Absolutely love Milan Gigels modification of my piggy bank into a cow. Such a fun paint job on it!

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January is really a perfect time to organize. Heres a great idea from Michael McChesney who built this beautiful canning cabinet for his wife. With all her jars, Michael had to design this to withstand over 500 pounds of weight!

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Jim Hedrick made one of my step stools for his granddaughter. Love the finish on this.

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Wait, another pig! Frank Tarte made his all in wood, with  plywood eyes, hardwood tail, and no paint.

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Project preview

Spent this week making an under bed storage box. Its really more than just a box though! Video, more info and plans tomorrow.

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Make a wooden piggy bank

Last week I got an email from Janae Myers, suggesting I make a piggy bank. I liked the idea so much that I decided to focus my attention on designing and building one. Its really very simple to make, but with plenty of opportunities to offer your own artistic flair.
The construction is similar to a bandsaw box, with the sides glued on to a hollowed-out center. Using the entry point from the bandsaw makes for a great coin slot, albeit perpendicular to the direction coin slots normally run, I think.
To plug the bottom, I used a plastic grommet I picked up at the hardware store. Its the same one I used in my skull and crossbones candy dispenser. You could also use a cork.
The biggest decision I had to make when designing this, was how to deal with the pigs head. Traditional piggy banks look more like real pigs and have the head facing forward. I played around with various ways of doing this, but they all looked odd since my components are all essentially two-dimensional. By placing his head and face on the side, it compensates for this and gives it more of an appearance of a round, not flat head.
Its important to round over all the edges to make him as as soft and cuddly as wood can possibly be.
Free plansHere are the templates I designed. You can print them all out on single sheets of paper. Use spray adhesive to affix them to the wood.

• WWMM Piggy Bank (pdf)