Picture Frame

This weeks project is about making a picture frame. I have been wanting a place to display one of my favorite pictures of my little girl from when she was about 15 months old.  This is my first frame iv'e ever made and I really had fun making it. I had a cheapo 8x10 frame lying around the house that was made of painted mdf that I decided to re purpose. I have plenty of scraps lying around that I knew I could use to make a much better looking frame.

I decided on a piece of oak to make the frame with. I had to start by jointing and planing it to the size I wanted. I then tore apart the cheap frame (which came apart way too easily) and used the dimensions from it to make the rabbet to accept the frame and matting. I used my feather boards to keep the stock pushed up against the fence while making the cuts.

The next step was to cut the miters, I used a cut-off sled I had bought some years back from rockler. The fence on this particular sled pivots on one end to cut the desired angle needed. I used my speed square to set the angle with. I'm not sure if that was the best idea because my miters didn't line up perfectly, there is actually a small gap in one corner. I think in the future i'm gonna make myself a proper picture framing jig.

I glued the mitered corners and got to use my Bessey band clamp for the first time, which is really handy. I had to slightly adjust all the corners by hand to make sure they lined up properly and then cleaned the excess glue with a damp rag before it dried.

Once I un-clamped the frame it was time for a little sanding. I sanded with 180 and then 220 before wiping on two coats of wipe on poly (sanding between coats with 320). I really like the ease of use that comes with using wipe on poly, it's a quick easy finish.

Then all that's left is to install the glass matting, and your picture of course. Next it's time to find a nice place to display your handy work, I chose the desk where our computer sits.

I hope you get out there and make one of these frames yourself. It's a really simple project that you can finish in a weekend, especially if you already have an old frame to re-purpose like I did.

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Nail Gun Cabinet

This week's project was a nail gun cabinet. I have been wanting to make an organizer of some sort for my nail guns for a while now and when I came across a design from FixThisBuildThat I was sure I could make it work. The plans were for a hanging tool cabinet and I knew I could easily morph the plans to fit my needs. 

This was a pretty simple build and under normal conditions can be easily built in a day! I chose to make the project a little more difficult by using dados for the joinery and adding a drawer to the bottom for nails and misc. stuff.

The final dimensions of this cabinet were 22 3/8" wide by 23" tall with a 4 1/4" tall drawer for extra storage. I started by ripping and cross cutting all my parts at the same time, makes the assembly much easier if you have everything cut to the same size.

I used dados and counter sunk screws for the joinery of the cabinet itself. I also took the time to go ahead and cut the dados in the shelves for the dividers. I routed a few extra grooves an inch apart for extra room for maybe larger items in the future or more nail guns.

I used some leftover 1/4 plywood I had for the back, I also drilled some pocket holes in the top shelf to help attach the cleat on the back.

I waited to cut the dividers till after the case was constructed to make sure I could get a really nice fit.

I decided to add a drawer to the bottom of the case for nail storage. I cut the parts for the drawer out of 3/4 ply and pocket screwed them together and dado'd a 1/4 groove for the bottom and screwed it into the back after sliding it in the groove.

I made a false front out of some scrap Alder I had lying around the shop and made a simple pull out of the same material by cutting a simple 7 degree angle. I used a piece of tape to mark the location of the pull so I could pre drill and nail and glue the false front on.

My small screw driver came in handy for attaching the pull from the inside.

I wiped on two coats of polyurethane on the drawer front to help protect the wood.

And there you have it, an easy to build awesome nail gun cabinet. I should have built one of these a long time ago. I would like to thank Brad over at FixThisBuildThat for the inspiration for this project and allowing me to make this video of his build to show you guys.

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Cedar Planter Box

So my mom celebrated her birthday this past Tuesday and I had been trying to come up with what I was going to make for her. Spring time is basically here and I got the fever. My mom loves to work in her yard and decorate outside, so I figured it would be the perfect time to make her a planter box. I I always enjoy building outdoor projects anyways. I wanted to build something a little different from the usual planter boxes and decided that a sort of Greene and Greene style would be cool.

This is really a simple project to build especially if you have a Kreg Jig. I started out with 4 1x4x8 cedar boards from the home store. I cut the short boards on all four sides 3 inches shorter to achieve the look I wanted and inset each end 1 1/2 inches. The cuts for the sides are as follows: four at 21", four at 11", two at 18", and 2 at 14". I also got to use my new planer to smooth out the rough surface on one side of the cedar boards!

  I used 1 inch Kreg screws and outdoor wood glue for the assembly. I drilled pocket holes even across the joining boards and on the end of all the short boards from each side to screw the panels together.

 I cut the frame to fit around the bottom after assembly and the same way for the slats, just measure once the box is built and cut to fit. To make the perimeter of the frame I ripped a 1x4 down the middle on the table saw.

Make sure to leave a gap between the slats for drainage.

Once the bottom is in you can line it with plastic( I used a lawn and leaf bag and cut it down to fit) and fill it with dirt and the flowers of your choice!

Click Here to Download Plans for Cedar Planter Box

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