Woodworking ideas and a really cool jig

Making toys is very rewarding. Paul Jobbins made this "bead board" sorter for his son Zach. Any of you with toddlers know that toys such as this fascinate little ones. Its open-ended play fuels their imaginations.

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Bill Bumpus sent over this picture of a head band holder that I found very clever. Makes me want to try making a wood headband, too.

Not only that, but hes been cranking out trivets too!

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Benjamin Zupancic from Slovenia is back with more versions of my projects. He modeled this one after my sliding-lid box, but added a magnetic lid.

And yes, he made a garden bench, too. I really like his modifications and the ways he shaped it.

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And heres Don Robertos bench with a new, beefier take on the backrest.

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Not enough benches you say? Ha. Simion Horatiu from Romania built these two. One similar to mine and the other with a cool storage area in the seat.

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Heres Dan Cooks version of my Shaker style coat rack I made just about a year ago. He made his out of cedar and it looks gorgeous.

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Finally, Hans S. from the Czech Republic clued me onto this video from Festool showing a really cool home-made round peg jig. This one looks easy to make and a lot of fun to try. (If you dont speak German, youll have no trouble getting the gist of this video.)

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Build a really simple pair of sawhorses

Even if you spend most of your woodworking time in a well-equipped shop, there are times you will need a good pair of sawhorses. I use them all the time, especially for working on outdoor projects. If you dont have a any, build a pair! I guarantee you will find all sorts of uses that you never expected.
There are a lot of different ways you can make a sawhorse; it seems everyone has his own preferred method. Here is a pair you can easily make in less that an hour, using five 2x4s. I used my miter saw for all cuts.
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John in Hadley has been working on this soldier for a while and recently finished it. Quite an ambitious project, and hes already considering another one for 2013!Not only that, notice the logo on the hat...a Mere Mortal nutcracker! Thanks John. This is inspiring!

Heres how John describes the build:

The lumber was old rough cut 2x3s from a demo along with a few other scraps. All the 2x3s were cut to 28 inches to start, with a total of 42 pieces. Each arm and leg was 5 pieces glued up, squared and spun on the lathe. I used Titebond 3 and gave it several days to cure since it had to hold up on the lathe at 1000 rpm.

Snipe on the planer was a big issue and left many of the glue joints open. I decided to call it rustic and live with it, but did worry a bit when spinning that right leg since an entire joint was open. The chest and head glue-ups were both done as semi circles, each piece cut at 36 degrees, then run through the planer to get them flat again. 

 On final glue up, I added lumber to the chest for width. I used an electric hand planer to shape them and then a side arm grinder to finish. The chest is capped on top, however the bottom piece is permanently attached to the the top of the legs. There are eye hooks on the the top of each leg and chain that goes up to an eye bolt that goes through the top of the hat. I used a horseshoe washer so that I can thread the bolt with nut already on it to assemble. 

The hair came from the dollar store as did the plume. I need to redo the hair next year as blonde doesnt quite work. For paint I bought Behr exterior paint samples in black, white, yellow, red, blue and hunter green and a tiny bottle of Folkart outdoor Inca gold acrylic.

Like most all of my projects, it does have a hidden bottle wrench, but I decided against making it a functional nutcracker since it could be somewhat dangerous for the size (although I did consider how nice a clamp it would make - you can never have too many clamps.) And finally, I decided to hijack a logo since this fellow is a proud member of the army of Mere Mortals.

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Contests and more on the spinning top It really spins!

Mere MinutesAfter my less-than-stellar attempt at making the top yesterday, I wanted to show you that it actually does work. I just needed a larger space for it to spin. I think a sharper point would help too.

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Build a really simple garden bench And a contest!

Heres a really easy project anyone can build in a weekend. I was inspired to build something that required very few tools and would be a nice summer project. To build this bench, you will just need a saw (any kind), a drill, and some screws. I built mine with four 2x4s and six 1x3 boards. Total cost: $30. I can imagine all sorts of ways to enhance this bench too!
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