This is more of a testimonial than a project post. I finally got around to building a cross cut sled and a clamp on miter jig. They both work great evidenced by the test frame.

And the reason they work well is all the great advice available from Lumberjocks! The five cut (Ng) method works just like all of you said it would. Say what you want about Facebook but I do just fine with my 66,238 friends here on LJ. The visionaries, creators, and maintainers of this sight are to be commended.

While making the sled, a band saw scrap caught my eye that reminded me of something from my childhood.

After cutting the angled notch in it, I tried it out and it worked just like years ago!

If this should have been a blog rather than a project post, I apologize. I reached my level of technology incompetence years ago and wouldn’t have a clue how to create a blog.

I hope you enjoyed the projects and my ramblings.

The stool height is 24”. Wood is Red Oak and the Walnut from a gun stock blank reject. 1”x3” Dowels in the seat are not glued. Just draw bored and wedged with Pear Wood. (I finally got to use my Moxon vise) The legs are not tapered. Just distortion from wide angle lens. I like to think the “racing stripe” enhances my picking speed but others would say the added width accommodates my ample posterior. A question for the joinery experts: If weight limit were exceeded, which joint would likely fail first?

This is a prototype fixture and not sure what to call it. I needed to sand some legs and don’t own a drum sander or sand flee. I used some scrap flooring and plywood to create an enclosure for the spindle.

I had to make some recessed cauls to facilitate clamping and an “emergency” hole in the top to allow for the oscillation.

Dust collection works great using the factory port.

And the sanded legs remained square as if run through a joiner.

After using for a while, I may make another (taller) one using phenolic and exploring other ways to clamp or affix with a fine adjustment feature.

I thought this might give other Ridgid Sander owners some ideas.

Woods are Bubinga, Oak, and Pear. Legs are (faux) ebonized. Finish is shellac then wipe on poly (top sanded to 320). Will add partition someday, maybe, (not likely)

These are Good Book …. ribbon markers made for my Bible Fellowship group pre- 4th of July get together tonight. I used a 1/8” straight router bit on one inch strips of Walnut and Oak then glued in 1/8” Curly Maple a little proud and sanded smooth on belt sander before cutting to length. One coat of wipe on poly. Hardest part was the ribbon installation. Thanks for looking.

This is more of an epiphany than a project. A while back I made a typical router insert for my TS that was all involved and used the TS fence. My main router table top hangs on the wall as there is no room in my garage for a traditional router table. I wish I had as much woodworking space as I have space between my ears! It suddenly occurred to me that a couple of simple cleats screwed to the bottom of my router top would facilitate mounting it to the expansion wing opening. This gives me a larger work area, use of more versatile fence, and faster set up. Just drop it in and lock the wing

I acquired some scrap oak flooring and needed to replace a faulty lamp. By gluing mitered strips together, I got to have QSWO ray flecks on all sides of the post. I might make a Stickley inspired shade someday but the compound angles involved are giving me a headache right now.

Don’t you just hate when you get all comfy in your recliner reading then need a pencil to make a note? Base is Walnut , box is a novel piece of mystery pallet wood. Used the short from the pallet wood to make a note pad holder. Several coats of wipe on poly and foam in the box bottom to prevent breaking pencil points.

My daughter asked if I would make a couple of banks with very specific requirements as she wants to teach my Grandchildren about earning money through chores, etc. It’s a throwback concept but I’m guessing by the time they are teenagers, they’ll have a better handle on it than most adults. Keeping with the austerity theme, they were made with scraps of Maple, Padauk, and Walnut. I only had to purchase the Lucite. (notice the anti-glare properties – guess that’s why they use it in NASCAR windshields) The Walnut “coin slot” strip can be removed to expose larger holes for emptying. I didn’t put much thought into the design but it kind of reminds me of Art Deco – also a throwback earlier period.

Thanks for looking.

I needed a box to protect my dial calipers and I had a piece of scrap flooring with some nice figure I used for the top. The box is from white oak left over from table legs. Bottom liner is craft foam. The second smaller box is a result of inability to throw away shorts. (wood that is) I’ll figure out something to store in it. Maybe a small machine square. I’ve never made a box before using part of the end as the sliding top and was concerned about the gap the saw kerf would leave. I ended up using a a thin flush cut saw, glued the top piece to the lid letting gravity take its coarse, then just sanded the remainder of the top down flush. You can scarcely see the line in the last picture. Hope that makes sense. I’m happy with the results. Thanks for looking.

I have a router table of sorts but ,due to my lack of space, set up is involved. I had piece of scrap melamine and this started out as a simple project. Just inlet for the insert and a couple rabbets on the ends to hang over the rails. This would have been all that was needed if I used bearing bits only. That’s when it dawned on me that the overhang would impede the saw fence. The solution involved a somewhat complex “tenon” on one end and then latches underneath on the other end with some shimming to make it flush with the table. It should work well for the small, quick router need.

I needed a couple of end tables to go with an antique drop front desk that houses my computer but doesn’t provide room for the speakers. Thanks to Elwood89 for the inspiration of hidden (apron front) drawers. First attempt at shop made dovetail guides (learned some things about fitting like if you sand down the tail, you have to sand down the pin – duh!) First attempt at mortise and tenon joinery (leaned that a HF mortiser guide stop will slip with enough pressure – almost ended up making through tenons :-) I looked into fuming the white oak but, after reading about the variable results, decided to go with General Finishes Brown Mahogany gel stain which turned out to be a pretty good match. Final finish is 3 coats of Minwax Wipe On Poly Clear Satin. Last picture shows the frumpy make shift logs the tables replaced. Now I get to mill those sugar maple stumps and hope for some interesting spalting!

(No Skills Required) Mallet with Bradford Pear head and Maple (dowel) handle. Wipe on poly finish. I made two of these while I was at it and it all took a couple of hours. The pear wood is suitably hard and heavy. Thanks for looking.

I made this for my oldest “frontier” daughter that started making her own tortillas. It is an 8” model of hard maple and mahogany laminated to get the thickness needed. (running low on stock) Top and bottom plates are each 5/4. I trapped a 3/8” steel pin in the top of the fulcrum for handle swivel at glue up and then the bottom of the fulcrum is attached to the base plate with three pocket hole screws underneath. It’s beefed up because I’m fearful of what my grandson might try to flatten with it. :-) Finish is wipe on poly exterior and mineral oil / beeswax interior. Many thanks to Stevinmarin and other LJ’s with their tortilla press posts for ideas and inspiration.

Thanks for looking.

I made these shadow boxes to display a couple of exceptional flies tied by friends. First one is Walnut with Maple miter keys. Second is Bradford Pear with Mahogany dovetail splines and Maple face keys and Maple “Matte”. The second box is bordering on gaudy but what better way to cover mistakes? I used shellac on the Pear box and then wipe on poly on both. I left the Maple “matte” unfinished. This best part of this project was how well my shop made dovetail spline jig performed. Thanks for looking.

Palm Box #2 has a Mahogany top (probably African), Mesquite front and back and Curly MW (mystery wood) on the sides. Palm Box #3 has the mystery wood on top and the rest Mesquite. These are my second and third Palm Box projects and I’m really enjoying grabbing some scraps and then letting the shellac surprise me. I’m knew to woodworking and guessing the mystery wood is Honduran Mahogany. I’ve included a close up if any fellow LJ’s would like to confirm or otherwise i.d.

Thanks for Looking

I made chess boards for my daughters last Christmas. One daughter wanted to display hers on a table so this is what I came up with: The board itself is Padauk and Maple with Maple and Mahogany frames. Apron and legs are mahogany joined with pocket holes and the top attaches/removes via magnets. The piece divider grid is made of aspen and can be removed along with a false bottom to reveal two inches of secret space. The mahogany in the board and table matches a restored Mahogany Baby Grand (not shown) nicely. I bought the playing pieces at Lee Valley thanks to a tip from a fellow LJ. Thanks for looking.

My shop is 18×20. That is 18ft long by 20 inches wide. (What’s left of our garage with both cars in) All my equipment and work benches fold up or down or roll around or all three. When I got my surface planer, I had to get to work. Because of their weight, neither the sander or the planer are easy to horse up to a bench top. There are several much more classy stands than this that can be found on this site but I had most of the sheet goods leftover from other projects and got it done in a day and a half. I used 1/2” steel rod, nylon bushings, and collars from the local hardware store for the pivot function. The lid to the lower bin is hinged and can be opened from either side.

I made this as a prototype with plywood top and bottom but actually liked the effect the plywood core gave. Spline keys are Walnut. Kerf hinges and rare earth magnets for closure. Thanks for looking

I used a 3/4 round nose router bit to make a channel for the oak dowel. This works far better than I would have imagined. Thanks for looking