Sunday, March 11, 2012

Almost Professional

My daughter's bed was merely a box spring and mattress atop a steel frame. With her newly painted walls and baseboards, I felt that her bed needed a simple headboard. I used some leftover pine plywood, made legs from a 1x2 sandwiched between 1x3s, and trimmed it out with 1x4s. I painted it with the same white Duration paint that her trim was painted with and, voila, a headboard.

Everything is held together with glue. Brad nails were used to, essentially, hold the pieces while the glue dried.

"It looks almost professional," my wife said. Almost.

Sunday, March 4, 2012

Workbench

My workbench is done.

I built this workbench to learn how to build base cabinets.

I learned how to build base cabinets because I want to make new bathroom vanities.

I want to make new bathroom vanities because I can't find ones that I like for a reasonable price.

We need to remodel our bathrooms because they're old and falling apart. And that's why you should never give a mouse a cookie.

So there it is - my new workbench. It's kind of a show bench, really. A torsion box would have been a more functional design, but would not have exercised the skills I wanted to learn. My wife wants me to make our daughter a squat dresser to fit into her closet. Basically, a rectangular box with four drawers. Drawers are hard for me, so that piece will be more of a challenge than she may realize. First, I want to get her headboard made, which is what the lumber in front of my workbench is for.

One of the neat features of my bench is that the grain on the door and drawer fronts flow together. It's a little thing, but I like it.

Anyway, now I need to add a pegboard to the wall behind it, and install a front and end vise. Punch some dog holes through that beautiful top. All in due time.