Birdhouse overview: Materials, tools and design

This is a fun Project—so fun that it's hard to say who benefits more from it: the bird or the builder. You can let your imagination run and experiment with a variety of materials, shapes and designs. You only need to follow a few parameters (see chart below) that are specific to the bird species you're trying to attract. Follow the clear how-to photos and study the drawing and the cutting list to build our project exactly, or personalize it with the details you want: a stone chimney, some shutters or cedar shingles.

Most any softwood (pine, cedar, cypress, redwood, fir) will work for your birdhouse. We used pine for the walls and base, exterior fir plywood for the roof, and birch square dowels (available at home centers or hobby shops) as well as birch dowel pins for porch balusters.

How I Sell My Woodworking Projects

Introduce to Kitchen Cabinet Basics Part 1

8 Woodworking Hacks You Won’t Believe You’ve been Living Without

In the world of DIYing, we’re always in need to some hacks to help us save money, time or effort (or all three!), without compromising on quality or safety, of course. So here are some seriously helpful hacks to implement when you’re working with wood and drills. Don’t have the right size drill bit? No clamp? Need to fill a hole in the wall? All these problems can be solved with these awesome tips.

Flat packed go-kart can be made in hours and hits 25mph

When you think about flat packed items you immediately think of furniture but The FlatWorks, a wooden kit company, are offering a flat packed go-kart. The PlyFly Go-Kart can be put together within just a few hours, it runs on gas and it has a top speed of 25mph.

Simple computer desk

It's simple computer desk. You can build this...

How to Build Kitchen Cabinet Carcass

5 Easy Woodworking Projects

Learn How to Build a Deck the Right Way

By Steve Maxwell In 1991, I began wondering why backyard decks weren't typically built better. Looking at them back then with my woodworker's eye, there seemed so much that could be done to improve the lifespan and beauty of decks, yet somehow these details never happened. That's why I began developing, testing and building my own collection of deck construction details based on how I saw decks fail and what I'd learned as a cabinetmaker about making wood beautiful. People started commenting on my deck construction and wanted to know more. This interest turned into magazine articles, videos, blog posts and finally something called How to Build a Great Deck. It's a hands-on, video-enhanced deck design and construction course I created to teach three main things: how to build a deck so it lasts twice as long as usual; how to apply "furniture-grade" details to your deck; and how to choose deck finishing strategies that won't drive you crazy.

Installing Threaded Inserts

Q:

I made a jig that needed threaded inserts but I had one heck of a time installing them by hand. They went in cockeyed and I trashed their slots.What am I doing wrong?

A:

The most common kind of threaded insert is the straight brass barrel with thin outside threads and a single slot. A better one has wide threads, a hex wrench slot and is tapered to guide into the hole straighter. The most foolproof way to install both threaded inserts is to use an unplugged drill press and a bolt to support the insert. The drill press keeps the insert square to your board.

Here’s how to install them:

1. Drill a hole of the recommended size (see package) into your piece of wood.

2.Unplug your drill press.

3. Cut off the head of a bolt with the same thread as the insert and grip it in your chuck.

4. Spin a nut, washer and insert onto the bolt.Turn the insert and the nut together, as tight as you can, by hand.

5.Center the hole directly under the insert and clamp the piece down to the drill press table. Advance the insert into the hole until it just contacts.Turn the chuck slowly,by hand, to advance the insert into the wood. Keep turning the chuck until the insert is fully engaged.

6. Back off the nut using a wrench. Reverse the spin of the chuck.The bolt will spin right out.The top of the inset may be a bit proud of the face. You can drive it below with a hex wrench or use a fine file to level it off.

If you don’t have a drill press, don’t worry, you can turn the inserts in by hand. Getting them started is the hard part, so be sure to use the tapered style insert.Drive in the insert using a hex wrench.Check with a small square to make sure it’s going in straight.

ref: http://www.popularwoodworking.com/techniques/q-installing-threaded-inserts

How to use a table saw

Great Glue Ups: Dado Joints

Great Glue Ups: Mortise and Tenon

Great Glue-Ups: Sliding Dovetails

Build Dave’s Two-Piece Armoire

Awhile back, I had a request for a Two-Piece Armoire from a reader. Though she hasn’t had a chance yet to build it (I know how that is!), she’s hoping to build it soon! In the meantime, I was contacted by Dave who also requested plans for a two-piece armoire but on a much larger scale. This bad boy is massive and will be so fabulous when completed! So, on to the free plans to build Dave’s Two-Piece Armoire…

Bedroom set

Bird house plan - "The Tall Texan"

Free birdhouse plans - this plan is called the Tall Texan because of its height, and because its roof is painted similar to a Texas flag.  Of course, you don't have to paint the roof at all.  :-)

It can be built from a single 6 foot 1" x 4" fence board.  My projects are all built from usedfence boards.  If you do the same, the material is free.  The only cost was the galvanized air nails that I used to fasten the pieces together, and the wire I used to hang it.

Using the diagrams below as a guide, you can get an idea of how the pieces fit together.  The two side pieces are 8" in length.  The two end pieces are 10" in length.  The angle of the roof is 45 degrees.  To cut the end pieces, measure 8" from both sides and cut a 45 degree angle on each side to form the roof slope.  Attach the two end pieces to the two side pieces keeping the bottoms flush, as shown below.

Birdhouse Exploded View

Nail the bottom piece and roof pieces together and attach them as shown in the diagram below.

Side View and Front View Free Birdhouse Plans

Wooden chair

You can decorate the wooden chair for fall, as shown in the picture above.  Or in the off season, you can also use it as a decorative patio chair or plant stand.   

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Building the wooden chair

Wooden Chair - assembled

This chair was assembled using a combination of 1.25" and 2" staples, but you can use finish nails or screws as you see fit. 

Note that this chair is not designed to be used for sitting.  It is strictly for decorative purposes.

The back is made of three, 1 inch by 4 inch (1x4), fence boards.  The two outer boards are 28 inches long.  The center one is 20 inches long. 

The three boards are held together by a 1x2 11.5 inches long on the back (placed 20" above the bottom), and a 1x4 9.5 inches long, on the front (placed 10" above the bottom and centered between the three boards). 

The middle back board is positioned 2" above the two side boards, making the total chair height 30" high.  See the diagram below.

Wooden Chair - (exploded view)

Use the diagram above as a reference to cut and assemble the remaining chair pieces.  Have fun building this decorative chair.

ref: http://www.mycarpentry.com/fall-craft-projects.html