Desk Organizer

This project popped up in my recommended videos the other week and I thought that it would work great for my desk at work. The project came from GarageWoodworks     Original Video.

I have altered the original plan slightly buy setting the shelf below the front by 5 mm so that pens etc cant roll off. The area on the left should accommodate post-it note pads withe the slot at the front to help get them out. I also have 3 divided sections for papers. 

The Box is approximately 350mm square by 200mm high constructed from recycled fence palings (12mm thick) (what else) and the corners dovetailed together using the Gifkins Jig.

Laundry Hamper

Another job that I completed during the break was to build a Laundry Hamper for my En-suite. Again recycled Hardwood fence palings and rails. The rails where cut into 4 pieces to form the Frames while the palings were ripped in half width wise and then in half again across the thickness to form the thin strips. The rails were then rebated and joined with a mitre in the corners, I reinforced the mitre with a fillet of the strip material in the rebate. Once the frames were made I then used Number 10 biscuits to join then all together. Several coats of Polyurethane, which was a painful task, man I hate painting, finished it off.

End Grain Cutting Board

The second job that I did these holidays was an End Grain cutting board. This was my first attempt at the checkerboard pattern type board and it came up pretty well I think.

It is made from some Radiata Pine Off-cuts, Old hardwood bed slats and old hardwood fence timber and finished with vegetable oil. 

Pallet Holder

Now that the holidays are drawing to an end I had better show you what I have been up to.

In an earlier post I showed you the Pallet Coasters that I was making and I have made around 250 of them so far. I have given a few to friends and family and most commented that they needed something to hold them. A few friends had looked for toy forklifts that fitted but couldn't find any so with necessity being the mother of invention I came up with these.

They are pretty simple in construction and don’t even perform well as a toy however they create a collection point for the coasters when they are not in use.

I have made 8 so far most given as Christmas gifts with a set of coasters. 

Pallet Coasters

As I have stated before I am always looking for a use for all my offcuts and when I saw this project on Steve Ramsey’s ‘Woodworking for Mere Mortals’ http://www.woodworkingformeremortals.com/2013/05/pallet-drink-coasters.html#pallet-drink-coasters.html?s=2&_suid=138036292054408656889188224006. 

I thought it was perfect. Steve used old pallets to make these coasters however I used my fence paling offcuts.








Not much to the construction just cutting the pieces to size, the 9 slats are 12 x 5mm and the 3 bearers are 12 x 7.5mm, and the gluing them together with Titebond 3 wood glue, leaving them over night to set and then give them a good sand. Then a couple of coats of polyurethane to finish them off.  






So far they are working well.



 

SWSi Sign

While I was acting in another position at work recently I reorganised my temporary office. When the organising was done I realised that the back of my computer screens where facing any clients or visitors that I had in the office. So a screen was required however rather than just having a blank board to look at I thought I would dress it up with the company’s logo.

I started by cutting dressing and then gluing together some old pine bed slats to form the background of the logo.
 








Due to the size of my panel clamps this had to be done in to stages, firstly gluing 2 smaller sections up and then joining them using my sash cramps and a few smaller clamps to keep it flat.


 







Once the glue dried I used a straight edge and my circular saw to straighten one edge and then ran it through my table saw to get both edges parallel.









Then using Matthias Wandel (woodgears.ca) Big Print Program I blew up and printed out the logo to the size needed and then using carbon paper transferred it on to some MDF to use as a template which I cut out with my Jigsaw.

 

 
In the meantime I had prepared 2 more panels for the 2 different coloured text back grounds, one from Oregon and the other some of my old fence palings. These then got inlaid into the pine background using a Router Inlay Bit and Guide. The wording underneath was routed using a straight router bit with a template guide.
( The block of concrete is a balance weight out of a washing machine that I pulled apart. I use them to weigh down hard to clamp items.) 


 



The remaining text was then inlaid into the initial inlay and the whole thing coated with a two part epoxy pouring gloss to fill the lower lettering.











Since building this I have moved back to my normal office so no longer needed the screen however I took it with me and it now sits above my desk.

Desk Boxes

At work I have had the need off a set of stackable boxes so I can put all the paperwork and handouts in so they are all together to take to class. So during the April holiday I built myself a set.

Once again they are made from recycled hardwood fence palings and uses Dovetail joints.

I started by running the palings through the thicknesser and over the jointer and then cut them to length and gluing them together to get the required width of board that I required.

I used a Panel clamp to clamp the boards together. The Panel Clamp not only squeezes the board together but also stops them from bowing and cupping under the pressure.

The boards were then cut for the Dovetails using the Gifkens Dovetail Jig, cut a curve as a access point, angled the tops and bottoms of the boards so they would centre on themselves when stacked. I also recessed the bottom so they could slot into the groves that I cut with a 5mm router bit.

Once assembled and glued together 3 coats to Polyurethane brought them up pretty nice.





                                              

Now that the boxes have been used of a semester they are working well.