This project was built a year ago for my dad and brothers. I saw a guitar stand here:”
http://www.guitarcenter.com/Taylor-Sapele-Mahogany-Guitar-Stand-451020-i1142131.gc":http://www.guitarcenter.com/Taylor-Sapele-Mahogany-Guitar-Stand-451020-i1142131.gc

I wanted to build something similar with my own take, but no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t do anything to improve on the design. I really liked everything about it so I just started drawing a template and got to work.

While I could knit pick a bunch of mistakes, I actually only made two big ones. The first was trying to squeeze every bit of material out of my boards as possible. I drew the parts on a board and cut them with my jigsaw (which broke about 75% through the cutting). Then I tried to join the parts after cutting the shapes. Next time I will join two rectangular blocks, join them, and then cut the rough shape. The final shaping was done using a pattern I drew on hardboard and then routed.

The second mistake I made was assuming that my families guitars were flat backed. Apparently, all three use some sort of curved back. I was going to attach rubber feet to hold the guitars without scratching, but the guitars kept sliding off. My family’s solution was to use the foam tape you see. Unfortunately, I think it takes away from the look, but at least they can use them. I’m ok with it if they are! (-:

I think the cool things about these are that I used dowel joints on the sides (as opposed to screws that I think were used on the original because of shipping constraints and home assembly being required) and I used spline joints to mate the base to the necks.

I made 3 stands. Two combined walnut and cherry. The other used walnut and tiger maple. Hope you enjoy looking.

This will be my last jig for a while, but I thought it might be helpful for others to see. I haven’t used it yet, but would welcome advice or warnings. I made this cut slots in some railings. I’ll use a 3/8’s inch spiral upcut bit to accomplish this. I’ll then fit slats into the grooves I cut, shich are 3/8’s inch thick and ripped to width on the table saw. I used a 3/8 semi circular router bit to roundover the sides. The best way to describe this is probably to say that the slats are shaped like REALLY long dowels for a Festool domino. I hope that helps explain what I’m trying to do.

This will be used to make a crib gate. I wanted the slats to be rounded over and I also didn’t want to use the “cut a dado, and fill the gaps with spacer block technique”. There is nothing wrong with that (as far as I can tell), I just wanted to put my own twist on things. I guess I could have used a drill press followed by a chisel to clear our the center, but thats a lot of handcut mortises and I’m on a deadline. Anyway, have a look at the photos. Basically the jig attaches to a plunge router base. you twist the router until both pegs ride along side of the board you are putting the groove in, and then plunge to make the cut.

If you want more details on the construction, just post and I’ll respond here. Hope you like it.

I’ve seen a lot of people asking about how to get a straight line on a board without a jointer. I don’t have a jointer, but I found this link at woodmagazine.com and thought it was immensely helpful. I followed the instructions to a T and created three jigs using one sheet of MDF just like the video suggests. I’ve used this so many times, I can’t even count. Every rough board that enters my shop gets one rip using this jig. Hopefully this helps some of you out some as well.

there are two pictures. One of the jig by itself, and one with a router showing how the router would be used. The really useful application is the circular saw side though. Sorry I don’t have a picture to go with that aspect of the jig.

This post is for a fellow LJ that was asking how I made the dovetail splines on my candle box:

Here are a few photos of the ridiculously simple jig I built to cut the splines. Even if I hadn’t used scraps, this jig could have been built for less than $5. I hope that others find this jig useful. If I were to use it on bigger projects, I’d need to build this out larger, but it worked great for a small item. REMEMBER TO KEEP FINGERS CLEAR OF THE CUTTING AREA!

Here is a picture of a sidetable I built. I needed something that was low enough that is wouldn’t obstruct a wall sconce, narrow enough that it would fit along our oddly shaped wall, not too deep so that it won’t take up too much square footage, and red enough to match our vanity. This is what I came up with.

On this project I learned:
how to make box joints
how to make wipe on poly
subtleties of working with oak
how to build drawers (not quite perfect thought)

One thing I wish I had known was that the drawers are not long enough to be very useful. The table is reversible though. Drawers on one side, towel bar on the other. As you can see, we use the towel bar side anyway.

One more thing to note on this project is the finish. I used Minwax Polyshades. It is a tinted Poly. I wouldn’t use it again for raw wood, but I was trying to match a color. I do think the product has its place though. I’ll try to post a review at some point because if used for the correct application, I could see this being very helpful. If you just use it to skip a step (staining), you will probably regret it.

I hope you like the pictures. If I think of anything else, I’ll add it in the comments section.

Here are some pictures of a candlebox I made for my wife. She loves candles and I like building stuff, so it worked well.

The box is made of 1/4” cherry and the floor is just a piece of plywall set in a dado. The corners have keys made out of padauk. You can’t really see from the pictures, but they are actually dovetails. The keys came out way better than the mitered corners themselves. They are a good tight fit, so even if the corner joint wouldn’t have held, the keys will keep them there.

The lid is also padauk. Is is only about 1/8” thick. I should have went thicker because I sawed the brass screws to 1/2 the length and they are still causing a few bumps on the lid. I got frustrated and as you can see, one screw is still missing. I’m going to just make a new thicker lid, but I have my hands full at the moment.

The finish is just Formby’s Tung Oil Finish (about 8 coats) with paste wax over the top. I think the tung oil finish brought out the colors very nicely.

I completed this project in April, and I’ve noticed the top has already gotten a much richer red. I guess it will eventually turn to a dark brown, but I wish it would change slower. I really like the red. Hopefully when it is done changing, the color will still look ok with the cherry. Hope you enjoy the pictures.

This was the second project I started and the first that I finished. I’m relatively happy with how it turned out, but I learned a few things.
1) using a hole saw without a drill press is probably not a great idea.
2) cutting joints that interset at more than one angle is a challenge
3) giving the result to your wife is a good idea because she can look past the imperfections to see the thought behind it.

Anyway, my wife likes a perfume called curve. They’ve started making a few new varieties so I’ve bought a few of them over the years. She ended up with bottles all over the place along with other small items the cats enjoyed knocking off the dresser. This seems to help solve the problem. It has 4 holes to hold all her bottle with a little room left in the tray to store knick-knacks.

The wood is cherry and the bottom is 1/4 inch cherry ply. Hope you guys like it.

This is the first woodworking project I ever started. I say “started” because it was not the first I finished. It was supposed to be a Christmas present for my wife and I guess it kind of was, even if it was a year late. I learned a lot and I could definitely do better in the future, but I’m happy with how it came out.

The overall design was based on a plan in a book by Norm Abrahms combined with the bedroom furniture we already own. The panels are made of cherry ply as opposed to solid panels. The floor is lined with cedar to try to chase the moths away. I hope you enjoy!