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Sunday, June 19, 2016
Tuesday, May 17, 2016
Quick And Easy Hand Tool Cabinet
I've been rearranging my shop, doing some cleaning and organizing a better layout. I've got tools scattered just about everywhere, and I decided to make a quick and easy "cabinet" for my handplanes out of some scraps I had laying around.
The sides are pieces of oak leftover from my last pallet project (the planter, part one & part two)....
Monday, May 2, 2016
Shop Update #12
Here is the link to the Go Fund Me Page mentioned in the video. I don't see me needing it for very much longer, and as soon as I hear back from this employer, I will remove it and close down the link. Anything you can donate is greatly appreciated to help us get over this hum...
Sunday, May 1, 2016
Build A Keepsake/Recipe Box
Since Mother's Day is coming up, I decided to surprise my wife with this box. I knew she was wanting something along the lines of a recipe card box, so I designed this with that in mind. It can also double as a keepsake box as well.
I chose maple and mahogany for this, as I had some offcut pieces that were long enough to use, as well as...
Shop Talk # 11
Here is the link to the Go Fund Me Page mentioned in the video. I don't see me needing it for very much longer, and as soon as I hear back from this employer, I will remove it and close down the link. Anything you can donate is greatly appreciated to help us get over this hum...
Sunday, April 17, 2016
Shop Talk #10
In this vlog, I discuss my most recent project, a few that are pending, and a couple of other issues, including lazy squirrels.
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Saturday, April 16, 2016
Laundry Shelf
We bought our house back in 2008. Ever since the first day, my wife has been asking me to remove this shelf that's in the laundry room because it's too high for her to reach the top shelf, and that's where she keeps the detergent and stuff (she has a step stool that she uses, but would prefer not to have to use it).
I was cleaning around the shop a week or two ago and was trying to find a place for some leftover plywood from the bookshelf cubby I built a couple months ago, then realized it would...
Tuesday, March 29, 2016
Pallet Planter Part Two
Part two of the planter built out of pallet wood.
Update: Plans are available for this project in the right sideba...
Tuesday, March 22, 2016
Pallet Planter Part One
I had a lady contact me, asking me to build a planter out of pallet wood. She sent a single photo of what she had in mind, and gave me an idea of the dimensions, so I'm building this as I go (i.e., no plans or anything).
This is part one:
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Sunday, February 21, 2016
My Half-Scale Bowling Lane
I've been getting a lot of questions about this, so I figured I'd do a quick video....
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Thursday, February 18, 2016
Six Shop Projects I'd Like To Build This Year
I think every woodworker at some point in time says to himself that he needs to stop building furniture or knick-knack projects and build something useful for his shop. Whether it's a new bench, some jigs, a router table, or some kind of storage, tables, or cabinets, it's usually something he's put off until he can stand to be without them no longer.
What are mine? Glad you asked. Here are six projects that I'm thinking of tackling in the coming year or two:
1) A new workbench. The one...
My Wish List As A Woodworker
I've been woodworking for just over two years now. In that time, I've built up a collection of better tools and better skills, but the further I get along with both, the more I realize that I'd like to go even further.
Most of my projects that I choose to do are what I call "skill builders", i.e., there's at least one thing about it that will challenge me to try something new, whether it's a new tool or a new technique. For example, last spring/early summer I purposely built a couple...
Saturday, February 13, 2016
An Open Letter To People Who Want To Hire Others To Build Stuff For Them
An honest question, here: Why is it that if someone wants to have some work done around the house and can't do it themselves (whether it's a case of not enough time or that they don't know how to do it or simply don't have the tools), they are comfortable having contractors give them a bid/quote and don't go off the deep end when that bid/quote is presented to them, yet when they want something custom built by a woodworker they raise a tremendous fuss when the price is quoted to them?
Both...
Thursday, February 11, 2016
Bosch 4100 Jobsite Table Saw Review
I don't have a lot going on in the shop this week, so I thought that as I did my cleaning and maintenance, I'd do some reviews of the tools I own and currently use.
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Wednesday, February 10, 2016
Chicago Electric/Harbor Freight 12" Sliding Dual Bevel Miter Saw Review
I don't have a lot going on in the shop this week, so I thought that as I did my cleaning and maintenance, I'd do some reviews of the tools I own and currently use.
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WEN Benchtop Drill Press Review -- Brian's Workshop
I don't have a lot going on in the shop this week, so I thought that as I did my cleaning and maintenance, I'd do some reviews of the tools I own and currently use.
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Rikon 14" 10-321 Bandsaw Review
I'm spending a week cleaning my shop and doing maintenance, so I decided to do some quick tool reviews of what I currently own and use.
Here is my 14" Rikon bandsaw, model # 10-321.
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Monday, February 8, 2016
Thursday, February 4, 2016
Build A 12 Cubby Shelf
I had a customer come to me a few weeks ago, asking if I could build a cubby bookshelf. Initially they wanted 9 slots to hold the fabric cubes they wanted, but eventually decided they wanted 12. Other features were that they wanted a half-inch of space on each side of the cubes, and that it could be stood up two different ways (i.e., it could stand...
Monday, January 25, 2016
Shop Talk Episode 7
Weekly shop update, what's going on in the coming week, what I did the past week, etc.
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Sunday, January 24, 2016
Reclaimed Wood Projects
A gentleman contacted me a few weeks ago, saying he had a bunch of reclaimed barn wood that he'd like to use for a coffee table and some end tables, and if I thought I could build them for him. Below are the videos of those builds.
To start with, the wood he provided me was in rough shape. It was old, very dry, cracking, and prone to splitting and splintering. To further complicate matters, he and his wife had decided they wanted to preserve the look of the old, weathered wood, which meant they...
Tuesday, January 19, 2016
Lessons Learned The Hard Way
I recently completed a commissioned project that, much to my chagrin, taught me a few lessons when it comes to doing woodworking for pay.
A lady contacted me for an "L"-shaped desk for her craft room (video is here). After discussing the basics of what she was looking to do, I went over to her house, took some measurements, and discussed in more detail what the desk was going to be used for. This was so I could get an understanding of how it should be built and what it would have to withstand...
Monday, January 18, 2016
Sunday, January 17, 2016
Making A "L" Shaped Desk
Recently I had a lady contact me about building an "L"-shaped desk to use in her craft room. I sketched out some rough details with her, took some measurements, and came up with an idea of what she wanted. She gave the go-ahead, and this is the build (sped up, of course....took me several days to build).
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Monday, January 11, 2016
Wednesday, January 6, 2016
Build A Quick And Easy Marking Gauge
I uploaded this video a while back after hearing/seeing something on You Tube by Paul Sellers It's really ingenious because of its simplicity.
All you need is a hole saw, a drywall screw, and perhaps a file or some way to sharpen the edge of the screw:
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Monday, January 4, 2016
Shop Talk Episode 4
I talk in this video about what's going on in the shop and also a little bit about potential clients, which kind of ties in nicely with my previous article.
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Friday, January 1, 2016
Can You Make Money Off Of Woodworking?
As I've mentioned before, I got started in woodworking about two years ago. In that time, I've built several projects, and made some money off of them. The question I've seen asked most often of other woodworkers is "can you make money off of doing this?" They've given various answers, all of which are valid and very insightful. My answer? A qualified "absolutely".
By "qualified", I mean yes, you can make some spare cash from doing things like this. But can you make an actual living doing it?...
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