This reader-submitted project shows once again that great projects can come from wood that someone else might call “trash”.
I built this adirondack style loveseat out of reclaimed redwood, It had previously been someone’s deck. Lot’s of rot, dirt, nails, screws, and loose knots had to be dealt with. This project is based on Norm Abram’s plan, but I’ve made the back a bit taller and the material a bit thicker.
- Dean Morrell
Do you have a project you’d like to share? Click here to send it in.
As I mentioned in a previous post, Milwaukee Electric Tools opened their doors this week to show off what’s new and exciting in power and hand tools. In a very cool venue I might add—Harley Davidson’s Motorcycle Museum in Milwaukee.
Last weekend, I visited the woodworking school of our contributing editor, George Vondriska. He was hosting an interesting event to help veterans with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). In World War I, they called it “shell shock”; in World War II, the vets came home with “battle fatigue.” Whatever name it goes by, the veterans who live with it call it awful.
As a Navy hospital corpsman in 1974, I saw otherwise healthy men and women returning from Vietnam who were clearly suffering from the trauma they had experienced. Sadly, it was not nearly as well understood then as it is now. According to several reliable sources, nearly 20 percent of the military personnel who have and will serve in Afghanistan and Iraq (and that number stands at about 300,000 people right now …) will develop the symptoms of PTSD. Untreated, it can lead to all sorts of problems, in the vet’s family life as well as professional life.
So what was this interesting event that I visited? (I even helped out just a little bit.) It’s called Build a Vet a Guitar (in conjunction with Guitars For Vets) … but the best idea is to click on the video below and let George tell you about it.
Summer is typically travel time for us woodworking editors, and this one is no different. In June I was at a Bosch media event to learn about their new tools. Next month many of the Journal staff (including yours truly) will be in Atlanta attending the International Woodworking Fair. But this week, I’m headed to Milwaukee, Wisconsin—home to Miller Brewing Company and Harley Davidson Motorcycles—to visit with the folks at Milwaukee Electric Tools.
LiLi Jackson takes a look around the Furniture Society Conference that took place June 16-19, 2010 in Cambridge, Massachussetts. She even ran across Ray Magliozzi from Car Talk, who just happens to also be a woodworker.
Last week, while making some parts for our September issue’s Jigs & Fixtures project, I needed to drill some holes through a stack of plywood. I was using a little benchtop drill press to do the job. While it chomped quietly through those holes, it reminded me of how handy a little benchtop drill press is.
Reader Denzil Bell sent in these photos of a blanket chase using three different wood species.
Here are some photos of a chest I made for my grandson. The project is made of cherry (cut by the recipient’s great grandfather), walnut and hard maple.
- Denzil Bell; Temperance, MI
Do you have a project that you’d like to share? Click here to send it in!
To err is human. Now there’s a bromide that could have been written by a woodworker—it’s certainly true in my shop.
And there are many others we’ve adopted. Did you see our recent bromide contest in the eZine, or the many responses that followed from it? It’s funny how many of them have to do with coping with those inevitable, frustrating and sometimes costly mistakes we all make at one time or another.
While this reader project submission came in before our recent “Five Good Reasons to Get Framed” blog post, it’s a great example of what Chris had in mind:
This is a frame I built for my brother-in-law after he moved out of state. It was meant to help him remember his time here in the great state of Oregon.
I was very impressed by the figure of this oak. It has a simple style, with no mitering necessary… and by the way, the corner inset details are faux, not functional, just for the added interest to the piece they provided.
- Curt Hadley; Medford, OR
Do you have a project that you’d like to share? Click here to send it in!
We publishing folks live and die by the “master calendar,” and according to ours here at Woodworker’s Journal, the August print issue is off the press and in the mail. You should be receiving your copy any day now. So, in between cutting the grass, angling for bass or getting those summer woodworking projects going, be sure to give your new magazine a close look. It’s chock-full of summer sizzlers you won’t want to miss:
Vintner's Valet This Gustav Stickley-inspired accent piece holds a full complement of wine glasses and champagne flutes, and it keeps a case of your favorite wine close at hand. Build it from quartersawn white oak to add some authenticity and durability to this project.
Classic Chess Board This heirloom chess board was inspired by a James Krenov design that ingeniously tackles the wood movement problems inherent in using two wood species. If you’re a chess junkie as well as a woodworker, you’ll be smiling from the first cut through the last checkmate with this clever project.
Scroll-Sawn Nightlights Looking for something to interest the kids when they can’t sleep or to reassure them during a late-night thunderstorm? These simple scroll-sawn nightlights are also a good project for introducing older gradeschoolers to the basics of woodworking. Tighten up a fresh scroll saw blade and let your imagination go.
Arts & Crafts Workbench When our longtime contributor Ian Kirby sets out to design a sturdy and practical workbench, rest assured it will be a shop fixture that will stand the test of time. Ian’s bench will provide not only a proper workstation, but also essential feedback on the flatness of your stock as well as your planing technique.
Cherry Gun Cabinet Nothing blends the avocations of hunting and woodworking quite like a gun cabinet. Rick White, our resident “man in the field,” so to speak, took on the challenge of creating this fitting home for his firearm collection. The combination of rail-and-stile construction, with both built-up crown and dentil moldings, give it a traditional flair.
