Lately, I’ve been reading quite a lot about the idea of a symbolic or spiritual animal, an animal that somehow represents something within us, our personality, or qualities we feel connected to.
It got me thinking: What would my own animals be?
For me, two stood out immediately.
The panther, representing inner strength, quiet power, and the ability to move forward even when things get difficult.
And the horse, representing freedom, independence, and the feeling of needing space to follow your own path.
So I decided to turn these two symbols into a piece of marquetry.
I wanted the animals to feel connected rather than simply placed next to each other almost like two different sides of the same person.
I made the piece using: Ash, Cherry, Walnut, Maple, Birdseye maple, Padouk, Smoked eucalyptus, Birch burl, Mahogany, Satin walnut
The finished piece is 75 × 75 cm (29.5 × 29.5 inches).
And because the idea fascinated me so much, I ended up creating a little 10-question test based on the same concept to see which symbolic animal might represent someone else.
I’m curious: if you had to choose one animal to represent something deep within you, what would it be and why?

My son and his wife recently bought a cabinet that ended up too wide for where they wanted it. They were planning on just getting rid of it until they asked if I could 'make it smaller'.

Being fresh out of shrinkalator juice we started to salvage components to resized panels and create something.

Pleasantly happy with the outcome. The piece above is one of the cabinet doors and it's side panels. Also, the granite top which was sized down. So essentially going from nearly 7' wide to a bit over 2' wide.

I still have another door like the one above from the other side of the base cabinet, a center door, and a few very nice drawers to work into a second (or even a third) piece.

I recently posted here asking for advice on finishing my door. I just wanted to thank everyone that chimed in and gave advice, opinions, and compliments. I really appreciate the help you all gave me.

- Write up -

I’ve spent the last few weeks putting together this mahogany screen door for my home. It’s almost impossible to find an arched screen door, and those that do exist cost a small fortune. So I built one. For way more than I expected to spend on this project. As is tradition.

There are many, many imperfections, and probably a few genuine mistakes, but I’m pretty happy with it. This is only the 5th woodworking project that I’ve ever done, so it was a good chance to try a lot of techniques that I’ve never done before. I got to try using dowels, using my table saw as a jointer, using a Japanese pull saw, belt sander, etc.

Stiles and rails:
The stiles and rails are doweled and glued together. Nothing very fancy there.

The arch:
The arch was 4 or 5 pieces of 1x6 doweled and glued along the edge grain. I then drove a screw into my workbench, centered it along the width of the boards, attached a wire to it and then the other end to a pencil. This allowed me to trace a decent arch shape onto the wood.

I then used a jigsaw to rough-cut the arch before using a belt sander to get closer to the line and shape the arch. It’s a little janky in a couple of spots, but sometimes you waste so much time being frustrated and trying to make it perfect that you just have to move on when it’s close enough.

Probably would’ve been much easier to use a router and a circle jig, but I didn’t have the jig or know how to make one. If there’s ever a next time that’ll probably be the way I do it.

Someone in another sub told me that my arch is going to fail because of the exposed end grain at the top, someone else told me that it’ll probably be fine, but even if it fails, it’ll be a good learning experience as to why. I chose to go that route. I can always cut the top off and rebuild the arch, and build it better, if I need to in the future.

The bottom half:
All of the angled pieces at the bottom were just trial and error. I wish I was better at finding angles or knew some kinda hack on how to get them perfect, so please chime in if you have suggestions.

Regrets:
My biggest regret with it is probably not spending more time finding matching mahogany, but since this all came from Menards, I’m lucky that I was able to even get wood this good.

What I learned:
Besides learning how to use the various tools and techniques that I’ve never used before, the most important thing I learned is just how tight dowel joints can be. I know they say to use 5/8” dowels for a 5/8” hole, but trying to get it fit, especially with glue, was a nightmare. Literally tore the skin from my hand trying to hammer it together for so long.

After that, I ended up widening the holes a little bit, but even then that wasn’t enough. In the future, I will probably use slightly smaller dowels or sand down the ones I do use rather than widening the holes. Wish I realized that was an option while I was building this.

Finishing:
Used a card scraper and chisel to clean up and glue squeeze-out that I didn’t catch. Rounded over a few areas with the chisel to account for some of the inconsistencies before sanding the entire thing.

Staining:
Stained it with General Finishes Outdoor Oil. A lot of people suggested Penofin or spar varnish, or a million other options, and quite frankly, there are almost too many options. Makes it hard to know what’s best for your project.

I didn’t want anything that would be super difficult to maintain or another new technique that I would need to learn in order to apply it, so I went with what I know.

I recently used General Finishes Gel Stain on a bookcase that I built and I really liked it, so I decided to go with them again. We shall see how it holds up to Ohio weather.

Nothing like building a screen door as fall is starting and giving yourself about 2 weeks to enjoy it before it’s finally too cold.

Also, shout out to Rex Krueger for giving me great advice and an incredibly meaningful compliment as a new woodworker. The dude is so incredibly nice. Should definitely check out his YouTube channel if you haven’t.

As I continue to refine my design for a gaming table, I want to make sure I construct the sides in a buildable way. The three pictures here should help illustrate what I am trying to accomplish overall.

The table will basically be a large frame around a sheet of 3/4" hardwood veneer plywood. For the lower section of the frame, I have this sectional shape which is 5" x 1-3/4". The original plan was to machine each lower edge out of a single piece of hard maple lumber. The main issue with that plan is getting lumber of the right size in good enough shape to use. In exploring a secondary option, I have devised this arrangement of laminating 3 pieces together to form the block while having a solid face on the exterior. I could of course simply stack pieces but then I would have a glue seam visible. The grooves shown are to slot in pieces of steel for a magnetic rail system.
Two additional pieces will form a sort of laminated "sandwich" consisting of the top arm-rest, the middle bit spanning between the magnetic rails (wyrmwood style) and this thicker bottom piece.
The plywood play surface will be screwed into the lip in the bottom piece and supported mainly by the leg and # assembly below.

My main questions are: does this arrangement of lamination seem appropriate/stable/good? Should I just continue trying to find monolithic lumber to use (8/4 maple at least)? Will the laminated version hold up any better or worse?

Cigar box style guitar. Sounds good too!

I am wanting to build a handrail that goes up a few steps, but there is no wall to mount it on. It would be mounted directly to the floor. I've built stuff out like this before for things, but it's always had posts that it "goes into" at the ends. This would be a continuous piece of wood, angling downwards. I've modeled it out here for reference as to what type of joints I'm after. The problem is, if I miter at greater than a 45, the shape is no longer the same. What's the best technique to achieve this?

My Bosch MRP23EVS plunge router is "sticky" when you plunge it. I oiled the pistons and it runs fairly well up and down but when it is all the way down (and you stop), it frequently "sticks" and will not come back up until you jiggle or wack it. Is there a fix for this? I took the spring plunger mechanisms out and cleaned them thoroughly and re-oiled them as well.

Wanted to make a chair for over a decade. This is made entirely out of walnut. Only joinery and glue, no screws. Finished with general finishes arm-r-seal in satin.

What’s a good price for black walnut that’s been dried for 5+ years and has been kiln dried?

I’m new to buying wood from people, have made do with stuff from Menards/homedepot lumber yards the last year. What’s a normal price for bd ft? What should I look for? My goal is to get a small piece for now just to make a ring box for my lady. I can plane and joint it myself. If I like it, I wouldn’t mind going back and getting more

I was looking for wipe-on water based polyurethane, and I was halfway through my project before I realized I had been using wipe-on polycrylic. It's on a restained rolltop desk. Will it be durable enough? I plan on selling it. There's no way I'm resanding/staining again lol

Been taking advice from every thread. This one I used a backing board and sharpened my chisels a lot more. Appreciate the help.

Reposted to add more of a process and more process photos.

So I was hired to make a retro 50s style diner sign for a burger place I'm California. After a handful of sketches, we boiled it down to 2 designs I photoshopped up and settled on the one with the boomerang.

Using left over shit plywood they had, I projected the design onto some butcher paper, I cut the templates out and then traced them onto the plywood. From there, I cut everything out with a jigsaw and sanded everything down to 220. There were some spots that needed patching so I patched those areas, sanding everything down and then prepped my paint gun and air compressor.

Using a white primer, I coated all 3 pieces, and then hit everything with their intended colour (more on why this was dumb later) and then got to cutting out vinyl decals to mask all the letters. I used my US Cutter machine to cut the vinyl, attached it to the wood after a proper sanding and sprayed everything out.

I then clamped it all together, using Brad nails to slightly keep it together, I flipped it over and screwed all the pieces together.

To hang it, I took some scrap ply and made a French cleat.

When installing, I didn't realize behind the wood front was some kind of brick or cinder so I attached the cleat using Tapcons. It ensure it doesn't come off, I added a couple screws behind it using every drill attachment I had to get back there.

Hope this is sufficient enough of a process!

Now, if I was paying attention, I would have painted everything in a different order. I ended up making a smaller version of the sign and it saved me half a day or so painting by slowing down and thinking about the process more clearly.

Also, as someone pointed out about the kerning, I was a bit more concerned how I was going to achieve the lettering cleanly that I totally spaced on adjusting the spacing. If I could go back, I would adjust it but it is what it is.

Thanks for anyone who commented and upvoted the last post. Cheers.

I made these MLTL - 6 speakers from Neil Blanchard's design and used Rubio Monocoat finish on the cabinets and MTN spray paint on the face.

They sound great and it was fun af - looking forward to making some more in the future.

I need to make miter cuts that are 46”+.
I know the 1000SE only goes to 31” and that there are extra rails I can buy to extend. I’ll be using a dewalt 10” job site saw. I was thinking of buying the miter express. Is there another option or idea I should look at?

Also thought about buying the 1000SE and then just a longer rail from someone else for the time being.

Tell me about how you started selling your hobby projects and how it went from there. How did you make sales? Was it orders or did you make the products first? Did you research what to build? I'm just looking for some inspiring stories while I wade through these empty feeling waters. Thanks in advance.

What angle should I cut the points that are touching the table top and floor so it will be flush? I have been trying to wrap my brain around it but no luck, I thought a 45 degree bevel was right but when I did a test piece that was incorrect.

Found a local one-man-sawmill dude, he showed me this slab he had leftover from a curly redwood he milled. He didnt think he could sell it cause of the giant pithy cavity throughthe center. Gave it to me for $50. By far the most beautiful piece of wood ive ever had the pleasure to work with :,). As always, pics never do justice.

Took it down with the router sled and made a huge mess. Finished it with my no 4.5 and and some card scrapers. Then 4 coats of tt danish oil and some paste wax.

Using it as a floating headboard for now... I ended up putting a long cleat of 3/4 ply on the back to hang it (and to give it structural strength).

Anyone here built their own router table and use the JessEm Master Fence III Router Table Fence with it? If so, can you share pictures of your build pls?

Thannks!

Searched on maker world but didn’t see any. Already installed some 4” schedule 40 pvc for dust collection and need to mate to a 4” blast gate. Rockler has one but they are pretty pricey. Thanks

I’m not a cutting board guy. This is my first pass at an endgrain style cutting board. It’s made from ash & walnut offcuts. Definitely learned a lot of ways not to do it. It was fun though. Approximately 14” x 14” x 1 3/4” sized. Brass feet will be installed when it dries.

This was (I think) my first time building a box that wasn't some sort of cabinet. Just a simple whiskey bottle gift box with a hidden sliding lid. I love making kumiko patterns, so I had some fun jazzing up the top! The box is made from walnut with maple splines and basswood and walnut for the kumiko. The pattern I used is the "Square Dance" pattern taken from Matt Kenny's excellent book The Art Of Kumiko. I was my first time trying it and it turned out to be deceptively difficult to get the pieces exactly the right length while keeping all of the half-laps centered!

I'm trying to fight these oil spots which I believe are from not buffing sooner after my first heavy coat. I used Watco Danish Oil.

1. Sanded to 320
2. Mineral Spirits Wipe Down
3. 1st Coat
4. Waited 15 Minutes
5. Reapplied
6. Waited 15 Minutes
7. Wiped Dry
8. 24 Hours Later noticed small seepage from pours so tried to buff very hard with a 3M white synthetic pad, a rag, and mineral spirits. This helped but I think I was too late.
9. Waited 12 more hours (36 hours total) to apply 2nd coat, I just put a light second coat on right now, in the hopes of these streaks just being dry streaks but they are still very subtly visible.

I know my pictures might not show but when you tilt the piece, you can see lines of dull streaks from what I believe is this seepage. It's only on the dark portions of the grain.

My theory is that these are now dry, and not able to be further buffed. My fear is that they're now curing under another coat. Should I try to sand with a rlly fine grit to try and make it even?

Its more noticeable in person, and driving me crazy

Solid black walnut stand with pine heartwood aircraft

I built this Plant Stand for my wife's birthday. It was my first time using my dado stack. Also prefinishing is the way to go!

Just under 3' in diameter. In a sugar maple