A few shots of the shutter table project. My students & I created these (there were four completed tables) tables using up-cycled window shutters & salvaged fence posts. Finished with spar urethane. Pocket hole joinery throughout. Continue reading This Week in the Classroom: Up-Cycled Shutter Coffee Table
My very first class for TX/RX Labs (or any other place non-school) is completed. Six students (adult, this time) built benches with me for two half days. We were a little crunched on time, but we stayed late (or showed up early) and completed our benches. I want to thank my students for coming and sticking with me, my teaching assistants (Oleg, Jim, Oz and Roland) and TX/RX Labs for having me. Most of all though, I want to thank my brother Jim. I think I’m good at this stuff – but I taught him how to build the bench … Continue reading Build a Bench This Weekend
My boys are back in town and they are locked and loaded – here’s a few glamor shots of their beautiful simple benches. Remember – if these look good to you, come build your own version with me at TX/RX Labs in May. Continue reading This Week in the Classroom: The Boys Are Back In Town!
It’s been a few weeks since I’ve let y’all into the woodshop at work. We’ve been building the “simple bench”. If you’ve been reading this blog long, you know I love building benches – butterfly benches, green benches, small benches and long benches. My boys have been working off this pattern: And I give them lots of flexibility in said pattern. We started with three 3 foot lengths of 1×12 stock. The students then cut their bench seats to any length as I rip the rest of the stock into 3 1/2″ strips for the aprons and 5 1/2″ strips … Continue reading This Week In the Classroom: The Simple Bench
This week, I’m proposing and planning projects for the 2011-2012 school year. According to the Mayans, it should be a killer. I’m attached to the Math/Sci crew as a “Technology Resource” – meaning I’m running a CAD workshop, an Electronics course and probably some sort of Lego Mindstorms-based course. In my traditional role as a woodshop teacher, I’ve developed a 3-project pipeline. Small butt joint boxes based on this tutorial grow into larger tool trays which eventually turn into the Butterfly Bench. I am also proposing a Bike Mechanics service project – students build, curate & service a bike fleet … Continue reading New School Year: Boxes, Trays and Benches
The summer program wraps up today. Our summer program acts as an experimental zone, a transitional buffer and a slice of consistency for both teachers and students. Personally, I love summer programs – no grades, no pressure, just the chance to provide as fun and therapeutic educational experience as possible. Anyways, this summer saw the return of the butterfly bench. Students took all four group projects home to their families. Notice the recurring butterfly motif from last go-round. I think I’ll be making some linoleum stamps with this design on them at some point soon. This summer has been a wild … Continue reading This Week in the Shop: End of Summer Program
One of my woodshop classes have ended for the week, so I took the opportunity to document the progress: And this is what happens when a student ticks me off! (ok, ok, I was pulling a big nail with a small hammer…) Continue reading Current Projects: The Butterfly Chair
This week’s word: Prototypes. Brought to you by the letter C for cardboard. What a week! My students spent last week drawing and planning and designing and planning and planning. We got outside this week! My chair group is off … Continue reading This Week in the Shop: Cardboard Prototypes
This bookshelf recently left the workshop at school. The bookshelf started life as an illustration in The Project Gutenberg EBook of Mission Furniture, by H. H. Windsor, otherwise known as the good fellows at Popular Mechanics. Which the student modified to suit the schools current needs. The CAD mock-up looked like this: In the end, the piece had to be painted. Paint hides all flaws when it comes to salvaged wood. Pretty excited about the finished product. Here’s a close up of the butt joints used on the shelving, as well as a shot which showcases the inch-thick reclaimed mahogony shelves. … Continue reading Bookshelf in Mission Style
UPDATE: You can pick up PDF plans for this project at http://www.woodshopcowboy.com. More plans coming soon! A little over five weeks ago, a plumbing issue at my residence caused a rather large flood. Since then, my family and I have been staying with relatives. The workshop has been closed for personal projects until further notice. This weekend, though, I collected enough tools to make this bed frame for my relatives as a I’ve-been-here-five-weeks-and-will-be-for-another-two gift. The rails are 1x6s with a 1x4s used as the rails on which the bed/box spring sits against. I mounted the legs, from IKEA, using wood … Continue reading This Week in the Shop: A Bed Frame
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