Yes, I know this isn’t a project. I couldn’t get the photo to load in the Coffee Lounge so I thought I’d place it here…... A gift for someone who already has everything. This will keep them busy for hours.
- JJ

Like most of you, I’ve been busy trying to finish up family gifts for Christmas. This is one project I finished just in time. They’re lap trays. Good for eating a meal while watching your favorite show (or game) on TV or to carry stuff out to the grill. Everyone liked them. There’s a variety of wood: oak, cedar, ash, sycamore, royal paulownia, hemlock ….. just using up what i had. The bottoms are birch plywood. Some were stained and some were left natural. The finish was 3-4 coats of wipe on poly.
- JJ

This silverware tray (#2) was one of the wedding gifts for my daughter. The reason it’s ”#2” is because when I made the first one, I measured “my” silverware before making the projects. Just so happens that the knives in her new set of silverware (another gift from me) were too long to fit in tray #1. I had them here, just didn’t measure them. Anyway, she gets a nice tray and we have a new one too. Our knives fit perfect. It’s all cherry with a mineral oil finish.
-JJ

Mom asked me to make a wooden tissue box cover for her and here it is. Made out of sycamore with golden oak stain and three coats of poly. This was my first test run with my new Wood Smith box joint jig. Didn’t do too bad for first time.

Here it is folks…... the one you’ve all been waiting for…..... Just kidding. I’ve been putting off making this jig for a while and the time came when I needed it, so I made it. I have made some modifications to the jig since I took these photos. To begin with, I moved the knob to the other side…. (duh) and I replaced the piece that holds the stock down with something a bit larger.

NOTE TO SELF:........ When using small stock ripping jig….. install zero clearance insert on table saw….. BAMM! I never did find that piece of wood. But I was standing to the side so I was able to avoid it…. It’s all about learning.

I’m new here and this is my first post attempt….. So let me know if I’m doing something wrong. This is just a simple plant stand for my wife. It’s just stock pine with a few box joints and a poly finish. I’ve seen these in magazines and figured it would be pretty easy to build. This actually looks better than some I’ve seen in sales books.