Ben's Workshop » Making mistakes so you don't have to

Dec 12 2014

Pass Through Window

Categories:

Minwax Tung Oil, Orbital Sander, Polycrylic, Remodeling, Walnut

December 12, 2014

Remodeling is a runaway train. First we just wanted to get rid of the old shag carpet in our family room and replace it with a laminate floor. Then my wife said we should paint the ceiling to get rid of the black rafter outlines. Before you know it, we’re painting …

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Mar 12 2013

Building A Kit Tractor

Categories:

Son

by benjamen

March 12, 2013

Over the last few weeks, my 5 year old son and I have been building this tractor from Wood WorX. I found it at Menards in the clearance aisle for $5 and it was definitely worth it. Although these kind of kits can be expensive, I like them because they don’t too …

1 comment

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Jan 31 2013

New Wooden Wallet

Categories:

Baltic Birch Plywood, Miter Saw, Oscillating Sander, Padauk, Router Table, Table Saw, Thin Rip Jig, Urethane, Wooden Wallet

by benjamen

January 31, 2013

As of the last wooden wallet post, I was waiting for inspiration on how to hold the cards and cash at the same time. Last Fall, inspiration finally did come from the weirdest place: window hardware. I had been looking for some spring steel and I found what are called window controls. Window controls are springs …

1 comment

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Jan 26 2013

Turning With Carpet Tape

Categories:

Carpet Tape, Cherry, Lathe, Minwax Tung Oil

by benjamen

January 26, 2013

Since I don’t own a 3 or 4 jaw chuck, usually when I turn bowls I need to leave enough material to attach the work piece to the face place with short screws. A while ago I had an hour to kill in my shop, so I decided to try turning a project …

2 comments

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Oct 11 2012

Offset Turning

Categories:

Lathe, Pine, Table Saw Cart

by benjamen

October 11, 2012

A few months ago I rewatched an episode of the Woodwright’s Shop where Roy Underhill made some oval handles using offset turning. At the time I thought this is something I’d to try on my lathe. So when I needed drawer pulls for my table saw cart, I figured this would be the perfect opportunity to give …

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Oct 09 2012

Table Saw Cart: Inlet Plug

Categories:

PVC, Table Saw Cart

by benjamen

October 9, 2012

The cord on my table saw is always getting in the way. Since it comes out underneath the left side of the saw and I usually plug the table saw in on the front right side, the cord is lying at my feet when I’m using the saw — a real workshop hazard. Also since …

1 comment

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Sep 19 2012

Table Saw Cart: Stationary And Mobile Base

Categories:

Pine, Table Saw Cart

by benjamen

September 19, 2012

Originally I had just planned to use locking castors on the base of the table saw cart, but after I actually mounted the castors, I immediately ran into two problems. Since this cart is much lighter than my previous cart, it wanted to slide around the floor when I was using it. …

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Sep 15 2012

Table Saw Cart: The Carcass

Categories:

Finish Nailer, Miter Saw, Pin Nailer, Pine, Plywood, Pocket Hole, Router Table, Table Saw, Table Saw Cart

by benjamen

September 15, 2012

Since I can buy a whole stick of 8′ of “quality” grade 1×4 pine for less than I can buy 1 board foot of any other material, I decided to make the carcass of the table saw stand using pine and 1/4″ plywood. Yes, pine is a softer wood, but I’m not …

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Sep 12 2012

Planning A New Table Saw Cart

Categories:

Table Saw, Table Saw Cart

by benjamen

September 12, 2012

I’ve recently discovered the joys of having all of a tool’s accessories within reach of the tool. In between projects, I’ve been slowly reorganizing my shop so I don’t have to walk across the shop three times to perform a simple task. My latest focus has been my table saw, it currently sits atop a quickly …

4 comments

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Sep 10 2012

Checkerboard And Checkers

Categories:

Belt Sander, Birch, Games, Maple, Miter Saw, Miter Sled, Paste Wax, Purple Heartwood, Table Saw, Urethane, Walnut

by benjamen

September 10, 2012

It happens to all of us, you start a project, something more important comes around, and you forget about the first project for a while. I started gluing up a checkerboard in March, then something came up and I ended up leaving the finished glue-up sitting flat on my bench for about a week. When I …

2 comments

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