The Woodshop Shed

Better Vision in the Shop

Furnished content.
(from Popularwoodworking.com)


Woodworking is a visual art. The capabilities of our eyes and visual system, as well as the quality of the conditions in which we use them, are essential to good woodworking. Basic knowledge of visual function in the shop …Source

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Walnut & Ambrosia Maple Dresser with signatures from Son's College days.

Furnished content.
(from Lumberjocks.com)


Before going off to college I made my son a “beer-pong” table out of plywood. During those years, the winners of the beer-pong match would sign their names on the table. Fast forward 5 years and this table is sitting in my garage unused.
My son needed a dresser for his apartment so I made him this one. I cut up the beer-pong table and used it for the drawers. Now ever time he opens a drawer he gets a remembrance of his college days and all those fun games with his friends. (see last picture)Shout out to fellow jocks Leec who forwarded me his plans for this dresser https://www.lumberjocks.com/projects/362601
and my LJ Buddy “Firewood” who graciously invited me over to his house and helped me resaw the walnut drawer fronts. That was a fun day.

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Cross-cut sled with hold-downs

Furnished content.
(from Lumberjocks.com)


I made a small cross cut sled some ago, which was a huge improvement over the miter gauge, but increasingly I was finding it insufficient. Aside from capacity issues, the inability to hold things steady would drive me nuts. Sure, relatively thick stock could be clamped to the fence, but the amount of time I wasted trying to square up 1/2” stock that wouldn't quite stay still enough for a straight cut…This design came about from googling “cross cut sled with clamps”, which led me to this video on YouTube, which I mostly followed in the building. It has hold-downs in a T-track, a flip stop in another t-track on the fence, and measuring tapes for the flip stop. Compared to the video, I modified the back fence to make it a bit bigger and beefier while still allowing me to remove the hold-downs if I want, and added the handhold to the fence, which doubles as a nice way to hang it up.All built out of birch plywood, though part of the main fence and the base are cheap plywood from the big orange store that I later determined just has birch veneer and some other wood inside, while the rest is nicer baltic birch plywood that's all birch. Sled is 48” long, holds about 18” wide stock.Only thing I might change is to either paint the handhold in the middle, reattach it more centered, or both, as the opening is currently rather close to the blade on the left side. If I were to put my left hand all the way up to the divider and stuck my thumb out while cutting, it could get ugly. Not the most natural way to hold the thing, but better to make it idiot-proof.

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Green Egg Table

Furnished content.
(from Lumberjocks.com)


Here's a custom project I did for a school teacher a couple months ago. He was getting ready to buy a Green Egg XL ceramic grill and really wanted a table to set it in. He wanted something that was sturdy and was going to last for many years. I know those grills are heavy, so I designed this table accordingly. When I was done, I told him his house would fall down before this table does.The lower half of the table is built from pressure treated lumber-the legs are 4×4's notched to hold the supports. It's all assembled with bolts and screws. The top is something special. It is made from 1 1/2” thick solid lumber that I purchased from a local Amish sawmill. I let them dry for about a month to reduce any shrinkage later. Needless to say, the top is quite heavy. I made it as a separate piece that has guides to lock it in place when it sets on top.The hardest part was determining how far the opening needed to be from the bottom of the Green Egg. I did not have an actual Green Egg XL to measure, so I had to scour the internet. Of course everyone had a different answer and I could tell some of those folks failed to do it right because they ended up having to notch out the top of the table for the open hinge. Green Egg actually has a built-in table plan on their site so I figured that had to be close. My local Ace Hardware sells the Green Eggs and I was able to go over there and take a measurement to verify. I had to account for the optional leg thing he was buying too.It's a grill so it gets very hot. There needed to be a gap around the outside when installed and it needed to sit on something other than wood. I was lucky enough to find an 24×24 x 1 inch marble slab on Marketplace for $25 and it was just the ticket.He was also purchasing a mini Green Egg and wanted a cabinet on the side to store that one in. Apparently he likes to grill things…I finished the lower half with deck stain and added some rubber bumpers under the legs to keep it off his wet deck. This was quite a project, but it turned out great. My local Ace Hardware wanted me to make them and sell them from their store. Not sure I'm up for that much work…

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