White Oak and Steel Kitchen Table

 

We wanted a big new kitchen table to go along with our new breakfast nook. I wanted something heavy, made from white oak, and with a contrasting beefy steal based. I love how this came together - particularly the white oak with Rubio Monocoat in Cotton white. Be sure to watch the video to see how I built it. There is a 3D Sketchup model available under the Free Design Files tab.

🌳 MATERIALS

  • ~25 BF of 5/4 White Oak

  • Rubio Monocoat in Cotton White

  • 3 x 3" x 3" x 8' Square Tube Steel

  • 1 x 3" x 8' x 1/8" Flat Steel

  • Hex Bolt Screws + Washers

  • Acetone/Mineral Spirits Metal de-greaser

🗜 Woodworking

  • SAWSTOP 36” 3HP PCS: https://amzn.to/3cr1dJO

  • Circular Saw: http://amzn.to/2q1l5wn

  • Orbital Sander: https://amzn.to/2ALtz16

  • 6” Jointer: https://amzn.to/2Y7THgb

  • 13” Thickness Planer: http://amzn.to/2u7YrmK

  • Power Drill: http://amzn.to/2q1l5wn

  • Impact Driver: http://amzn.to/2q1l5wn

  • Woodpeckers TS-24 T-Square: https://amzn.to/2AsAE9W

  • Plunge Router: http://amzn.to/2p15eiC

🧲 Metalworking

  • PowerMig 210 https://amzn.to/33cDCs3

  • Metal Chop Saw: https://amzn.to/2HNowU4

  • Angle Grinder: https://amzn.to/2FhtDLe

  • Digital Protractor

Above a free Sketchup File of the design for you to access incase you're looking to build something similar!

If you have any questions or find any issues with the article, feel free to get in touch.
Zach

 

Ultimate Drill Charging / Storage Station

 

I've recently acquired a third drill/driver set. It's incredibly convenient and efficient to have multiple sets of tools - whatever the type - so you can avoid resetting settings each time, especially once you're dialed in. Drills / Drivers are probably the most common duplicate type tool.

It was time to expand my storage solutions - I was aiming for something that could store 8 drills/drivers, expand my other frequent tool collection, and house the bulk of my chargers. Hope you like!

The design is relatively simple. I wanted storage for 8 drills/drivers, cubbies to store additional tools I frequently use on top + drill bits, and space to mount 5 chargers. I also wanted clean, simple storage for cables.

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Here is a Sketchup File of the design for you to purchase incase you're looking to build something similar. The entire piece is built from less than a single sheet of 4' x 8' x 3/4" plywood:

🌳 MATERIALS

  • 1 x 4" x 8" x 3/4" Sanded Plywood

  • TiteBond II Wood Glue: http://amzn.to/2peRFus

  • Wood Screws and Brad Nails

  • Power Strip (6 plugs) + Zip Ties

🗜 TOOLS
You can make all cuts for this project with a circular saw, but below is what I used:

Using a combination of my circular saw and table saw, I broke down my 3/4" sheet of plywood into all of the various components that make up my build. The first photo shows how those can all be made from the one sheet.

The depth of the build is 10.5"; if I could change one thing, I'd make it a half inch deeper. Just gives it that little bit of extra wiggle room for drills with long bits.

My station fits 8 drills - if you have more horizontal space you can add more as you see fit. 8 seemed like enough for me, and if I ever get more than 8 drills/drivers, then I think I should probably look at myself internally.

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Each holder is evenly spaced, so I cut out that spacer on the table saw and used it and a single vertical support to mark out each location for the spacer. Then, using glue and brad nails, I could fasten each one into the lateral mount.

I used my T Square to mark out locations to drill out and drive in screws to make sure everything was super secure. I always pre drill when it comes to plywood.

I then repeated the process with the bottom supports. Additionally, I rounded over the edge to make sliding the drills in and our easier.

Once the drill holder was complete, I could go through the rather simple process of mounting the outside walls using glue, brad nails, and screws, followed by mounting the drill mount to the inside of it. To get even spacing and keep it level, I used the tool divider tabs I had already cut out clamped on each end.

Brad nails will secure this while the glue dries, and adding screws means that this will basically hold up forever.

The angle of the walls is 10 degrees (top) and 30 degrees (bottom) - these were arbitrary but I thought it created a less bulky design. It also made the bottom of the mount feel less crowded.

The legs of the desk were designed to sit recessed into the desktop itself exactly one 3/4” plywood layer thick.

The outside drill pieces were separate from the larger piece we assembled earlier. They were added after the fact and secured just using glue and brad nails to the outside walls.

This design was big enough to mount five chargers. If you make it wider, you'll be able to increase charger storage (obviously). The Ryobi chargers and Ridgid chargers have different mount spacing.

To mount them, I used a series of plywood spacers to get things evenly spaced vertically and horizontally, then used the tape trick to transfer the screw holes to the backer mount, and then drove in some screws. Lucky for me, this somehow all worked first try and things were secure and even.

I don't show it in the video, but the last thing I did was drive in a single screw at the top end of each charger that was mounted up against the top edge - hope that makes sense. This prevents the charger from sliding up out of the key hole and thus won't come off even if you pull really hard.

I pivoted on this step last minute and decided to mount all cables on the back of the station. This method words perfectly as I'm using a 3/4" french cleat on the back so I had extra space in the rear to store them.

To do this, I drilled a 1 1/4" hole at the top of each charger and fed the cable through. Using little nail brackets that are meant to secure wire to studs, I could then string the cables back and forth so that they could all exit one side and plug into a single power strip mounted on the side.

That power strip could then be plugged into one outlet and charge everything from a single power point.

I cut four dividers for the top section - you can add more if you want more tool division space or if you make this wider. I then marked out and drilled out pilot holes where I wanted to mount each one. It was easier to drill pilot holes from the inside so that they came out on the other side of the wood - I could then add a counter sink from the new hole that popped through which would give me the proper space to feed a screw in.

The top dividers were spaced according to my tools and what I planned on storing. Feel free to customize however you want!

This system uses a 3/4" french cleat to mount to the wall. I highly recommend this as a tactic for mounting tool systems. It makes your whole storage systems incredibly flexible and adaptable as you expand your collection.

I previously had a cabinet hanging where this would go, so I took that down and reused the french cleat I had already cut and secured it to the back with 5 wood screws. Then, I hung it up and organized my tools. It was so satisfying! I also plugged in the power strip and it was even more satisfying to see all the batteries light up and charge at once.

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At first I thought that I might have mounted everything too high. However, after using it for 5 days, I realized it was perfect. Batteries were head height, drills were head height, and it left a bunch of extra space underneath for even more future storage. Definitely recommend putting it at head height.

This last step is totally optional, but my wife has an embosser, so I thought it would be prudent and fun to label each holder so I can keep a consistent system of where all my devices go.

All done! Can’t wait to have this moving forward in the shop!

Thanks for reading!
Zach

 

Minimalist Plywood Desk

 

We have a third bedroom that we’ve been wanting to convert into a home office since we bought our house. Due the COVID-19 virus, we are working from home indefinitely. So we saw this as an opportunity to begin building our office, starting with a really fun modern plywood desk. Everything was designed in the free version of Sketchup!

Thanks for checking out the article and video!

Free SketchUp Model for Download

MATERIALS

  • 1 x 4' x 8' x 3/4" Maple Plywood

  • 1 x 2' x 4' x 3/4" Maple Plywood

  • TiteBond II Wood Glue: http://amzn.to/2peRFus

  • 1" Brad Nails

  • 1/2" Dowel

  • Shellac + Foam Brush

TOOLS

  • SAWSTOP Contractors 30” Saw: https://amzn.to/2Luh91q

  • Table Saw Sled: https://amzn.to/2t2qVjD

  • Miter Saw: https://amzn.to/2lmqIHy

  • Brad Nailer: https://amzn.to/2Uz6tCI

  • Impact Driver: http://amzn.to/2q1l5wn

  • Orbital Sander: https://amzn.to/2ALtz16

  • ROCKLER ½” Dowelling Jig: https://amzn.to/2n1nt5W

  • KREG K5 Pocket Hole Jig: http://amzn.to/2qb8S7t

  • Squeeze Clamps

  • Tape measure, speed square, etc.

I love our third bedroom - in fact, I wish it was our master bedroom, but it’s not set up that way. The room has a great bay window and awesome natural light. I hopped into SketchUp Free to model the room and figure out the best sized desk for the room. The design of the desk is inspired by a modern minimalist looking saw horse bench and is 5’ wide x 2’ deep.

The first main step is breaking down your sheets of plywood against the design of the SketchUp File. It is my advice to always cut everything oversized a bit so you can firm up final dimensions down the road. With this being all plywood, it also helps to do this so you can create the cleanest final veneered edges without tear out.

Once all of my pieces were cut to rough length - I could begin assembly of all the leg components. For anything that would just get flushed up on the table saw, I used 1” brad nails and glue to secure it all together and move on to the next steps. For the longer stretchers that would eventually need a deeper angled cut through the table saw on both sides, I used glue and clamps and let those cure overnight.

After gluing and brad nailing, I could run each of my pieces through the table saw to flush up the plywood, taking off about 1/32” on each side. The table saw left an incredibly clean and flat cut.

I could then turn my attention to the desktop. Using the best looking pieces of the long “red” cuts, I could begin cutting to length for the front and sides of the desk. The corner would have a miter’d look to it, so after cutting a square end and then cutting to length, I could angle my miter saw at 45 degrees and cut the miters for the three sides.

I then glued and brad nailed the two side sets of plywood together, and squared up the outward facing edge on the table saw again. Such a clean look!

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The legs of the desk were designed to sit recessed into the desktop itself exactly one 3/4” plywood layer thick.

To accomplish this design, I waited until I had my two outer edges glue and secured in place, as well as have the top piece of the leg cut and squared to its final size. I could then measure inward using the speedsquare and mark out exactly where I need to remove material from the final layer.

Then, sneaking up on the cut on my table saw, I cut it away. I could then use glue and brad nails again to secure the three pieces in place, using the leg pieces as proper spacers again to get it all exactly precise. Took a lot of time to make sure this was all correct, but It came out great!

I turned my attention to building each of the two sets of saw horse legs. The outside pieces were made up of two legs + a short stretcher, each that had a specific set of designed 12° angled cuts on them. I chose to wait to do all of the angled cuts at once so I only ever had to adjust my table saw blade once.

For assembly, I’m using 1/2” dowels to hold all of the major joints together. My $20 Rockler Dowel jig is perfect for this. I wish I had something a little more automatic, but it’s good practice mentally to figure out measurements, markings, and drilling precision. Each stretcher and leg received matching dowels.

I then used glue to assemble. Using the offcuts from the 12° angles allowed me to easily squeeze clamp everything together - always save the offcuts temporarily!

While the four legs dried, I went back to the table saw to cut my four long stretchers. This was the last of the 12° cuts to make - these were the pieces I didn’t put any nails into so I wouldn’t knick the table saw while cutting.

Before we could get to final assembly, I wanted to take the last of the long stretchers I cut in the beginning and attach three of them to the underside of the desk for rigidity and strength. I ripped those to their final width, drilled pocket holes, and then secured to the underside using glue and pocket hole screws.

One tip - the drill setting on the K5 jig for 3/4” will actually cause your screws to go through the other end of plywood which you don’t want for your desktop. I set it at 7/8” and it worked out great.

The next steps were a series of repeats. I sanded down the edges of any of the pieces I was about to assemble - just easier to do when flat. I then cut to length my final set of stretchers and drilled more dowels to connect everything together. Then, using glue and dowels and bar clamps, I pulled everything together, paying extra attention to the final orientation of all my pieces and that they were all angled properly. This ensure that when the legs sat upright, pieces were squared and/or parallel to the ground.

Before finishing, I wanted to do a few final steps, including sanding down all of the exposed edges of plywood, rounding over the corners with a screw driver (this is a great way to get rid of sharp edges and fold in the veneer without sanding it away - give it a try!), and then finally add the last part of the top of the leg to each saw horse base, and of course give the top a good quick sanding.

Then it was time for finishing. I added a shellac finish to all surfaces to protect the material, up the contrast of the plywood layers, but also to avoid yellowing or changing the color of the material too much.

All done! Can wait to enjoy this new desk in our ongoing home office renovation! I’m also looking now into what type of power or surge protector stuff I want to add to the desk underneath.

Thanks for checking out the project! Make sure you check out the video in the first step on my YT channel!

See you around! 
Zach

 

Modern Plywood Coffee Table

 

My sister was in the market for a modern looking coffee table. I found a reference to a very very expensive coffee table that i thought I could emulate with some furniture-grade plywood. Everything was designed in the free version of SketchUp!

The free SketchUp file can be found here for download

Thanks for checking out the article and video!

MATERIALS

  • 2 x 4’x8’x.75” Furniture-Grade Plywood

  • Wood glue

  • Wood stain, conditioner, and painters tape

  • 1” Brad nails

  • 1/2” Dowel

  • Rubber Feet

TOOLS

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Above is the design for the table. You can access the SketchUp file of this in the link at the top.

This coffee table is built using 2 sheets of ¾” furniture grade plywood (if you make a smaller table, you can probably get away with one sheet) and ½” dowels. I began by breaking down my materials into all of my pieces using a combination of my track saw and table saw - I cut two of each piece because the table will be double stacked laminated sheets for each component. I cut them oversized so I could trim them down to their final size after Step 2. Initially, I intended for my table to have a bottom section, which is why you see more pieces than you’ll need if you build the table in the same final way I did. 

Next up was gluing and nailing. This design is perfect for using the Arrow Brad Nailer because it allowed me to laminate each sheet of plywood together without needing a special clamping system and they’d stay hidden on the bottom side of the table. I spread glue evenly across the surfaces of my pieces, stacked each respective piece on top of its counterpart, and used 1” brad nails to tack things in place. I was strategic about where I put these nails to make sure they evenly covered the space.

The next day, after the glue cured, I could trim all of my pieces to their final size. My table was 15 inches tall, 30 inches wide, and 54” long. Your final cuts and cut list will be determined by the size of your table.

Once my size legs were cut to their final length and width, I turned my table saw blade to 30° and cut each of them into parallelograms - the two 30° angles should be parallel to each other. I did this by cutting one side, moving the fence, and then passing the other side through. The 30° angle was my own choosing - I thought it has the best aesthetic. I then used my crosscut sled set at 25° to cut tapers on each side of the leg. One small note I don’t mention in the video is that I turned off my SawStop safety feature for this - I didn’t want to hit a brad nail accidentally - even though I knew where they were placed, and trigger the brake system. I was left with pieces that sat at 30° to the ground and tapered in at 25°.

To glue my legs, I created four little jigs that could be clamped both to the table top and the leg using squeeze clamps - these were angled the same as the legs - 30° and were built using scrap wood and a combination of my table saw, band saw, and held together with glue and and more brad nails from my Arrow Brad Nailer. By clamping it this way, I could apply glue, put the piece in place, and then use a series of angled scraps to clamp both horizontally and vertically to the table - thus holding the legs in place but applying vertical pressure to the table. The result was a very strong joint. I used painters tape on the underside interior by the leg to avoid any future glue squeeze out clean up issues. After the glue cured 4 hours later, I sanded down all surfaces with 120 grit paper on my orbital sander and broke the edges with hand sanding at 220 grit.

I chose to use ½” dowels to reinforce the joints on this table. Honestly, it felt strong, but since it was end grain plywood into veneer, it felt like a no brainer. I have a dowel jig, but it only reaches so far over the corner of a piece, and I needed my dowels to be drilled further into the piece to make a difference structurally - so I made my own dowel jig using stacked plywood and my Arrow Brad Nailer. I then used my ½” dowel drill bit and drilled dowels in all four corners of the table top down into the legs as well as the middle of the edge of the table - thus giving me 6 points of reinforcement. I then cut dowels on my table saw, glued and hammered them into place, and cut them flush with my hand saw, sanding them down flush with my orbital sander. This table easily held my 165 pound weight - I’m guessing it could hold 300+ pounds. 

The plywood I purchased wasn’t perfect, and the taping method worked but needed some touch ups. I used some maple wood filler to plug any gaps in the plywoods, let it dry, and then sanded it all down flush to the plywood edges of the table, while also sanding down any of the excess stain that the tape did not block. 

Last up was finishing. I wiped away excess dust using mineral spirits, then applied a coat of pre-conditioner ahead of staining. Personally, I wanted to just apply a clear coat to the wood, but this was for a client, so we compromised and instead, I masked off all of the exposed plywood using painter tape and only applied an espresso color finish to the top and exterior sides of the legs, leaving all interior surfaces and plywood layers free of stain. I then finished off the piece by applying two coats of wipe on polyurethane, sanding in between the two coats using some 320 grit sandpaper. The result was a really cool contrast between the exterior surfaces and the plywood sides and burch underside. I loved it. To give it a more modern vibe, I added ¾” rubber feet to the bottom - just as simple as drilling and installing with screws to each bottom corner!

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All done! Enjoy your new modern coffee table! Thanks for checking out the project! Make sure you check out the video in the first step on my YT channel!

See you around! 
Zach