Fish Table
June 14th, 2006
I’ve been working on the design of this table for the last week. I’m thinking it’s close enough to done to at least present it for some feedback. Eventually I’ll add a cut list and assembly details like all of my other plans, but for now here is the SketchUp model. Enjoy!
Tower of Hanoi Puzzle
June 4th, 2006The Tower of Hanoi (also referred to as the Tower of Brahma) was invented by the French mathematician Edouard Lucas in 1883. He was inspired by a legend that tells of a Hindu temple where the pyramid puzzle was used for the mental discipline of young priests. The objective of the game is to move a stack of disks from the left-most pole to the right-most in the least amount of moves, the catch being a smaller disk must always be stacked on top of a larger, and never the other way around. Depending on the number of disks, this can become very challenging. Try the game with 3 disks first and then add more to increase difficulty. Download the SketchUp model here.
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Garden Bench
June 1st, 2006Here is a very simple garden bench that can be built in a day. In fact, it uses dimensional lumber throughout. Download the SketchUp model here.
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Arts and Crafts Inspired Wall Mounted Coatrack
May 29th, 2006
Build this arts and crafts inspired wall mounted coatrack. The flat top is a nice place for nicknacks and such. For an “authentic” arts and crafts look, be sure to build the project with quartersawn white oak. The SketchUp model can be downloaded here. Read the rest of this entry »
Bathroom Wall Rack
May 27th, 2006
Here is a very simple bathroom wall rack that can be built from standard dimensional lumber. No fancy joinery techniques are needed. Everything is simply screwed together with countersunk flathead wood screws. Rather than create a PDF file from CAD drawings, I decided to do some illustrated plans using SketchUp. The SketchUp file is available here for your use. Read the rest of this entry »
Pocket Hole Joinery with the Kreg Jig
May 9th, 2006
Pocket hole joinery isn’t new. The speed and reliability of the technique have made it a favorite in furniture manufacturing and cabinet shops for decades. But for the small shop and weekend woodworker, pocket hole joinery took a giant leap forward in 1990, when Craig Sommerfield brought out the first commercially available model of his remarkable Kreg Jig. Since its introduction, the Kreg Jig has lead the way in affordable, easy to use pocket hole joinery systems.
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Saw Blades 101
May 3rd, 2006
It pays to be choosy when you shop for saw blades - making smooth, safe cuts with your table saw, radial arm saw, chop saw, or sliding compound miter saw depends on having the right blade for the tool and the right blade for the type of cut you want to make. There is no shortage of saw blades on the market, and quality and performance varies dramatically from blade to blade.
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Modeling a Tapered Leg in SketchUp
May 1st, 2006As promised, here is a quick tutorial on how to model a tapered leg in SketchUp. First, start with a square the size of the leg. You don’t have to sketch the square to the exact size. After sketching it just type 1.25,1.25 and then hit ENTER. That will create a square that is 1.25″ on each side.
