ideas – Wood Rather DIY

Why you should be using woodworking build plans

Whether you’re a seasoned artisan or just dipping your toes into the sawdust-covered waters, having a reliable set of woodworking build plans can significantly enhance your crafting experience. Here’s why incorporating build plans(like the ones on my Etsy shop) into your woodworking routine is a wise move:

Clear Guidance

Let’s face it—woodworking can be complex. Build plans provide a structured path from start to finish, offering clear instructions and diagrams to guide you through each step of the process. No more second-guessing or feeling lost in the midst of a project.

Efficiency and Accuracy

Time is of the essence in any workshop. Build plans eliminate guesswork by providing precise measurements in cut lists, ensuring that every piece fits together like a puzzle. This efficiency not only saves time but also minimizes material wastage and costly mistakes.

Skill Development

Woodworking is as much about honing your skills as it is about creating beautiful pieces. Build plans offer opportunities to learn new techniques with projects of varying complexity. Whether you’re mastering joinery or experimenting with intricate designs, build plans provide a structured platform for skill development.

Confidence Booster

There’s something undeniably gratifying about bringing a woodworking project to fruition. Build plans instill confidence by offering a roadmap to success, empowering you to tackle projects that might otherwise seem daunting. With a solid plan in hand, you can approach each project with clarity and assurance.

Customization Options

While build plans provide a framework, they also leave room for personalization and creativity. Whether you want to add unique embellishments or modify dimensions to suit your space, build plans serve as a solid foundation where you can unleash your creativity and make each project your own.

Community Support

Woodworking is a communal endeavor, with enthusiasts eager to share knowledge, advice, and inspiration. By utilizing build plans, you become part of a broader community of craftsmen and women, where you can seek guidance, share your progress, and celebrate successes together.

Using woodworking build plans offer a multitude of benefits, from providing clear guidance and enhancing efficiency to fostering skill development and community engagement. Whether you’re a hobbyist or a seasoned professional, integrating build plans into your woodworking practice can elevate your craft and enrich your overall experience in the workshop.

Ready to get started? I have a few DIY plans available in my shop here!

Custom Garden Tags

It’s been a few months since my surgery and it’s been tough to get back into the swing of things. From daily chores, to getting back into the shop to get familiar with the process of building, having that time away from it all makes it so I can’t remember how to be productive. From tackling daily chores to dusting off my tools and relearning the ins and outs of woodworking, it’s like starting from scratch in some ways.

During my time away, I did manage to jot down some ideas for when I do get into the full swing. Starting with smaller, more manageable items like these bamboo tags. With Mother’s Day right around the corner, these herb garden tags would make a perfect gift and a great way to welcome the new gardening season.

I’ve always wanted to work with bamboo wood for the material’s eco-friendly and sustainable nature. This material, technically more grass than wood, grows much faster which means could be harvested quickly and doesn’t take up much space while growing in the long term. Bamboo is also known for it’s durability and strength, able to take a beating while outdoors. Knowing I can work with a material that’s tough as nails and good for the planet just feels right.

Check out the store to find these garden markers. It doesn’t have to be for Mother’s Day, it adds a personal flair for anyone’s garden bed too.

Cutting/Charcuterie boards

I love to make cutting boards now. There is something almost therapeutic about the process of making flat boards out of various types of wood and making a pattern out of the natural look of each. I gotta say, when I first started to make cutting boards, I took it for granted. I thought that making these boards would be boring and easy (and easy money – HA!). Like most, I hardly thought about wood types, combinations, sizes, finishes and waxes, but it really is an art. There is a lot that goes along with it. For example, did you know that pine wood can make your food taste bitter? Apparently, not all woodworkers know this and it’s apparent when you browse through Etsy – yikes!

I can imagine that cutting boards started out as a necessity in the kitchen and a solution for wood shops to use leftover scraps that otherwise would’ve been wasted. These days, it’s common to see handmade cutting boards in craft fairs, farmer’s markets and every online marketplace. Lately there’s been a charcuterie board trend, which I can assume is french for cutting board for show, not cutting. I have a friend who is younger and more hip (not that I’m not young and hip) who introduced me to the term ‘charcuterie’ board. Rather than judging the millennial, I decided to just give it a shot and make one. After all, how hard could it be?

It turns out, decisions need to be made. The hard decisions crept up after finally deciding on the right combination of wood for the right look. Pine can make food taste bitter, what else can make food taste weird? The corners have to be rounded but by how much? Should edges be rounded too or beveled? How big should the whole thing be? Okay, maybe those aren’t exactly hard decisions. That’s fair, those choices aren’t that critical but one thing might be: Wood finish.

I did pick a brand I really like based in Ozark, MO but not before I’ve tried others. Walrus Oil, A company with not only great product but also great ethos. While I personally decided Walrus Oil will now be my one and only wood finish, there’s no shortage of choices out there. I personally don’t like to wear a mask and be in a well ventilated area just to apply wood finish on something that will eventually touch food, but that’s just me. Plus, they’re a small business in the Midwest! I have to support that.

Let me know what you think of these boards. I have a long way to go before I can run a booth at an arts and crafts fair, but knowing all the details is good a start. You’ll find no pine in these boards.

Catio v2.0

UPDATE: The Instagram reel showing this catio in use blew up. A lot of people have been asking how to build it. The following is a quick summary of how I got to the current design. I made a DIY step-by-step guide on how to make this catio available now on my Etsy shop. Go straight there

Currently working on a beefier, more functional catio. Why, you ask? Because I believe in self growth and I like the journey of learning via hand-on experience – but also, my cats are driving me insane and won’t stop bugging me to open the windows so this will help quiet them down a bit. I still love the little monsters though.

Before

While I liked that the size of the posts didn’t block too much of the view outside, the posts were ultimately too thin. I didn’t realize that I was sacrificing function over aesthetics.

see previous version

Using thicker posts allow me to use splines, the same ones that you see on window screens, that make it easier to swap out if any of the screens gets damaged.

When designing for pets you have to know that they will really put your design through a test. In this case, cats will claw at the screen and tear it up. Not only is it a pain to replace the entire thing, it’s rather wasteful than replacing only a small piece at a time.

After

First thing you might notice is the front face, the part that holds it onto the window. In the old design there were obvious gaps when it sat on the window. Now, there’s a face that will sit flush against the window frame and keep bugs out.

C-Table

Always wanted one of these lightweight C-tables for when I’m on my laptop and sitting on the couch. They also look like regular side tables when not in use so that makes it really appealing for me. I looked up how much these things are and damn, they’re either expensive! Let’s be real, though, there are a lot out there that look much better than the one I created. My issue is that most, if not all, are almost always too small so they can sell at cost, and while they do fit a laptop, I’d like to have a little more room for comfort.

Check out the photos of the final build below and if you want to see how I got here, read on!

Version 1

I approach all my projects knowing that there will be a skill that I’m going to inevitably pick up from it, I welcome it. Whether the challenge is a new joinery or a new way to cut, whatever it may be, every project is an experience. In this case, the challenge is to create a table with very little wobble, keep it lightweight, and be able to support more that the weight of my arms.

My first prototype is a very straightforward design and checks some of the boxes, it’s a C shape, it has only two legs on one side, it’s almost the right height, but it was weak as fuck. This prototype got wrecked when I put the weight of my arms on it. Total rookie move.

Version 2

I added extra legs for stability. I’ve seen that design in a lot of commercially available C tables and wanted to see if it would add anything to it and it does!

My second design was very functional but after the initial excitement of completing my first table, the look of it didn’t stand the test of time. While it was functional, it was also very basic. All in all, the original was a good intro to the C-table. By allowing myself to learn by making, I was able to push through and learn a lot more. The new one that I built not only look a lot better but it also kept the strength of the table to a maximum.

Latest version

I’m proudest of this latest iteration. To my surprise, my brother in law was actually impressed with the second version that he wanted one for himself. So it made for the perfect excuse to redesign and rebuild. Now, I can proudly say that this is my first furniture built with traditional joinery. It is the strongest one I’ve built to date.