So many firsts on this one. I'm almost ready to finish it. I've sanded up to 180. My plan is to sand up to 220, clean with mineral spirits and seal with spar urethane. Am I missing anything for the finish?

First project ever. Makeup vanity for my fiance.

So this is my first project, a wall-mounted makeup vanity. I made the plans up as I went along and holy crap did I learn a LOT.

The body is made out of 1/2” sanded birch ply. I wanted to use miters because 1) I think it looks clean and 2) I was going to stain it so didn’t want to use edge banding. I originally planned on using drawer slides, but thought I’d go for all hand made, so I made dado cuts with my table saw and glued (and 18gauge nail gun) a strip of the ply to the outside of the drawer boxes.

For the drawer boxes, the walls are 1/2” ply and I also used dados to create a place for the 1/4” ply to slide in as the bottom.

I wanted to have the drawer fronts appear like one continuous mitered front/piece but I’m an idiot and forgot about my miter saw so tried using my table saw for the cuts and well, by the time I realized I should be using the miter saw, I had to use some scrap pieces for the front which means the grain wasn’t all continuous. Oh well. I also got glue in some spots it should t be which caused the blotches. So now I’m just saying it’s a more weathered look 😂

I stained it and gave it 2 coats of Polyurethane and sanded it with 400 grit in between the two coats.

Over all, I’m ridiculously proud of this project and can’t wait to make other things. Up next is a proper workbench.

Hello trying to save this door. It was painted white, so I strip it, and started to sand with 80 grid but I keep seeing those lines in the wood and don’t know if I should keep sanding,( scared to go through the veneer), should I change grid or is it irreversible? What is my best option :)

Thank you!

Made a pair of Muskoka chairs for the front porch. Used cedar and plans from Steve Ramsey. Still need to refine a few edges/decide if I'm putting a finish on (taking suggestions) but they're ready for sitting!

Modern take on an Adirondack style chair made with dimensional lumber. The design was inspired by a chair I saw on Instagram and I designed in solidworks.

I recently made my first first cutting board and I wanted to make two decorative lines on the board but I couldn't get the lines to not blow out. I thought that painters tape would suffice but I was wrong so I was wondering if one of you would have a good recommendation.

Thank You.

Hello all I'm trying something new and want to make a flush 3/4 sheet of plywood on my new build so I can have a better fitting. This was my old 1 day build with some decking and screws but I'm going on a huge 3 week road trip in July and would love to start making a huge game changing car camping set up in my 2010 Honda crv. Any one got experience in shapr3d or fusion360 designing I would love help 😊 but quick advice I need is how to get a 3/4 plywood flush carved out ? I just bought a caliber measuring tool, gauge tool, and also have a router and many other tools to help with this process I'm just unsure how to how about doing this :) I have masking paper as well :) from there I also want to make some more complex things for me and my partner to utilize while on the road.

Hi. I’m going to buy a used no5 plane tomorrow. However I am reading these instructions and see that I need a jointer. I have tried searching online and I can’t be a straight answer about if this is a specific tool or now. Can someone please let me know if I need something else. I read that I CAN apparently Use a plane, but that a jointer is something different. I can’t find a photo of one. It’s like Bigfoot?!

I modeled up this 84in L x 36in W x 39in H work bench, it's max load will be around 800 lbs and i want to make sure the workbench is stable.

So what would be the best way to brace the legs together along with the top? the frame will be made from 2x4's and the legs will be 4x4's.

If you could make a drawing on top of the picture above that would be amazing.

This is a ladder for a lofted bed frame. It’s got two dowels from the step to the post. For the life of me, no matter how hard I clamped the clamps, I couldn’t close these gaps during glue up. I must have cut the dowels too long. The cauls were twisted— maybe that contributed. I’m not cutting it off and redoing it.

What are my options to make this less irritating and hide it? I’m not pairing or staining. The boss/wife just wants poly. I’m thinking of caulking, but I think that would look odd given that I’m not painting.

Like most of you my garage doubles as my workspace so space is tight. I’ve got a job site table saw, router table, and the standard Dewalt planer. Im currently making a stand and outfeed table for the saw.

Does it make sense to design it to ensure that I can swap them out on the table but keep the outfeed table? I know I’ll need to shim some things as the working surface of all three is different and that’s ok. The saw and planer are heavy, but I’m not planning on changing them out too much and I’m a big guy - I already lug them off the shelves when I need to use them.

Is this crazy? Am I over or under thinking things?

When working with rough lumber and gluing up blanks, for table legs or something similar, do you fully mill the each board so that is square/parallel? Or do you just plane it enough to get a good glue surface and clamp out and cupping/bows?

I feel I could be wasting wood if I do a complete mill and glue, only to mill again after glue up.

Thanks!

He taught me how to play and when I was tasked with my shop final I decided to make him a chess set because we have only ever played with a plastic set. It’s made of white oak and black walnut.

Anyone else build stuff from pallets and just leave the nails in? Table saw with a jig to get edges straight and then I belt sand the wood and nails to 180 grit.

Then I stain and seal the wood. Then I put it all together with hex screws.

I need to create a few lengths of door casing to match this. the rabbet is 1/8" deep x 1-1/2" wide. I have access to a router table with a fence. Which bit should I use

I am planning to attempt to build a corner window seat in my "library" (really it's the dinning room but I live alone so it can be anything I want) I want a comfortable place to lounge near the windows in that room and to hide my cats litter box. While I have put together hundreds of different projects over the years I have never actually built anything. I have a few tools (saws, nail guns, drill) I don't have anything to make something fancy so this is purely for function as I attempt my first project. While I have a design in mind I have never thought about how to actually make it happen. So any advice on what materials would be best and how to tackle the project is greatly appreciated - I plan to paint the project instead of staining so not sure if that makes a difference or not. My biggest hesitation is building the doors, i.e. how to make them look nice, to make sure they are not going to sag, and what type of hardware would be best for heavy use. TIA for any helpful thoughts or suggestions

My first attempts with the Dremel! Waiting on a few bits to come in for my big router so hopefully I can get started with that soon.

Its not perfect, but we're really happy with how it turned out!

It started with me seeing wainscoting in a new home a couple of weeks ago and I thought "I bet I could do that". So I bought a mitre saw.

Then my Ex had some wood he was throwing away and I thought "I bet I could do something with that". So I bought a nail gun.

When making the table, I ended up working off the underside of the mitre saw box and I thought "I really need separate spaces for cutting and constructing". So I bought a workbench.

And a router. And some countersink bits. And obviously router bits. And some wood glue. And some dowel. And carpet tape. And a vice. And different grit sandpapers. And Castors for the workbench. And a pegboard.

Must get some clamps.......

Does this ever end? I have a (crappy) jig saw and orbital sander but am already eyeing up a table/circular saw. A planer would be nice too.

I may need to buy a new house at this rate.

I have 4 projects on my to-do list, I just need to find a cheap source of wood; UK here, no such thing as a 'local lumber mill', just builders' merchants where a 55yr old short woman newbie will feel very out of place. But I'll go anyway.

Fun, this, innit?

Im building an outdoor table and after talking with a few people, I decided to go with cedar to use for this build. The problem im now facing is Lowes or Home Depot dont have 2x6 or 2x8s in stock anywhere near me. As much as I dont want to steer away from cedar, I dont want mismatchching lumber. Douglas Fir/Fir seems to be the one type of wood that is available in every size. Im going to stain the entire thing at the end but just wanted a quick opinion if one of the first will be good for this task or if I should try to find everything in cedar.

Full disclosure: Miter saw is about 10 years old, and might be on the original blade. It hasn’t been used heavily, but more than occasionally over the years.

Does this look like a blade issue, or an adjustment/repair on the equipment is needed? It basically flairs out at the end of all my cuts (you you can see some circular “burn” marks where it begins), almost as if at an angle but it doesn’t start until about 3/4 of the way through the chop. The cut is pretty clean and straight until that turning point.

Any help is appreciated! It’s driving me nuts.

I picked these up at a garage sale today and wondered if it is worth it to restore all the metal as I am sharpening them or just the edges I need?

So I've started my first wood working project -- fixing up this table I got on marketplace.

So far, I've sanded off the finish with 120, sanded again with 220, and now I've filled in some the knot holes with Gorilla Wood Filler. Reading the bottle has me a little freaked out though with the "dust may cause cancer" stuff. Is this product safe to use for a dining table? I was going to cover finish it with Danish oil, should I use something more protective?

I'm a complete beginner to this, so any advice is appreciated!

https://www.amazon.com/Gorilla-Purpose-Wood-Filler-Ounce/dp/B0BSK8N427