Every shop needs a good workbench and its about time I built myself one. I sourced most of the parts locally from the $75 solid maple butcher block top to the $40 shelves with drawers I got at a local salvage yard. The only things I bought new were the three Rockler vises which I have yet to install. The picture above is of everything all mocked up.

I have assembled the bottom section out of 4×4’s and 2×4’s secured with long galvanized deck screws. The base frame itself is 45″ long and 23″ deep. The butcher block will overhang 3″ on the front and back, and 12″ and 18″ respectively on the left and right. This will accommodate the vice setup I will be installing but I will post more on that when its complete. For now, you can see more pictures by clicking on the image above.

This week my father flew to San Francisco to help me, and teach me, to build a banister and repair a staircase. We tore down the wall that used to be there, replaced all the treads, and put in a matching banister and railing that we copied from the upstairs banister. For the past five days of the build I have been blogging over on SanFranVic.com where you can follow the story and see all the photos.

Since space is always at a premium, especially in my kitchen, its important to use every inch as best as possible. Instead of having two separate trash bins it made more sense to combine them into one piece of furniture and gain table top space. So I searched the internet to find something that would fit but unfortunately nothing came up. So it was off to the shop to solve the problem.

With the help of my roommate, we built this trash and recycling center out of maple plywood using simple dowel joinery. We finished it in a cabernet color and added some simple hardware like magnetic latches and handles from our local hardware store. All in all the project only took a few hours total and solved a big problem.

One of the most simple and useful things I have made in my shop so far is this crosscutting jig. It is perfect for when your chop saw just doesn’t reach far enough to cut a big piece of wood. Also, I have much nicer blades for my table saw then I do for my chop saw. Either way, it is a quintessential jig to have in your shop.

I made this one with some scrap wood I had lying around the shop in a matter of an hour or so. The base is made from birch veneered plywood and the rails are made from oak. I bought the T-tracks to guide the sled from Rockler, my new favorite store. Other than that, there’s not much to it. I decided to use dowels to hold it all together but screws or any other type of joinery would work just as well.

The most important part is getting it square obviously. What I did was made the base perfectly square, measured the distance between the tracks on my saw, then attached the tracks to the sled. Then I clamped the jig the saw, turned on the blade and raised it up through the wood. Now with my T-square I am able to line up the pieces that hold the wood perpendicular to the blade. Thats all there is to it. This design is very simple and straightforward but if you browse around the web you will find all sort of different designs, additions, and safety additions.

(More pictures can be found in this Flickr set)

If you’re house is even half as old as mine is, its likely that you have similar sash and weight style windows. You know, the ones that are cold, drafty and often times have snapped ropes? Luckily, they are pretty simple to work on for the average do-it-yourselfer. Eventually I am going to replace the weights with spring balances and insulate but for now they just needed to be done. Another person helps but this definitely could be done on your own. These windows usually arent too heavy. There is plenty of information and how-to’s out there on YouTube and and This Old House’s web site.

In my case, I needed to duplicate some weight pocket doors because I was missing a set. This unfortunately is a little more advanced but anyone with some table saw skills can make these. All you need is a miter and some scrap wood. More pictures and descriptions can be found on my flikr page.

Not that kind of college bar. I built this bar in my apartment with the help of some friends my sophomore year in college. It came out pretty well considering I was 19 years old and didnt even have a proper table saw. Literally, we had a table and a saw. Anyway, behind the bar we put in shelving in the middle and enough room for a decent size fridge. On the floor we cracked old tiles and laid out a random mosaic pattern. The bar itself was built out of a 2×4 pine frame with beech veneer covering all sides and doubled up on top for added strength. We finished it up with a coat of stain and a few coats of urethane. It was well worth the effort and got tons of use over the years. Hopefully the new owner the apartment is still enjoying it today.