UPDATE 20 November 2012:
Just got our laser engraved charter plaque yesterday and have attached it and officially registered it with www.littlefreelibrary.org!

Walking through our neighborhood in Minneapolis recently, we say a small wooden house in someone’s front yard with a sign on it that said “Little Free Library – Take a book, leave a book.” I looked it up online at www.littlefreelibrary.org and found some plans and lots of pictures.

We have a lot of books, so this seemed like a fun project.

It’s mostly 3/4 inch plywood, joined with pocket screws (I just got a Kreg jig, as well and this seemed like a good project to try it out on.) The eaves and the door frame are cedar. Painted with latex outdoors paint – it’s not perfect, but I was having fun with it.

Got it done just in time to still be able to set the mounting pole in concrete without it freezing up. We’ll see now how much use it gets!

I would definitely recommend to others to make one of these – it’s a nice project and a good cause. And a way to maybe get rid of some of your old books in a constructive, creative way.

MY take on the exact-width Dado Jig I first saw at the Wood Whisperer (video here). I simplified it a little bit. As I mentioned in my review of the Ridgid Trim Router (here) the square base makes a nice “bushing” for the jig. Just set the base along the guide and move along. I use a simple 1/2” straight bit.

One thing I did do is indicate on the jig which direction the router should face, as I think mine may not be 100% centered, so that can cause some problems. The last picture shows a little depth gauge I use to make sure that it is the right depth.

It’s all made of plywood and uses jig parts that can be had at any hardware store (mine came from the local Ace). I used it to make the bottom shelf dado for the Bathroom Vanity I just finished and it produced nice, tight dadoes.

We wanted to put a new vanity with a vessel sink in our bathroom. However, like many old houses, the bathroom is really tiny, so we couldn’t find anything commercially that would fit. Great excuse to get back into the shop!

This piece is made of birch and birch ply. The face frame, door frame, top and back are solid birch, the cabinet is birch ply. I wanted to use birch because I had a wall cabinet that I built back in middle school (around 1985) that I found out is also birch (see Need Help with Wood ID). The design is my own, again to complement the wall cabinet.

Bottom shelf of cabinet is dadoed into sides about 3/8” deep, and there is a subtop of ply that is rabbeted into the sides also 3/8” deep, so I got a basic carcase and then laid the finish top over that.

Finish is two coats of shellac sealer and then 3 coats of polyurethane wiping varnish. Had a hard time with that – I didn’t thin the shellac but used it right out of the can, and it seemed like it just started to form drips and then dried.

Had to make a few changes on the fly, and I am finally starting to learn how to fix some mistakes in the middle of a project. For example, I glued the face frame up not quite flat, so that when I laid it on the carcase, there was a significant gap all up the left side. Fortunately, I had some very thin strips left from ripping the face frame material to size (about 1/16” thick) and the Freud Premier Fusion blade (fantastic blade, by the way) left a clean face on those. I just put the strip in between the face frame and the carcase, glued it up, and you have to really look to notice it’s there.

Also for the “lessons learned” file – I would add a preamble to the old aphorism “measure twice, cut once”. Preface all that with “do your math a couple of times, and with a calculator.” You may notice that the door had a rather wide rabbet on the stiles, but not the rails.

Funny story – I was going to use 3/8” inset hinges for the door, and make a 3/8” rabbet all around, which means I’d have to make the door about 3/4” wider than the opening to get it to fit right. Measured the opening, which came in a 8” wide and 21” tall. My door stiles and rails are 2 1/2” wide, so I thought I had it – the door rails should be 5” wide. Got it all glued up, and the door was 10” wide. So, rather than make a whole new door, I just put a wide rabbet up and down, and used a no-mortise hinge for it. Oh well, I think it turned out okay anyway. Thanks for listening, and if anyone has some tips on applying shellac (I don’t have the facilities to spray) it would be much appreciated.

Built out of pine 2×4s and 3/4 plywood – about $40 worth of materials.

This was my first opportunity to use my new Ridgid R4512 table saw. I have since upgraded to a Freud Premier Fusion blade from the factory blade, and it is quite a difference!

Pretty much just ripped the 2×4s square, and the whole thing is held together with lag screws. Top is rabbeted into the frame.

Finish is one coat of primer and one coat of “Barn Board” color exterior paint.

Already starting to show some wood movement from being out in the rain, but that’s okay. As I said, nothing fancy. Will probably throw another coat or two of paint on it down the road.

It’s really something to use so my wife and I can pot plants with having to use my good workbench in the garage and get dirt all over it. (http://lumberjocks.com/projects/64625)

Just a fun, weekend project to start to get to know some of my tools.

If you see the before picture of my workshop, you will understand that this is a vast improvement over what was there before.

However, having read about other workbenches, I see a lot of changes I would make/will make in future workbenches.

So, it’s not fancy, and definitely not pretty, but serviceable, and, quite frankly, too darn heavy to move out now.

The legs are 4×4 posts, most of the rest of the framing is 2×4s (cleaning up the edges of the 2×4s is one of the things I’d do differently).

The top has a sub-base of 2×6s, with 3/4 inch plywood over that.

It’s pretty much all bolted together with lag screws.

The bench vise is from Rockler. Pretty happy with it so far.

• make it a little bit shorter
• clean up the edges of the framing for better fit
• bury the vise in the tabletop
• make sure the dog hole next to the vise isn’t right over the vise screw (can’t believe I missed that one!)
• chamfer the edges of the top before installing the vise

But, overall, I’m OK with it – it’s early days yet; and, again, all made with just a jigsaw, circular saw, cordless drill and hand tools.

Finally – some constructive criticism would be most welcome – it will help me on the next one to not be this guy:

(To self): “Well, there it is. Looks pretty darn good!”
examines it a little more closely
“Man, why did I do that! That was dumb! Well, to much trouble to fix now”

This is the first serious project I have made (since middle school in the late ‘80s, anyway). Chest as a Christmas gift for my sister-in-law. Mahogany frame and birch plywood panels, with a cedar bottom. First time:

• Frame-and-panel construction
• Breadboard ends (top)
• Shellac finishing
• Installing hinges
• Battens (inside top)

There was not as much contrast as I thought there would be between the mahogany and the birch. Was hoping the mahogany would be a little darker. Maybe with time and aging. I have a new “Fine Woodworking” that details good and bad wood combinations. Should be helpful.

Also, I made this chest without a tablesaw, planer, or jointer. Just a circular saw, jigsaw, router and small hand tools. A tablesaw would have made ripping the stock a LOT easier. Just got the Ridgid R4512 brand new this weekend (Thanks Home Depot for the military discount!)