Make a wooden wall hanging showing off where you live

One of the most popular woodworking projectsIt seems that at one time or another, all woodworkers try their hands at making an end-grain cutting board. Its easy to understand why: cutting boards are useful, durable, allow you to really get creative on the design, and are simple to build.

Built by Mike D. (RetiredCoastie)
 on LumberJocks.com

And I have never made one. Its one of those projects thats been on my to-do list for a long time. As you may know, I love to cook and have been getting by for years with one of those thick plastic ones. Its built into my counter and slides out for use. The problem is that it gets mangled pretty quickly and doesnt clean well. After a while is begins to take on a permanent onion odor. Yuck. So I have to replace it every year.
Wood cutting boards, on the other hand, will last nearly forever. The end grain of wood is very forgiving on knives and is actually more sanitary to use. The wood tends to heal itself. And if, after a lot of use, it starts to look really ragged and scratched, you can renew it just by resanding the surface.
I wasnt sure what more I had to offer in the way of a video, though. There are lots of cutting board videos. If you decide to make one, you definitely want to check out The Wood Whisperers video. He really takes you through every last detail and consideration.
Cutting Board DesignerLast month, Jeremy Greiner sent me a copy of a program he developed called Cutting Board Designer. After playing around with it for a while, I discovered how handy it is. It lets you lay out some complex patterns and get a good indication what your board will look like before you cut any wood. Check it out!
My first cutting board: Read More..

Rabu, 01 Juni 2016

Make a wooden wall hanging showing off where you live

Posted by arzem on 21.18 with No comments so far

Been wondering what to do with all those tiny scraps of wood youve been saving? Heres a project you can make in no time flat. Gather up a mixed bag of cut-offs or pallet wood, glue them to a board and cut out the shape of your home state, province or country.
Make your own and post a video!Shoot a short video of what you made and post it as a video response to my video on YouTube*. I think it will be fun to see all the places people are woodworking.
Find a map that you want by doing a quick Google Images search, print it out, paste it on your boards and cut it out with a jig saw, scroll saw, or band saw.
I made my home state out of various scraps of pallet wood. The interesting thing about pallets is that the wood all ages differently, giving you different hues and colors.
For my second cut-out, I used a map of Brazil. I wanted to give a shout-out to my Portuguese-speaking friends in South America. Over the years of doing Woodworking for Mere Mortals, I have made friends with quite a few Brazilian woodworkers who I have found to be among the most creative people I know. Olá amigos! Obrigado pelo vosso apoio. (I hope Google Translate didnt just mangle that!)

*****

Read More..

Make a wood train whistle

Posted by arzem on 08.52 with No comments so far

I set out this week to make this years a New Years Eve noisemaker. I decided to make a horn or some other kind of wind-powered instrument. After making a couple of these whistles, I decided they wouldnt exactly make for much of a video.

I researched whistles and was reminded of the classic wooden train whistle. My son loved these as a boy and they arent too difficult to make. Its essentially the same whistle as the one above, but with four tone holes and a cap to direct air into all of them.
I took notes on the ones I made and you can download my measurements to try out. Its surprisingly easy to get good tones. Just take some time to fool around with it and come up with something that sounds good to you.

Read More..

Make a wooden book keepsake box

Posted by arzem on 05.30 with No comments so far

Valentines Day projectI started this project with the idea of making a wooden "book". It would open to reveal a heart-shaped picture frame on each side and could be displayed open on a table.

The logistics of pulling that off were a bit more than I had time to deal with, so about halfway through the build, I decided to just make a simple frame insert and call it a keepsake box.
Most of my time on this project was spent in the design: specifically how to make the box look like a book, yet let it to swing open. Since real books generally dont have visible hinges, I didnt want any to show on this one either.
Thankfully, I have a terrific bunch of helpers on my Facebook page who came up will lots (and I mean lots) of ideas. The one I decided to go with was using a dowel as a hinge. It works out great and doesnt require any glue.

This is a pretty easy project to make. Mostly, you will spend your time on the hinge mechanism and shaping the cover and spine so that it swings properly. Take your time to test it along the way and youll be fine. Most importantly, resist the urge to force the cover to swing if it sticks: the dowel holes are so close to the edge, it will likely cause a split. And by the way, use a hardwood. Pine will almost certainly split.
Download plans:

• PDF plans
• SketchUp file
*****

Read More..

Senin, 30 Mei 2016

Make a Shaker style coat rack

Posted by arzem on 20.13 with No comments so far

Well sure its still summer. What better time to prepare for winter?
This is a good woodworking project to consider for the three day Labor Day weekend. Its a Shaker inspired coat rack thats surprisingly simple to make. I used pre-made Shaker pegs on mine, but if you have a lathe and feel extra creative, make your own.
I added some small drawers to this one: prefect for storing keys. If you dread the tedium of making drawers, Ive got a simple method to make all four at once.

Read More..

Minggu, 29 Mei 2016

Make an itsy bitsy teeny tiny wood box and earrings

Posted by arzem on 23.33 with No comments so far

Mothers Day is approaching!Well now that you have let that sink in and have entered into the panic stage, heres a project that is easy to make and will finally buy your mothers love.
Okay, that was a joke. Seriously, we all want to build handcrafted items for gifts. Why not use some of that special scrap wood youve been saving and make a little box. If you are ambitious, put some earrings in it.
No one needs to know that they were made with cutoffs that we considered tossing out.

Read More..

Kamis, 19 Mei 2016

Make a wood bracelet

Posted by arzem on 19.49 with No comments so far

Last weekend I was watching the movie Atlas Shrugged which features a metal bracelet. I love the angular and geometric simplicity of it and decided to make one out of wood.
Ive made a few wood jewelry projects in the past and have discovered that no matter how simple the project appears to be, it always seems to come with its own set of challenges, mostly due to the small scale. If, when building a three-foot wide storage cabinet, a measurement is off by a 1/8", I dont get too worried. On a one-inch wide bracelet link, an eight of an inch is unacceptable.
This bracelet and earring set can be made with just a hand saw, a hand drill, and a plane. As with any jewelry project, you want the wood to be thin and lightweight. If you happen to have wood that is already 1/8" thick or less, you are good to go.
I used a piece of Yucatan Rosewood for my bracelet. Its got a beautiful reddish color and a dark grain. The nice thing about making wood jewelry is that is requires very little wood, so its a great opportunity to use some scraps youve been saving. It can also be a good excuse to splurge on some exotic lumber. Just make sure the wood is hard. Soft woods such as pine are likely to break.

The biggest problem I ran into with this was that it simply didnt look right when I first assembled it. The rings I bought were just too big. It was a case of something that could only be discovered in the "real world". On paper, the rings looked good. I made another trip to the craft store and bought some 10mm rings, which worked out perfectly.
If you would like to experiment with this design, here is the cutting template I made for the earrings and the bracelet.

• WWMM wood bracelet (pdf)
*****

Read More..

Jumat, 13 Mei 2016

Make a jigsaw puzzle Christmas card

Posted by arzem on 11.48 with No comments so far

Last week I posted a jigsaw puzzle that Stephen Dickinson made. I think its a really great project and an easy one to make for Christmas. Stephen sent over a complete how-to of the process. Thanks man! This looks like a fun project that anyone would love to receive.*****

I cut out some 1/8” Baltic birch plywood that will leave at least a quarter inch border around the card.  It is best to cut them a little large because you will need to even up the edges as one of the last steps.  Give them a good sanding with some fine paper and a coat or two of lacquer but no spray on the sides that will be glued together.

I cut the card in half, apply glue to the back of the front of the card and apply it to the plywood I have chosen for the puzzle. 

After the glue dries I put a tiny entrance hole for the scroll saw blade.   I use puzzle blades I buy from Mike at http://www.mikesworkshop.com/.  There are other suppliers but that is the one I use. 

I cut out the puzzle area with a couple of tabs to lock it to the frame.  These tabs also give the person putting the puzzle some Idea of the orientation of the puzzle to the frame.

Making sure the frame is right side up, I glue it to the backer.  In this case I use another piece of 1/8” bb plywood.  I have used thin masonite before and that works well too.   Trial and lots of error has taught me to make sure there is plenty of wood under the frame and to have the frame right side up.  It isn’t fun when you discover the glued up puzzle back is only going to end up with 1/16” border on one corner.  

 

Cut the puzzle and try to have a lock at each side that faces another piece.  In this case I didn’t do that.  I wanted the balls to be loose in these cards.  It’s your puzzle, cut it the way you want.  There are no lines to follow unless you want to.  It may not come out the way you had had it planned but the recipient won’t know that.  They will probably be pleased with a cool Christmas card.

After the frame part has the glue cured I use my 1” belt sander to even up the edges.  Don’t go too fast grinding off the wood.  It will come of real fast and you may find the border is getting real thin.  I’m not a perfectionist but I don’t like making mistakes.  I have to keep reminding myself that these can look home made.  They are.

Next I give the frame a couple coats of spray on lacquer front back and sides.

The backs of the pieces may have a little fuzz from the scroll saw so give them a little rubbing on some sand paper.  I glued a piece of 120 to some masonite and rub the back of the pieces across that in a circular pattern.

You need to assemble the puzzle in the frame to make sure you haven’t misplaced any of the pieces.

Read More..

Kamis, 12 Mei 2016

Make a Shut the box game

Posted by arzem on 11.58 with No comments so far

I really enjoy making wood games. They make great gifts and are a great way to try out some new woodworking techniques to customize them. This time last year I made a Quarto game, which holds endless design possibilities. Like some chess boards, they become works of art as well as pastimes.
Shut-the-Box is a very old game dating back to the 12th century. Im going to guess that it is most popular as a gambling game, since it isnt very involved and each game lasts a minute or so. I think it would also be a good early-learning game for children to reinforce simple arithmetic.
I made mine out of cherry and paduk left over from my recent cheese cutting board project. I used all 1/2" thick wood because 3/4" boards always look "heavy" to me on smallish-sized boxes. I like to add inlay on lids such as this, where I drop a plywood panel into a rabbeted frame. It looks good, but the main reason is to conceal any gaps where my cuts arent perfect!
Plans:

• WWMM Shut-the-Box plans (pdf)
• SketchUp file
*****
 

Read More..

Rabu, 11 Mei 2016

Make a marshmallow crossbow

Posted by arzem on 11.17 with No comments so far

Big thanks to Jeff Searles for sponsoring this weeks video with his generous donation to Woodworking for Mere Mortals. Please visit and subscribe to Jeffs YouTube channel, Work Against the Grain.

---

Want to help out WWMM? Consider a donation. Support this show for just $1 a month, (25 cents per video!) and in ten months youll earn a really cool supporter certificate perfect for hanging in your own shop. What a great excuse to make a picture frame! See all the perks and get involved.

---

Marshmallow Shooter!Long time contributor to WWMM Carmen Salamone designed this crossbow quite some time ago and Ive been wanting to make it ever since. Once I finally built mine, I wonder why it took me so long!
It fires mini marshmallows. And I mean fires them! We measured about 50 feet on average. The power is in the firing mechanism which uses Thera-Band...a type of super strong latex that stores and releases an enormous amount of energy.
Check locally: sporting goods retailers might carry it. Heres where you can buy Thera-Band online. You might also experiment with latex hose that you can find at hardware stores.
PlansHere are plans for making your own. Ive included a simple cutting template and a number of close-up photos to help you. The actual shape can be modified pretty much however you like. If you dont have a bandsaw, you can cut the pieces using a hand-held jigsaw or even a handsaw.

• WWMM Marshmallow Crossbow plans (pdf)
• Sketchup file (courtesy Bob Justison)
The only tricky part is attaching the stretchy Thera-Bands and rigging up the bow. Put the crossbow in a vise and just take your time tying it together.
*****

Read More..

Kamis, 05 Mei 2016

Make a rustic wheelbarrow for the garden

Posted by arzem on 14.25 with No comments so far

Inspiration from an unlikely source

I was watching an episode of Adventure Time recently featuring the Snow Golem. In one scene he was pushing around a rustic little cart. Even though it is just cartoon drawing, I love the wooden wheels (complete with a chip that I included quite by accident in my wheelbarrow) and the unevenness of the side boards.
I was so intrigued by the simplicity whimsy of it that I decided to make one for the garden. A perfect pallet wood project.
Soon, my idea evolved and became a bit more stylish as I transformed it into a wheelbarrow. Inspiration is one of those things that just happens. The trick is to keeping yourself open to it all the time.
Relax. Its rustic.The advantage to rustic projects is that you really dont need to stress out about any of this. No protractors or exact measurements needed. If parts are a little off, dont sweat it: its a rustic project! Got any rusty nails lying around? Use them! If a nail bends over when you are pounding it in, leave it that way. And any uneven, split boards and chipped out wood you use adds to its charm, just as with the Snow Golems little cartoon cart.

Plans This is another project that anyone can build with very little experience and limited tools. I used my miter saw, but you could just as easily use a circular saw or a jig saw. You will need a hammer and nails and a drill and screws.
If you decide to use pallet wood (its free!) watch the first part of my Rustic Side Table video to see my method for breaking them apart into wood you can use.

• WWMM Rustic wheelbarrow plans (PDF)
• SketchUp file
*****

Read More..

Make a quilt rack

Posted by arzem on 12.56 with No comments so far

I looked at a lot of different quilt racks before designing this one. Most of the racks looked at seemed either overly chunky and heavy, or ornate. The purpose of a quilt rack is to display quilts. Like a picture frame, it should enhance the art, but not out shine it.
So I decided to make it with as little wood as possible, just a few graceful curves. This turned out to be a great exercise in wood-bending. (My first attempt at bending was back in February.) Its a surprisingly easy technique. Just takes time and patience.
If you would like to make this design, here is my template for the s-curve sides.

*****

Read More..

Senin, 25 April 2016

Make a flower press and dried flower arrangement

Posted by arzem on 10.14 with No comments so far

Heres a project that should inspire your creativity. This is a very old-fashioned way to press flowers and requires the fresh-cut blossoms to be under pressure for at least a couple weeks, so why not decorate the press itself and make it a conversation piece while it is working.

To make the design on the front of the top plate, I cut some foliage and spray-painted over it like a stencil. It worked fairly well, but I think it might work better using just leaves rather than blossoms too.
To press the flowers, I sandwiched them between layers of cardboard (blotting paper would be better) and tightened them down between the two plywood boards using wing nuts.
Once that was set aside, I painted a vague scene on a scrap board using acrylic paints and a sponge. I am not much of a painter, but its easy to dab on a few colors and hint at a landscape. You could get very artistic on this part!
After the flowers spent two weeks in the press, I arranged them on the painting and squashed a piece of plexiglass over them. The only trick here is to hold it tight so that the flowers dont slip when you put it into a picture frame. I held it all firmly in place with brads.
Have fun!

Read More..

Jumat, 22 April 2016

Make a table saw miter sled

Posted by arzem on 08.14 with No comments so far

Many of you may remember a miter sled video I made a while back. Although the sled worked, I always thought that it was an unnecessarily complicated way to build it.
Since I seem to be getting backlogged on pictures that need framing, I built a new miter sled this week. It is much easier to make than the old one. And youll get perfect mitered corners every time!
Plans:

• SketchUp design

• PDF plans

Read More..

Selasa, 19 April 2016

Make a wood clock

Posted by arzem on 16.13 with No comments so far

A video from the Non-Yankee Workshop.Let me give you some back story on this project.
Last weekend, I started tossing around ideas for a BBQ caddy and planned on building it for this weeks show. You may be wondering why I would build a barbecue project in January. Well it is Summer in Australia and I have been working with Warren Downes to develop something for Australia Day coming up at the end of the month.
As we started hashing out ideas, I began to realize that this could make for a really fun video...especially since he offered to shoot some stuff Down Under. So I have tabled that project until I can come up with something good. That video and project will be on the 27th, just in time for the holiday.

New projectSo I needed a project for this week. As I mentioned in my last post, Ive been saving the clock for this project for a long time. I started playing around with various pieces of scrap wood and sketching out a bunch of different designs. Eventually, the concept of a "floating" clock struck me. From there, it was actually pretty simple to execute. My main concern was how to make the holes in the circle perfectly straight and perpendicular. Boring them before cutting the circle is the solution.
I shot the video without any sound so I could add a soundtrack of some sort. It seemed simple enough that it didnt require me babbling on. After I edited it together I wanted to tack on an introduction and thought it would be funny to do it as a real woodworking show, complete with safety warnings and overly long instruction. I put on my Roy Underhill mustache and a ridiculously bad Southern accent. Then it hit me to include an incredibly verbose soundtrack on a video that needed none!
CopycatNow the strange part. After I posted the finished photo here and on Facebook a few days ago, a couple of people mentioned that it looked like one that Marc Spagnuolo made. My first thought was one of amusement: I couldnt imagine Marc making something so simple!

Well, more people mentioned the same thing, then a viewer sent me a link to The Wood Whisperers video. Yup. Sure enough, back in 2008, Marc made a clock that looks very similar to the one I just made. It is eerie: he used a dark wood for the frame and light wood for the floating center. Mine even has double splines on the corners, just like Marcs.
So wow. I guess I should familiarize myself with more of Marcs projects. Perhaps this is a design Ive seen somewhere before and was in my unconscious mind, just waiting to come out? Well Marc, sorry about the similarity. If I had seen your clock I certainly would have come up with a different project. But as it is, enjoy my take on the "floating clock".
*****

Built by Jeff (jonasramus)
on LumberJocks.com