A quick plan and showcase of the latest project to come out of my personal workshop. This is a pot rack for my wife’s very expensive set of cooking pans. It keeps them up and out of the way when I’m working with her hand-me-downs while I’m learning to cook….
In my Applied Mathematics class, woodshop has put the shop in applied. During a unit on fractions, I asked students to build a number of these try squares, all different shapes and sizes. In order to assess my students ability to read a ruler and calculate fractions, I made all the dimensions wonky. No 8″ cuts for my students! Dimensions looked like 8 3/4″, 4 3/8″, 5 “1/16 and all sorts of foolishness. Once I felt my students had mastered the build process, we took our show to Houston’s Mini-Maker Faire! The construction process for a tool like this can … Continue reading Classroom Project: Try Squares
My new “little” project obsession: try squares. These guys mark boards square. That’s it. All they do. The try, not tri, comes from the act of “trying” an angle to see if it’s square, not three, or tri. This slideshow punctuated by a few of my favorite song titles, puns and lyrics in no particular order. These tools come together quite easily. First, I rip a 2×4 into 1/4″ or 3/8″ inch thick strips. Then I flatten one side of the strip using a hand plane. After checking each strip for flatness, I rip the piece again on my … Continue reading This Week in the Classroom: Try Squares
Recyclart.org is a site dedicating to showing off recycled and salvaged projects from readers around the world. If you’ve followed WodoshopCowboy for a while, you know I make the most of the Houston ReUse Warehouse’s offerings. Here’s another shot at how my boys and I used louvered shutters and fence posts to create some pretty sweet little coffee tables last semester. Check it out there or at the original post here… Remember to make it safe, keep the rubberside down this week and like WoodshopCowboy on Facebook! Continue reading Check Out the Shutter Table Project on Recyclart.org
Last year, I posted a quick project: The Bed Frame. It has since become the most searched for post on this website, garnering a little over a thousand views with no publicity. People like to build beds. It’s taken a while, but I’ve put together a small PDF which outlines how I make my simple bed frames. You can catch the goodness here: The Kid’s Bed Frame Plan If you build it…send me pictures at woodshopcowboy @ gmail.com! If you have critiques, send them to a different address…I mean, send them over too. Remember to like WoodshopCowboy on Facebook and … Continue reading Woodworking Plans: The Kid’s Bed Frame
The finished play table I first blogged about last Friday. If you look close you can see some screw holes on the top. I used short 1″ #8 wood screws to get everything together…but when I put the pieces together, I found the fit snug enough that I didn’t need the screws. I’ve included an interior shot to give you some picture of the joinery. Remember, you can pick up a Google Sketch Up Model of this project here. Make it safe & keep the rubberside down this weekend. Continue reading This Week in the Shop: Kid’s Play Table
One of the neat challenges in designing furniture (and teaching) is the need to get outside yourself in the middle of a private act. I think putting oneself in another’s shoes, no matter the context, is one of the most civilizing things humans can do. Because before I was a father, before I was a husband, before teacher, and before I was a craftsperson, I was a selfish, selfish toddler. And if you ask my wife, the toddler in me isn’t that far below the surface. When I designed my Simple Bench, I had one eye on my eventual audience. … Continue reading This Week in the Shop: Locomotive Bed
I will use some 1/2″ plywood to put together this play table for my two sons this weekend. I’ve begun uploading a number of my project designs into Google 3D Warehouse…look for WoodshopCowboy! Make it safe & keep the rubber side down this weekend! Continue reading Sketch Up Model: Play Table with Simple Benches
Here’s a few shots of a project build I did a few months ago. The challenge was to build a recycling container from completely recycled materials. I picked up some nice crepe myrtle branches and immediately saw a V shaped stand with a small basket to collect recyclable goods. To bad we never did finish it. We got all the way to the crossbeam. Spring break came with all the lassitude of a wilted Texas flower in August. We never stood a chance. Eventually, I snookered a student into repainting an old cabinet door into a chalkboard sign. Then I parked … Continue reading This Week in the Classroom: Swingin’ Chalkboard Signs
Students with autism, people with neurological disorders and people with two eyes and ears and a brain often need a place to talk. For my students with autism, the act of conversation can be harrowing, heartwrenching and terrifying. On a … Continue reading This Week in the Classroom: The Conversation Bench
woodshopcowboy 