This going on 3 year old cedar deck was in desperate need of attention, most certainly it lacked any bit of shade. (The last picture is the before picture.)It got full on sun for about 10 hours a day. It definately needed a face lift also, the cabot semi-transparent I used just one year ago was already faded and peeling. It had blotchey areas as well as areas that there were no longer stain on the wood.

The original plans included some sort of seating area in the Northeastern corner of the deck. That was not in the original deck budget though. Last year, it was over the average high with very little cloud cover most of the summer in Southeast Michigan. This called for several days of sitting out in the blistering sun for 15 minutes then seeking cover for 1/2 hour before repeating. It was not enjoyable.

The options were to put in a retractable awning or a pergola. In my township, gazebos are not allowed. The problem with the retractable awning is the deck is 18ft off the house and the largest awning I could get was 14ft. This wouldn’t really look good. We went with the pergola.

Needless to say, I am absolutely certain we went with the right choice. This thing produces quite a bit of shade, a lot more than I orginally thought. It is made from cedar to match the deck, and was assembled with my assistent, MY DAD, and myself in just under 5 hours. The speed which this went up shocked both of us.

We finished the deck with Cabot’s Austrailian Timber Oil, Natural and it looks 100 times better than the semi transparent. I know it may need a touch up next year, but with every deck comes deck maintenance, no big deal. Atleast, I can spot-sand and apply an additional coat with out having to strip and sand the whole deck like this year. A co-worker suggested the ATO as he has been using it on his deck for the past few years and is 100% satisfied.

A standard outfeed table for my Grizzly G0690. Like the rest of my shop, it is portable and on flip-down wheels for moving around. It is perfect height for the outfeed. The shelf in the middle is great for storing glue drying pieces and still use the table. I splurged on the wheels and bought high quality shop wheels from woodcraft. It also supports my recent project, a Craps table, very nicely for parties. It also makes good for just using as a table for Birthday parties and other sorts of gatherings. The 1/8” hardboard top can be easily removed and replaced when it gets worn out

A basic, solid pine Bench to tie the shoes on and off and hang the coat right next to the door.

A three day project, including gluing up pre-planed pine boards, a day of cutting and assembly, and a day of finishing, made this a nice fri-sun project.

My Dad and I started Playing Craps about 10 years ago, when I turned 18 and going to Casinos on Indian Reservations. When I turned 19, I started going to Windsor, Canada and my love for that game took off. I purchased a cheap Craps Layout and a chip set and made a 2×8 square table. Enough was enough. With the Superbowl party fast approaching my Dad asked me to make a new table for the party, for entertainment purposes. To his suprise, I took that as a chance to create a new project. Knowing what a typical craps table looked like and the construction is (every woodworker knows they inspect and take notice the finer details of every bit of woodworking around them) I put it to paper.

Now, I don’t have the space for a 14ft table (nor does my wife think it would be appropriate) or do I have the amount of friends who can play to make that practical, but I wanted something that I can use for a long time. I also needed it portable and storable.

It is completely made of plywood. Between 11/16 Birch, 3/4 AB pine, and 1/4 birch, the design was to keep it under $200 but functional and attractive, and I was successful with the price.

It is designed to be broken down and then reassembled when and where needed…

The first challenge of this project was to make the corners round. Not in any casino can you find a square craps table. So to do that, I made what everyone has seen before, a circle cutting jig for my 14” portercable bandsaw. 52 curved sections.

This jig did a fantastic job and will be put to use in the future; I don’t know why it wasn’t apart of my shop prior.

The next challenge was to make the rails. Every player’s position deserves a spot to keep their chips. So I used my 1-5/8” core box Bit I purchased specifically for Casion Chip trays to make a single groove (single due to size constraints).
After setting it up on my router table, making a curved Jig/template for the curved parts, and 13 passes per rail, they came out exactly the way I imagined. I like the cut into the Birch plywood, it gave it a nice pinstriped look..

After a lot of sanding, a few coats of stain, 3 coats of Poly gloss, a little help from Mother Nature giving us two 60 degree and breezy Janurary days in Michigan to help with the curing of the Poly, this turned out to be a solid 2 week project just in time for the Big party.

While I am happy with this project and how it turned out, there were somethings I wish I did differently (as with EVERY project). I would allot a little more budget for some more attractive hardware (I.e. the wingnuts aren’t exactly attractive, but work for now) and I would not sand the Birch rails as much. While they turned out the way I was hoping, rustic and worn, not brand new and contemporary, I learned that it doesn’t take much with the 120grit to get through those thin layers of plywood it has.

I hope you enjoyed the photos!

My wife needed a place to do her homework and the dining room table was not the place. I built her this area using pine 1 by lumber bisquit jointed together. The countertop is 1×6 pin on top of 3/4” plywood and finished with just polyurethane highgloss (12 coats). There is 18’ of bookshelf space and the filing cabinet drawers are use aluminium rails inside for added support for the file folders (sorry not pictured) the shelfs are adjustable using pins. The bench has two drawers for office supplies and two cabinets for blankets or other things. The top is upholstered with 4” high density foam and a canvas linen for the cover. This was about a 2 week project start to finish.

The doors and drawers were actually stained the same but came out differently when dried. They are the same species of wood and the only explanation I have is the grain of the wood was clear on one and tight on the other. I was going to redo them, but my wife convinced me it added “Character”, whatever that means. haha! She enjoys this work area everyday.

I made this end table out of one pine 2×4x12 ($3.49) and a $5 2’x2’ 1/2” birch plywood. I cut two 24” pieces of the 2×4 then ripped them down to 6/4 square then coved the edges at the router table. Then with the remaining 2×4, I re-sawed it at the tablesaw to about 11/16” which was used for the rails. The top was just 1/4” rounded over with the router. Add some stain with 2 coats of semigloss polyurethane and I have a perfectly sturdy square endtable for CHEAP!

My uncle is a HUGE collector of autographed sports memorabilia. He recently came to me and requested some shadow boxes for some jerseys he just accquired. I made three. 1×3 Select Pine for the frame with 1/4” birch hardwood plywood for the backs. Some hanging hardware on the back with a sheet of 3/32” lexan made this project a nice sat/sun project. The hangers were made of the same lexan but were cut on the bandsaw. I think I will make a nice template out of some hardboard and then use the router with a flush-trim bit to make the future hangers (would seem to be quicker that way). The joints were just but joints with a little glue and some 2” woodscrews with plugs allowed this project to roll out the shop fairly quickly once started.

He lives about 60 miles away so I left the protective film on the lexan for transportation. I painted them black because that was what he requested. All in all not a bad project for a weekend.

Birch and Pine Wainscoting accents the Brick veneer wall for a custom bar area. For years, this 8.5’ x 9’ room was a lost office that was never used. After redoing the drywall and installing a new hardwood floor, these custom built panels were added for a decorative accent to the brick veneer wall. Used the Kreg jig to build the frame and attach it to the wall. The chair-rail cap and molding are pinned in for minimum fastener exposure.