Show us what you see!!!

[drewkaree]

With a few other things going on over the weekend, it was a rapid-build. I took shortcuts I'm not particularly proud of... but I'm happy overall with the way it came out given the circumstances.

Honestly it's my first attempt at "furniture" of any kind - so the fact it's standing up is pretty good. (The clothes iron in the pic is for the edge-banding.) It's just some 1x5 pine (yes, 1x5. No, I didn't know you could buy it like that either. No, it's not a U.S. standard size.) and a piece of 3/4" melamine covered fiberboard. I laminated the pine to make 1-1/2" by 1-1/2" legs and then got crazy and cut the little tapers on the ends with the band-saw.

1x5? Is that a Menards thing? Those boards don't look 5" wide, either. Did you rip those in half for your project?

I've made a LOT of 2x4 furniture for our lake house. It ain't supposed to look like "fine furniture", so you did a damn fine job, IMO. My philosophy for stuff like this is to make sure it's functional first, and everything else after that is either window dressing or fit/finish issues. Anyone who has a problem with the fit/finish issues should be handed a saw, some sandpaper, and some paint, and they can fancy it up any way they see fit.

I've made some Full bunk beds, a rolling storage pantry (now THAT'S some slapped-together crap!), a daybed/couch sized for the custom mattress, several firepit chairs and a bench, and I'll be working on some Adirondack-y rocking chairs for the porch hopefully this weekend. None are fine furniture, and with the materials used, none of them were ever intended to be, but they all serve their function, and if the mood ever strikes me to "improve" on my designs, at least I have something to be used while I create a masterpiece LOL The daybed/couch will likely be the only thing I ever "improve", and my wife has been happy with stuff we can actually use being created in a short timeframe.

Masterpieces require ample notice, and you didn't have this - kudos to you for a nice functional design.

 

[biglar155]

1x5? Is that a Menards thing? Those boards don't look 5" wide, either. Did you rip those in half for your project?

I've made a LOT of 2x4 furniture for our lake house. It ain't supposed to look like "fine furniture", so you did a damn fine job, IMO. My philosophy for stuff like this is to make sure it's functional first, and everything else after that is either window dressing or fit/finish issues. Anyone who has a problem with the fit/finish issues should be handed a saw, some sandpaper, and some paint, and they can fancy it up any way they see fit.

I've made some Full bunk beds, a rolling storage pantry (now THAT'S some slapped-together crap!), a daybed/couch sized for the custom mattress, several firepit chairs and a bench, and I'll be working on some Adirondack-y rocking chairs for the porch hopefully this weekend. None are fine furniture, and with the materials used, none of them were ever intended to be, but they all serve their function, and if the mood ever strikes me to "improve" on my designs, at least I have something to be used while I create a masterpiece LOL The daybed/couch will likely be the only thing I ever "improve", and my wife has been happy with stuff we can actually use being created in a short timeframe.

Masterpieces require ample notice, and you didn't have this - kudos to you for a nice functional design.

Thanks for the kind words - and I couldn't agree more about letting someone else do it if they don't like it. ?

In answer to your question, I found those 1x5 pine boards at Home Depot (as expected, the actual dimension is 3/4" x 4-1/2"). The sticker on them says "Made in Sweden."

Plan "A" had been to use 1x4 material but they didn't have any left on the shelf. I saw the 1x5 stuff and had to measure it to be sure I was reading the sign right.

Without thinking about it I bought the same number of boards as originally planned. Once I got it home I realized I only needed about half the number of boards by simply taking 1/4" off of one of the stringers in my original design (literally sketched on a piece of scrap paper).

Extra lumber is always welcome in my shop. It just means one less trip to HD or Menards next time.

And always remember: Pocket-hole joinery is The Lord's gift to lazy craftsman.

 

[BigN8]

I've been tasked with same, but it's going to be a built in desk for the wife that will "T" off the wall. The heat this summer has slowed me down. This is from 8/4 rough cut Alder Oak. I'm about ready to stain just working on which color stain to use and playing with some deep pour epoxy coloring options for the knot holes. I wanted to do a turquoise epoxy but she said she thinks it would look cool but get old fast.

 

[Ronnie]

Looks great @biglar155, especially for a first try. I’d be willing to pay a few hundred dollars for that If I needed one. I bet I’m not the only person who feels this way.

 

[Liveto99]

I have a little way to go before it is finished.

 

[zipper]

I have a little way to go before it is finished. View attachment 132247

Looks like Beech.

Edit: And maybe some sugar maple.

 

[Babin Farms]

Looks like Beech.

Looks like BACON!!!

 

[Neutron]

New red dot sight on the AR

 

[Looper7]

Looks like BACON!!!

Mmmmmmmm bacon

 

[drewkaree]

Looks like Beech.

You watch yer mouth!

 

[Liveto99]

Looks like Beech.

Don’t know buddy bought a farm and this was there and he was throwing it out so I went over and got it. Can’t let stuff like this go to waste. There was 4 oak pieces in the last load so I’ll fill in the holes on this trailer with that. Square off the rest and let friends pick through it. Maybe make a table. And a solid work bench. Lake Mead is down a bit! And there’s absolutely no access to the Hoover dam or any of the access roads so you can even see it and there’s arm guards with flak jackets protecting the roads and turning you around.

 

[drewkaree]

I wanted to do a turquoise epoxy but she said she thinks it would look cool but get old fast.

I gotta agree with her on that one. Seems that's the color that is popular with a lot of projects I've seen, but I've looked at those like the old Harvest Gold or whatever that green color is, with old appliances. You have a darn good idea when those were brought into the house. Not necessarily a bad thing, but depending on the color of stain you go with, you could really highlight both the stain and the epoxy with the right color choice. Turquoise seems like it'd be hard to ever be anything but a contrasting color, which seems to bother the wife character in my experience. I've wondered if a concrete countertop could be topped with epoxy to fill all the pinholes, since I'm gonna hafta redo a kitchen in the next year or so.

I'm kinda glad in that regard - I don't bother really asking the wife what colors she wants for stuff, I choose the color palette for what I'll be doing, and I give her a few options of what she likes from what I've decided the colors will be. I learned my lesson with a simple accent wall we did in the living room - it took her WEEKS to decide on colors, and it ended up being 2 of the 3 colors I had originally considered. I don't even bother with asking her about stain colors, I just tell her "that color really blotches with this wood" or that it gets WAY too dark with the wood and completely changes the color. Thus far, those two answers have covered every stain choice she's made incorrectly ? My favorite combo is poplar with a Gunstock stain. Has a nice cherry-ish look to it, without all the fuss required to avoid blotching or the color changing on me. That's what I've tended to use for any and all trimwork I've done, and for most of the 2x4 furniture, I've offered to buy her brushes and paint if she feels the need to fancy the stuff up. Making it clear that I won't be helping with that step has been the prime reason it's all aging nicely with no finish to it

 

[Liveto99]

You watch yer mouth!

There’s nothing wrong with Zipper saying beach. I don’t think the wood looks like this though.

 

[zipper]

There’s nothing wrong with Zipper saying beach. I don’t think the wood looks like this though.View attachment 132269

Funny, no not the Beech I had in mind. Though I do like your spelling better.

Looking for American Beech

Part of the "A Walk in the Woods" Series

extension.unh.edu

After 20 years of cutting trees and processing them on my sawmill, some of your live edge planks, rear of the trailer, appeared to have beech bark remaining on them. Others forward look like Maple. Hopefully the Oak you find is White Oak, not Red Oak. Big difference in rot resistance. They built ships with White Oak. I built the interior timber frame of our house from Red Oak and Black Cherry. I mixed it up some, I wanted to show different species in the frame and made some of the knee braces from Beech, White Ash and Black Locust.

Yamaha before I removed the graphics, years ago.




I carved this into a Beech tree while on my rounds in the Sugarbush last year.

 

[J-RAD]

I spend all my time building stuff for other people and not enough time building stuff for myself... It's gratifying designing something, building it and seeing it completed in person. But dealing with ornery pretentious people can take the fun out of it real quick.

Here one of our latest completed projects. Rift cut white oak with black painted island and hood.






This was the first house in 10 years I've actually filled a lean on. The homeowner is a staight up bully MF'er... so glad to be paid and moving on.

Sneak preview of the next one.

 

[Dean P]

Funny, no not the Beech I had in mind. Though I do like your spelling better.

Looking for American Beech

Part of the "A Walk in the Woods" Series

extension.unh.edu

After 20 years of cutting trees and processing them on my sawmill, some of your live edge planks, rear of the trailer, appeared to have beech bark remaining on them. Others forward look like Maple. Hopefully the Oak you find is White Oak, not Red Oak. Big difference in rot resistance. They built ships with White Oak. I built the interior timber frame of our house from Red Oak and Black Cherry. I mixed it up some, I wanted to show different species in the frame and made some of the knee braces from Beech, White Ash and Black Locust.

Yamaha before I removed the graphics, years ago.
View attachment 132274

View attachment 132275

I carved this into a Beech tree while on my rounds in the Sugarbush last year.

View attachment 132276

Wait, those are my initials! Who do I love?

 

[zipper]

I spend all my time building stuff for other people and not enough time building stuff for myself... It's gratifying designing something, building it and seeing it completed in person. But dealing with ornery pretentious people can take the fun out of it real quick.

Here one of our latest completed projects. Rift cut white oak with black painted island and hood.
View attachment 132285
View attachment 132288
View attachment 132289
View attachment 132287
View attachment 132284
View attachment 132286
This was the first house in 10 years I've actually filled a lean on. The homeowner is a staight up bully MF'er... so glad to be paid and moving on.

Sneak preview of the next one.
View attachment 132292

Like the grain and stability of rift and quarter sawn Oak or any other wood for that matter.

 

[Scottintexas]

 

[Babin Farms]

More stuff for the Bimini trip showed up today. A SS scupper valve, radio, courtesy flag & dry bags

 

[Liveto99]

Funny, no not the Beech I had in mind. Though I do like your spelling better.

Looking for American Beech

Part of the "A Walk in the Woods" Series

extension.unh.edu

After 20 years of cutting trees and processing them on my sawmill, some of your live edge planks, rear of the trailer, appeared to have beech bark remaining on them. Others forward look like Maple. Hopefully the Oak you find is White Oak, not Red Oak. Big difference in rot resistance. They built ships with White Oak. I built the interior timber frame of our house from Red Oak and Black Cherry. I mixed it up some, I wanted to show different species in the frame and made some of the knee braces from Beech, White Ash and Black Locust.

Yamaha before I removed the graphics, years ago.
View attachment 132274

View attachment 132275

I carved this into a Beech tree while on my rounds in the Sugarbush last year.

View attachment 132276

I did not take that beach photo I just clipped it from the Internet now I feel like I should’ve looked back through my photos for a picture from the beach. It’s Red oak I know I should really get Pin Oak if I just want to do the whole trailer deck over once and have it last for 15 years. I really move the Backhoe or bulldozer three or four times a year and just patch it up with planks once in a while.
Nice sawmil.