I completed a set of two “Weekend Wall Shelves” based on Marc’s podcast – one for each of my boys. The original plan was to make them both entirely out of birch. I had enough birch for the shelves (and then some) plus one piece of 8/4 just long and wide enough to make the two backs.
The project took a couple of weekends (but I was also working on other things… I think if I did it again, I could complete them in one weekend if I focused on them). I had a problem routing the dadoes on the second set of shelves (I wasn’t careful enough) and destroyed the router bit and took chunks out of the back. Unfortunately, I didn’t have enough birch to make another back.
I talked to my youngest son, and we chose a piece of sapele to make the back to his shelves out of. I think the contrasting wood looks pretty good, but so does the first one as well. The second picture was taken with my iPhone, so excuse the crappy quality (yes, I have an old iPhone still – I’m sure the newer ones will take better pictures)
Lessons learned:
- Take the time to make the proper dado jig. I based mine on the one that Marc built (after I destroyed the second back).
- This was my first time spraying the finish on – I think it was great. I used a water-based pre-cat varnish and it worked great. I could do two or three coats in a single evening. I think I had the spray gun was set to spary too thick – on the next project I will try a lighter coat.
- The sapele is a lot softer than the birch. So be careful when setting the shelves down on the floor to look at – if the dog knocks it over, it the radiator will leave a dent in the sapele.

Thanks to all who commented on my prototype bench. I think the proportions are much better than the prototype…

Based on your comments (and my ideas), I decided to change the design of the bench:

- I would keep the legs with the same curve, but add a bigger diameter hole.
- I made the stretcher a lot smaller, more in proportion to the legs, and added a gentle curve to the stretcher.
- I made the top longer (32″ long) – It would fit the location better.
- I made the stretcher the same thickness as the stock from the legs, it seemed to be a better proportion.

The first step of the construction was to make the top, and inlay the leaves. I made the top of birch (I believe). I cut the leaves on the scroll saw and cut the inlays with the router (based on a podcast by Marc Spagnuolo). It turned out to be more challenging than it appeared by the podcast, but overall I like how the inlay turned out, and will probably incorporate that type of inlay into future projects.

I routed the sliding dovetail slot on the top. On the prototype I made a stopped dovetail, on this one I made a through dovetail and used a piece of scrap walnut as a filler for the front of the dovetail. I didn’t fill the back of the dovetail (so the bench can come apart, but not easily right now). I think if I had more time I may have added one for the back.

I then glued up the legs from sapele and milled the stretcher from the same. I believe it is sapele, but I have acquired a lot of lumber from a friend, and it wasn’t all labeled very well.

I cut the dovetail on the legs on the router table. I did cut the legs a little long, to ensure that if I cut too much off in making the dovetails, I could start over and not have to throw the legs away. After routing the dovetail on the legs, I cut the legs to length, and then drilled the hole and used the same template I used on the prototype to make the legs. I rough cut the curves on the bandsaw and used a pattern bit on the router to get the final shape.

I cut the curve on the stretcher and used a pattern bit to rout the curve to final shape.

The stretcher and legs are joined by a half-lap joint, and then the while leg/stretcher assembly is then attached to the top using a sliding dovetail. I used an American Woodworking project as inspiration for the construction method. I cut the slots for the legs/stretcher on the bandsaw and cleaned up by hand.

What did I do wrong? I made a couple of technical mistakes on the final project. The half-lap joints aren’t as clean as I would like them to be. I had the same problem on the prototype. I may have been rushing a little bit to get the project out the door on the final project. I also started to drill one of the cutouts at the end of the stretcher on the wrong side. It is on the back so isn’t very visible, but if I had more time, I would have cut a new stretcher and started over. I also finished the top prior to assembly, but didn’t have time to prefinish the rest of the pieces. I think it would have been easier to finish if I had prefinished all of the pieces.

What would I do differently the next time? Maybe use wood that would contrast even more (maybe ash for the top and walnut for the legs). I would prefinish all the pieces. I would try to get the half-lap joints tighter. I really liked the idea of building a full-sized prototype to help with construction and design ideas

Any thoughts?

This is a prototype for a bench that I made out of red oak with a cedar stretcher. It is constructed with sliding dovetails.

I was going to make the bench out of red oak, but when I had milled the lumber, I decided I didn’t really like the look of the red oak. But since I already had the lumber milled, I decided to make it as a prototype anyway. The sliding dovetails are a little loose… a good reason to make a prototype – I know where to focus on the next bench.

I’m looking for some feedback on the design/construction. I think the next bench will have a lighter top, possibly birch. It will be a little bigger (longer/wider). Some initial thoughts are to make the legs and stretcher both out of darker lumber, I have sapele sitting around (I would prefer to not purchase any lumber for this). Other thoughs are to make the legs out of thicker stock. They were cut from a 4/4 piece of red oak. I was thinking of milling the legs to maybe 1 1/2” thick and the stretcher to match. I am planning on moving the legs in from the edge a little bit, so I can cut a bigger curve on the bottom corner of the stretcher.

My old store bought pizza peel developed a large crack a couple of months ago. I decided that it couldn’t be too difficult to make (I used the old one as the template for the new one). Made from Walnut and Sapele (maybe – not sure) that I had sitting around. It was a quick project to complete, but I let it sit around for a couple of months after the glue-up prior to cutting the shape and sanding the edges.

I did (re) learn a couple of things with this project. I was taking 4/4 stock down to less than 1/2” thick. The boards warped when they were planed to that thickness. I think I should thin the boards in steps, and let the wood adjust (and re-flatten) as I get it closer to final thickness.

I still have trouble flattening boards by hand (when they are too wide for the jointer), but I suspect that will get easier with practice.

My youngest son requested that I build him a painted toybox. We worked on the plans together and he picked the colors. The carcase is constructed from oak plywood from the box store. Constructed with pocket hole screws and oak trim glued on the face. I made the mistake of making the top before finishing the box, so it was slightly the wrong size. I still need to fix the top and add hinges to the box, but it works as a toy box without the top

Several cutting boards based on the plans by the Wood Whisperer.

I made this Kubb game (a Swedish lawn game) from existing wood in the shop. The pieces are a little smaller than regulation, but still stand up in the grass. I didn’t feel like gluing up the pieces to make them the regulation size.