit to protect our floors from scratching. 

The wood is part pine and part common board. 

Girlfriend loves it! It is a huge hit. Lots of compliments from neighbors as I worked, too.