The most sensational, inspirational, celebrational, muppetational
Over the last 4 or so years I've gotten into doing some amateur woodworking! Mostly I like building furniture (exclusively for my own use so far) and because I'm an amateur with a basement "shop" it's mostly plywood-based and relatively simply designs.
Here's the various projects I've done to date! All are personal (so far)
The first and the simplest! Or rather, simplest in theory if I'd learned anything before trying to make it. It's a 2'x4' 1/2" plywood project panel, with a little brace of sorts made out of 1x3 pine, stained in dark walnut, finished with water-based polyurethane, and using some hairpin legs from Amazon.
Many things to learn from this! Such as:
I kept this until I scrapped it prior to moving in 2022.
More pine and plywood furniture, in this case because I needed something to put my router and modem and printer into and wanted a place to store my ungainly powerstrip where my cat wouldn't mess with it.
Learnings!
This is still in use as of writing.
This was one of my first projects of opportunity, in that I lived in a one bedroom apartment and had leftover scraps from the printer cabinet project, and decided to make a cute, albeit not particularly structurally sound entry table. This used a combo of the leftover stain + poly from the printer cabinet, and danish oil for the legs.
Learnings!
I kept this until it was scrapped prior to moving in 2022.
I hated my old bulky Ikea bed and committed to not moving with it, so when I moved apartments in 2021, the Ikea bed stayed behind (in the dumpster, mostly.) I did keep the slats, however. And so, I needed a bed! And built a relatively straightforward full-size frame. This was a platform frame in pine, with legs bought from Home Depot, and leftover Ikea wooden slats. It is fully unfinished (never even glued together! Just screws!)
Learnings
I kept this until it was scrapped prior to moving in 2022.
This is the first iteration of a desk that will re-appear later on the list. The desktop is 3/4" birch plywood in a 2'x4' project panel, edge banded, and stained I believe in a cherry of some kind. The legs are 1"x3" pine, stained in ebony. The whole thing is finished with water-based wipe-on polyurethane.
Learnings!
The legs were detached and scrapped prior to moving in 2022, but the desktop is still in use! (Spoilers for later)
A little prototype (the 3rd, because the first two used a different design that failed spectacularly) for a cookbook/tablet stand I was considering making as Christmas presents. That didn't totally pan out, and I'm not thrilled with this, but it is useful! The piece is made from 1/2" red oak, finished with neutral danish oil.
Learnings!
This is still in use as of writing.
We went far too long without a TV stand of some kind, instead having our tv barely off the ground on an old filled cardboard box, so this filled that void! It's an open-back cabinet, all made with birch plywood, with 3/4" for the main carcass, 1/2" for the shelf/partition/door, and 1/4" for the sliding doors on the bottom shelf. It's stained in special walnut, and finished with water-based polyurethane.
Learnings!
This is still in use as of writing.
Not strictly a woodworking project, but this was a buffet cabinet on sale for $20 at a local thrift store, primarily because the exterior finish was bad and there was tons of water damage on the MDF on the inside. This was a so-so restoration, but did end up cleaning the piece all over, fully refinished the top, repainted most of the trim, sanded off the water damage from the base and interior shelf, "refinished" the interior shelf with black vinyl and the base with black paint and black felt, and re-hung the loose door. And all in all it makes a pretty okay little liquor cabinet! I may do more with this in the future.
Before
After
This is still in use as of writing.
A little project to build a custom scratching post to hang off our stairs. This was pretty slapdash, being some offcuts of 3/4" plywood, painted with leftover black paint from the refurbishment, and wrapped in sisal rope that was hot glued and stapled to the wood.
This is technically "in use" currently as of writing, but the cats have never once actually used it.
As mentioned above, the desktop made the move to Philadelphia, but the desk legs did not, and so new ones had to be made. And with the benefit of having done it the first time, I made a few modifications to the design:
The legs are stained in ebony and finished in neutral danish oil.
(The top is the same as before, and I didn't want to show off my messy desk)
Learnings!
This is still in use as of writing.
Similarly to the TV console, for way too long post-move I did not have a dresser, instead using a combo of closet space, an old storage bench, suitcases, and honestly, the floor, as my clothing storage. This carcass of the dress is 24"x30"x18" (HxWxD) and made out of 3/4" birch plywood, joined with glue and dowels. The drawer boxes are a combo of 1/2" plywood for the boxes, and 1/4" for the bottom, with the boxes joined with pocket holes and with glue + staples to attach the bottom to the box. The drawer faces are 3/4" birch plywood with a handle chiselled and sanded from 1"x3" pine. It's stained in dark walnut and finished with water-based polyurethane. The drawer slides are bought from Home Depot.
Learnings!
This is still in use as of writing.
A prototype/first attempt at making a chessboard! This is made from red oak and maple, with the top being 1/4 inch strips of the hardwood laminated over a 1/2 inch core of plywood, and then the edge made from red oak. The whole thing is finished in danish oil in natural.
Learnings!
This is "in use", in that we have it around the house, but don't have chess pieces for it yet.
I've had a few people ask, whether out of curiosity, politeness, or a desire to learn themselves, how I got into woodworking and if I have any recommendations for learning. And like basically 100% of hobbies I have in adulthood, it spiraled out of mostly Youtube, with a year or two of watching videos from DIY and woodworking creators sparking a desire to try myself, and then further watching helping me learn skills, get inspiration for projects, and keep the desire to make stuff alive.
For me, these channels serve basically three purposes:
All three of these will definitely vary depending on your own styles, preferences, and experience with woodworking. For me a channel might be fun, full of gorgeous designs I want to try, and teach me tons of valuable basics while you may find it grating, full of ugly designs you'd never be caught dead with, and not teaching you anything you didn't learn years ago.
With that, these are my personal favs, with the first two as my big "recommendations":