How to make and sell small 'Shaker Style' peg shelves.

These shelves are so easy to make. A Kreg pocket hole jig and a router are all you need to knock one up.
I have seen these sell on eBay for £25 ($35) ..... they will cost you just a couple of ££ in wood.
Watch the video and have a go yourself.
Thanks for looking in at shed projects

Small DIY Project. Door support jig.

This is a small jig I built to help when working on doors or large pieces of timber and boards. I was giving a friend of mine a lift replacing 12 internal doors. This involved planing to width and fitting hinges. Without this small jig it would have been a very difficult job holding the doors while doing the work, but with it, it was an easy one man task.
The jig is made by glueing together two pieces of scrap 1" plywood and cutting out with a jigsaw. One thing to be aware of, make sure the angle on the wedge and the angle on the main body are the same, otherwise you will not get a good square grip on the door.

How to make a Pine Country Kitchen Shelf DIY Project

This is a solid pine country kitchen shelf unit. It can be left plain with just a light oiling or waxing or it can be painted. I have made several of these and currently have two in my kitchen, you can see the colour options on the video.

Finally used the corks!

You may remember a few post ago I asked if you had any ideas for a bag full of corks that I had. Well the majority of the replies were in favour of a cork board. So here it is.
I've incorporated a few extra bits on there like a corkscrew and an old nutcracker.
The corks were all mounted on to a 3/4 back board of MDF and a surround of 2x1 softwood. I still have to finish the board, not sure whether to varnish the whole thing or maybe just wax the outer surround.
The board measures approx 28" x 16". Not sure if i should mount it vertically like in the picture or horizontally. I tried to make the design not only practical but pleasing to look at aswell, hence the extra pieces.
Visiting a local craft fair recently I saw the same thing but smaller for £25. The whole thing cost me about £7 (minus the wine).
This is an easy project for anyone to try and gives really nice useable results.
Give it a bash!

Salvage Wood Design Projects.

WoodWorks-Glastonbury
This company, based in Glastonbury make a wide range of stunning wooden furniture made entirely from recycled and salvaged materials.

Their range includes mirrors, shelves, tables, boxes, music stands and ornaments. 

Belinda-Jane Miers is the creator behind these beautiful pieces. She uses locally sourced pre-used timber,driftwood and scrap metal to create them.

Check out the site and be inspired ! ......
 http://www.woodworks-glastonbury.co.uk/

Gate is Finished

I don't think there was enough work in mounting the gate to warrant video, so I'll just write the main points here.
The top hinge had to be raised by about 4 inches to line up with the crossledge on the gate. This is just mounted by four screws in to a mahogany stile.

I had to drill a one and a quarter inch hole through the gate and brace to mount the lock. Originally I was unsure whether a lock designed for indoor use would stand the test of time outdoors, but the lock is probably in it's 10 or 11th year now and with just a couiple of squirts of WD40 now and again it is working fine.

On top of the door I have mounted a strip of 2x1 as a rain guard for water running on to the end grain. The wood is rebated on the bottom about three eights of an inch so it overlaps on each side.

I have also fitted a small hook and hasp latch at the top of the door as extra security if the lock is on latch. This is because we have two dogs and the kids are always leaving the gate open.

Prior to mounting the gate I left it soaking at each end overnight in Cuprinol 5 Star wood preserve. This soaked up inside the door and hopefully will provide years of protection. The rest of the gate has had a liberal brushing of the same.

Next stage is to colour the gate with a mid brown stain called fencelife. This will have to be repeated each year as the stain faids in sunlight.


I mentioned in my last video that I used a homemade door stand for planing and working on the gate. In my next post I will show some photos and instruction on how to make this handy tool.

Ledge and Braced Garden Gate

Following my post earlier this week, here is the video showing how to make a simple ledge and braced garden gate. It's quite a long video but it covers all the relevent parts.
In a few days time I will be hanging the gate so I'll put that video up as well.
If you have any questions, drop me a line and I will help where I can.

New Garden Gate Urgently Required

Follow me to see how I go on remaking the garden gate. Wet rot has set in and it really is beyond repair.

We have had it for about 12yrs now but its starting to look way past its best.

I'm going to be making a new one and upload the photos and the video on YouTube.

 

Thanks for looking in.

Black & Decker Workmate refit

First made in the early seventies, the Black & Decker workmate now has worldwide sales topping 35 million.
 Invented by Ron Hickman, the workmate was rejected by many companies as being not commercial enough. It was famously rejected by Stanley tools as 'Sales possibly being in the dozens'. Ron had that rejection letter framed and mounted in his office.

The workmate is superb, well, I say the workmate, I mean the original aluminium framed WM625 workmates, that were manufactured in Ireland in the 70's. They are robust, adjustable, great looking benches, something I feel the later models lack.
Originally in powder blue these workbenches sold in their millions all over the world and made Ron a multi millionaire. I own two 625's an early alluminium model and a more recent steel framed one. I use them all the time, they really are a versatile tool and I would reccommend every DIYer to get one (or two)

An early WM625 (right) and the latter all steel version.

I bought the latter at a car boot sale for a fiver. The wooden bench tops were shot so i replaced them with solid oak jaws.

One of the damaged jaws.

The solid american light oak jaw replacement.

Oak WM625 bench top

Having a pair of workmates allows you to work really long pieces of timber and also they're great as a portable working platform. Clamp a couple of planks across them and you can do indoor decorating, easily make repairs to garage gutters, tall fences and hedges etc.

The Kreg K3 master system I bought recently in the USA

On a recent holiday in the USA I bought the Kreg Jig. This is a superb tool that allows woodworkers to quickly and easily create strong and accurate joints without the need for dowells, biscuits, glue or clamps.
It really speeds up the build process and after the initial purchase (about £100 plus screws) will start saving you time and money.
I'll be posting some pictures soon of a few items that I've made using the jig. Check out the video to see how I modified the jig to suit my bench.