Gallery

Talk about a quick project.  My sister found a discarded weathered, rusty oak bench in a dumpster.  I refinished the oak, repainted the rails and ended up with a really attractive chair.  Total time: 2Hours

The mini-bed.  A toddler sized sleighbed built out of Spanish Cedar(similar to Mahogany), that I consider to be my best project so far.  Total time, just over 20 hours.

Ladies and gentlemen we have our first sleighbed not built by me!  This is Jeff's Pine sleighbed, and I'd say it looks really good.  Great Job Jeff! 

This mini-treasure chest is constructed from the scraps of the mini-sleighbed, and can be completed (minus the finish and rusting) in about an hour.  I purchased the lock from this site:  http://www.antiquehardware.com/ I think it was about $3.50.  Rusting the hinges, screws, and straps is easy.  Take some hydrochloric acid(muratic acid used for pools available at Home Depot or Lowes) and pour a small amount in a glass or plastic container.  Through the magic of chemistry a double replacement will remove the zinc coating on the steel.  Make sure you do this outside as the by-product of the process is hydrogen gas.  You will end up with parts of untreated steel that are a dull color.  Wash these thoroughly with water, and don't let it sit longer than 10 minutes or you will completely rust through the pin on the hinges!!! 

After these are  clean, place the parts in hydrogen pexoride(household strength is plenty) and sprinkle with salt to taste(that is a joke, but add some salt).  You will see the rust begin to form in front of your eyes.  Wear some tin-foil on your head and make some sound effects to pretend you are in a time machine if that soots you...then never ever contact me...seriously!  After about an hour, the rust should be completely covering the parts.  Take them out, and let them air dry.  The final step I did with these is to coat them with a quick setting epoxy to seal in the rust.  You should size the parts and bend them first just to keep your skin out of contact with the rust as much as possible.  There is much more detail out there on the web if you need it.

A friend helped me with the inside.  It is 1/8 hardboard wrapped in satin.  It came out far better than I ever expected or could ever dream of doing myself.  Thanks...  ; )

Here is the side view of the treasure chest.  From this view you can really see the individual pieces that make up the chest.  And the slight curve at the bottom I intentionally put there.  The next time I get some scraps, I'll build another and take some pictures and add a page.  If you are interested in a more detailed explanation, just email me. 

 

Here is the newest picture cabinet I have finished.  It is 9 drawers instead of 15 and allowed for much more precision than the previous cabinet.  I will be posting appended instructions in the next week or so. I have quite a few in process photos and discovered a few new ways to make the whole task easier.

This is the first carving I've done with the CNC.  It has a capability of carving at various depths based on the colors in a photograph.  This is of the Sacre Cur Basilica in Paris.  Here's the picture used:

Both the carving and the Basilica look better in person. 

 

This is an M.C. Escher drawing.  I thought it would look great as a coffee table, so I altered the picture a bit (stretched the border), then purchased a suitable used table for the purpose ($35).

The table was a little big for the room, so I trimmed the legs and the top to suit my needs.

Once again, the picture doesn't quite do it justice.  I'll be adding pictures of the final table in a couple days.

Here's a picture with the glass on top of the table.  The final sanding and polyurethane really brought the carving's detail out. 

The overall dimensions of the table are 18" x 33"x 12".  The alder is stained the same color as the rest of the room. 

I had an open picture frame in my living room, and decided to carve this with the CNC.  It is a scanned image of a Czech coin (at the bottom left) scanned into the trimmed off piece of the original coffee table.  The frame from IKEA had to be altered  a little to fit the carving which is nearly 14" square.

My kayak had been sitting on the grass for weeks, I decided to build a simple kayak stand of wood that can support a kayak on two nylon straps.  Yes, it could have been far more simple, but the miniature kayak paddles look really cool.  The CAM(CNC) program was used to cut these out, then they were finished on a router table.  This is the first time I have used the machine to produce several of the same part.  The procedure could easily be reproduced using the template process used on the sleigh beds. 

Here is the finished stand.  It is composed of six "paddles", two 7/8" dowels and two 1" nylons straps.

The latest and greatest in souvenir displaying technology, this simple cabinet was originally intended to house lights and a case that looked like a well traveled suitcase vis-à-vis Bug's Bunny.  This  basic compromise totally blew me away.  It looks incredibly elegant and proved to be far more than I had expected.

Just a series of 12- 6" glass shelves set into various continents prove to be exactly what was needed to set this project apart.  I'll be putting up a final picture of the utilized display just as soon as I can get a picture of her next to it!

Close-up of the Eastern Hemisphere.

And complete with souvenirs.

The latest project, dreamed up by my sister and designed by Jessica (Thanks Jessica!!!) for my niece who has outgrown the toddler bed.  My dad painted the lamp and the headboard and added the lights.  This was a real community project and looks great! 

Here is a photo of a cutting board I made for Christmas.  It is maple, finished with cooking oil, and planed down to sit as shown. 

Here is a simple solar fountain I created from a floating fountain from Harbor Freight, some bamboo, and a strawberry pot. I've updated it since I posted it on Instructables, but the idea is the same. 

This is a $10 IKEA chair that was on clearance stretched into a bench for my sister. She has since painted the bench with a really cool diamond pattern. This is a simple change that can be done with a router and a chopsaw. For far less than the $220 IKEA charges for a similar bench!