Community Brag Posts

This was my first table I built, very happy I found these plans. The legs were pressure treated 4x4's which made it very heavy one I put it all together. Thanks for the plans Ana!

Loved making the Weatherly for the back porch. Extended it out to be a four seater on the long side and 3 seater on the short. Finding a deal on the cushions is the key (I didn't). 

Did make a jig for the X back to make them more exact and consistent. 

I used Ana's camp loft bed plans. Built it directly in the room since I had the kiddo's with me and hubby working late couldn't help carry pieces upstairs. Built this "big girl" bed for my three year old and she loves it. Hubby and Bro-in Law got the mattress and it was a little high for the plans, so I have since added a foldable side rail for extra security. Plans worked great as is, no changes made.

My granddaughters requested beds for their multiple American Girl dolls.  I found this project and it looked like it would be fun to make.  Well, the girls have friends so the order soon totalled 19 beds.  After making a prototype I realized this would be time consuming and the results erratic if I didn't fashion some jigs for constructing the beds.  The jigs added speed and precision to the project.  Also, after building a few and puttying the screw countersinks, I tried connecting side rails to the head and foot boards using pocket screws.  This works great..Pictures of the jigs are attached.

My friend and I made this together and it was my first time using the Kreg pocket hole system. I was very impressed. The base of the piece is pine finished with a white-wash stain so the grain is still visible. The top is a restored piece of walnut finished with a simple clear coat of polycrillic. Thank you so much for the design idea! My friends love it in their living room!

This is a cross between the Farmhouse toddler bed plans and the Brookstone storage bed. My youngest son's bedding was all western stuff that I had made and wanted a bed that did it justice. We combined the headboard from Brookstone with the Farmhouse plans. I think it looks pretty good considering it was our first project!

Hey, y'all. Here is how our milk paint dining table turned out. We are proud of it. Keep checking the blog and I will have more pictures of our complete dinning room flip posted. 

Thanks,

Kira

Free wood from a local builders "trash pile" (I did ask) kreg Pocket Jig ($120, I needed it) 2 dollys from Harbor Freight $7.99 each.  2 handmade tennis ball shooting canons.  6x3x6. Thanks so much for the confidence! My first build ever!

So easy when you have the right tools. It is exactly what we needed. I can't wait for my next project!

A full write up of this build, including photos & dimensions, is here: http://imgur.com/gallery/YyawW

This was a modification of the Shirley Console Table. I had to change the dimensions to fit our entryway, and I wanted some color variation. Because I used two different stains, the pieces had to be fit together, sanded accordingly, taken apart, stained, and then glued/screwed together again. I learned how to use a router on this project, so it was a learning experience (thank goodness for wood filler!). I also inset the sides and back, though it's not really obvious in the picture. The drawers slide on a tongue and groove track. The pulls are white porcelain covered in teal sharpie (baked then coated with acrylic). Definitely learned a lot on this project! As this was made basically from wood scraps, I'm not sure what the cost was. The drawers, minus the facing, is 3/4" oak veneer plywood.

The design of our planked entertainment center is a compilation from various designs offered on Ana White; Planked Sideboard http://ana-white.com/node/4682 &  Media Center http://ana-white.com/2012/04/plans/rebecca-media-center-console-piece.  This is the 1^st piece in our collection of 6 being made in the Farm House style for our Great Room and Dining Room.   We considered this to be our “practice piece” in preparation for the remainder of the collection with many important lessons learned.

The wood used was Red Grandis, which is plantation Eucalyptus and has just recently been made available in the U.S.   Red Grandis is being sold in California to replace Mahogany due to the environmentally unfriendly agriculture practices of many Mahogany producers.  While highly recommended by our local hard-wood retailer, we were reticent as we couldn’t find much information about Red Grandis on the internet.  And, while we don’t completely know how it will stand the test of time, we found it to be very user friendly, and it cut, machined, drilled & stained very well.   

This was our first attempt at making drawers.  While it took some re-cutting / re-routering, we are pleased with the final result and have gained some cautious confidence for the next pieces.  We did learn, in our hands at least, that the Rockler 45° Lock Miter Router Bits  provided a much more reproducible drawer corner than the Rockler Drawer Lock Router Bit - 1" Dia x 1/2" H x 1/2" Shank .

This was also the first time that we have used Miller Dowels and we were very impressed with their ease of use and outstanding fixation.  Additionally, I called the Miller Dowel company a couple of times for information and found them to be very accommodating and informative.  Based on our experience, we would recommend that you consider them for your next project.  One tip that we learned along the way was to put shipping tape around ( 5”strip above, below and each side) the dowel before you cut off the tip as it, apparently, lubricates the flex saw and protects the finished surface from being damaged while removing the tip.  

Getting back into projects. Started with this little table. It was well received!! 

Saw your plan for the vintage stool and had to build it for my grand daughter. I added a little twist to it by adding a saying found on stools back in the 70s. Used a router sign kit for the lettering. The last picture shows the grand daughter's approval

This puzzle is similar to the other puzzles I posted over the last year. The goal is to remove the rope/ball from the piece of wood. With very little parts, it was really easy to make – less than 15 minutes. Go to the video for the solution if you cannot mentally figure it out from the pictures.

More Info: https://www.instructables.com/id/Simple-Rope-Puzzle/
Solution: https://youtu.be/NmcurEs-BIA

We (myself and my girlfriend) decided to build this daybed after considering several options for a new sofa. With three big dogs we knew we wanted a big sofa and after looking at many $400+ options we saw several issues (besides cost), The biggest was the availability of slip covers for easy cleaning. We went with the daybed route because a mattress is far cheaper than foam for sofa cushions and twin sheets are readily available for low prices in many colors.

Obviously I altered the plans significantly as I wanted a chunkier, heavier frame that would withstand the abuse of day to day life. Also I removed the canopy as it's not needed indoors. The rear legs are 4x4 nominal which I resawed to 3x3 actual. The rear frame is 1x3 nominal horizontal pieces with 2x3 nominal boards as the verticals. These have rabbets cut in them to join with the horizontal pieces. The bottom support for the mattress is a 2x6 resawn to 2x5 actual and rabbeted to fit each vertical and the legs. Also, the top two horizontals are longer to fit into rabbets in the legs - this allows the back structure to be far stronger.

The sides are constructed of 1x3 horizontals with the leg and arm cap being 2x4 nominal resawn to 1x3 actual. The verticals were rabbeted like the rear to accept the horizontal pieces. The front crossmember is a 2x6 nominal block planed to match the front legs.

Joinerys consists of the following -
All rabbeted joints are glued and brad nailed together.
The legs and arm/top caps are pockted screwed to the horizontal crossmembers.
The front, sides, and rear join with 3 1/2" deck screws and 5 1/2" lag bolts.
Stringers/mattress supports are 2x3 nominal.

Finish is Behr premium plus interior latex eggshell paint/primer sprayed with an HVLP sprayer.

If anyone is interested I can take some measurements and more photos. Right now we just have our old futon mattress on (we're saving to do some other projects).

Very quick and easy project. Used the plans but adjusted the width and used pocket hole screws. We made ours 54" wide. After building the entire box and horizontal shelves with pocket holes you can secure the vertical pieces with brad nails. Start with the top row first and you can secure all of those with brad nails. Then use pocket holes on the top of the bottom vertical pieces because it won't really show. You won't be able to nail it since the top vertical piece will be in the way. 

I put some extra 1x2 scrap pieces on the bottom of the shelves for extra support but it would probably be fine without it. We just knew we were going to be loading this thing up and wanted it to last forever and it's not visible anyways.