Community Brag Posts

After living in a house with a fireplace for 7 years, we recently moved to a house without one. When unpacking the Christmas box, our boys asked where we would hang our stockings this year and that got me thinking about how much I'd like a mantle for the holidays. After searching online, I found Ana's plan (of course she has one!) and scaled it down to fit the one small open wall in our living room. I didn't trust myself to cut an even arch, so I used an idea from another brag post and added architectural elements with leftover 1x2 & 1x3 to a 1x10 (which was a better size for our scaled down version) Lastly, I knew I wanted a chalkboard backing, but having no scrap plywood, I covered a large piece of cardboard with chalkboard contact paper and tacked it on the back before installing. Super happy with how it turned out and look forward to using it for many years to come! 

I made some slight udjustments on the ladder and rail. Other than that i folllowed the plans and flew through this project. My mother in laws boys love it.

Modified the plan to be suitable for outdoor use.  Built for a daughter who did not want the look of a traditional picnic table.  Use the X bench plans on this site for the benches.  Top is recycle 5/4 decking lumber.

This is the first project my husband let me use the chop saw on.* I used some old 1x6's (3/4 in x 1 1/2 in) leftover from a chicken coop he built that had been on the floor and already had some nail holes in them - I figured that was was pretty close to pallet wood. He turned this from a beginner project into an intermediate because he made me measure and cut each side and end to custom fit the bottom of the box as as all my "pallet wood" boards were warped (does that make sense?) So make your life easier and use new boards! With his help it took about 25 minutes per box to cut and assemble. Putting a finish on was a little tricky because the wood just wasn't okay with some leftover iron acetate I had, so I just used Ana's black tea trick and they turned out perfect in about five minutes. My husband says this is an excellent first project for a beginner because a lot of furniture you build is simply A BOX, just bigger. We also built the laundry basket dressers the next day because I'd learned the concept of building a box! and I am having a great time learning to build. Really wish I'd taken wood shop in high school. Good thing my husband did.

* We built the laundry basket dressers and I dutifully assisted in the building of the Rustic X console table and I am so excited to post pictures, I just need to get some better ones!

Took about five hours to make and $25, looks very nice and have been asked to make more by others who have seen it.

Slightly modified bottom shelves to be heavy duty. Used salvaged 60yr old mahogany paneling for shelves surface.

Made from re-purposed fencing slats, shims & copper tubing . The handle doubles as the bottle opener. I like that the piece will improve over time as the handle oxidizes. The Holiday Spirit now comes in packs of six.

More at:
www.facebook.com/chuckedwood

This was my first woodworking project! Thank you Ana for the easy to follow plans. Making this end table has given me the confidence for my next project - bathroom vanity unit, which is almost completed.

Slightly modified version replacing the "X" with a Truss design on the ends. The table top uses a 2x8 in the center and 2x6 boards for the rest. This is because when you rip the edges off the 2x6's for a nice gap free table top the total width of the top is too small so the 2x8 in the center re-gains the lost width. Finished with Minwax Expresso and Spar Urethane Ultimate!

Not going to lie, as this was mine and my husband's first time building we did run across a few challenges BUT, nothing that we weren't able to figure out and correct. It came together beautifully and I can't wait til we purchase our first home in January so that I can figure out what color to stain it!

FYI- the angles were difficult to get perfect especially since we were using a makeshift work bench (ie: a pallet and the sidewalk) and a circular saw - we were also rather unfamiliar with some of the terminology used in the directions

About 2 years ago when we were redoing our kitchen, I made these ledge shelves inspired by Ana White's $10 Ledges.  I originally wanted to use them as storage for spices and our olive oil, but once our vent hood was installed, there just wasn't room for them, at least not as I had originally intended.  Since mine are made of yellow pine (harder wood) and I used a 1 x 6 for my platform instead of a 1 x 4, my ledges cost more than $10.

The standard play kitchen. The pine planks used were not a consistent 12 inches. I would recommend using plywood. Finished with hardware from IKEA ( blue handles) and lowes (flowers and hinges).

We've built a headboard, two nightstands a farmhouse table and bench all off of knockoff wood and this workbench console table and hutch was the Easiest build yet !

We didn't use pocket holes so instead of doing the middle center shelf of the hutch we chose to keep it open. I actually love the way this looks better than the original plan!

Waiting on our black bear mount bottle opener that will be attached later this week and then we can't wait to stock up our new bar. It looks great next to our farmhouse table and bench!!! Thanks for the deer antler inspiration - this gave the perfect finishing touch!

4'x4' Coffee Table 

Ana, I borrowed the structure of your hexagon picnic table and created a coffee table to compliment my collection of Adirondack chairs on our patio. The rib structure using 30 degree angles is surperb, and with pocket screws on the joints plus Gorilla Glue, it is far stronger than I anticipated.

The table is first shown unpainted, then again on the patio in poor light (sorry for that.) I primed and then painted it brick red and am in the process of updating the paint on all of the chairs to match.

The 30 degree angles are probably the trickiest part. If your saw is off by even a tiny bit, the tolerance buildup will come back to bite you. For example, if each cut is off by 1/2 a degree, you have six cuts, which equals 3 degrees of error. My mistake was not calibrating the cuts made on my table saw or mitre saw. A professional woodworker buddy of mine suggested buying a cross-cut sled for my table saw. That's my next purchase.

Overall I am very happy with the final outcome despite the slight imperfections in the spacing between the slats. A little wood filler covers a multitude of sins!