Community Brag Posts

Round X Base Pedestal Dining Table

Submitted by bRick on Thu, 12/18/2014 - 18:05

We wanted a round table that would seat a full Monopoly game. To do this we needed about a 5' diameter tabletop.  The base was made consistent with the plans.  

A few tips on the base:

  1. Get your angles as close to 45° as you can.  Otherwise, there will be much sanding and puttying in your future.  
  2. If you want to hide your lag screw like I did, I used a spade bit to recess an area for the screw head.  Then I glued in a plug made from dowel and sanded flush.  

If you want to make a round tabletop, here is what I did (there may be better methods).  Keep in mind this was for a ~60" diameter table, I was assuming that the perimeter arc pieces would be about 4.5" wide and that I would cut the inner circle at a 50" diameter.

  1. Picture 1 - I built two 5' slabs of (7) 2x4s pocket-holed together.  
  2. Picture 2 - Then I cut two pieces from each slab that would later make up the 90° "pie slice" pieces.  Make sure to remove the screws that will be in the way your saw blade. Also, you just have to concern yourself with the angle since the radius will be dealt with later.  There is a lot of wood waste with this method, but I think it avoided headaches. 
  3. Picture 3 - I assembled (screwed and glued) the "pie pieces"to the cross pieces. The length of the cross pieces don't matter much since they will also be to cut to a specified radius.  Since I would be cutting a 50" diameter circle, the large cross piece had to be at least 50" and the two small pieces had to be at least 22.25" (subtracting the 2x6 width).  
    1. Picture 3 - I mounted my router to a piece of MDF and drilled a hole at the necessary distance to cut a 50" diameter circle. This distance is 25" + half of the bit diameter.  Since I used a 1/2" straight bit, my point was 25.25" from the center of the router bit.  I screwed this jig to the center of the tabletop assembly so the router could pivot and cut a circle.  As for logistics, I rested this assembly on some scrap wood and kneeled on the tabletop as I was cutting it.  It took a large number of passes with the router since I was cutting through 1.5" of material. 
  4. Picture 4 - The perimeter pieces required some time and geometry. I found that I would need (8) 23" 2x8 pieces (the 23" is approximate because I was a little off for some reason, though I can't recall why).  From those pieces, I used the same router jig to cut the perimeter arc pieces. You will need to make two new radius holes in teh jig to accomplish what you need.  To cut the inner arc you need a hole set at 25" - half of the bit diameter (24.75" for me).  To cut the outer arc, I used a hole that was 29 5/8" from the center of the router bit.  You may need to do some fine tuning to these pieces to get them to fit correctly, but for me it pretty minor.  I trimmed a couple pieces with a miter saw but that was it. 
  5. The rest is screws and glue. 
Estimated Time Investment
Week Long Project (20 Hours or More)
Finish Used
Sanded using 60, then 120 grit. The stain was Rust-Oleum's Ultimate Wood Stain in Dark Walnut. The top coat was General Finishes water-based polyurethane in flat. One coat of stain, six coats of poly, while sanding with grade #0000 steel wool after every other coat.
Recommended Skill Level
Intermediate

Comments

ILoveDIYing

Sun, 03/08/2015 - 10:23

Hi, your table is beautiful! I was wondering if you had to increase the size of your base since your table top is 60". I'm going to be building a round one the same size and wanted to make sure it would be stable at the current size.

bRick

Fri, 03/13/2015 - 20:36

The only modification I made to the base was the to the lengths of the 2x4 pieces that make up the "X" that sits between the base and the tabletop. In the plans, this "X" is made of (1) 32" piece and (2) 14.5" pieces. I believe I increased these to 36" and 16.5", respectively. Truthfully, I don't think this modification added much value.

I did some calculations and at a 60" diameter, it would've taken over 100 lbs placed at the edge of the table. This was also a function of the weight of the table. The heavier the table, the more stable it will be.

Momma Gladden

Sun, 04/05/2015 - 19:21

I want to put a concrete top on this base and increase the diameter to 72". Would I need to increase the size of the base to accommodate the larger and heavier top? Thank you

bRick

Tue, 04/14/2015 - 20:20

It all depends on how much your tabletop weighs. I'm going to take a wild guess that your tabletop will weigh around 500 lbs (~28 sq. ft. at ~18 lbs/sq. ft.). For reference, I think my wood top weighed about 80 lbs. I will also assume the wood base weighs 50 lbs. Using these assumptions, the result is a worst-case scenario (weight placed at edge of table, tipping between two table legs) of tipping at 300 lbs. The lighter the tabletop, the less stable it will be. Since your concrete table is likely to weigh a lot more than my wood top, it will be a lot more stable.

That addresses the design and assumes none of the wood or connections (screws) fail under the increased load (weight of concrete). I can't speak very confident to this aspect. Though I can venture a guess. I will guess that it will be stable under no load, but there will increased loads when under uneven stress (i.e. somebody leaning on one side of the table). Honestly, I don't know how valuable any further speculation would be.

X3cougsp

Tue, 09/06/2016 - 08:14

Can the pedestal hold a 66"- 72" top?  I've been searching for a table that seats 6 comfortably with an occasional squeeze for 8.  I think a 60" would work but my husband thinks 72".  We are struggling to find exactly what we want and are now investigating DIYs .  This is a beautiful table!!  

In reply to by X3cougsp

bRick

Wed, 10/05/2016 - 17:16

This is a conversation that we had in our house as well. My personal opinion is that 60" is big enough for 6 people and good enough for 8 people. What we did to "dry run" it was I cut a board to 72" and set it up at table height and we sat at oppposite ends of the board. I asked my wife if it was too big and we both agreed that not only would really shrink the room, but it also was too big for regular use. We currently have 6 chairs around this on a regular basis. As for the stability of the table itself, you may want to increase the width of the base. I say this because 74 lbs at the edge of the table (in between legs) will cause the table to tip, which is probably a force that will be exceeded by someone leaning on it. 

bRick

Thu, 12/22/2016 - 20:58

I used the jig that I made the large circle but made a couple new radii. The inner edge was the round piece radius minus half of the bit diameter. The other radius is as wide as you want to make it. 

 

I fixed this jig to my work bench and set it up so that I would be cutting each piece identically. I have a picture that I'll add that shows it better than I can explain it. 

In reply to by Omally83

bRick

Sat, 01/21/2017 - 07:46

I believe my approach was that I cut the 2x8s to the length that would produce the arc length I was looking for. So basically the outer edge was going to (if my jig did its job) be exactly as long as I needed it to be. With that in mind, I used a piece of yarn tied to the pivot point on the jig that I was using and used that to tell me where I needed to make the cut. 

Otherwise, I could've used trig to figure it out but I was all angled out by that point. With 8 border pieces they should each cover 45 degrees (360/8) and the other two angles should be equal ((180 - 45))/2=67.5) resulting in a 67.5 degree angle. The trouble in using that method is it doesn't account for all the little screw-ups that may have thrown off certain measurements. Plus, the yarn-thing was pretty easy. 

SueInVA

Sat, 01/23/2021 - 14:17

We made the table base for a 60" solid walnut top (used the wider measurements). When people get up from the table, my husband thinks the base twists when they push off. Has anyone else noticed this or have a suggestion on how to make the table not twist? Thanks, Sue

Poolside Towel Cabinet from Benchmark Cabinet Plan

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Thu, 03/23/2017 - 11:21

My father and I made this awesome poolside towel cabinet using the Benchmark Cabinet plans. A super easy 1 day build and it looks amazing on the patio. Bring on the pool weather! 

Estimated Cost
$60
Estimated Time Investment
Day Project (6-9 Hours)
Finish Used
Chalk paint/Poly topcoat
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

King Bed Frame

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Tue, 04/18/2017 - 16:39

This was a fun project. Easy instructions great piece of furniture. It is very sturdy. I'm a beginner at DIY wood projects so this was a rewarding project.

Built from Plan(s)
Estimated Cost
$200
Estimated Time Investment
Weekend Project (10-20 Hours)
Finish Used
Minwax red Chestnut and American Chestnut. Treat the American Chestnut more like paint than stain it dries quickly.
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

DIY Board Game Cabinet

We tweaked the Ana White Barn Door bookcase plan for a bathroom linen closet, made it a hair too wide (it was soooo close), and decided to use this for board games instead. It's PERFECT for storing long games like Monopoly, as well as puzzles, cards, and more. I decorated it with vinyl cut with my Cricut to give it that "game night" feel.

The project ended up being fairly time consuming because painting the shelf took a lot of time... if I did it again, I'd probably use a paint sprayer. I just don't have a great space for spraying furniture builds.

Built from Plan(s)
Estimated Time Investment
Weekend Project (10-20 Hours)

Comments

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Rustic Wine Rack

Submitted by tracysmith on Fri, 03/29/2013 - 11:17

I've built many custom pieces for local folks but this one with all it's half circles really threw me - how was I going to do those, make them precise and not spend 3 days doing it. It's simple really.... I cheated!! LOL I used a 3 1/8" hole saw for the larger ones and a 1" hole saw for the smaller ones. I also took two boards and clamped them together with pipe clamps and then drilled two at once! It gives it a more consistent look and cuts the time literally in half!

I used a home brew for the stain. Had a friend of mine do the engraving for the front header piece. I think the whole project took between 10 - 15 hours to do because there was a lot of experimenting with the stain and there was also readjusting the sides and top to look how I wanted.

The client loves it and I'll post a pic on my Facebook page of the whole thing loaded up with wine, later today.

Estimated Cost
$250 was retail on this
Estimated Time Investment
Weekend Project (10-20 Hours)
Finish Used
The finish used was steel wool dissolved in vinegar with a secret ingredient added. :-)
Recommended Skill Level
Advanced

Farmhouse Table Squared

Submitted by sraper2 on Sun, 04/07/2013 - 20:53

I used your plans for the table but changed the table dimensions to fit my space. My table is square and measures 58"x58". I also changed the chairs to have a straight back and then the top is is cut at a 6 degree angle. I love them so much!!!

Estimated Time Investment
Week Long Project (20 Hours or More)
Recommended Skill Level
Intermediate

Planter Box/Bench with trellis

I used Ana's planter box plans and I designed and built the bench out of pallet wood, and purchased the power coated trellis's and custom fit then to the planters.

Estimated Cost
$110.00
Estimated Time Investment
Day Project (6-9 Hours)
Finish Used
unfinished
Recommended Skill Level
Intermediate

Comments

Outdoor Kitchen Island using remnant Granite

Submitted by gerrell on Wed, 06/23/2021 - 18:07

I've had these granite pieces that I got incredibly cheap from a remnant place last year for another project. A few weeks ago, I put them on some spare IKEA desk legs to make a workspace on my deck. I hated the look AND they were a little wobbly.
I spent some time searching the web and thankfully stumbled upon these plans. I modified the dimensions to fit the granite tops, used fewer pickets on the shelves and painted the whole thing black.

I think it looks great and adds awesome outdoor counterspace on the grilling deck!

Estimated Cost
$100
Estimated Time Investment
Weekend Project (10-20 Hours)
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

Comments

Camp Loft Bed for the Little Lady

I came across the Camp Loft Bed on Pinterest a couple of months ago. My daughter was still sleeping in a crib, but I knew that she would need a big girl bed by summer. Since her room is small (inside walls measure just under 9'x9'), i thought a loft bed would be ideal.
I have NEVER done a DIY. I don't even own tools. But my step-dad is very handy, so I asked him to be my consultant and helper to tell me if I was doing things the wrong way! Fortunately, he was able to lend me a miter saw, some aluminum saw horses, and the odd screw (when I seemed to run out).

From start to finish, this was a 7 day project. I used construction grade spruce for my lumber, which cost me just shy of $100. I also went back the next day and bought a couple more 2x4s to make two shelves under the platform, which was another $30. I then pre-drilled with my new favourite tool the Kreg, and proceeded to sand, prime, and paint all of the pieces before assembly. With assembly being in my daughter's room, and having nice fresh paint on her walls and carpeted floors, I did NOT want to be finishing the bed in there, but there was no way I could move it into her room completely assembled. I did all the finishing BEFORE assembly.

Sand, prime, sand, paint, paint, paint. That process took three days, obviously not the entire day. Painting goes relatively quickly, but with boards, you paint one side, let dry, roate 90 degrees, paint, let dry, etc. I also had to work a couple of days in between as well. I went with Benjamin Moore Aura paint and that required three coats. I used to some leftover pink and yellow for the platform and shelves, but if I consider the cost, the paint set me back another $100.
I also had to order in the proper screws and I bought some of the white Kreg plugs to cover the exposed holes. Hurray for amazon! Even selecting the free shipping, the screws arrived within 4 days.

Assembly day:
My step-dad and I worked from 10:30-1:30. By this time, the bed and platform were completely assembled and in place. My daughter, however, needed to nap, so I put her down in her brother's bed, and we took a couple of hours off for lunch!
We then worked from 5-8:45 pm building the stairs, cleaning the room, measuring and screwing down the slats for the mattress, then making the bed and getting it ready for sleep. It seemed like a much longer day because in between, I had to run out and pick up a twin mattress, some extra screws, help my son play his new Skylander game, and deal with three kids trying to "help" with construction!

All in all, I am very pleased with the bed, with the plans, and with my first DIY. My kids are all in love with the bed and we spent a lot of time shooing them out of the room while we tried to assemble it.

Tips:
If I were to make this bed again (if my sons have their way, their beds are next!) I would not paint the wood, opting instead for a stained more natural look. I love the colours for my daughter, but what a pain all that painting and rotating the boards was. Paint was also a more expensive option for finishing.
That being said, if I do paint, I will NOT paint the ends of the boards that will be joined via pocket holes. In some cases, the boards were just a smidge too long to fit and we had to take the back to the saw and shave off the layer of paint in order for the board to fit.
I also opted to buy firm twin mattress as opposed to the plush ones. The plush mattresses add a lot of height and I was worried about my daughter having a bit too much fun up there and possibly tipping out from a high mattress. Stick to thinner mattresses on loft or bunk beds!

Estimated Cost
$250
Estimated Time Investment
Week Long Project (20 Hours or More)
Finish Used
Benjamin Moore Aura paint
colours: white, glamour pink and cornsilk (for the two shelves)
Recommended Skill Level
Starter Project

PB Inspired Queen Storage Bed

 A local South Floridian found me through Pine+Main. She needed two beds for her older kids. Client hired me to build two queen size storage beds based on the Sumatra Storage Beds from Pottery Barn. These beds took over eight weeks to build. My first time making drawers boy was that a challenge. I installed full extension drawer glides to access all the content in the drawers. Bed comes together in 3 pieces. It is stained Varathane's Dark Walnut. And the top coat is the Rust-Oleum Triple Thick Polyurethane in a matte finish. Built with Purebond plywood. These beds are super heavy and super strong.  

Estimated Cost
$900
Estimated Time Investment
Week Long Project (20 Hours or More)
Finish Used
Varathane Dark Walnut and Rust-oleum Triple Thick Poly
Recommended Skill Level
Intermediate

Redwood Planters

Submitted by powerof2 on Thu, 09/09/2021 - 21:39

Planters from Easy Build DIY Planter Box. Some modifications, but essentially direct from the plans. I used redwood fence pickets for the slats, finished the frame with an "ancient oak" stain and the faces with spar varnish diluted with paint thinner.

Comments

Wide Short Pine 1x12 Bookshelf

Submitted by ariela on Wed, 03/09/2011 - 03:15

This was my first project ever, and while there are a few things I could have done better (don't judge the imperfections!) the shelves still came out beautifully. I followed Ana's plan exactly, painting the backboard a charcoal grey before attaching, and the shelves themselves white with light lemon yellow on the inside-sides. If I were to make these again, I would want to sand the shelves down more and use a higher gloss paint or sealer. The matte finish is more difficult to clean when it gets dusty, which happens pretty quickly!

Built from Plan(s)
Estimated Time Investment
Afternoon Project (3-6 Hours)
Recommended Skill Level
Starter Project

Outdoor Sofa and Sectional

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Fri, 07/14/2017 - 00:22

I haven't really done anything like this, came out quite well. I modified the back for what I think is better comfort, added side supports to hold throw pillows in place and added 2 extra 2x4's to seating surfaces. The sofa I built in an afternoon with an extra pair of hands to line things up and hold them in place. The sectional took a little longer to complete as my helper was off building his own couch (after he saw how simple it was to do). I also didn't use a pocket jig (couldn't find one in rural hardware store) but a countersink drill bit for all screw holes. 

Estimated Cost
in Canadian, for the sofa and sectional about 220 with stain.
Estimated Time Investment
Weekend Project (10-20 Hours)
Finish Used
latex semi transparent stain
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

Comments

Kids Country Bench

Submitted by Jenny Anne on Mon, 03/14/2011 - 14:26

Hi! I made the Kid's Country Bench for my first ever woodworking project. Making this bench was the first time I've used a jigsaw (purchased for this project) and the first time drilling a pilot hole. My husband answered a couple of questions along the way, but I did all the work myself and am so proud. I did change some dimensions to accommodate pretty baskets I wanted to use. This is going to be very helpful for corralling two little boys' shoes in my entry.

Built from Plan(s)
Estimated Cost
$50
Estimated Time Investment
Day Project (6-9 Hours)
Finish Used
I really wanted to stain this and prime and paint later as a last resort, if needed. My concern was the wood putty. I didn't get the "stainable" stuff since I've only heard bad things about it. I got some that would supposedly blend pretty well. You can see that it's too dark for my stain, but I'm ok with that in the end. I think it' makes it look like reclaimed wood or something. You can also see on the end where I drilled two holes in the wrong spot (oops!) despite measuring twice, cutting once. (That doesn't help if you're measuring the wrong number!) :-)
Recommended Skill Level
Starter Project

Slat Bench from Palettes

Submitted by jetpad on Fri, 09/15/2017 - 06:32

This was made from several heavy duty palettes that were used for delivering stone. Because of the wood I could get off the palettes, I switched the thin and thick pieces so that the slat gaps were where the 2x4 pieces were missing instead of the 1x4s. 

Estimated Cost
$10 (for glue and screws)
Estimated Time Investment
Afternoon Project (3-6 Hours)
Finish Used
None
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

My Little Garden

Submitted by HOWsMom on Mon, 05/18/2015 - 09:52

I started with Ana's raised garden beds, but due to limited funds, opted to cut down the size of the beds to be able to use a smaller amount of lumber.

I also used 2x4's screwed together instead of 4x4 posts for the legs.

Estimated Cost
$100 CDN
Estimated Time Investment
Weekend Project (10-20 Hours)
Finish Used
Thompsons Water Proofing - clear
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

Custom Pantry Spice Rack

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Mon, 12/06/2021 - 02:56

After special ordering glass spice jars for my cupboard I came across your plans for this spice rack and decided to attempt the build. Plans were very well written and easy to execute with a few customizations. I opted for brass rods to hold the jars in place and lined each shelf with shelf liner to ensure the jars don’t move when the pantry door swings. I am very pleased with the outcome and will be making a matching rack for my aluminum foil, plastic wrap, etc.

Built from Plan(s)

Comments

Fireplace Wall Remodel

I needed a solution to my shelving problem. I wanted something clean looking, modern, and white to flank both sides of my fireplace. Count on Ana White to come up with a plan. Within seconds of sitting down to surf her site, I found that perfect plan to build four floating shelves.

Built from Plan(s)
Estimated Time Investment
Day Project (6-9 Hours)
Recommended Skill Level
Intermediate

King Storage bed

Submitted by Pbelton40 on Mon, 07/20/2015 - 06:57

From start to completion, it was exactly two weeks.  One of those weeks, I was sick and didn't get a chance to do much.  I believe we picked the hottest days to work on this project, so we were taking more breaks than actually working.

Built from Plan(s)
Estimated Time Investment
Week Long Project (20 Hours or More)
Finish Used
Bombay Mahogany stain
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner