WSC Designs

This Week in the Shop: Spalted Red Oak Nightstand

This week in the shop, my brother-in-law and I completed a simple nightstand.

This build offers a few interesting notes in its construction:

Pocket holes make for a strong, quick construction. I almost always opt for pocket holes when teaching or practicing a form.

Oil finish bottom coat under a rubbed on shellac sealer. This has to be my favorite finish of all time. I also like to spray the top coat with a low-cost HVLP sprayer.

Lastly, we didn’t use any plans for this build, just proportions. Check out George Walker & Jim Tolpin’s By Hand & Eye for a deeper look into proportional construction.

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Thank you for your continued support.

Thank you for visiting my blog. To support for this site, please like WoodshopCowboy on Facebook or follow me on Twitter, Pinterest or Instagram. If you are interested in making and education, why not check out Work Notes, a curated set of Maker articles from the web, published every week?

Tool Primer: Hand Saws for #Woodworking

Every tool has a purpose. The Tool Primer Series explores common #makerspace and #woodworking tools. You can check out the entire series here.

When a problem’s too big in my shop, I cut it down to size with a hand saw. Hand saws have several inherent advantages over power saws. They don’t run out of batteries, so makers can use them all day. The light weight means novice and smaller makers can comfortably use the tool reasonably safe. Hand saws can make delicate joinery and also rip through 3” slabs. No circular saw or table saw has that type of range.

Hand saws are not made equal. Each hand saw excels at certain tasks. In this tool primer, we will examine the Western & Japanese-style divide, learn to match the saw to the cut direction and classify saws by type and function.

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6 Years & 100,000 Visitors!

This week, WoodshopCowboy.com celebrates it’s 6th year anniversary and 100,000 visit. Thanks to everyone for making this a fantastic journey.

I am giving away Instructables premium 3-month memberships on WoodshopCowboy on Facebook. Jump on over to get your chance of the loot!

Home #Makerspace: The Bench Hook is a Secret Weapon for #Woodworkers

Bench hooks are portable work surfaces used to make basic woodworking tasks, such as crosscutting boards and drilling holes, easier to perform. As a bonus, they help protect the surface of your woodworking bench from bumps and dings.

In the makerspace, bench hooks can be used for numerous tasks and roles (such as a surface to solder on without ruining Mom’s dining room table).

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These week, my youngest and I made two bench hooks. The most common design works best with saws that cut on a push stroke. We also made and tested a bench hook modified for pull saws. Bench hooks can be modified in numerous ways, so take the jump and get hooked!

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Home #Makerspace: Halloween Pumpkin String Lights #3DPrinting #makered Project

Here’s a great “getting started” 3D printing project for young #MakerEd students. It combines rudimentary circuit knowledge, gross motor skills and safe tool use. It costs about $5 to make (excluding the cost of a 3D printer) and can be modified to fit any holiday, not just Halloween.

These pumpkin string lights are appropriate for young makers K and up. While this version uses glue guns, safety conscious adults can use blue tack or sticky wax instead.

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Home #Makerspace: Simple Kid’s Game Boards for Young Makers #Woodworking

For young children, games aren’t just fun – games provide vital, necessary childhood lessons. Games teach us to deal with loss, how to cooperate, work towards a goal and become devious, clever problem solvers. Games teach us sportsmanship, grit, toughness and grace. Games teach us who we are and ask us to become better versions of ourselves.

This week, we made a quick foldable checkerboard inspired by my youngest child’s love of the game. This basic folding design can expanded and modified to play any board game. Just let your imagination run wild!

This project incorporates measuring, marking boards square, using a hand drill and hand saw, and an all natural, no-fuss stain (although it is stinky!). Super quick, super cheap and super easy for young makers between K – 3rd grade.

The Simple Checker Board

Materials:

Gameboard:

1” x 6” x 20” of #2 Common Pine Board available at any big box store.

2 small hinges. These are 1” long with 2 screw holes. Available at the big box hardware stores.

#4 – 1/2” wood screws. Really small and they use a #1 Philips head.

Finishing:

Black acrylic craft paint.

Ground tumeric & used coffee grounds.

Paper cups.

Paint brush.

Blue painter’s tape.

Marker or pencil.

Tools:

Combination Square at least 12” long.

Hand drill

Screwdriver

Hand saw.

Woodworking Vise.

Dimensioning:

1) Use the square to measure 11” from one side. Use the square to mark your cut.

2) Clamping the wood in the vise, saw down the line. If your young person has trouble sawing a straight-ish line, start the cut for them. Check out other tips in teaching young people to saw here.

3) Repeat process to make another side.

Assembly:

1) Place the two boards next to each other to form a square.

2) Place your hinges as shown, then mark the holes.

3) Pre-drill with a hand drill and very thin bit (or finish nail), then screw down hinges.

Finishing:

1) Sand edges

2) Draw your game on the board and play!

Checkerboards:

1) Cover the board with blue masking tape.

2) Using a ruler, mark out an 8” x 8” square, centered on your board.

3) Using a ruler, mark out 1”x1” squares on the board in a checkerboard pattern.

3) ADULT ONLY: Using a utility knife, run over the marked lines, cutting the pattern.

4) Remove the bottom left square. Continue in a checkered pattern.

5) Paint the exposed squares with black paint.

6) Remove the tape mask.

Natural Stain:

1) Mix used coffee grounds and turmeric with a slight amount of boiling water.

2) Dribble the resultant sludge all over the project.

3) Wipe down with paper towels & vacuum up with a vacuum. The turmeric WILL STAIN EVERYTHING IT TOUCHES!

4) Let dry.

Thank you for your continued support.

This Week in the Shop: Stackable Storage Boxes #Woodworking Project

This week, I built a 8 box set of stackable makerspace boxes. This design can be accomplished using three power tools (router, miter saw and jigsaw) and the design can be adjusted to fit your space and needs.

The dimensions given work for boxes made with 3/4″ plywood. If you use thicker or thinner plywood for the sides, your dimensions will change. Double check your measurements before cutting.

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#Makerspace Tour: KID Museum in Bethesda, MD

The KID Museum of Bethesda, MD offers a range of Maker activities through outreach, studio time, open play/build and structured classes. It’s open for drop-in visits on weekends and reserved for workshops, school trips and scheduled events during weekdays.

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We visited for open house Sunday hours recently. It cost $8 per person and admission included access to about ten stations, all managed by young adult makers. The staff was friendly, helpful, diverse and knowledge. Kudos to management for finding such excellent and kind teenagers in the world.

The KID Museum has some really cool projects I want to translate into the home makerspace, such as homemade wind tunnels, wood & metal erector sets.

Kid-centered spaces such as KID Museum can change a young person’s life – these are the places dreams come true. Even just visiting opens up a young maker’s vision of what can be possible. Visit a makerspace today.

Thank you for your continued support.

Thank you for visiting my blog. To support for this site, please like WoodshopCowboy on Facebookor follow me on Twitter, Pinterest or Instagram. If you are interested in making and education, why not check out Work Notes, a curated set of Maker articles from the web, published every week?

Home #Makerspace: Making Geometric Nets with Vinyl Cutter

In this project, young makers use a vinyl cutter to cut and score geometric nets, connecting 2D shapes to 3D prisms, polyhedrons, etc. They learn to recognize the difference between two and three-dimensions, while also seeing a relationship between the two. Lastly, this is a great opportunity for fine motor skill practice. The plastic requires superglue to connect, but paper nets can be assembled with hot glue or glue sticks.

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This Week in the Shop: Wood Hand Planes & Spray Finish

It’s not all kid-projects and makerspaces tours in this space. I have a little time for personal projects.

After sorting my shop in my recent relocation, I cannibalized the irons from some really terrible (and I mean terrible) hand planes. I’ve reused those planes in three hand planes. I made two smoothers and one block plane. This particular design looks rather great, I think, but works rather terrible. I mean terrible. I need to cut a thick cap iron to stiffen the planes before they will work correctly.

Also, I dropped a finish on a few pieces. I’ve covered my (mostly unchanged) process before, but recently I upgraded to a Rockler HVLP sprayer. The system sets up, sprays and cleans up painlessly. I’m still working out the kinks to my spray process, so minor imperfections crept into the work. If you use shellac, and I suggest you should, you can use an alcohol-soaked cotton rag to even color and hiccups. It’s still faster than my older method.

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I really enjoyed how my repair/refinishing of a vintage child’s rocker came out. The repair cost only about $10 in oak dowels and a little time.

If you like this type of workshop update, check out WoodshopCowboy’s Instagram account.

Thank you for your continued support.

Thank you for visiting my blog. To support for this site, please likeWoodshopCowboy on Facebook or follow me on Twitter. If you are interested in making and education, why not check out Work Notes, a semi-curated set of articles from the web, published every week?