Category: Woodworking

3D printing, Classroom Project, Education, Home Makerspace, Maker Eduation, Woodworking1 Comment

Home #Makerspace: DIY Air Hockey Table for Under $40

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This is a scaled down, fun-filled air hockey table is a perfect summer project.

DIY Air Hockey

Two employees of Brunswick Billiards Co invented Air Hockey in the 1960s.  The game field consists of a low-friction (usually by means of an air blower creating an air cushion under the puck) playing field with two goals.  Each player has a striker, and smashes a puck at the opposing player’s goal.  First player to a set number of goals wins.  Air hockey tables are staples of entertainment in billiard halls, arcades, boardwalks, rec rooms and other places of ill-repute.  Which is why I just had to make one.

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I utilize a 5-gal shop vac as a blower, marker board, 1/4 plywood, one 10’ 1”x6” and some pin nails.  A 3D printed part certainly helped with the fitting, but isn’t essential by any means.  I also utilize 45 degree miters for a very clean look, but butt joints and screws might make a stronger, stiffer system.

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Let’s play some air hockey!

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Home #Makerspace: The DIY Folding Board

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Some things are impossible, such as unicorns, bipartisan agreement on the greatness of bacon and getting small boys to fold their clothes.  While I didn’t do the impossible this week, I certainly made it easier to master.

Folding Board

A folding board is a cool little device that helps you fold clothes quickly.  This is great for young children and people with mobility issues as it minimizes the physical effort while maximizing effect…it makes folding fun.  Better yet, a folding board can be made with plywood, cardboard or any other stiff, flat material.  There’s no need to spend $20, just use some scrap wood.

Here’s a picture tutorial of how to fold a T-shirts.

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Classroom Project, Education, Home Makerspace, Maker Project, Small Projects, WoodworkingLeave a comment

Home #Makerspace: A DIY Carrom or Marbles Game Board!

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This week, we built a game board which you can customize to play marbles, skittles, carrom, billiards, pool, shuffleboard, crokinole and more!

My game board features two games, marbles and carrom.  Marbles has been played for thousands of years in various forms.  Carrom is a “strike and pocket” game that evolved in East India.  Both games provide hours of entertainment for young kids during rainy days and family game nights.  Carrom Company of Ludington, MI has a 100-in-1 version of this board that many, many grown kids remember.

This game board uses vinyl stickers for decoration, 45 degree miters reinforced with pin nails and grooves.  This construction technique can be used to make large playing surfaces.  I used the same technique to make The DIY Knock Hockey project a few weeks ago, and it will show up in next week’s project.

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Home Makerspace, Small Projects, Woodworking, Woodworking1 Comment

Home #Makerspace: DIY Knock Hockey Set

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When the ice melts from the first burst of spring, the hockey fun doesn’t have to stop.  Take hockey inside with DIY Knock Hockey, a wood table-top game which makes for hours and hours of fun.

DIY Knock Hockety

This tutorial utilizes a table saw to create the necessary rabbets and miter joints.  These are great intermediate table saw skills to learn, practice and utilize in your work flow.  Strong, clean joinery really sets your project apart from the pack.  While kid-focused, this project isn’t really designed to be made with young maker help.

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I use this game to help teach basic concepts of physics, such as momentum, rebound angles, and friction.  Game play teaches turn-taking and sportsmanship.  Lastly, the rules are incredibly simple…but “house” rules unleash cooperative play and teach fairness.

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This Week in the Shop: The 2×6 #Bike Rack

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This week I designed and built a quick bike rack to store my young children’s custom bikes from two 2×6’s.  You can check out the two bikes in the DIY Bike Build.

 

 

This project uses the table saw, miter saw and impact drill.  A very basic design, it uses a number of my favorite “great-to-have” materials, such as 2 1/2” exterior wood screws and 2x pine for quick construction.

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Home #Makerspace: Slingshot #Scouting Project

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sling-shotHere’s a project that comes with a liability warning: a child can get hurt, very hurt, using this project.  The slingshot is a weapon and should be treated as such.  This project is only appropriate for outdoor use, closely supervised by an adult.  While young children are more than capable of physically using a slingshot, that doesn’t mean they should.  You have to judge your child’s readiness. By building this project, you are accepting responsibility for anything that happens.dsc_4547

But when you are ready…dsc_4579

…fire away! (Down range, away from people and property, with appropriate safety gear on.)

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Home Makerspace, Jigs, Small Projects, This Week In the Shop, WoodworkingLeave a comment

This Week in the Shop: DIY Height Gauge

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A quick jig can make the difference in a woodshop.  This height gauge helps measure and set cutting tool heights and thicknesses for rabbets, dadoes, chamfers, etc.  Since it incorporates a digital caliper, the dial is easy to read, precise and accurate.

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This tool came in handy building the light box project – I hit the rabbet depth and thickness dead-on each time.

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In the next few weeks, I will be developing new projects for NoVA Labs and this blog which utilize more intermediate woodworking skills.  Build this jig now and it will be used over and over again.

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Home Makerspace, Small Projects, Woodworking2 Comments

Home #Makerspace: How to Make a Light Box for Art and Play

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This week, art class happened at night.  Using some leftover holiday string lights and acrylic sheeting, I made a light box for my two young boys to draw, play and design on.

light-box

Light boxes lend themselves to lots of different explorations.  Bits of colored paper become kalidescope-like confetti, simple photographs become complex tracings, colors combine unexpectedly and learn the physics of light.  Plant life and structures light up to the biologist.  Plus, with a little red and yellow construction paper, you can light a fire for ghost stories!

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This tutorial utilizes a table saw to create the necessary rabbets and miter joints.  These are great intermediate table saw skills to learn, practice and utilize in your work flow.  Strong, clean joinery really sets your project apart from the pack.  While kid-focused, this project isn’t really designed to be made with young maker help.

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This Week in the Shop: Milk Paint Finish & Oil+Acrylic Craft Paint

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I’ve had three pieces recently come off the workbench recently.  I used a two low-toxicity finishing techniques to complete them.

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I experimented with milk paint to complete my Simple Stool and Simple Bookshelf projects.  I teach both projects at NoVA Labs.  Each class covers a different set of tools, but by attending both classes, students learn to use every machine in the shop, gain foundational woodworking techniques & skills and complete a pair of projects to take home.

For those following along at home, both pieces cost between $10 to $15 in materials and can be completed in a 6 hour shop day, start to last coat of finish.

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The tray received an acrylic paint & oil combination I have experimented with before.  Learn to do both after the jump!

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