Pretty much the same design as Ikea spice racks. haha

The are installed really low too so my 2 year old can access his books.
My wife liked the idea of having the books face out so it is easy for him to see.

Well, I made a set for a friend and now everyone wants a set.

I have gotten a little bit better at making them too, so now they have mitered corners, a poly finish and collapsible legs with 5/15” bolts. Also, easy to adjust wing nuts.

Cornhole is fun. :)

Sorry, i should have gotten a better picture of just the pivoting rack.

I watched Marc build one on thewoodwhisperer.com and had to have one. It has really helped me keep my garage looking sharper and holds a good amount of sheet goods. The pivot and wheels make it so easy to load.

I could not imagine ever having a garage without it.

I also incorporated some lumber racks to the side of it. The design is also from thewoodwhisper.com.

This was a little challenging because of how accurate it has to be.

But, I got it figured out and have been able to make some nice box joints with a 1/4” straight bit on the router table. Purple heart has worked great as a hardwood for the track!

Man I wish I had invested in a better router table that could raise and lower the depth of the bit.

I will post a money box I am making for my mom for mother’s day soon. Little story behind it…

All in all I really like it and want to make one for larger bit’s as well.

I am officially in love with the crosscut sled!!!
Zero clearance is my best friend now.
Not to mention the ease of cutting pieces the same length.

It cuts more accurate angles than my De Walt 12” compound miter saw… which I need to figure out how to align more accurately.

Thank you all for posting pics of your sled’s on here. I think I looked at all of them. :)

Had a little fun using my new crosscut sled.
Though about staining but I like the wooden look.

Without finishing how will they age?
What can I do to make these still good for my grandchildren while avoiding anything toxic?

My wife needed something to sit on that would fit under our counter in the bathroom. I wanted to use my new self centering dowel jig so I jumped on the opportunity.

The wood is leftover 2×10 pine from Lowes I had in the garage.
I joined it with the self centering dowell jig, just one 3/8 dowel in each joint.
Used too much glue that squeezed out and caused the stain to be blotchy in those areas. Lesson learned!
Stain was 2 parts Dark Walnut 1 part Red Mahogany.
Satin polyurethane finish.

The finish turned out nice and dark, i just want to kick myself for letting glue touch the surface after sanding and before finishing. Haha ohhhhhh well, it was a fun little project to practice some joining and staining.

P.S. I want more clamps!!

My wife is a very talented hair stylist. She was cutting hair in one of the downstairs rooms which became the baby room… so now she has taken over the loft upstairs.

Because of the amount of sweeping to take place I framed out the floor and then installed snap lock wood/laminate flooring on sale at Lowes. The flood was recessed a little so the snaplock would be flush with the frame when installed. Built the 11’ floating shelf out of 2×10 boards. Heavy I know but once sanded and painted it looked sharp. The square floating shelf unit was built from pine 1×6s.

:::My little trick to very secure floating shelves:::
They actually have plywood backs to them secured to many studs. “Wait? I don’t see a plywood back!” That’s right, before I attached the backs I textured and painted them the same green/yellow color as the wall. Then just screwed through the back into the wall and studs and painted over the screws. You could jump on that 11’ shelf and it’s goin nowhere!

Minwax Classic Black Polyshades Gloss Wood Stain worked great and gave me a SOLID glossy black that is an easy to clean durable surface to deal with all the hair product and coloring. I used it on the shelves and border around the flooring.

Haven’t re-run the pluming yet so her professional salon sink is still in the baby room, haha. Thanks for lookin!

Made this from leftover plywood I had from another project. Kinda threw it together one evening while my wife was out. The drawers run on a wood track and have a little lip under them in the front so I didn’t have to put on any handle to grab. I think I may add some simple wood handles just for aesthetics though.

My boss actually wanted to contract me to make 30 of them for our office but the order was canceled at the last minute because of a rule about contracting an employee.

This is not your typical project.

The church I have been involved with for many years has an incredible student ministry called adrenaline (www.theadrenaline.com). They are extremely involved in community work in local low income areas as well as in Haiti. To highlight just a little… Over the years they corporate remodeled several homes and raised tens of thousands of dollars for feeding the under-resourced in Haiti as well as many trips working with children in Haiti.

They host a fundraiser every year to support the ministry and staff. With the large involvement they had had in Haiti I was asked to construct a miniature version of a typical home in Haiti for the front foyer as people entered the event. I have been to Haiti many times for non-profit work myself and knew that there was not need for a miniature version when in actuality there living conditions are already small enough.

The hut I built is extremely close to what an actual typical home in haiti looks like. It was build from wood I found in an old pile on the side of the road because new wood would not look right. I also took a nail through my foot in the process crawling through the pile. The picture of that is nasty/awesome and I will spare you… good thing I have my tetanus shot in order!

The sides took the most time as I had to go to a field and cut down a bunch of overgrown area and then lace the walls. It was built in 6 pieces so I could load it all in my truck and assemble there. Went together perfectly.

I believe they raised just over $80,000 that night. Glad I could be a part of it.

Well, last summer We introduced baby number two into the home but we had limited space on our small changing table. So, I made this little guy to hold the diapers and wipes. I gotta admit it’s hard to feel like a manly craftsman talking about diapers and wipes.

I ended up taking off the lid because it was just easier with the amount of diapers that fly through this thing. I also made sure to route a space on the front face of it so we could use our finger to pull down diapers when that got stuck. Building it again I would hinge the face of it more like a cabinet door to make loading it easier.

If you build one be sure to build it to hold up to largest diaper size, not just the size you are on. :)

Overall, I think this has been the most used thing I have ever made. Haha, ohhh the crazy money we have spent on diapers!

This is a banquette I built for my in-laws. They wanted one custom built for their bay window area and knew I wanted to get more into wood work. The paid me by buying me some of the tools I needed for the job. Best payment ever! I had built tree houses, corn hole sets and staging for my church before this so I knew basic woodwork but nothing about furniture.

Here are 10 very “duhhh!” lessons I learned along the way… or should I say after the fact…

#1 – Avoid chip-out with zero clearance.

#2 – Pay attention to grain direction!!!

#3 – Don’t build long lasting furniture with pine. I know!! Dumb! But I was intimidated by expensive wood as I knew I was going to make a lot of mistakes. Wish I could build it all over but lesson learned. At least the booth is a higher quality oak ply.

#4 – Light tables tip easy and need bigger/heavier bases… I know, no more pine tables!

#5 – Lowe’s is great for random odds and ends but the local Woodcraft or Rockler store is a much better way to go.

#6 – Remember to eat while working. And remember your wife is inside wanting to spend time with you!

#7 – Don’t glue together a larger piece that needs to be moved across town!

#8 – When done sanding, wet down surface to check for scratches or “swirls” BEFORE finishing.

#9 – Working till 2am increases the chance of injury and mistakes. Sleep is good.

#10 – Don’t plane an entire tabletop with a block planer. My palm still hurts.

There are many more I’m sure, but I have got some myself at least a little dignity. ;)

Comments are welcome. I have lots to learn and welcome the coaching. Thanks for checking it out!

My son Rylan is two and my second son Sheaden is one. I am a very proud daddy and after convincing my boss that our dining room had awesome fort potential…. I got the approval!!! I always wanted one when I was little and am excited to provide that for my boys. As soon as it was completed Rylan tested the padded stairs by falling down them head first… a success! He was fine! Roll up work out mats made for great stair padding. The 2nd story is padded with that multipurpose linked flooding. The ball pit was a little pricy but of all the places I looked, Wal-Mart had them the cheapest. Its hard to believe that there are 800 balls! I did not use a finish on the wood but am wishing I had.

I originally had a slide but then I realized a very valuable fact… My sons are one and two… not nine and ten. Haha. I cannot wait till they are old enough for a tree fort!!