Author: E.J.

Massive Cross-cut Sled

I’ve been working on my large bookshelf and I needed a method to get clean, 90-degree cuts on large, wide boards. I had first tried trimming off the ends with a hand-held router. But ran into some issues, one of which included cutting into the side of my thumb. In the end, I decided to build a large cross-cut sled to bring the boards across my tablesaw with plenty of support.

I used a wide 4×4 piece of 1/2″ plywood for the base and a sturdy hardwood fence that was carefully angled for perfect 90 degree cuts to the tablesaw-blade. Unseen in the photos, are the runners underneath that slide perfectly through the miter slots on the tablesaw top.

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Shooting Board

I also through together a little shooting board for trimming end-grain with my hand-planes.

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I’ve gotten numerous compliments on our moon-gate at the entrance to our front yard. I love the rounded design and wanted to add more rounded design elements to our front yard. Last Spring, I decided to throw some tomatoes and melons into our front garden, since the bushes (azaleas and blueberries) that we planted there would need a few years before they filled the space out. I didn’t want to waste all that good sun. The plants did really well, this was prime solar real-estate after all. Unfortunately, the tomatoes and melons, as they do, grew all over the place. It was hard to keep them to the crude mini-trellises I had threw together for them.

I decided I wanted a permanent trellis to grow vine flowers and vine vegetables in the front yard. I sketched out some ideas, and like usual, scanned the internet for ideas. I then had a radical idea. I could build a massive arch trellis that matched the moon-gate and extended over our walk to the house. I made some measurements and decided this would work well. It also could be used to grow some roses up front, something my wife really wanted.

I was a little worried, since one line of the posts was right over my water lines. However, we live in Minnesota, so our water pipes are typically 6-7 feet below the ground at street level. Since my house was on a little hill, I was already 2-3 feet above street level. I made some measurements where the lines came into the floor of my basement and realized I had plenty of clearance for those pipes. So, I began to dig some posts deep into our front yard right along the walk.

I cut the posts down to ensure the same height for all six of them. The posts were then cemented in using some quick-dry post mix and let to rest for a couple days.

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The next goal was to cut out the arch templates using the measurements I had made between the posts. I used the same method I had for the moon-gate (check that out HERE). There was going to be three arches, so I had three different templates for the slight differences in distance between posts.

The arches were attached to the posts using a series of pocket-holes and waterproof ceramic-coated pocket-screws. The posts were made of ground-treated wood, while everything else was composed of western red cedar (matching our front fence and moon-gate). Soon I had all three arches installed.

This already created a beautiful symmetry with a columnated path to the house and gate. I knew I had gotten the heights just right.

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The next phase was adding the horizontal strips that would provide scaffolding for the plants to climb. These were 1″ thick cedar board strips cut on my bandsaw from the same 5/8″ thick western red-cedar boards we had used for the front fence.

The upper portion of the strips were quite hard to install, I spent far more time on top of the ladder than I would have liked. The strips were screwed into place on each end, with two strips lining up on the center posts. The holes had to all by predrilled to ensure the ends wouldn’t split. I cut the excess off with a Japanese cross-cut saw.

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After cutting all the strips and smoothing out the ends, it looked gorgeous. The long lines focus your attention to the center of the moon-gate from one end…

…or the door of the house from the other end.

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Now, all it needed was a garden bed on the southern side for vines to grow within. Since we have a dog, I knew I’d need clear boundaries and decided to build a raised box.

It is quite a welcome addition to our front yard and I cannot wait to start growing vines up and along its curving structure.

With Spring around the corner, my wife was gearing up for upcoming races. Running has long been a passion of hers and she has participated in numerous races over the years, which means a large collection of medals. I was recently tasked with creating a storage implement for these medals.

The project was simple, another poplar board cut to width and all edges slightly rounded with a sander. Five 3/4″ holes cut half-way through the board with a Forstner bit, then 3/4″ dowels inserted with glue into the round mortise like a tenon. I had predrilled screw-holes in the backs of the dowels and board, so that I could reinforce them with a screw in the back of the board. I used the same set-up for my shed’s bike-rack system, so I was certain these would be strong enough to hold a row of medals.

The board was the attached to the studs in my wife’s room, allowing the glory of her accomplishments glitter on the wall.

Utensil Holder

This was a simple project to create a perfectly-sized utensil holder for our odd-sized drawer. I never liked how our current one bounced around in the drawer. I wanted something that had a tighter fit and was better organized than our current mess.

The sides were thin slices of poplar (leftover from the kitchen cabinet project). I cut them with my bandsaw then smoothed them out with the sander. I cut out notches to create a tight fight with the crossbar. The ends I left as simple butt-joints to not overcomplicate the fit. I also expect the drawer itself to help support the edges.

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Utensil Shelf

This additional was simply a board made into a shelf, but it added a nice addition to our kitchen. The board was poplar stained with a couple coats of amber shellac. Combined with some cast iron holders and utensil hooks from IKEA and the project was finished.

My wife and I love our house, but there are definitely some things we love more than others. One thing in particular was the kitchen cabinets. The doors had a cheap, flimsy feel to them, they made a racket opening and closing them. The drawers are cheaply made and get stuck as the wood slides on bloated wood rails. It was in need of an upgrade.

I’ve been wanting to redo the cabinets for quite some time, but I knew I had to get better at woodworking before I would be able to do the doors myself. For the style that we wanted, I also needed a reliable set of rail and stile router bits and panel cutters. To use those, I’d need a reliable router table. Thankfully, I finished my router table in May (see it here).

The process of putting together the cabinet doors was a long one. It took weeks to ensure all the measurements were exact and figure out how I was going to lay out the design. Even more time to glue each piece up, shape them, then painting, then the arduous task of fitting each piece in place.

Design

First, I made the measurements of the existing cabinets and drawers as best I could. The new doors would be overhang doors (rather than the half-overlay ones), so they didn’t have to be quite as precise. I laid out all the measurements into SketchUp and labeled each piece to help me map the progress.

I then calculated from the measurements the appropriate dimensions of each insert panel, rail, and stile for the cabinet doors along with the drawer fronts.

Shaping

I ordered some beautiful poplar wood from a local hardwood dealer. I was quite excited, as I had never worked with poplar. From my first test cuts with the wood, I found its tight grain structure to be much more satisfying to work and shape than the heavy grain of red oak.

I cut out each rail and stile using my fancy router table. The poplar wood cut quite smooth and I ended up with a nice, neat stack for each door, labelled appropriately.

Next, I moved to the panels. I had to glue up a bunch of segments to make the panel sizes I required. This took some time, as each panel needed most of my clamps, so I was only able to do one or two panels a day and let the glue dry overnight.

I then cut the panels with my very wide panel-cutting router bit. I love the stepped sides of the panels.

The panels needed quite a bit of sanding and smoothing, but I decided I’d do that after I glued them up. The next process of gluing up the full doors also took quite some time. Like with the panels themselves, I could only do one or two each day.

Painting

The painting process was a lot more work than I anticipated. I had a bought a HVLP sprayer earlier in the year and was excited to use it. It did speed up the painting time itself, and ensured a more even coat. However, I had to use about three coats, with plenty of sanding in between to ensure a perfect smooth final texture.

It helped to dilute the paint with about 20% water. This allowed it to spray better. Especially since this was a high-enamel cabinet paint. This of course, means I needed more coats, three seemed to do the trick. I sanded lightly with 220 grit sandpaper between each coat.

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Given the size of my shop and limited outdoor space, the painting process took a couple weeks to get both sides of each piece. I then let the pieces sit and cure for at least a week to ensure that there was no tackiness left on the surfaces.

Fitting

I thought that once I attached the hardware I was done. Mission accomplished. It turns out that fitting the pieces so they look nice and square on the frames is quite a process. I spent quite a few days just trying to get them to sit right, making micro-adjustments. In many cases, I had to add strips of wood to the side of the frames to avoid in glaring gaps. Two of the doors required shaving off a 1/16th of an inch from each side so that they’d fit nicely together. After all this, I have a new appreciation for cabinet work, and why it can cost thousands to have it professionally done.

My wife then painted the frames after I sanded them down. This was a bit stressful, as it felt like we had just moved in. We let the paint cure for at least a week, so our kitchen items were scattered all over.

I then added the hardware to the doors and voila! The kitchen cabinets were completed.

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Before and After