I appreciate that. I’ll show one of my recent failures if I get some free time. I tried to make flower boxes for the windows and didn’t turn out well.
What’s a good cheap router? I don’t know much about them but I want to get something I can round over edges with.
That's not what I'd consider a cheap router personally. Ryobi has one for half that. Not sure if it's any good but Ryobi is usually decent for entry level stuff.
I have a nice (expensive) router and the Ryobi cordless one. If it is on an edge I almost always use the Ryobi now - its a solid router. I'd guess 98% of the people could get by with Ryobi tools.
Ryobi has quality and power issues in my experience. I’m all about getting the best tool, and less of them for now.
I agree. I default to them when I need something and am usually only ever talked out of buying Ryobi by some type of glaring weakness in a review
I have nothing but good things to say about Ryobi. Table saw, compound mitre saw, jigsaw and router all work great with no issues . I have this one https://www.homedepot.com/p/RYOBI-8-5-Amp-1-1-2-Peak-HP-Fixed-Base-Router-R1631K/206757945 I also have a 4-cycle weed eater that won't die either, I'd rather have a Stihl but as long as it runs I'm using it.
That one doesn't look too bad. Spending 200+ for a first router is not something I really want to do. pockets what cordless one do you have?
I have this one, which is $69 without the battery. If you need anything else, just shop on Home Depot's website for combo kits and you can basically get a free battery. Ryobi also has maybe the best router bit set you can find. Like $60 for a dozen or so 1/4'' carbide bits.
Working on making a coffee table. Have the top and bottom boards put together with biscuits and pocket screws. Should have it put together and sanded next weekend and ready for staining. This is the table I'm making
I finally finished off the coffee table after dealing with part of the wood not wanting to take the stain. I'm still deciding if I'm going to put black L-brackets on the corners.
Made a floating mantel out of a 60” 12x3. It is a hardwood for sure, but dry and distressed to the point I’m not sure what type. Table saw is a hand-me-down ryobi jobsite daw. Brand new 10” rip place got about a foot in before it just couldn’t take it. Lights in the garage went all the way dim as it struggled. Ended up hand ripping the rest of the way with my gyokucho ryoba. Skill saw would leave an inch to cut anyway and I don’t trust my lines with it. Armor Seal wipe. 300 on the orbital. Ended up pretty ok, I think. Mounted on 3 1/2” 8” lags 2” into the stud and 5.5 into the wood. Good 30 minutes of pounding to get it all the way in the lags. She ain’t goin’ nowhere.
It's funny because I spent the day making one too. My wife wants it painted, so I just made a box out of spruce 1x's. Will be sanding and priming/painting tomorrow.
had a Christmas party with friends this weekend where we always do a white elephant gift exchange. The women had a $25 spending limit, the guys did $0 so we had to either bring garbage, bring something nice we just don’t use, or get creative. I did the latter and mounted this old coke bottle opener I found on a job site about 7 years ago. I put a magnet in the wood to catch the bottle tops but it really wasn’t powerful enough so I added the basket as a failsafe. Charred the wood with a torch then finished with poly and wax.
It’s not much, but here it is. Distressed is great because you can just be a less than perfect and not worry about it. Decorating by not me. Faux fireplace or something is next.
I’ve been finding some good used tools and materials at the habitat for humanity Re-Stores here lately. Not sure if they have them in other cities. The store is all donated overrun by contractors or remodel tear out/salvage. Tools come from retirees, estates, company change outs, and stuff like that. New bulk-order appliances, too. Cool place. Proceeds go to the home building projects.
There are a couple around where I live/work. Been in a couple times, so far only bought and old chair for my garage.
Volunteered at one for a bit. They get all kinds of shit and you can talk the people down if you want. Some crazy expensive tile would come in from excess that people bought.
My FIL and I are about to build bookshelves that look like built ins in our living room, so this is about to be the largest woodworking endeavor I've ever faced. We have 10 ft ceilings and my wife wants them to go all the way to the top. I hope Pops knows what he's doing because I'm nervous as hell. I know it shouldn't be too hard but damn there's a lot of room for mistakes.
I'm obsessed with tool restoration youtube videos and started doing it myself. Trying to renovate a giant old pipe wrench at the moment. It's so simple and gratifying. Mainly just disassembling, wirebrushing, sanding, and finishing.
Actually a year behind, but I bought Pops a Lie Nielsen Jack Plane for Christmas last year. If you are at all interested in nice woodworking tools, check them out. I mostly use planes for joining (edge work), but his is so nice and well engineered you use it as a plane, for smoothing faces/wide surfaces. Hard to believe that less than 200 years ago, all woodworking was done by hand, especially given some of the quality that is out there. Project for the wife for Xmas will be a soapstone trivet inlaid in a birch slab. Both are leftovers, but will do good service, I think. A little concerned about the deep routing portion of the slab. Always nice to have a place to set down a hot pan/pot whathaveyou.
I offered to do this for a bedroom in our house but my wife wants doors at the bottom and I don’t have any experience with that, I feel like I would have a hard time making doors look professional. Still debating
Oh you’ll absolutely be able to point them out. I could tour you through my home and point out all my mistakes. It’d probably take a while so eat something and make sure to use the bathroom first.
I think you could do it. If you have used a router before then go for it. Just find some youtube video where someone dumbs it down.
Stain, undecided on style. I’ve gotten good at building shelves (Kreg cheat code engage) but haven’t attempted building a door. I’ve been replacing the luan doors in our house with solid wood door blanks and have been bitten a few times because of things I didn’t anticipate, and that’s just hanging them. I think I’ll give it a shot once I do some YouTube research