When I was a teenager my family went to Orlando for a vacation, and on the day we were all supposed to go to Kennedy Space Center I was sick and had to stay back at the hotel. I've been upset about it even since. :P I love everything to do with space, and it was great to finally be able to get out to KSC after all these years.
CRT2023: Florida Atlantic Coast Sunrise
CRT2023: Hugh Taylor Birch State Park
CRT2023: Florida Birds
Rolling Toolbox From Bowling Alley Lane
I recently got a chance to get ahold of some slabs from old bowling alley lanes. As a first project just to get familiar with the material, I built this rolling toolbox for the workshop. The top is made of a chunk of the lane, and the drawer fronts are made from cutoffs of ambrosia maple from the bedroom set project. The lane material was interesting to work with - it isn't glued to together, only nailed. So it's a bit more 'wobbly' than you might expect. I ran screws up from the bottom in several places to stiffen it. Also, the old lane finish was very thick and tough as nails - I had to sand it off with a 50 grit belt on a belt sander. But once removed it sanded up nice and took some oil-based polyurethane well. At two and a half inches thick it should be able to stand up to some abuse as well!
Bedroom Dresser
This is the last piece of the bedroom set, and man am I happy to be done with that project! Between the bed, nightstands, bookcase, and dresser I think it took almost 5 months start to finish. The dresser is made of solid cherry, and the drawer interiors are made of ambrosia maple - just like the nightstands.
Clock Shelves
Bedroom Bookcase
Beds and Nightstands
Last winter my Dad asked me if I would build him a bedroom set to replace his cheap store-bought one. I agreed, but told him that there were two conditions - it would have to wait until the fall, and I was going to build one for myself at the same time. For 20 years now, Lori and I have been using the same store-bought bedroom set we bought shortly after getting married. I've always wanted to build one myself to replace it, and my Dad's request finally lit a fire under me to do it. I built a queen size bed for him, and a king size for Lori and I, along with some nightstands for each. Everything is cherry, and the drawer interiors are ambrosia maple - and everything has received a finish of three coats of tung oil. Now we're just waiting the 3-4 weeks for the tung oil to cure before everybody can start using their new furniture. I've got more cherry coming to build Lori and I a bookcase and dresser to complete the bedroom set - should look great once the whole set is setup!
Workbench Drawer Inserts
I recently tried using the lasercutter to cut some drawer inserts for the toolbox I build to go under my workbench. These help keep everything organized and easy to find, and they were pretty fun to do. Basically I just took a photo of the drawer with everything laid out where I wanted it, then traced around the tools in a drawing program to get the cutouts.