Quick Project: Ladder Hanger

Today's project is a quick one; it only took me about an hour from start to finish.  Inspired by a recent video from April Wilkerson, I decided to hang my ladder from the ceiling instead of using valuable wall space.

April used fairly sturdy angle brackets and a threaded rod to hold her ladder.  Instead of making a trip to the hardware store to pick up the parts, I scavenged what I could find around my workshop.  In the end, I opted for slightly less rigid angle brackets, and I used a 1/2 inch dowel instead of a threaded rod.  My step ladder isn't very large, nor is it too heavy, so I should be able to make do with what I have.  I doubled up on the angle brackets just to be on the safe side.

Laundry Room Shelves: Finished (for now)

The laundry room shelves are pretty much done, so I'm calling this project complete. I still have a few more shelves to make, and I'm eventually going to remake the ironing board holder, but for the purposes of this blog there isn't much more to show.

Laundry Room Project: Part 2

I made some progress on the laundry room organization project.  I started with a few long scrap pieces of oak plywood and cut several 3.75 inch wide strips.  I then set my table saw to cut a 45 degree angle and ripped each strip down the middle.  That gave me several french cleats that measure 2 inches on the long side, and 1.25 inches on the short side.

After A Break, A New Project

It's been a while, but I was on a bit of a hiatus while I helped my parents build a gazebo in their backyard. I don't have a project log for that since it wasn't really my project; I was just the hired labor.
I've decided that our laundry room needs an organizational makeover. Since we moved in the room has always felt small, and there isn't any good space for organizing the various things that ultimately end up in a laundry room. There are a couple of basic wire shelves, and those do well enough for storing a few things, but the room (and the washer and dryer) both end up cluttered with miscellaneous household items.
After thinking about how to better organize the space, I saw a video on YouTube by another woodworker - Frank Howarth - who was facing a similar problem in his broom closet. I really liked his french cleat system because it not only provides multiple possibilities to organize things, but it also looks very nice. I drew on his idea for inspiration and came up with my own idea to fix my laundry room.

As you can see from the above drawing, I plan to build a system of french cleats on the room's long wall, starting near the floor and moving up to the ceiling. The cleats follow the area around the washer and dryer, and at the top there is a space for the clothes hanger. I thought about removing the existing wire shelves, but in the end I decided to leave them. They work well enough, and I'm not looking to add a whole lot of organizing space - just more than I currently have. The french cleats measure 2 inches tall and 3/4 inches thick. I'll cut them from some scrap plywood from previous projects. I will cut strips that are 3.75 inches wide, then make a single 45-degree cut along the center to get two french cleats that measure 2 inches on the long side. Frank attached the cleats to a piece of 1/2 inch plywood, then attached the completed board to the wall. Due to the limited existing space, I'm going to attach my cleats directly to the wall. One or two screws going into each stud behind the wall should provide enough holding power for the cleats.

I recommend watching Frank's other videos. Aside from being a good woodworker, he also has an interesting way of telling the story of each project. His videos are very creative.
More to come soon.

(Laundry Room Project: Part 2)
(Laundry Room Project: Part 3)

Marshmallow Crossbows

I completed the "marshmallow crossbows." I got the idea (as well as the plans) from Steve Ramsey, and these were actually pretty fun to build. Most of my woodworking isn't done at this scale, so I used the project as an opportunity to develop my skills with hand tools. I cheated a bit on a few parts, but I used a coping saw, chisels, a file, and sandpaper wherever possible. Technically I believe these are slingshots because the power comes from the elasticity of the cord rather than the flex of the bow, but the name is really more of a reference to the shape. Plus, they're toys so it doesn't really matter anyway.

Making Dowels

I've been practicing my hand tool skills over the past week. For a fun project, I decided to build a couple of 'marshmallow crossbows' that Steve Ramsey featured on his YouTube channel. I have a lot of wood left over from various projects, so I decided to make two complementary crossbows - one for me and one for my daughter. Instead of shooting marshmallows around the house, I'm going to use small foam plugs cut from dense pipe insulation. The crossbows look to be the perfect size for Nerf darts, so I might pick up a pack of those as well to see how they work. Since this is a project that I'm doing for fun, I thought it would be a good opportunity to work on my hand tool skills. I did use the band saw and the combination belt/disc sander a bit, but most of the cutting and shaping has been done with a coping saw and chisels. For this post, I wanted to document my effort to make dowels.

Table Saw Cabinet Complete

I finally completed the table saw cabinet. It took a bit longer than I anticipated because real life circumstances dictate that some of my woodworking has to wait until the weekend. Still, after a small delay I completed the cabinet. I still have a bit of future work to do; I plan to build a small drawer which will sit above the blade caddy, a door to cover the blade caddy area, and possibly a couple of doors for the cabinet. I also will eventually add a couple of hooks on one side to hold the folding outfeed holder. However, those will wait for another day because I have some other, better projects in mind.

Blade Caddy Progress

I've been making some progress on the blade caddy. When I left off, the core pieces were cut to size and I had made the dados and rabbets. Rather than letting it float, the center shelf is held in place with a simple mortise and tenon joint. I designed the center shelf this way so that the shelf could double at the top of the blade caddy, as well as finishing off the small box in which I plan to place a drawer. I decided the best way to cut the mortises was to use my router and a 3/4 inch straight cutting bit for the right hand side, and a 3/8 straight cutting bit for the left side. The left side is only half thickness because it also forms the rabbet for left side of the blade caddy. The mortise and tenon joints are 3/8 deep, and setting the proper depth on my router is easy with my cutting depth gauges.

Table Saw Cabinet With Blade Caddy

My current table saw setup is less than efficient, so it's time to update it to provide additional storage and better access to all the accessories. This is a project that I've been meaning to do for a while, and I'm finally getting to it. Right now I'm using an old fiber board book shelf (the super cheap kind you find at big-box stores) to store table saw blades and miscellaneous things. We used it in our first apartment so many years ago, but after we bought our first house and acquired real furniture it found a home in the garage. You can see how crowded and poorly placed it is in the following image:

Fast forward to today. I want to build a dedicated cabinet to store all of my table saw blades, table inserts, arbor wrenches, and any other accessory that fits. The primary function of the cabinet is to serve as a place to store blades, so the design will be built around that. This is an old problem, so I started by looking around the web to see what other people have come up with. Why reinvent the wheel, right?

I think I'm ready

As promised, I'm beginning my blog with an older project, but one that has some significance for me.  It was one of the first involved projects that I took on without any mentoring from my father, from who I learned almost everything I know about woodworking.  It was also significant in the message it delivered to my wife.  This first post is a bit long and probably has more personal information than future projects, but it's one of the more meaningful projects I've built.  The back story necessarily comes with it.  With the exception of some older projects that I didn't fully document, future posts will lean more toward actual woodworking.

And then there was me

I've decided to start chronicling my various woodworking projects.  I realize that I'm terribly late to the whole blogging thing, but when I decided to start keeping a woodworking diary of sorts I came to the decision after much thought.  The first question naturally was, "Do I want to do this?"  Realizing the answer was, "Yes; yes I do," the next question was, "Why do I want to do this?"

The 'why' question proved a bit more difficult to answer.  Woodworking for me is a hobby.  In a way it's catharsis - a way for me to relieve the stresses of life in a creative and constructive way.  It's not my intent to teach or provide great insight into the craft of woodworking.  In that respect I'm not only too late but I'm still very much an amateur.  Instead, I'll relate my experiences while I learn as I go.  I'll share my progress for all to see.  Along the way, I'll use the space to write my thoughts while they are still mine to remember.

I don't know how often I'll post (that depends on how many projects I do) or how quickly I'll complete anything I begin (that depends on how much of my precious free time I can dedicate to any given project).  I think I'll begin with a few of my already completed projects.  I'll use those to set the tone of the blog, and to work through basic issues such as layout and style.  Stay tuned, and thanks for reading.