Community Brag Posts

Toybox built from A/B plywood, for son's 1st birthday.

I built this toybox for my son's first birthday. It took about a week to do, starting and stopping. I got Lowes to cut the plywood for me, and screwed everything together. Wood filler filled the countersunk holes, and a coat of primer and two coats of paint finished it off.

After everything dried, my wife added the name and crown in vinyl cut out using her Cricut.

Built from Plan(s)
Estimated Cost
$60
Estimated Time Investment
Weekend Project (10-20 Hours)
Finish Used
Kilz2 and 2 coats of latex paint.
Recommended Skill Level
Intermediate

first project

Submitted by gbhein on Sun, 08/10/2014 - 10:25

My very first project, made it for my girlfriends birthday. Did not have time to stain and paint them yet, will add finished pictures.

Estimated Cost
$550
Estimated Time Investment
Week Long Project (20 Hours or More)
Finish Used
none yet, will be staining table and painting chairs.
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

Miter saw stand with rolling tool storage carts

Submitted by UCF99ENG on Fri, 11/25/2016 - 18:04

When I saw the plans for the miter saw stand that had two rolling tool storage carts, I knew I had to make it.  Having a cart used for an outfeed table is a brilliant idea.  It was a fun project to make.  I tweaked a few dimensions because I like taller workbenches because I'm taller.  Now my shop is looking more organized.

Estimated Time Investment
Weekend Project (10-20 Hours)
Recommended Skill Level
Intermediate

Comments

CSaintD

Sat, 03/18/2017 - 09:02

Very nicely done.  I am thinking about building the same system.  How is the dust control on the mitre saw working?  That is my one concern, that sawdust will be all over my other tools when I use the mitre saw.

UCF99ENG

Wed, 05/10/2017 - 20:47

I don't really have a dust control system.  I let the dust fall where it does and then just sweep it up.  I have a wet/dry vac but my wife uses it in the house because it's more powerful than many other vacuums.  If the dust gets out of control, I can just bring the wet/dry vac out to the garage and clean up.  There is lots of room to maneuver the vacuum.

CSaintD

Sat, 03/18/2017 - 09:07

Very nicely done! I am thinking about building this same system but am worried about the dust from the mitre saw getting all over my other tools stored in the rolling sections.  Do you have any issues with that?

Hexagon Table

Submitted by hgordon on Sat, 08/15/2020 - 08:08

Great build for the patio!

Built from Plan(s)
Estimated Time Investment
Weekend Project (10-20 Hours)
Finish Used
Varathane Early American
Cabot waterproofing
Recommended Skill Level
Advanced
Seasonal And Holiday

Mimi's Faux Mantle

Submitted by Medurrant on Wed, 10/24/2012 - 20:34

This has been a project all summer and I was so excited to find that Ana had made a mantle. I had to make it bigger and I had so much fun making it! Thank you Ana!!!

Estimated Cost
$80.00
Estimated Time Investment
Week Long Project (20 Hours or More)
Recommended Skill Level
Intermediate

Comments

qapaul

Mon, 01/04/2016 - 10:12

Could you let me know which pieces you had to adjust to fit your fireplace? If possible, if you still know the width changes? I'm a new wood worker, but would love to try and adjust this to fit our fireplace, ours looks to be the same size as yours. Thanks for your time!!

Paul

Storage Daybed with Bookshelf Surround

Update 8/2017: This project started with the Storage daybed, which I built in 2014. My daughter is a book lover and I wanted to provide her with more space for her books. I recently added the following plans to the Daybed with Storage Trundle Drawers:

- Twin Storage Headboard Base

- Small Hutch for Storage Headboard

- Cubby Hutch Plans for the Storage Headboard

I also made one extra storage headboard base and added more shelves along the long side of the bed so she could be surrounded by books. There are two additional supports under long bookshelf and I placed them roughly behind each of the trundle drawers.

For the bed (I built two), I opted to use the alternate slat system. I also used 2" caster wheels and added dividers to the drawers--one drawer has three compartments, and the other two drawers were divided in half.

Note: In my main brag photo it looks like the drawers don't close flush... I didn't notice when I took the photo because I was focused on the new shelves. But they do close and line up perfectly!

 

Estimated Cost
$600 (Fairbanks, Alaska)
Estimated Time Investment
Week Long Project (20 Hours or More)
Finish Used
Minwax Dark Walnut and one coat of gloss polyurethane
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

Barnhouse X table

This was my next attempt after hte end tables. I used several ideas from different tables to get the finish i wanted. I also had to increase hte length and width slightly to suit my room. Had numerous complements from it and very happy with the finish

Estimated Cost
$150
Estimated Time Investment
Week Long Project (20 Hours or More)
Finish Used
Dark Walnut
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

Bench

Submitted by cmacias22 on Mon, 08/17/2020 - 07:40

This bench was meant to be used around our fire pit in the back yard which is where is it for now. This is only our second wood build. This bench turned out great and seems to be to nice to be outdoors.

Built from Plan(s)
Estimated Cost
$35
Estimated Time Investment
Day Project (6-9 Hours)
Finish Used
Special Walnut Stain and white chalk paint
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

Modified Brookstone desk

Submitted by JoanneS on Mon, 10/29/2012 - 18:37

My son asked me to build him a narrow desk for his bedroom, with lots of drawers. This desk is a modified version of the Brookstone desk, with 7 drawers on the side and a pull-out writing surface (inspired by the pull out surface LadyGoats added to the Mod bar wine grid base – Gina’s pictures from her blog were really helpful!) The top measures 16 ¾ x 48 (top is a 1x12 and 1x6 edge joined with pocket holes). Lots of pocket holes on this one, because it’s stained and I didn’t want to fill nail holes. For the color we were trying to match the PB small printers desk Chestnut color. The pulls are antique bronze from Lowes. The drawers slide directly on the wood, because I knew I wouldn’t have the patience to install 8 sets of drawer slides ;) used ¾” S4S and 1x2 to hold the drawers. The drawer bottoms and the wood all got a coat of soft wax, and they slide nice and smooth. This took about 20 hours to build and finish over a long weekend. My son said he thought it looks amazing, which is the best part!

Estimated Cost
$155
Estimated Time Investment
Week Long Project (20 Hours or More)
Finish Used
I wanted the finish kind of rustic, so I didn’t use wood conditioner. Finished with 1 coat Minwax water based stain in Dutch Chocolate, 1 coat Minwax water based wipe-on poly, and a coat of soft wax.
Recommended Skill Level
Intermediate

Comments

LisaTen (not verified)

Tue, 10/30/2012 - 07:09

This looks awesome! Love those drawers, colors, handles-everything!

JoanneS

Tue, 10/30/2012 - 07:29

Thanks LisaTen! This was a fun build, especially since it was for my son, the college student :) :) (proud Mom smiles)

JoanneS

Sat, 11/03/2012 - 10:35

Thanks Gina! I'm glad you like the desk, and especially glad you added your link to the tutorial. :) I couldn't have done the pull out without it! I can't wait to see your desk, I'm sure it will look awesome!

benjaminrogers

Thu, 09/05/2013 - 07:49

JoanneS,

I think I've just found my design for my fly tying desk! I was wondering how wide you made the drawer base and how tall each drawer is?

Thanks,

Ben

JoanneS

Wed, 09/11/2013 - 02:19

Hi Ben,
Sorry I'm so late replying, I just saw I had this comment. The drawer base on this is 16 1/4" wide, and each drawer is 2 3/4" tall (a 1x3 with 1/4" plywood as the bottom). I'm kind of a spreadsheet geek, so I have all the measurements and cut lists in an Excel file. If you would like to have these, please send me a message via "contact" on my profile, and I'll reply with the attachment. Thanks for commenting, glad you like the desk! :)
Joanne

Cottage Vanity

Submitted by SSGF on Sun, 08/17/2014 - 20:11

Built this for my cottage out of 3/4" birch purebond and pine. I finished by pickling the purebond and painting the pine and then used a laminate countertop.

Built from Plan(s)
Estimated Cost
140
Estimated Time Investment
Weekend Project (10-20 Hours)
Finish Used
Minwax
Recommended Skill Level
Intermediate

Modified Pocket Hole Farm House Tanle

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Sat, 12/03/2016 - 09:59

I took these plans and changed the dimensions to match my dining room and made the cross members out of 4x4's. I wanted the bottom to be bigger, as well as making the top look like used yarn wood planks. Turned out great. It was wonderful to be able to have all the family around the table for Thanksgiving. Thanks Anna for the inspiration. 

Estimated Time Investment
Week Long Project (20 Hours or More)
Finish Used
Dark Walnut Minwax. Satin Polyurethane. Satin White Paint.
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

Chaise Loung Chairs

Submitted by jgriffin on Wed, 08/20/2014 - 07:24

Very easy and fun project.

Estimated Cost
$60. each not including the cushions
Estimated Time Investment
Weekend Project (10-20 Hours)
Finish Used
Sanded, primed, and used 2 coats of exterior trim paint. I painted all the pieces before assembling for a cleaner finish. Then just touched up the cut ends.
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

Learning Tower

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Wed, 12/07/2016 - 15:11

This tower is from two or three plans found on Pinterest as well as the plans on Ana White.  The materials are from 2 x 2 or 1 x 5.  Length of legs are 34 inches, all cross members are 17 inches  basically your cutting list is :

Quantity         Size                             Description

4                      2 x 2 x 34                     Legs.  You can change this to taller or shorter.

14                    2 x 2 x 17                     Cross members

3                      1 x 6 x 17                     Safety sides

1                      1 x 6 x 16 7/8              Door (optional)

3                      1 x 6 x 16 7/8              Floor

2                      1 x 2 x 17                     Floor Braces

1 set                                                   Hinges (Optional)

1                                                          Latch (Optional)

1                      ¾ x ¼ x 3                     Door stop (Optional)

Distanced between parts-I used Ana Whites dimensions.

Basic unit.

  1. Cut, sand, rout, sand, to size.Do not rout the floor as yet.Save that for later.
  2. Drill Holes for fasteners on the cross members.I used the Kreg unit for this.Be careful as the 2½ screws can come out on the finished side (the point) if you tighten too much.
  3. For the Safety sides, drill using the Kreg unit.
  4. Finish sanding.I finished with 220 grit.
  5. I stained before I assembled.Worked great.If you are going to spray paint, assemble and paint.See floor assembly now if you are going to paint.
  6. Assemble is easy.Use glue if you want.Fasten 2 cross members to the legs at the top.You now have 4 legs and 2 cross members fastened but do not have cross members fastening all four legs together.They are two separate units.
  7. Now measure for the cross members for the floor and attach.Install the top cross members first and work your way down.
  8. If using the safety sides, attach these.Install the door if you want at this time.I waited unit I finished spraying the finish to install the door.Install the doorstop when you want.
  9. Now attach the remaining cross members to form the basic unit.
  10. Admire what you have accomplished.

Floor Assembly

  1. I did not use the Kreg drill to assemble the floor.I used glue and 1 ¼ inch nails to assemble the floor.
  2. Lay the floorboards on the cross member as if the unit was finished. Scribe a light line on the bottom of the floorboards next to the cross members the floor is sitting on.
  3. Remove the floorboards and turn upside down.Put some glue between the boards and clamp.Lay the braces near the line you drew about 1/8 to ¼ inside the lines.This is important-you must have wiggle room for the floor to wiggle.
  4. Fasten the braces to the floorboards.After the glue dries, check to see that it fits.
  5. Sand, rout and sand the floor.
  6. Stain the floor.

 

Final Finish

1.         I love rattle can finishes.  Deft is my favorite.  Use what you like.  Take your time.

 

Estimated Cost
This was from Scrap I collected. Make sure 2 x 2's are kiln dry. I ended up using 2 x 4's that I ripped and cut to size. The safety side were close to free as the big box store had 1 x 6 in their 70% off section. Stain was half price as they were out of the small can. Got a big one for the price of the small one. Can not give a finished price as so much was from scrap, etc. Finish was one can of Deft spray-about $5.00. Screws were Kreg. About $.05 each.
Finish Used
Stain was Honey 272 from Minwax (I love oil stains). Deft rattle can spray. Satin finish. You can use Watco oil finishes as well.

I stained all the wood before assembly. Sprayed with Deft after assembly.
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

Large Plant Caddy

Used cedar fence planks. These were pretty cheap at Home Depot. My husband wanted to use them for another project, but ended up not needing them. So instead of returning, I used them! I needed a caddy to hold a planter well over 150lbs. My husband and I had to load on a dolly to move around. It was made out of 2 planks and I added copper wheels (each wheel holds about 80lbs) from Lowe’s. I had a few extra planks, and made an herb window planter...I’ll post on that too!!

Estimated Cost
12
Estimated Time Investment
An Hour or Two (0-2 Hours)
Finish Used
Minwax- Sedona Red/ Totalboat Halcyon Clear Amber Gloss.
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

Corner Garage Shelves - by Jared Starky

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Thu, 08/15/2024 - 09:34

My son and I build these shelving units as a side hustle. We’ve built dozens over the past few years, this was a solo build this AM as he was working at his day job.

Tip: use clamps to hold the pieces of wood together before which put in the vertical supports.

Nice little corner unit.

Seasonal And Holiday

Stackable Chair Turned Desk

Submitted by thebulger on Mon, 11/05/2012 - 07:26

I made this for a friend whose son is turning 1. I wanted him to be able to sit in the seat without falling out, so at first I just planned on making arm rests (thus destroying the stack element, but he's an only child haha!). I had an extra piece of 1x8 laying around that turned out to be just long enough, and some hinges and a sash lock.

in the first picture, the desk is screwed on. I ended up changing it so he could use the desk longer! little legs can only squeeze into spaces for so long :)

Long story short, for this project I took all of the measurements for the original stackable chair and took 2" off to make it more appropriate for his size, EXCEPT the front legs, which I actually added 5 inches to. The front legs then stuck up from the seat about 5 inches, and i attached a 10.5" 1x2 from the front leg to the back leg on each side. Hinges on one side of the 1x8 board, sash lock on the other, and voila! desk-chair!! and it fit my 15 month old AND my almost 3 year old! granted, it was a tight squeeze for the 3 year old, but he LOVES the desk and I'm planning on finding a way to convert his stackable chair into one :)

Estimated Cost
$10-12
Estimated Time Investment
An Hour or Two (0-2 Hours)
Finish Used
enamel paint
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

Comments

redhead_61

Mon, 11/05/2012 - 10:43

I bet kids would LOVE this. Great idea, and the fact you figured out how to make it with a hinge....pretty awesome!

thebulger

Tue, 11/06/2012 - 11:07

i brought it outside to sand yesterday and all of the kids in our row of townhomes were trying to play in it! i had 2 people ask me to make one for their kids! i hope a lot of other people can use this concept and make it even better for their kids! i feel like there have to be better hinges and lock sets than what i used, hopefully someone on here can make suggestions!

Sawhorse Desk and Toy Shelf

Love these two projects in getting my son's room organized, and he loves having a desk for his lego creations and his "projects". We used poplar for the sawhorses that we had cut from family land and planed down ourselves, then purchased a premade project panel for the top. Used a paint sprayer for the blue and finished the top with Rustoleum stain in Wheat with several coats of Rustoleum Satin poly. For the toy shelf we just purchased pine and finished with the same stain and poly.

Estimated Cost
around $100 for both
Estimated Time Investment
Weekend Project (10-20 Hours)
Finish Used
Paint for sawhorses, Rustoleum wheat stain and satin poly
Recommended Skill Level
Intermediate
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