This was my first attempt to build “nice” furniture suitable for a living room. My daughter asked me to make her a pair of nested end tables. All I had for a design was a picture she downloaded off of the internet. I wanted to use some oak I had on hand that was rough cut at 1” thick and 8” wide. I milled it to about 3/4” thick and 7” wide. Then I doubled it up to get the desired thickness and joined 3 boards abreast to get the dimensions I needed. As a result each side and top consisted of 6 boards. I cut a mitered butt joint to bring all the pieces together. X 4. I finished with a stain and polyurethane to protect the wood from her young children. The result were 2 beautiful sets of nested end tables.

Hello everyone, I just wrapped up a bamboo project, and it was fun, challenging, and time-consuming. This was a request from a previous client to recreate a full replica of a dilapidated handrail. I took it down, measured everything, and prefabricated the new pieces off-site. Bamboo definitely works differently from typical wood. It is strong and lightweight, but you have to respect it. Pre-drilling was key to avoiding splitting, and even then, you have to be careful. I also created multiple jigs to drill holes where the smaller bamboo pieces met at different angles. I used a hole saw to shape the ends so the transitions and joints aligned cleanly, held tightly, and followed the natural curvature of the poles. Fresh saw blades are a must since bamboo tends to splinter and peel. I did a light sanding and finished it with a protective sealant formulated for bamboo, which helped bring out the color and even everything out. I also incorporated braided seagrass accents to hide joints and transitions. It added a really nice texture and paired well with the bamboo. Overall, I am happy with how it turned out and would love to know what you think. It was a great change of pace from standard materials. I am heading back this weekend to finish a few sections with more braided seagrass and am considering adding a spar urethane to the seagrass portions for extra protection. Curious what others are doing for finishing and long-term durability with bamboo and seagrass... Update: Project complete; pics added. I decided against the urethane because I wanted the fibers of the grass too remain pliable and I already had a coat of sealer on them anyway; I just added another coat. Thanks for checking it out! -Mark

Hi, I am a beginner wood worker that want to make some projects, I don't have space for a table saw, jointer, band saw, router table or track saw in my workshop/shed.Any suggestion on what project I can make?

I want to make a butcher block table. What is the smallest length of board I can use. I have a ton of 4 to 10 inch pieces of hardwood. I would love to use all of them to make a table about 5 feet long. They are all about 2 inches thick or should I use them to make a cutting board only?

Hi All at Sawnery, how can I get better at dovetails? What angle to use?Which is best for beginners? Can anyone help. All help greatly appreciated. Thank you in anticipation and advance. Ian