How to Make a Bar Stool
Making a pair of solid wood bar stools.
This project leans towards the more advanced side of woodworking, yet it remains accessible enough for you to take it on confidently. I am making a pair of solid walnut bar stools for my rental house, where I’m crafting every piece of furniture. I encourage you to follow along with me on this journey and grab the plans, so you can build right alongside. While making chairs might initially appear intimidating, a solid game plan and a well-crafted prototype ensure smooth sailing. Are you ready to make something amazing? Let's dive in!
Flipping a Thrift Store School Desk for Profit
Taking a cheap old school desk from the thrift store and turning it into a treasure I can sell to fund my next project.
I discovered a neglected old-school desk at a thrift store for a bargain of just $10. I'm going to completely restore it and bring it back to a like-new condition. Using some beautiful locally grown walnut wood, I aim to transform this school desk into a stunning piece of fine furniture that I can then sell. The profits from this sale will be used towards funding our next upcycling project from the thrift store. This has been one of the most enjoyable woodworking projects I've worked on and I'm truly thrilled with the outcome.
Stunning Fine Furniture from 2x4s! This even blew my mind!
An easy DIY project anybody can make even with limited experience.
In this tutorial, I will guide you on how to create stunning fine furniture using only 2x4s from your local home center. I meticulously hand-picked the best 2x4s available at Home Depot, although, as with any lumber, they weren't completely straight or flat. Nevertheless, I overcame these issues and created some stunning furniture pieces. Starting with rough cutting the boards to length and planing them down, I then milled them to the correct width, before crafting the legs, back, and sides. Adding a groove to hold the back and sides in place and some decorative arcs to the bottom of the legs, I then assembled the panels, shelves, and doors, ensuring that they could move freely with expansion and contraction. To give the cabinet a modern design look and feel, I opted to route some decorative flutes onto the two front doors, and the top was fashioned using the pentagonal tiling technique to give it a unique appearance. After staining the furniture in a vivid cherry color, it was impossible to tell that this fine furniture was made from ordinary 2x4s.
How to Make an Outdoor Patio Table with DIY Tools
An easy DIY project anybody can make even with limited experience.
How to make an outdoor patio table with only an angle grinder, circular saw and a drill. An easy DIY project anybody can make even with limited experience. All the tools and supplies for this project can be found at your local home center and craft store. No specialized expensive tools needed. My favorite thing about this DIY project is how customizable it is with the endless possibilities of color combinations you can make with the vinyl covered glass. Links to the tools and supplies I used down below
Get the FREE Plans
How to Make a Shaker Table
A modern take on a classic woodworking project
A modern take on a classic project. This Shaker table goes together quickly with hidden pocket hole screws. This downloadable PDF is easy to follow with step by step instructions in both imperial and metric.
How to Make High-End Stereo Speakers
How to make high end audio speakers for woodworkers.
CSS Audio Criton 2TD Speaker Kit
How to make high end audio speakers for woodworkers. This project uses the Criton 2TD kit from CSS Audio and makes speaker building a breeze with their custom crossover boards. I knew nothing about speaker wiring and had very little experience with soldering before making these hifi speakers and it turns out it wasn't difficult at all. The crossover boards are designed to make wiring easy for someone like me who doesn't have the knowledge.
Speaker kit provided by Creative Sound Solutions
How to Make an Entry Way Table with Only Two Power Tools
How to make a colorful entry way table. You only need two power tools for this easy woodworking project; a circular saw and a drill.
A Great Way to Get Into Woodworking and the Only Two Power Tools Needed is a Drill and a Circular Saw
In this video we take a trip to the home center and pick up some red oak. This project was designed around the pre-cut wood available at Lowe’s so all we have to do is some simple crosscutting and get a little creative with the joinery. We also used some colorful Minwax stains to add a little design to our entry way table. Watch the tutorial above for the step by step instructions and find the measurements below to get started in this woodworking project. You ready? Let’s Make Something!
Tools and Supplies Used In This Woodworking Project
Minwax Semi-Transparent Stain
Colors Used: Wild Honey, Fiesta Orange, Barn Red
3 Easy Ways to Make Frame and Panel Doors
How to make frame and panel doors with tongue & groove and cope & stick techniques on the table saw as well as the router.
Tongue & Groove and Cope & Stick Joinery
How to make frame and panel doors with tongue & groove and cope & stick techniques on the table saw as well as the router. The first method is tongue and groove panel doors on the router using a single bit. The second way is the same process but at the table saw using a single blade. No dado blade needed! The final method is a traditional cope and stick frame and panel door done at the router using a matching router bit set. There are many ways to perform a single task in woodworking and I want to give you options that works best for your situation.
Tools and Supplies Used In This Woodworking Project
How to Make a Dining Table
Beauty doesn’t mean complicated. Learn how to easily make this dining table.
Simple and Easy to Make Dining Table Project For Any Woodworker
In this woodworking tutorial I show a very simple way to make a beautiful dining table out of standard 3/4" thick wood, even those big beefy legs! A dining table is something we all need so why not make your own? Don't let the size of this project intimidate you. All the joinery is simple enough for anyone to tackle. I'm using hickory that I got from my local hardwood dealer but you could just as well use wood from a home center like Home Depot or Lowes. Just be selective of the boards you choose and look for the straight ones!
Tools & Supplies Used in This Woodworking Project
Making a Super Custom Workstation Desk
Making a custom desk out of walnut and plywood.
Making a custom desk out of walnut and plywood. I’m using the wood file cabinets I made previously as the base and building a custom top and shelves for all my audio and video equipment.
Tools and supples used in this project
Making a Footstool With Woodworking and Basic Upholstery
Build the perfect office accessory using fabric, foam rubber, walnut and your own ingenuity.
Build the perfect office accessory using fabric, foam rubber, walnut and your own ingenuity.
Tools and Supplies Used in this Woodworking Project
Part of the fun of woodworking is experimenting with various techniques and design elements. It’s a great way to learn new tricks and expand your woodworking repertoire. For this how-to video, all I knew was I needed a footstool to put under the desk in my awesome new office. From there, I decided to make my first-ever attempts at basic upholstery. This tutorial video walks you through it step-by-step.
Because I was taking a trial-and-error approach, the top box of the footstool is just screwed together without glue. If you’re more confident in your design, you may want to adjust accordingly. For the legs of the footstool, I experimented with angles to create something with a distinctive look. Once I had something I was happy with, I shellacked and waxed the walnut that works well with the distinctive, vibrant look of the fabric I’ve used.
So did this experiment in designing something upholstery pay off? Am I the Jack White of woodworking? Watch the video and find out!
Mid-Century Modern Console Woodworking Project
How to make a mid-century modern console to hide all those wires from modern tech devices.
Mid-century modern design is very cool and very timeless, but it wasn’t designed with the cords and wires of modern technology in mind. To remedy the situation in my own house, where the TV, modem, speakers and other gizmos are making a huge mess, I’m constructing a custom console to get everything in place.
I’m using walnut plywood here, along with panels made from acrylic and cloth. We’re using dowel joinery in the assembly for added structure and strength. Dowel joinery can be a little tricky, so I have a pro-tip that helps you get the dowel holes lined up perfectly every time. Overall, though, this how-to tutorial shows you how surprisingly easy it can be to build a mid-century modern console that meets your specific needs.
The great thing about combining woodworking craftsmanship with mid-century modern design is you get the retro look you want and still account for the technology that didn’t exist in 1962. This project hides the electronics away — and those ugly cords — while still giving you easy access to them and preventing them from overheating.
How to Make a Filing Cabinet Using Walnut Plywood
Making a pair of walnut file cabinets out of plywood and solid wood.
Woodworking Tutorial on Making a Modern File Cabinet
I’m working on building my dream office here at Make Something HQ, and this tutorial is the latest installment in that series. The two walnut file cabinets I’m making in this video are going to serve as the base for my desk, but the plans also allow them to be built as free-standing units.
This how-to walks you through every step of the build using basic woodworking tools, from cutting the carcass to specs to putting the file folder slip-ons in place. I’ll be using walnut plywood for the top, sides and drawers, as well as creating a bottom footer with a router profile. Because you want your drawers to slide with maximum precision, I’ll also show you how to use a universal drawer slider jig.
Along the way, I’ll give you a quick glimpse into my shellacking process, so you can get just the right finish for your filing cabinets. Plus (spoiler alert) I’ll even show you how to work through a minor woodworking mistake. Whether you’re planning to use hanging filing folder cabinets as the base for an awesome dream office desk or just create a place to put all those papers that are piled up all over your floor, this is the tutorial that can get you started.
Tools and Supplies Used in the Woodworking Project
How to Make a Drop Leaf Table With a Rule Joint
Making a drop leaf kitchen table out of walnut.
Making a Drop Leaf Table Woodworking Project
Our kitchen has this built-in restaurant booth that looks cool but doesn’t fit the space very well. In this woodworking tutorial video I replace the round laminate table with a square solid walnut table that has a drop leaf on one corner. I’m using Brusso drop leaf hinges and a match set of router bits to make the rule joint. Watch the video above to see how this is done.
Tools and Supplies Used in This Woodworking Project
How to Make a Queen Platform Bed | DIY Project
I designed this queen size platform bed based on lumber that can be purchased at your local home center.
Make This Platform Bed With Limited Tools and Lumber from Home Depot!
I designed this queen size platform bed based on lumber that can be purchased at your local home center. All of the boards I bought came in pre-cut widths so all I had to do was crosscut to length and screw them together. You don’t need many tools to complete this project since all that really needs done is some basic crosscutting and drilling and screwing.
Collapsible Campaign Furniture Bookcase
How to make a collapsible bookcase for traveling. That’s right, for traveling.
How to Make a Campaign Furniture Bookcase
This is an easy and fun woodworking project. I made my Campaign bookcase out of mahogany and Brusso hinges using the plans from Christopher Schwarz’s book Campaign Furniture. This bookcase is fairly small and is meant to be easily transported. Originally designed for British military and travelers. The only “trick” to this bookcase is to have the top hinges and bottom hinges the exact same distance from the middle hinges. There are 12 hinges in all. The better and tighter you cut the mortises the sturdier the bookcase will end up. I finished this bookcase with a simple shellac finished thinned down with denatured alcohol and buffed with steel wool in between coats. I have links to all the supplies down below including the book and hinges used in this woodworking project.
Tools and Supplies Used in This Woodworking Project
How to Make a Shaker Table
This was a fun project where I wanted to take a traditional style table and modernize it with some pop art inlay.
Making a Traditional Shaker Table with Easy Joinery and Marquetry Inlay
This was a fun project where I wanted to take a traditional style table and modernize it with some pop art inlay. The legs, apron and drawer are all made of solid cherry. The table top is made from 3/4″ plywood with a marquetry layer of veneer on the top. All the veneers were cut with a laser and fit perfectly to make the hotdog art. This Shaker table was finished with 3 coats of shellac. Each coat was thinned down with denatured alcohol for a very thin and wipeable layer and buffed in between with fine abrasive pads.
Tools and Supplies Used in This Woodworking Project
How to Make a Live Edge Walnut Bench
Making a simple bench using a live edge walnut slab.
This is one of those woodworking projects that didn’t turn out as expected. I got this live edge slab of walnut from my local hardwood dealer and planned on making a hallway/entryway table out of it. The idea was to turn the legs on the lathe and use some reclaimed feet I found at a antique dealer. Once I got the feet attached I no longer liked the look of the table so I decided to turn it into a bench. Without the feet this turned out to be the perfect height for a sitting bench. I think it’ll still go great in the hallway/entryway and be a great place to sit down and take off your shoes.
I’m using a set of MICROJIG MATCHFIT clamps in the above video. If you would like to win a free set of these use the entry form below for your chance to enter!
Tools and Supplies Used in This Woodworking Project
How to Make Classic Record Crates
Making a modern style wood record crates.
Walnut Wood Record Crates
When it comes to music I am a total nerd. I have a decent vinyl record collection and needed a way to store it and show it off at the same time. I wanted something that looked vintage and thought walnut and hairpin legs were the way to go. The crate and base are two separate parts meaning you can remove the crate and go DJ that next gig. Everything is made from solid walnut and used router cut dovetails for joinery. You can find plans for this project here.
Tools and Supplies Used in this Woodworking Project
How to Make a Kitchen Cart
How to make a kitchen cart with removable top shelf that turns into a serving tray.
Woodworking Books
Make Your Own Cutting Boards
15 cutting board projects to make as gifts or sell! Get your signed copy!
The New Bandsaw Box Book
8 bandsaw box projects you can make and sell at craft shows. Signed copies now available!