Future Projects

Drill Press Bench

The original thought of a buying a bench top drill was to free up floor space, and use the corner of
a work bench. This was great idea, but unfortunately the benches in the back of small shop were not good fit.
So I decided to make a mobile bench that provides a surface for the drill press, scroll saw and sander,
PLUS this adds additional storage.
So here is the Drill Press Bench page.

Flip Top Planar/Miter Saw Stand

A bench top wood planar is not necessarily portable, especially the Dewalt DW735, which weights ~100 pounds.
A common solution to avoid dedicating one bench to a planar is to make a flip top cart that can have two tools
mounted to it. My thought was to combine the planar and miter saw on one cart that has extendable wings/tables for
the in-feed and out-feed for the planar and also provides support for long material when sawing.
So here is the Drill Press Bench page.

Work Bench

My current work bench is a bit out dated and a poor design. Plus to help overcome the limited space of
my shop I would like to add additional drawers….this is my design for a new Work Bench that
provides additional storage drawers.

Saw Station (On the back burner)

The Saw Station expands the table saw to add storage, router table and out feed table.

Tool Cabinet (On the back burner)

Having limited space in my shop forces me to be more organized. While searching for some ideas for tool
storage that is highly accessible I came across this personal website and his tool cabinet project.
Following his reference to the Wood Magazine, I was able to locate a source for the plans. Once again the
Wood Store has the plans.

Dust Cyclone (On the back burner)

Coming back into the woodworking world I have been messing a very important tool needed for safety
and health. Most people don’t realize the importance of a simple dust collection system. After much
hard research, bouncing between baggers and cyclones I have finally made me mind up.
Based on cost, performance efficiency, amount of needed space, an quality of filtration I have decided
to build my own based on the " Wood Store Plans " for a home brew cyclone.
During all my research I have found several references to this design and boasting about its performance.

Wood Rack (On the back burner)

With a small shop and limits space storage is always an issue.
This was an idea as a solution for a Wood Storage Rack that just didn’t pan out due to limited space.
But was too good to delete!

Where to get project plans



Past Projects / Completed

2011;

Finally in May I finished my thesis and graduated, and sadly to say still had little shop activity other than some Christmas Gifts.


Lathe Project; Bowls

(Clockwise from Top Left); Russian Olive; Poplar; Aspen; Cottonwood; Elm; Russian Olive; Dark Walnut



Lathe Project; Wine Stoppers

(Left to Right) Thin Win; Macassar Ebony; Burmese Blackwood; Fig Asian Satinwood


(Left to Right) Marblewood; Bolivian Rosewoood



Fine Woodworking Project; Bed Serving Trays

While on a camping trip a friend that works for a door manufacturer brought up some cut-offs as fire wood. Mahogany!
It was really hard to burn that beautiful Mahogany throughout that night. The next morning I asked if I could grab the
last of the scraps….well I got them and here is what they became.

These are “bed serving trays” of my design.
As a starting point I used Google Sketch Up to generate a model of the final design. Now there were some subtle changes
between the model and the final product.

To strengthen the corners I splined the miter joints as described in this article.




2010;

All shop activity in 2010 was placed on hold so I could focus on finishing my thesis.


2009;

Shop Project; Mortise Bit Holder

Mortise bits are pain to store, so here is my idea.
Sketchup model.



Shop Project; Sandpaper Cutting Jig

Cutting 1/4 and 1/3 sheet sandpaper can be time consuming. I saw this idea in a magazine and had to give it a try.
Sketchup model.
PDF build sheet



Lathe Project; First Bowl

As part of the lathe deal I received some bowl blanks.
After some practice on other project, mallet, stoppers and making scrap
I finally had enough courage to take on a bowl, and reached for one the blanks.
And grabbed the blank of "Lignum Vitae" better known as IRON WOOD!
It held up to its name, I had to sharpen the bowl gouge three times...which is unheard of on a
small bowl like this one.




Lathe Project; Wine Stoppers

Had to try wine (bottle) stoppers.
Talk about finding an addition!

Left to right; Bocote, Blackwood, Cocobolo and East Indian Rosewood.


Left to right; Tamboti, Olivewood, Pink Ivory, and Pau Rosa.


Just some Laminated Hardwood stoppers



Lathe Project; Mallet

The second project was this simple carving mallet.
It turned out to be much heaver than I like for chisel work, but is still usable.




Lathe Project; Practice Plate

The last time I used a lathe was 22 years ago in high school. It is amazing how much I forgot or never learned.
But I have forever longed to have a lathe, even made a small in high school. But after many years of waiting (22 years)
I found a smoking deal...and now it is mine!
My first project was nothing more than practice, most likely destine to be firewood.
BUT my wife liked it and found a use.
The finish is nothing more than paste wax applied while still turning.




Shop Project; Drill Press Table

Sketchup model of the drill press table
PDF of the build sheet for the drill press table



Home Project; Pantry Pull Out Shelves

My loving wife was not happy with the pantry and how stuff got lost in the back of the deep shelves.
Here was my solution.



Fine Woodworking Project; Rustic Desk Project

(See the Desk Page for the complete history and story)

The big desk is completed in just over a year. It started on November 2, 2007 and it was completed on January 3, 2009.

The desk fit perfectly in the loft area of my in-laws log home. It seemed small there, but in reality it
covers a square area 87” by 87”. That is half the space of a one stall garage, as seen in the second picture.
This project has a special place in my heart, and it started from a conversation during a family dinner when
my mother-in-law mentioned the difficulty of finding a rustic desk for their home.

This was my first real furniture project since high school and the first in my own shop.
Over the time of this project I learned so much. The maintenance and setup of the equipment, further
development of fundamental wood-working skills, some advanced techniques and working with logs.

A special thank you goes out to my father-in-law for all his help. Without it, this project would have
taken longer. He draw-knifed all the logs by hand, and did the majority of the finishing.



The desk on the morning of the January 3rd (The Last day).


The log drawer fronts turned out perfectly.





2008;

Shop Project; Blade Holder

(See the Shop Notes section for details)



Sketchup model of the blade storage cabinet


Shop Project; Wood Mallets

(See the Shop Notes section for details)






Shop Project; Router Table

(See the Router table section in the Shop Activities for more details)



Shop Project; Dust Collector

See the Dust Collector Cabinet Page for more details.





2007;

Shop Project; Workshop Bench and Cabinets

All the cabinets and bench in the Front Work area was built out of a bunch of surplus OSB
with the additions of 2x4s and hardware. Including the lights the total investment is about $250.
The picture below had the lights.




Home Project; Benches for the Deck

We were getting ready for our house warming party when less than a week from the party my wife suggests
that I add some benches to the deck. So during the chaos of other preparations and the rainy weather I
managed to complete them.
By the way, the challenge was making level seeing on a not level or square deck!






2006

Home Project; Reception Card House

In preparations for our wedding reception I made a special card box.... more like a card house.
Our wedding was in Mexico and our reception was here.






2004

Fine Woodworking Project; Picture Frame

This picture frame was creation for my wife as a Christmas gift. It was constructed of decorative
trimming that I routered out the back to form a groove for the back. The mirror was made from a
plain 12-inch square mirror. To clear out an area to make it a window, the area was masked using
masking tape and the exposed to paint stripper. This removed the protective backing. The next phase
was to ferric chloride (PCB etching solution) to strip the mirror.






2004;

Fine Woodworking Project; Doll Cradle

The doll cradle was created for a Christmas gift for our daughter. During construction we decided to
leave it unfinished to allow her to decorate it. Afterwards I sealed it.






2004

Fine Woodworking Project; Coffee Table

This project was a hand-me down, the person did all the milling and gave up.
I finished the sanding, staining and sealing.






2004;

Home Project; 12' by 8' Shed

Cheaper than a storage unit for year, and a life-time memory of my first construction project.






2003;

Home Project; Entertainment Center

My brothers and me threw this complete entertainment center together in about 3-days
from start to finish. It is constructed of common pine, and sealed with Danish oil.






1988/1999;

Fine Woodworking Project; 8-drawer Sewing Desk

This was the big project of my youth, my senior year of high school I took the advanced furniture and cabinet
making woodworking class. This class was 2-semesters long and 2 hours a day.

At time my mother wanted a sewing desk, which we have no plans for. Between us we came up with our own.
When I presented the plans to my teacher I could see he had concerns that I chose a overly aggressive project.
I went for it, besides I had all year and a double class period.

The desk is a mix of woods, lights with darks, and some compromises to save a little cash.
--Top was made of Birdseye Maple and Walnut
--The four sides are fram/panels that are Maple frames with birch ply panel
--The drawers are Maple front and Willow sides --The back is nothing more than common 1/4 plywood

All this wood in 1988 was only $110!

Even in the amount of time I had I was unable to finish it completely because of other class load. The desk sat unfinished
for nearly a decade, and faced the elements of neglect.

In 1999, as fate had it the company I worked for was hit by the hard times and down sized, I was affected.
At that time I was working towards my engineering degree part-time, and decided to
finish it as a full-time student.

Before enrolling, I took a month off that summer and head back home for a long
vacation. While back home I dug out the desk, the unfinished pieces and to assess the
damage of time. The top was water stained from a plant, warped, cupping, and cracking.
The drawers were just ok, all the pieces were there, but one side a slightly damaged from a dog chewing on it.

I set out to see if I could recover the desk from the damage of neglect. So during that month I finished
gluing up the drawers, sanding, sanding, sanding, and sealing. The finish was nothing more than
clear polyurethane.

That month of being unemployed was the best time I ever had, got to spend time with the family and finish a great project!






1986;

Fine Woodworking Project; Round Coffee Table

This was my first big woodworking project, in my junior year of high school I tool advanced woods.
Constructed using Philippine Mahogany (aka Wormhole Mahogany).






1986;

Shop Project; Power Supply Cabinet

Back in the early days of getting into electronics I built a small 1-drawer cabinet that would
hold three separate power supplies. I made this using a small bench top band saw and basic
woodworking tools in my grandpa’s small woodshop. I would have to say that is one of the earliest
projects I did on my own.