Every year the woodworking class I attend :Castro Valley Adult and Career Education: http://www.cvadult.org/courses/woodworking
have a christmas party and the money raised goes to buying extra tools. I donated those boards and this one:
http://lumberjocks.com/projects/76183 for the raffle.

This project from Bvdon inspired The Diamond board http://lumberjocks.com/projects/43082.

I goofed on the dimensions. I wanted to add room all around so I could cut a juice groove outside the diamonds but failed on that.
I also changed the thickness of the board from what I planned to have and I came up short; I did not account for the kerf of the blade.

I will redo this board again.

Wood used:
-Walnut
-Mapple
-padauck
-Yello heart

construction is not too difficult.

The diamond angle I used is 30 degree. All the cuts for those 2 blocks were done without changing the setup.

The maple and the pauduck in the middle of the board were also cut with the same angle (roughly 19 degree). I used the dial on the tablesaw to set it; no precision needed here.

Please note that this picture is missing 2 pieces of walnut between the diamond blocks and the maple/padauck block. I forgot to take a picture.

cleaned up the sub-assemblies and glued up. You can see the diamond blocks with the missing walnut pieces I refered to earlier ontop of the planer

Sliced the pieces; you can see the last 2 pieces are much thinner, I opted not to have a 1/2 diamond on one end.

Glue up, sand (80, 100, 120, 150, 180, 220, 320, wet (wax oil) 400); sorry no good picture I have wanted to guy a decent camera for a while now.

The 3 Chevron boards, inspired by http://lumberjocks.com/projects/56963 have different angles. I wanted to optimise the use of the wood:
Maple, Cherry Walnut and Purple heart.

Cheese boards construction and credits: http://lumberjocks.com/projects/40032

Thanks for looking.

I finally completed Larry’s (degoose) class: End Grain Cutting Board LJ Class 006

Larry put out a great series of blogs with some very nice videos that makes it easy to build one.

Thanks Larry!

I read the material and watch the video a couple of times then headed to the shop.

wood used: Hard maple, Chery an Walnut; all 8/4

juice groove was cut on the router table.

The pictures were taken with a smartphone and are terrible.

This boards with few others went as a raffle price to raise money to buy more tools for the class.

A project from Aviad87 inspired me http://lumberjocks.com/projects/55001. He also posted a detailed picture blog that made it some much easier to make one. Thanks Aviad87.
Also thanks to Rance for verifying the angles: http://lumberjocks.com/rance/blog/26130

I used 1/2 inch thick plywood from HomeDepot; really cheap stuff.
I also used 2”1/8 for the sides of the hexagons (20 of them) and pentagons (12 of them).
The real soccer ball is around 1” 7/8

I Set the balde to 36 degrees and rip the ply for the pentagones and then to 30 degrees and rip the hexagones

I then proceeded to glue them up. The ply was a little warpped.

I ended up with 2 sausages

I ripped those 2 sausages into 1/2 thick pieces.
Since I do not have an 80 tooth plywood balde and the ply was of a lower quality I ended up with hairy pieces. Slower feed did not help.

I then made 2 templates out of 1/4 thick MDF from an old furniture back: 1 hexagone and 1 pentagone.

I also Made a small jig to help in cutting the dihedral angle (sideways angles).
Please note that my template are not very accurate. But I aligned the good side that had correct angles on the jig for the cuting of those angles:
20.9 degrees for the hexagone sides and 18.7 for the pentagones. Aviad87 has slightly different angles on his blog and I follow what Rance pulled out and which I saw as well here: http://www.coolmath.com/reference/polyhedra-truncated-icosahedron.html

Once all the pieces were cut, it was time to glue up.

I softened all the sides with an orbital sander and sanded all the glue squize out using adhesive back sand paper on a flat stick.
I finish with 1 coat of zinser sanding sealer (2 pound cut shellac).
I am not finishing any further at this time. Maybe one day I will go back (if I keep it), sand further and appliy some poly.

I find out that binder clips work best for the clamping. Unfortunately I did not have many of them.

It was a fun project overall.

As always comments good or bad are welcome. Thanks for looking!

Miter Key Sled

This jig is from Shopnotes Vol 20 issue 116. They build it as “Dovetail Key Jig” for the router table.

Well there is no reason why it can’t be used for both Miter key and dovetail key since it has a removable backer insert as seen in the 4th picture.
For now I am going to use only on the tablesaw. I cut a dozen extra inserts so I have them handy in case I use it on the router for a dovetail key.

Fairly easy to make from left over 3/4” thick plywood pieces.

foldable work table

The second project is a foldable work table from American Woodworker website they call “Instant surface”:
http://americanwoodworker.com/blogs/shop/archive/2009/12/08/instant-surface.aspx

They have a heavy duty one: http://americanwoodworker.com/blogs/shop/archive/2002/04/28/heavy-duty-folding-work-table.aspx

I made 2 of the “Instant surface” for when I assemble longer projects. Those are going to be life savers since they hardly take any space when folded.

I used a mixture of pine, oak and ash for the legs; all leftovers. The hinges are from an old kitchen cabinet (I collect hardware).

All half lap joints were cut on the table saw

both folded

I build this pergola to replace a condemned Gazebo and to give more crawl space for my 3 grape vines.

The main Structure was built in 2 days with a helper and a couple more weeked to finish up by myself.

I made two different templates to cut the curves at the end of the 2×6s and 2×4s.
I wanted to route the edge clean but discovered quicly that the lumber was wet. So the curves were cut with a jigsaw only.

The wood is redwood heart construction grade. Heart B was more expensive.
Stainleass steel Cariage bolts.
Lag bolts.
3” Deck screws.
The only finish that went on it is a brushed on UV protection.

The condemned Gazebo Came down within one hour. Four more days for a contractor to concrete the area.

The first phase was to put the 6 4×4 posts in place and plumb them. To that the long sectional 2×6s got added. Stainless steel cariage bolts were used on those.

Once those were in place then I proceeded with some more 2×6 accross from the first Long 2×6s. I used a string to align all these in the front of the pergola then I marked and cut a 2” deep dado on those.

Onces all the 2×6 were secure then I proceded to install the top 2×4. Those were screwed on with deck screws.

Final proceeded to add the corner crosses to make very stable.
I cut those out of 2×6s and cut a slight curve on all of them on my bandsaw.
I was able to patern route some of them since they had dried some in the garage.
I then drill partially the hole for the lag bolt to go in and I also used a spade bit so I can recess those bolt a little.

I had ordered a little extra wood for a planter bench but we are still unsure if we should attach it the the pergola or let be on its own. That’s for another project.

Thanks for looking

My old plant stands by the backyard door are on their last legs so I need new ones.

This project was inspired by Peteg: http://lumberjocks.com/projects/39287
I worked mainly from the picture.

The tops are made out of oak and finished with 2 brush on and 3 wipe on coat of oil base poly.
The rest is also out of oak but finished with 3 coat of outdoor varnish.
The legs are out of recycled 3/4 oak hardwood flooring that a friend gave me.

Why the difference in finish? I did not like the outdoor varnish. SO I put oil based poly on the top. I am probably going to regret it rather quicly.

I made some basic templates for the curve on the leg and the crossmembers out of 1/4 mdf panel.

I started with the legs (16 sticks). I chose to do a pattern routing on the curves instead a spindle sander just to have everything the same.
I also drilled holes for the screws.

I then worked on the crossmembers. After cutting them to the final size, I cut the dadoes then cut the lower curve on the band saw.

I also pattern routed the cuve on those.
I had to sand the face crossmembers lightly because the dadoes were just a little tight.

I then cut the tops on my circle cutting jig. It worked like a charm: http://lumberjocks.com/projects/47285

Then came assembly… I tried to keep those sticks as square to the crossmembers as I could.

Once the base assembled I decided to inlay the top with my favorite dragon. Why inlay when they would hident but pots of plant? Just to practice and have fun.

I cut 4 pieces (2 spares) of padauck veneer aproximately 1/8 thick.

I pull my scroll saw and after a couple hours I got crap :) Never hurry! Maybe the spiral blade wasn’t such a good idea.

Collected the saw dust from the scrollsaw. Pull my dewalt (DWP611PK) palm router with the plunge base.
Router and routed out the waste. Then chisel out the corners (not really the right tool).
A quick word for Dewalt: A great tool to have, quieter and better than the bosch colt. The plunge base is a killer

Mixed the saw dust from the scrolling with some epoxy.
Spread it all over, got a nice “poop” like my son said.

The drum sander to the rescue et voila: My dragons.

The strange dots here and there are oak dust left over on the scroll saw that contamined my padauck dust.

Thanks for looking. Any criticism is always welcome.

This circle cutting jig is from ShopNotes volume 19 issue 113
The aluminum bar used in this jig was bought from Homedepot. It is 1/4” thick and 1” wide. They sell it in 36” and 96” length.

few modifications were done to the original jig:
-The size of jig was changed to accomodate my bandsaw
-The size of the adjustable radius bar to accomodate up to 60” in diameter (by flipping the bar 180 degree)
-The use of screw insert
-The hold down to attach it to the bandsaw. I added one in the back of the jig as well to help with larger circles.

The first step in building this jig was to cut a piece of plywood that fits your bandsaw.
I decided to use some plastic laminate on the top that I glued on with contact cement.
I did not have a large enough piece so I used 2 smaller pieces. I also did not have a laminate trim bit so I have a visible line in the midle
I Used a flush trim bit to get rid off the excess laminate and a roundover bit to get rid off the sharp edges.

Bottom dado on the bottom for the sliding mitter.

Groove 1” wide centered on the line perpendicular to the blade to hold the bar that sets the radius.

Holes drilled and tapped 1.5” on center.

Small nail used as the pivot.

Slot to allow the bar to slide and set the radius of the circle you want to cut.

Stop block with screw to fine tune the pivot and blade perpendicularity. I used a length of threaded rod with an electric cap on it.

Block to secure the jig to the bandsaw so it does not move during the circle cut.

Hold down on the back to make more stable when cutting larger circles. I used some of the aluminum bar I roughly bended.

Now I can cut great circles .

Comment /remarks, critics always welcomed.

I made this box for my wife as a valentine gift.

I purchased the plan “Heart shaped jewelry box” from woodcraft.

I did not installed a music box as called for in the plan. I also dropped the height by 1/2” It thought it was too bulky with the original size.

The wood used is Padauk and the small inlay stip (3/16) is pine ( I am not sure it was from a scrap piece).
I had to find padauk boards wide enough (8 1/2 inches) so I do not get extra lines by glueing boards together.
It is needless to say it was expensive.

The padauk was not easy to sand. It was cloging my drum sanger pretty quick altough I was extrta carefull in taking very little every pass.
It gumms the belt every 2 passes and I got burn marks.

I used the hand planes instead on the board and used the drum sander on the box body.

I also had to pull my old hadsaw since my badsaw has a 6” resaw capacity. I do not have the riser block. I thought I will never need it when I purchased my bandsaw. I made 2 cuts on the table saw about 2” deep on 2 opposite sides and cut the rest with the hadswaw.

The top and bottom were pattern routed using a template I made out of 1/4” MDF.

The outside of the body was done on the bandsaw.

The inside, which is made of 3 boards stacked, was cut on the scroll saw one board at the time before glue up. I did that to avoid bandsaw entry line (2 of them were needed)

This time I did not spray the black suede on the bottom but bought some sheets from walmart (37 cents/ 12×12 piece).

The hinges are SOS invisible hinges and the bottom 3 Brusso feet (not shown) are brass.

The finish is shellac and wax.
I also left the box in sunlight (not direct sun) the darken the color a little.

Notice the inlay changed color quite a bit. The orange/red sanding dust from the pauduk bled on the strip.

It was a fun and not difficult project to do.

Material cost is over $60. The hinges alone were $28/pair.

As always any suggestion is welcome.

This box was designed by Blake: http://lumberjocks.com/projects/6597
For detail on building the box (better box) look at the link above.

I wanted to experiment with showing more of the grain on the side of the box. I opted for glueing 4 maple pieces and made the cut on the bansaw with the edges of the boards up. Well it does show the grain better but it also produces 4 vertical lines. The lines are accentuate here due to the color of titebondIII that cure brown. TitebondII would have been better but TBIII is the only thing I had on hand.

I also decided to “spray” some suede on the inside against the advised of my wife. I regret that.

The leaf on the top is made of 4 pieces of zebra wood. The zebra wood I bought was narrow, so I glued up 4 piece with the strip in the middle and recut it to shape on the bandsaw.

Sanded all to the right shape with the rigid sander.

It was a fun box to make.

Wood used: Maple, Zebra wood, Walnut and unknow (pine?) for the stip on the lid.

Please feel free to critisize that’s how I will learn.

This was one of the easier board to make.
I used dark walnut, maple, purple heart and oak.
I have never been really comfortable with end grain glue without some kind of joint so I also cut 2 biscuits per piece to reinforce the joint.
I glued 2 piece at the time, it is easier to manage the glue up.
Everything was cut on the tablesaw.

I did follow a blog that I found on the net and I will post the reference tonight so propper credit is given.

Of course all critics and suggestions are welcome as always.

This board was a little more challenging. I followed Degoose blog: http://lumberjocks.com/degoose/blog/10460
It is very detailed.

I had few hiccups along the way:

I started with only 1 “hexagonal sausage” Thinking I would make my piece 3/4” thick and that would give me a decent size board..
Well I changed my mind and decided to go for 1” and 1/8 thick to be left with about 1” after sanding. That meant I run out of material pretty quickly.

So I made a couple of more “sausages” but the setup was no longer the same on may tablesaw and the planer also. It did not matter how closely I trtied to match the original pieces thickness the new setup was a tiny tiny off. That came back and haunted me during the glue up.

Lesson learned: Make enough of the hexagonal sausage with the same setup.

Sanding was a little cumbersome and I must say I am sloppy a sanding. End grain seems a little harder to sand than long grain.

Finish was much easier; just socked it with mineral oil on both sides, waited a couple of hours and wipe it clean.
The next day I applied a layer of butcher block oil (mineral oil and bees wax) let it soak in for a couiple hours and rubded it clean. Did the same thing again the following day.
I loved seeing oil from the other side of the board (end grain).

The glue up was the most tedious. Those tiny differences add up and some adjustment (sand paper) were necessary to fit those pieces. I still have some blotches from the glue that was absorbed through the end grains during clamping. That I could not remove. Also in my hurry to finish glue up before the glue dries on me, I flipped a couple of blocks.

Cut it to length et voila.

Wood used: White oak, maple and dark walnut.

I decided to take a break from finishing other pending projects and build my very first cutting board ever!
Of course I got the pattern wrong and what else but my wife likes it.

I followed many postings by Degoose: http://lumberjocks.com/projects/16520, definitely a master in board making and many other things.
I also followed Mary Anne blog: http://lumberjocks.com/LateNightOwl/blog/18277
and poroskywood http://lumberjocks.com/poroskywood/blog/10833

Both Mary Anne and poroskywood have very detail blogs on this particular style of board.

It take a couple of hours excluding glue drying time.

A lot of bandsaw work, very light sanding. The only thing tedious was the glue up and clamping.

Used dark Walnut, maple and strips of cherry. Those stips were cut on my table saw with the help of my jig: http://lumberjocks.com/projects/38663

Finished with2 coats of mineral oil followed by 2 coats of mineral oil mixed with bees wax. I plan to add a couple of more layers of wax to bring the sheen up.

Yet one more thin strip ripping jig. The same design as many, based on ShopNotes.

I decided to get away a little from the other unfinised projects this weekend and learn bent lamination wood.
So I needed this jig that turned out to be really usefull.

The only thing that was changed from the Shopnotes instructions was the placement of the miter bar.
I wanted to be able to use it on the table saw and the band saw.
Both these have a different distance from the miter to the blade.

I got lazy and did not set the router table up to route the groove on the top.
I simply drilled a bunch of holes on the drill press.

I ripped 41 strips of 2”x36” of oak and it did well.

I decided to build one of those flip-top tool bench for 2 reasons:
1-I do not have to move my planer from a shelf to the bench everytime I wanted to use it (heavy).
2-Gain more space.

I got this design from “The complete small shop” from Shopsmith. I also saw similar designs here on LJ.

The base foot print is 24”x24” and the height (withoutt casters) is 29”. The casters are 3”. Lag screws are used in securing the casters as well as the planer and the sander.
It took a full sheet and another third of 3/4 plywood to complete.
The bottom is made of 24 1/2×24 1/2 to account for the dado.
The top is made of 2 pieces of 24×24 and 4 pieces of 2” wide oak that goes in between.
4 eylet screws are used to secure the top to the sides.
The pivoting is done around a 1” dowel 3” long secured to the top (not the sides)

It flips nicely without much effort. My only worry is that the planer will come down crashing on the floor because the lag screw did not hold the weight.

This is one of my earlier quick project.
It is one of those cabinets I had a need for but was in hurry to finish.
Minimum consideration was put into precision or finish. Nothing fancy, just plywood, screws and glue.
The hardest thing was aligning the piano hinge correcty on both half of the cabinet.
I was still setting up the shop and needed to store some finishing supplies. I saw a similar project in one of the magazine but smaller (I don’t remember which one).
I just made mine deeper. I put it in an otherwise dead corner. It turned out to be usefull.

I am pretty sure this kind of project has been posted a zillion time but I decided to post it anyway.
I am happy it came out good and it serves me well.

Pretty basic plywood with plastic laminate /formica top and bottom applied with contac cement.

Dado on the bottom to hold the UHMV runner. Two other dados on the top for the tracks.
The dado for the runner was positionned so that I had a litle over 1/16 more than the distance from the miter to the blade. I drill 2 holes so I can hang it.
Once it was all assembled, Checked to make sure my blade was all square then run it through to cut the extra off.

All the exposed edges besides the one that contacts the blade received 3 coats of poly to seal them.

The 2 other pictures show the hold down and a tapered cut setup I was trying. The blocks in the picture was me trying to repeat the taper cut to make sure it all works goood.

I have been doing some cabinet for my shop in the garage and this is the first “non-cabinet” project that I do on my own. The other project were all made within a class setting.

I did this project about 2 weeks ago. It took about 4 hours to complete.
This is not my design; I bought the plan from woodstore.net (pretty detailed).

I used primarily the bandsaw the sander, the drill press and the router.
Two kind of wood were used (as suggested in the plan): Oak and Walnut.

I still have to complete the finish. So far I only applied 1 layer of true and tried varnish oil.

I also skipped a lot of sanding. I just want to see how it looks.

The router is not really needed but I did not have a 2-3/8” fostner bit to make the hole that encase the watch mechanism. So I drilled a 2” diameter hole with the largest bit I have.
I then made a template from a 1/4 plywood that I cut a circle of 2-1/2 inch diameter. I put a bushing on my router and rout is to the proper size.

I will probably redo it again and slow down on the cuts and sanding.