New project ideas

[Nick Mazzino]

Hi all,

I got my first wood shop up and running about 3 weeks ago, and I can't get enough of it! I am new to woodworking and just looking for some experience to get better.
I have built a few minor things so far such as a red oak slat bench, ash end table, and a chess board. Definitely some imperfections and I could use some practice on both the build and finishing

Anyone have any good build ideas? Or sites/videos to get ideas from?

My shop currently has a 3hp unisaw, 15" helical head planer, 6" jointer, and 14" band saw for the larger equipment. I just calibrated the planer and joiner.

Any pictures of recently completed projects you have done, I would love to see as well.

Thanks all!

[John K Jordan]

Got small kids or grandkids? Here's an easy warmup project. The one I built in the early 70's (from a 1x12 shelving pine board from HD) has been through three sons and two grandsons and while showing some wear (on the leather parts mostly) it is still perfectly useful. I drew up some plans and made an assembly model.

rocking_horse.jpg rocking_horse_plans_med.jpg rocking_horse_exploded.jpg rocking_horse_grandsons.jpg

Hi all,

I got my first wood shop up and running about 3 weeks ago, and I can't get enough of it! I am new to woodworking and just looking for some experience to get better.
I have built a few minor things so far such as a red oak slat bench, ash end table, and a chess board. Definitely some imperfections and I could use some practice on both the build and finishing

Anyone have any good build ideas? Or sites/videos to get ideas from?

My shop currently has a 3hp unisaw, 15" helical head planer, 6" jointer, and 14" band saw for the larger equipment. I just calibrated the planer and joiner.

Any pictures of recently completed projects you have done, I would love to see as well.

Thanks all!

[Marc Rochkind]

Boxes

You can get experience with joints (miters, box, dovetail, etc.), hinges, precise cutting, staining, finishing. And, each project is small enough so that, whatever mistakes you made have made, you can just start over with a new box.

[Nick Mazzino]

Hi John, thanks for sharing. I do not have any kids or grand kids. I do have a niece that I know would love that. Maybe I will give that a try this weekend. Thanks for sharing, it looks great!

Got small kids or grandkids? Here's an easy warmup project. The one I built in the early 70's (from a 1x12 shelving pine board from HD) has been through three sons and two grandsons and while showing some wear (on the leather parts mostly) it is still perfectly useful. I drew up some plans and made an assembly model.

rocking_horse.jpg rocking_horse_plans_med.jpg rocking_horse_exploded.jpg rocking_horse_grandsons.jpg

[Jon Wolfe]

I suggest combing the site and youtube for videos and pics of power tool jigs. You can greatly improve the safety and accuracy of your power tools with good jigs, sleds, drill press tables and other auxiliary tables for your table saw like a router table or outfeed table. Cabinets and tool stands are great projects for new woodworkers and you'll appreciate the extra space and ease to move big tools if you make mobile bases. Start looking at some of the pics of workbenches online and think about making one of those.
Check out your local library for great books on boxes and small projects too.

[Don Jarvie]

Ask your wife what she wants. Easy to justify shop time since “it’s for her”. I found approach works well.

[Ralph Okonieski]

Small project but useful. Made one for each of grandchildren. Good for little ones to aid in brushing teeth, washing hands, etc. Made some in QSWO, cherry and walnut. 16 “ deep x 14 “ wide x 17 “ high but of course can be resized to suit personal preferences. I made a template for sides which aids in cutting out the holes for handles. No hardware in it except for hinges. I carved the grandchildren’s initials in the back (not shown) to personalize.

[kent wardecke]

Boxes

You can get experience with joints (miters, box, dovetail, etc.), hinges, precise cutting, staining, finishing. And, each project is small enough so that, whatever mistakes you made have made, you can just start over with a new box.

I was just thinking i should make some boxes for practice

[John K Jordan]

Small project but useful. Made one for each of grandchildren. Good for little ones to aid in brushing teeth, washing hands, etc. Made some in QSWO, cherry and walnut. 16 “ deep x 14 “ wide x 17 “ high but of course can be resized to suit personal preferences. I made a template for sides which aids in cutting out the holes for handles. No hardware in it except for hinges. I carved the grandchildren’s initials in the back (not shown) to personalize.

Ralph, The photo doesn't show up for me. Is the URL ok? I couldn't get it to work even pasting it (or part if it) directly into a browser.

JKJ

[julian abram]

Gee, just ask the wife or relatives what you could build for them, you will quickly have a lifetime of projects. My honey projects are so many, I find myself hoping someday I could just build something that I want to build.

[Nick Mazzino]

I ended up practicing, and failing miserably, and dovetails all this weekend.


I first tried them by hand. My hand saw and chisels are very low quality and are older from my grandpa. I need to invest in new ones.
Then I built a few table saw jigs. Used that in combination with my band saw and a file to help clean them up. That seemed to work better.

My neighbor has a Craftsman dovetail jig that I tried to play around with for my router. However, I did not end up fully figuring it out and not sure if my router bit goes deep enough for how this jig is intended. I have a 1.5hp Ryobi.

I love the look of the hand or table saw dovetails. I am going to keep practicing on those over the next week or two. I have some red oak and cherry I would like to make a little box with dovetails.

Any recommendations on how you do dovetails?

[Matt Day]

You may want to hold off on the dovetails for a while. First, get some decent hand tools like chisels and learn to sharpen them. Dovetails by hand take a lot of practice as well.

There are a number of easier joints to make on the table saw or router. Those will help you focus on the larger project rather than focusing on one specific task like a dovetail.

You’ve got quite a nice lineup of tools for your first shop. Enjoy and use them often.

[tom lucas]

bandsaw boxes. Fun and quick. I made one of these full moon bandsaw boxes. Everyone raved over it. Pretty unique. I never found any plans. So I just watched the video about a dozen times.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RKKvLx4bGW8

[Ralph Okonieski]

My apologies for the late response and the lack of photo in the first post. I was off-line for the weekend. Two additional views are included. The only hardware in it are the hinges for the lid. The little grandchildren think it is fun to hide toys in the compartment. Although the original plans were for 3/4 inch thickness, my preferences have been to make it a little more stout.

IMG_0298a.jpgb.jpgIMG_0300c.jpg

[John K Jordan]

My apologies for the late response and the lack of photo in the first post. I was off-line for the weekend. Two additional views are included. The only hardware in it are the hinges for the lid. The little grandchildren think it is fun to hide toys in the compartment. Although the original plans were for 3/4 inch thickness, my preferences have been to make it a little more stout.

IMG_0298a.jpg

That's great! Now I need to make one.

Another very simple but useful project is this little bench, built from 3/4" shelving pine from Home Depot. I've built a bunch these, some like this one with a handle cutout in the middle to make it easy to carry around. The are good for sitting, standing on, and as a portable workbench for home maintenance projects, carry tools in the tray.

Bench_old_dimensioned.jpg

I think I made this one 30+ years ago and have been beating it up since. These days I keep it on the porch so I can sit and put my boots on.

JKJ