Maple and Walnut End-Grain Cutting Board

My first box

My first box build.

Maple and Walnut with mitered and splined corners.

4 corner grain match

Definitely learned a lot this first build.  I think I've worked out the kinks and will fully document the next one

Name Plate Business Card Holder

Quick project the other day.  I'm making some wine totes to put up in one of our favorite restaurants and wanted something nice for people to contact me by

Lego/Train Table Build Post, updated along the way

Completed the table today!

This week I started designing and building a combo train and lego table for my kids.

This is the design:

The table top will be 36x48 and stand 18" high and will be covered in lego sheets

The 2 halves will slide out to reveal a large bin designed to hold sheets of hardboard that will have train scenery painted on them as well as a 22" expansion leaf.  There will be room left over for storage of other misc items as well

The long sides will have 2 tilt out bins for storage

The short sides will have 2 drawers each.

The unit will be constructed of Maple for the casework, walnut for the drawer and bin faces, baltic birch plywood for the drawers and bins themselves, and MDF for the top.

As with every project I undertake I am incorporating some new (to me) techniques in the construction of this:

-Resawing, for the drawer and bin faces and the legs

-Domino loose tenon joinery

-Laminated legs? I don't know what it's called but here is a picture:

I resawed maple to 3/8 thick and then grain matched the 2" wide leg around a pine core (or whatever it was a ripped out of our old closet)

Here are some more pictures to date:

Lumber marked up

rough cut on miter and band saw and then jointed on 1 face and 1 edge

All of the external framing planed to 3/4", cut to final dimensions on table saw, and mortises cut with the Domino.  The other internal framing pieces are planed to 3/4 only as they will be cut to fit.

My new time-saver!

the sides for the legs resawn jointed and planed

The centers of the legs gluing up

The sides of the legs cut to final dimensions and mitered

Framing Test Fit

Sliding dovetails for the top 

All of the framing and center bin glued up

Idea I had for the pivot points for the side bin in lieu of piano hinges.  Sliding dominos

All constructed, time to break it down, sand and finish

a little mineral spirits on a pair of drawer faces, should look awesome

FINISHED: The Closet Project

My first foray into cabinetry is complete!  All handmade out of Maple hardwood and plywood.

Case and Drawer Construction

Drawer Face Construction Post 1

Drawer Face Construction Post 2

Final dry assembly of the 2 main units

Pictures of the old closet and the new casework in place

Pictures of the completed project:

  

Upcoming Projects: Box Building, a series

Well the closet is 99% done and will be completed tomorrow.  I have been pondering future projects and how to start making money doing this stuff.  I have a decent amount of interest in the beer and wine totes I've made from some local people so I need to finish a half dozen or so of those and get them out there.  That however is small change and quite boring to make.  The recent side projects of the Kitchen Helper and the Step Stool are much more in line with what I want to be doing.

I have been telling Steph for years that I am going to make her a Jewelry Box that is primarily for necklaces, as that is predominantly what she has, and I just haven't taken the time to design it and teach myself how to make it.  I have this absolutely gorgeous piece of Ambrosia Maple that I picked up 2 years ago for this project.

Since this will be my first foray into box building I am going to start small and work up to the harder projects.  I am going to video document the whole process and upload it as a series to YouTube.  Hopefully people will watch it and get my name out there (assuming of course that I make good pieces).

The order of the projects is going to be in such a way that each one will build upon the skills learned in the previous while learning a new technique.

So far my list is as follows:

1: Simple Box with mitered corners reinforced with splines
     - This will teach me the basics of box construction


2: Simple Box with dovetail corners
     - This will build on my knowledge of dovetails in a smaller and more detailed project than the drawers for the closet build.  I may possibly do incra's double dovetails


3: Glass Top Watch Display Box / Valet for Dad
    - This will teach me how to build tray inserts and other organizational details for the box so that the watches, rings, and etc all have their proper place

4: Humidor
    - This will be the largest box so far and I plan on experimenting with veneering and inlays.  I plan on building a drawer into the bottom of it as well to hold my cutter, lighter, and other misc cigar related items.

5: Steph's Jewelry Box
    - The culmination project
    -  Double dovetails, veneer, inner dividers and organizers, pull out necklace racks, drawers, etc

My plan is to build TWO of everything.  One to keep and one to sell.

What's everyone think?

Walnut, Maple, Cherry, and Brass Step Stool

My wife asked me for a simple step stool to aid her in reaching her boots in the new closet (pictures to come soon).  Well I don't like simple and I really try to learn something new every time I am in the shop.  Came up with this, and I must say I'm very proud of it