Wood Working

[MuscularTeeth]

This thread is for your woodworking skills.
Carpentry, joinery, camping tips, bush mechanic thoughts, furniture design, guitar making, boating, coopering etc.
What ever you're doing with timber, we'd like to see it.

[Makena]

So a while ago I decided I was going to make a coffee table, despite having made nothing from wood in quite some time (16+ years in highschool, and even then it was a small wooden box) so I planned it in a professional manner

Looking back, things I did wrong were it should have had a central support beam, to make it easier for the to be flat as one of the planks is curved very slightly so it has a slight lip in the middle. I still need to sand it back slightly and put another layer of some sort of clear coat/sealant or something to give it a properly smooth finish.



Bought some wood



My first attempt at a suitable surface for clamping to, this was a failure and I was worried I'd shatter the glass, so I used the inside dining table



I made a frame!



Cut and attached some legs!



Added a top



Then a little bit later I added coats of oil/varnish

[Nacimota]

Do you still regret the varnish, Makena?

[Makena]

I've come to accept it

[n1cholas]

My father's a cabinet maker and runs his own small business which I help out in.

You have to be careful when staining and varnishing as some stains contain a lot of oil and/or wax so the final result when varnished can be disappointing.

We've had a few people come in with DIY projects and ask us to quickly remove varnish because they weren't happy with the varnish or the appearance of the item once it was varnished and wanted to use only oil again or a different stain then varnish again.

Oil finish can be a real PITA for grime accumulation depending on the texture of wood and the stickiness of the dried oil finish so I've never been a fan.

We rarely work with natural wood, stain and varnish nowadays so I'm no expert on them, mainly building carcasses out of chipboard with a lot of tops and doors outsourced as it is cheaper that way for a small business as the equipment required is $100,000+ each.

[Disruptor4]

Why didn't you like the varnish, Makena?
You've kinda got me a little motivated to try building my own table. But I have no idea what to do or where to start anymore (same boat in that I haven't built anything in like 10 years).
What wood did you choose? How was it all put together? etc etc XD

[Makena]

Why didn't you like the varnish, Makena?
You've kinda got me a little motivated to try building my own table. But I have no idea what to do or where to start anymore (same boat in that I haven't built anything in like 10 years).
What wood did you choose? How was it all put together? etc etc XD

I wasn't sure on the colour, as many of them try and colour it like a different sort of wood, and when it's obviously pine that's a bit weird. But in the end I'm happy with the colour I've used (maple I think), and the finish isn't great but that was just inexperience.

I used pine, it's cheap and very easy to work with. It's held together with wood screws that you just drill a pilot hole for, counter sink slightly (so they're below the surface a bit) and then screw in.

[Disruptor4]

This is going to be an interesting little project for me. Guess I'll now need to go buy a screw driver set (would love a magnetic tip set tbh) as I've been lazy and not got one yet.

[Makena]

Yeah I had a screw driver set, and a drill, had to buy clamps and a saw and few other bits.

[Maddog]

My project is building an electric guitar (or 2) with zero woodworking experience. I'm using kits so the major shaping is done but I'm still learning things like what sanding with the grain means on curved surfaces

[brimlad]

finished these a couple of weeks ago; 2 lobster/crab mallets. they look simple but made without power tools or glue. the handles have a slight conic shape which matches the hole in the mallet head then hammered in.
the wood is jarrah and off cuts from the jarrah used in new parliament house; a friend of my Dads was carpenter that did some of the jarrah work on the house.

and it was great fun making them.

[Celticangel82]

I've been dabbling in some wood work / pyrography and gourd decorating, although it's a bit on hold atm, but after we move house I'll have more room to work.
Celtic's Pyrography on fb.

[CherryRed]

So a while ago I decided I was going to make a coffee table, despite having made nothing from wood in quite some time (16+ years in highschool, and even then it was a small wooden box) so I planned it in a professional manner

I'm impressed, for a first attempt that's pretty good!

My Dad us a welder and he used to make beautiful hand-made wrought iron furniture - being a timber lover at heart, I never asked him to make me anything. Now that I'm a bit older and recognise that turning 70 next year probably means the years I have left with Dad are limited, I'm really sorry I never got him to make me something as I'm sure I could have found a place for it and it would have been something special to pass on through the family. He no longer makes stuff or has the tools to do so, which is a massive bummer.

[n1cholas]

I'm really sorry I never got him to make me something as I'm sure I could have found a place for it and it would have been something special to pass on through the family. He no longer makes stuff or has the tools to do so, which is a massive bummer.

I wouldn't pressure him into anything but there's Mens Sheds in many areas and it's a great way for older men to keep active and maybe make some friends while they're at it.

[CherryRed]

... there's Mens Sheds in many areas and it's a great way for older men to keep active and maybe make some friends while they're at it.

Yeah, whole bunch of logistical issues with that though as it's a 2,000km round trip from my parent's house to mine, so even if he did make me a piece of furniture it would be a colossal PITA to get it here - when we buy our new house I'll put more thought into it though, as I'll be able to really think about what I want and where I'd put it etc.

[MuscularTeeth]

very large arched window being made.
my photo on the ladder (fucking hot in the factory up on high).
it will have awning (wind out ) sashes and colonial bars...



and..



here are some sashes i started glazing for a weights and pulleys box frame window. the colonial bars on these are similar to whats going on with the arch above.

[ChainsawMcP]

Almost finished the latest round of renovations/upgrades for the kid's cubby house.

It's now cedar panelled - with waste from parent's reno years ago
two sections of one wall done as blackboard - masonite and some blackboard paint I had lying around (everybody does, right?)
a small cedar sofa with drawer under - cut down from a very old single bed that you can't buy matresses for anymore - with a couple of old cushions cut down to size
has a roman blind to cover the skylight - and a solar powered interior light

A perfect place for little miss pre-teen to escape from her older brother when she needs to

If I put a ceiling in under the tin roof it would almost be livable

[MuscularTeeth]

next step is ordering the glass (it will be the observa mirror stuff like in interrogation rooms) and painting and install.

[MuscularTeeth]

[Celticangel82]

The wood carving knife my uncle made for me (he tempers the steel n all) so I can carve more comfort birds!

[Disco]

CA, those are really good - great carving! Credit where credit is due

[Celticangel82]

CA, those are really good - great carving! Credit where credit is due

Thanks dude, my aunty got me into it, she carves heaps for her church. So each time we go visit them, I do some more woodworking, scroll saws are fun.

[Nekosan]

Not sure how i missed this thread.... i'm (hopefully) going to be all up in this bitch with some shoddy woodworking in the next month or so.

Basically I've been meaning to get the split systems that are crapping up my pc room installed for like 2 months, for weeks I've been thinking about ripping my carpet out at the same time since the room will be empty from there my thought process went:

> I should build that really cool ikea hack storage bed while im at it, i need a new bed
> i wonder what the concrete is like under that carpet, I should do hardwood laminate while im at it (when is the room going to be empty ever again?)
> I want a mitre saw, i TOTALLY need one for this
> I dont have anywhere to keep it, maybe i need a bench
> I should build a workbench
> shed is small and cluttered, i could build shelves etc too
> maybe i should watch woodworking videos until 3am on a workday (this guy is a baller https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d0ttEViCaoo)


brb spending $1500 on tools and wood this weekend that i might never even use

Anyone want to buy a mitre saw, drill, chisels, hammers etc for cheap once i rage out 2 cuts into the bench project?

[MuscularTeeth]

haha come to my factory on a weekend and save cash on tooling.

[linxus]

Or wait a couple of months and buy all that stuff from Masters when they have a massive closing down sale?