Community Brag Posts

We built this table using Ana White's patio table plan. We modified it slightly only to use pallet wood for the top. With the pallet wood varying by width, we had to adjust the quantity of slats needed for the top. Using the pallet wood for the top also reduced the cost a bit. We think it turned out great! The plan was VERY easy!

This was my first major woodworking project, and I am so pleased with it! I have been looking for a piece of furniture like this and couldn't find something that I liked and could afford. I spent about $180 in lumber, and also took Ana's advice and invested in a Kreg Jig. I HIGHLY recommend this! It is expensive ($100) but so worth it. I had to learn a few things along the way, and had encountered some obstacles, but in the end I am very pleased with the project. A few things I learned on my first project:

1. Exact cuts are SO important. Every 1/8" matters. It was helpful to do as many cuts as possible at the lumber store.

2. Ana mentions this in her beginners section, but it bears repeating: wood glue will repel stain. Be sure to wipe away ALL residue of wood glue before staining, and be sure to give extra sanding attention to areas that had wood glue. Otherwise you will have a white spot in the midst of your stain.

3. On this plan in particular there is one change that I recommend. Do not add the wrap around trip on the top and bottom until AFTER you have put the plywood backing on in the last step. The reason is that the plywood adds another 3/4 inch, and so there was a gap between the edge of the trip and the back on the furniture. I redid it on the top because it was so noticeable.

Built this table for my niece 3 years ago which she still wont let go of even though its getting small for her..  I mostly had all the materials needed minus paint which i got from home depot. Pretty straight forward project that i got done in a few hours. She was 3 at the time and is now 6 and still has the table which she still uses and has.

A Cornhole set I donated to a charity golf tournament. The Miracle League of Connecticut puts on social events for kids with intellectual and physical disabilities. It's built to ACL specs.

I live in Japan right now and my wife and daughters went to the states to visit family for 3 weeks. I decided to make a few projects. I went to my local home improvement store (HOMES), which is a combo of Lowes, Walmart, a pet store, and a furniture store rolled into one crazy store. I purchased the wood for about 11000 yen, paint for 1080 yen, hinges 800 yen, and door knobs for 2880 yen. Grand total of basically $200. I found that it is not cheap to buy supplies over here. I modified the plan and made 16 "drawers" instead of 20 due to the height of the space where I am putting the table. I used the plan for finishing with the distressed coffee stain. I really like it in our room.

Tools:
Miter Saw
Table Saw
Jig Saw (b/c my bandsaw is down)
Oscillating Spindle Sander
Orbital Sander
Router
1/8" roundover bit
1/4" roundover bit
Kreg Jig
Tape Measure
Tri Square

Materials:
S4S Poplar
Kreg Screws
Kreg Stain Grade wood plugs
3" panhead screws with matching washers and wingnuts to attach basket to rocker.

This is my third "Ana" project. I've built her baby changing table and the child tower thing for toddlers to stand at a counter.

I built two of these rocking stands for the Moses Bassinet (found on Amazon). The first was a prototype and joints at the rockers were just straight pieces of wood cut at the angle of the rocker. I built it out of pine from the big box store and used my Kreg jig for the pocket holes.

The second one (featured) I used S4S poplar which cost more but came pretty well uniform. I still had to find boards that were free of twist and bows, but that just took time and was easy to do. I use a "lay it on the floor" method and flip it to see if it rocks, twists, etc.. It works for now. I still find myself cutting around imperfections though. With this second rocker, I molded the sides into the rocker-bottoms./
I'm saving to buy a planer, which will be the last major tool for the wood shop (garage), so then I can mill my own lumber and be done with HD and L's.

Just some observations and steps I took:

To make the rockers and other parts of the project uniform that had curves which needed to be parallel to each other, etc., I used double-sided tape and put the pieces together when cutting and sanding. I recommend using the least amount of tape as possible. I learned the hard way and on the prototype rockers, I covered the entire surface of the pieces with the tape. It took an act of God to get the pieces to release after I had spent an hour or so cutting and sanding the edges. It nearly failed to come apart and I would've had to start over because it was the 3 major components that were taped together like this. On the second run with the featured rocker, I used a couple small pieces of double-sided tape. This held together through cutting and sanding without any issue.

I rounded some of the edges w/ a 1/8th or a 1/4" roundover bit on my router. On the pieces that weren't hit by the router, I just broke the edges with sandpaper, to keep hands from getting splinters, etc.

For finish I used Minwax wood conditioner, oil based stain and polyurethane. I first sanded the entire piece to 320 by hand. I applied the conditioner as instructed. It's a must on softer wood such as pine, poplar, whitewood, etc. Otherwise, you will have blotches. After that I applied one coat of stain. I applied a coat of poly with a foam brush. I didn't like the results. I sanded it down w/ 320. I then went and bought a "nice" brush for polyurethane at the big box store for like $8.00 and applied another coat. This one came out better. I sanded it with 400 grit and applied one final coat with a fine cotton cloth.

I followed the plans on here for the most part. They are complete and were easy to follow. Thanks Ana!

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!

Just finished this Twin Size Simple Bed direct from the Ana White plans. This is my first project that I've completed, and it went well! The plans were great, and my only advice would be to take your time. I know that some people don't like to paint the wood, but this white just fit the room perfectly. As a side-note, this bed is SOLID and very heavy! Amazing what a difference real wood is to the stuff you get at the furniture store.

This is the first thing I have ever made. I had my wood cut at Lowe's, bought a Kreg pocket hole jig and screws. I borrowed a friend's drill, sander and stain. I was amazed at how easy this was and how well it turned out.

Fairly easy to make with a jigsaw and sander. I would suggest to whomever makes one of the Charlie scooters to use a hardwood as some of the section in the handlebar area can be fragile when weight is applied. 

Nothing with finess but I always loved the look of old farm houses so I built my own.

We were in desperate need of a lego storage solution for our son's small bedroom. I made this for his 7th birthday. I saw a photo of a similar one as a result of a google or pinterest search and decided to draw up some plans.
I recessed the top slightly so that pieces won't fall off. I just glued thin cleats to the inside of the box to hold the lid, (using spacers to get it at the height I wanted) Ideally the top would be reversible however I didn't quite get one of the dividers square so it only fits one way. I used Posca water-based markers to do the text. Make sure you wait until the text is really dry before you try to seal it (don't ask me how I know that...) Turns out that the markers don't react well with the brush on poly so I just left the text unsealed.
I was just going to have one handle on the front but then I made a stupid mistake and wrote the text so it would be upside down when pulled out (I know, dumb right!) So I added another handle on the other side. I used a water-based enamel for the whole box. Not sure if that was worth it of if I should have just used flat and given it a top coat of poly. I used a brush on the inside corners and found it really hard to get an even finish because I rolled the flat surfaces. Painting the pieces before assembly would probably fix this.
Added some castors so it can be pushed under the bed.

Loved all your tables!! I was inspired by the tweaked plans of Modified Simple Outdoor Patio Table and made mine out of pallets :-) (Only the top slats, not the frame and supports)

This was a project undertaken to facilitate my current pursuit of learning how to cook, but I think it will serve me well as I study, too, holding my textbooks up. It also let me experiment a little with staining and with using milk paint (which has NO VOCs but is kinda weird to work with). And it let me put to use some scrap wood that I think I was unconsciously saving for something special.

Because I had a scrap pile, screws, a few hinges, and the finishing products, this project was Almost free...I had to buy a narrow hinge ($1.50? I think?), and I chose to buy some pretty page weights ($3 including both pendants and the chain). So...not too bad, right? For a solid book stand that has meaningful beauty to me?

Ok, so this is all scrap wood. The stained pieces are maple leftovers from my cabinet project, and the rest is a mix of pine and poplar. See the dimensions in the last photo. The paint is Miss Mustard Seed Milk Paint in Lucketts Green, and the stain is Red Chestnut oil-based stain by Minwax. I finished the whole thing with one coat of wax buffed to a soft sheen (my new favorite finish).

I used a miter saw for my cuts and a router for the kickstand grooves, but really a regular circular saw would've worked just as well (or better, for the grooves). It took me several days to finish this project, but there's no reason it should take (someone other than me) more than an afternoon.