Both of them did really, really well. They took turns at each of the tasks throughout the day, giving them not only the chance to share in the making of their projects but to gain a bit of insight and experience in working with wood. They took instruction well, exhibited confidence and completed the challenge that they had set for themselves. Kudos, kudos, kudos to them!

Here’s some photos of the day:

Continue reading 'Shop Time With My Nephew'

The necessity for the Murphy wall bed came from the fact that my wife’s mother moved in with us a few months ago. In addition to wanting to give her a place for privacy when she has visitors we also wanted to give her a place where she could enjoy the surroundings of some of her own furniture. We decided to turn the bedroom just down the hall from her own bedroom into a sitting room for her. Since we also wanted to retain the option for guests sleeping over a wall bed was the perfect choice. And it is!

The panels are made with Oak plywood and the cabinet style frame work is all done in solid Oak. It’s about 80″ tall and 60″ wide. The stain and finish are environmentally friendly products from Sasco. The Sansin stain and Sasdura, the urethane finish, are both water-based, low VOC and no odour. Not only did they dry in record time and give a great looking finish but with no odour they were a dream to work with.

Continue reading 'Armoire Style Murphy Wall Bed'

This has been a project that was a long time in the making. The wood that was used to make it was reclaimed from other pieces of furniture that somehow found its way back to us.

The four beautiful Maple legs and the Birch top came from an old table that came with our previous home when we bought it almost 25 years ago. We used it as a computer table for several years and then it went on to be used as same at our niece’s home. Years later it returned to us and with no one else wanting it we hung onto it. After visiting Albuquerque, New Mexico in 2009 for the 2009 AAW Symposium we were inspired to use the table in a Southwest style kitchen island for our home.

Here’s a photo of the pieces that we used:

Continue reading 'Kitchen Island From Reclaimed Wood'

My brother-in-law and I spent the day building these for their lake front cottage and it couldn’t have been a better day. Though it rained a bit on and off throughout the day the bunk bed construction went slick as a whistle.

Before starting I did up a cutlist and a step-by-step plan which, amazingly, could not have worked out better. Here it is:

Continue reading 'Best Bunk Beds For The Bunky'

When I built the birdhouse last year it ended up being a bit too late for tenants that spring. We were keeping our eye on it this Spring but hadn’t seen any action other than the occasion visit from one of our resident squirrels.

However, my wife and I were having tea on the patio the other day when we heard a noise and looked up and saw a small head poke out of one of the windows:

Continue reading 'And I Thought It Was A Birdhouse!'

The meeting got off to a quick start with reviews of the year-end and financial reports. This was followed by the executive nominations and approvals. Finally, the proposed changes to our By-laws were voted on and accepted.

The AGM portion of the meeting only took about a half hour (gotta like it! ) which allowed lots of time for other things including Show and Tell which there were several pieces brought in for.

Here’s a turned bowl that was made out a 3/4″ thick piece of wood. Circles were scroll sawed on an angled, refitted, glued and then turned:

Continue reading 'The AWA Annual General Meeting'

It certainly is a welcomed addition to the coffee table and the end tables that I completed in the months before.

With the experienced gain from the previous three pieces the construction went quite smooth and somewhat quickly. The funny thing about it was that I tried to do this table as fast as I could and I did, almost. From stock to a standing table it only took about 12 hours over a three day period. However, it stood in the shop for almost four months waiting to be sanded and the finish applied! So much for getting it done as fast as possible.

The finished size of the table is 18″ wide X 47″ long and 28″ tall. It is stained with Flecto Varathane Golden Mahogany and then several coats of polyurethane was applied.

Here’s a few more photos:

Continue reading 'Craftsman Style Sofa Table Completed!'

It’s always a thrill starting a new project and equally as thrilling, no, even more so, when it is finished. Sometimes this is because you are just happy to be done with the project, other times it’s because you are happy with the project. In this case, I’m quite happy with the project.

The overall size of each of the tables is 20 1/4″ wide X 24 3/8″ deep X 24″ high and they make a great match for the Craftsman Style Coffee Table made previously.

Although they took me several months to complete the actual time spent working on them was only between 40 and 50 hours. I worked at them periodically, interspersed between other projects. The pieces sat for a couple of months waiting for an opportune time to do the finishing which I knew would tie up the shop for a couple of weeks.

Here are some more photos of the finished tables:

Continue reading 'Craftsman Style End Tables – Done!'

First, the two ends were glued and clamped. This entailed gluing a fair amount of pieces, fitting them and then clamping the sides to hold it altogether. The concern here was ensuring that they were square.

Once the glue was dried the cross pieces, drawer skirt back and the bottom shelf were added to join the sides together. Once again it was clamped, ensuring that everything was square. Particular attention had to be made so that all four legs were setting on the table.

I left the front top stretcher off at this point as a precaution that if it did go out of square during clamping I could adjust it later so that the drawer hole would be square. I glued this in later.

Continue reading 'Craftsman Style End Tables – Part 3'

Sanding was a lot easier on these tables than on the coffee table because I have acquired a planer since that project. With the old finish planed off a quick sand with 180 grit was all that was required.

I prefer to apply any finish projects such as these before assembly. It makes it a whole lot easier though it does have it’s downfalls.

Finishing any project can sometimes be a logistic nightmare. Because finishes require a dust free area unless you have a separate finishing room this means that not only do you have to do a major cleanup of your shop you are also looking at downtime for whatever time it takes to do the finishing. Likewise, depending on the size of your project it is sometimes necessary to use every available space to lay out your project parts.

Continue reading 'Craftsman Style End Tables – Part 2'