14 replies to this topic

[JoeNovack]

What was your favorite woodshop project (or beginner's project if you didn't take shop)???

[Chet]

I have two words for you Bird house... or maybe that's one word...Birdhouse.
Anyway, that was my first project way back in shop class.

I know, everyone builds one, but that got me started.

[duckkisser]

my favorite is since we have live in students we had them build crates that lock together and can stack on their sides so they become shelves. but then they are light enough to pull apart and carry all your stuff.

[MikeM]

One of the first projects I did in shop was a checkerboard. Actually a bunch of them. The entire class did a "mass production" with everyone getting a chance to use all the machines. That was a lot of fun.

[jHop]

We never did birdhouses.... My first project was a key rack. 4 hooks on a key shaped block. My first shop project was a shelf, that I needed to get a replacement back piece for because I kept planing it until it was "square"... Never mind that the square was off.....

[Rob Horton]

A folding stool similar to this (but with two solid boards for the top) with a woodburned farmhouse on top.

[duckkisser]

himm i realy like that stool is it able to be made without hardware? and can it be made out of one board? like to limit what the class makes in both size and cost as much as posible to get as much out of the class as we can.

[jHop]

duckkisser, on 26 October 2011 - 02:08 PM, said:

himm i realy like that stool is it able to be made without hardware? and can it be made out of one board? like to limit what the class makes in both size and cost as much as posible to get as much out of the class as we can.

I ran across this plan recently.... let me see if I can find it again. I don't believe it requires any hardware, but I could be mistaken. (Part of the problem is I've been going through my Grandfather's collection of magazines with plans.... all 35 years worth....)

[jHop]

AHA!
Found it. Popular Woodworking, Special Issue, 1987. (address listed for EGW Publishing Company is 1300 Galaxy Way, Concord, CA 94520)

Page 24 is where the plan starts. Article is by John A. Nelson.

Cut list: Seven parts
Part A: Legs (4) 3/4" x 1 1/2" x 18"
Part B: Seat supports (4) 3/4" x 1 1/2" x 11"
Part C: Seat boards (4) 3/4" x 2 1/8" x 12 1/2"
Part D: Seat boards (2) 3/4" 1 1/16" x 12 1/2"
Part E: Leg braces (2) 3/4" x 1 1/2" x 12 1/2"
Part F: [1/2" dowel] Long pivot (1) 9 7/16"
Part G: [1/2" dowel] Short Pivot (4) 1 7/16"

[duckkisser]

alot of those companies sell there entire magazine collection on disc pay like 50 bucks and get30-60 years of magazines going through mood smith now

[CessnaPilotBarry]

+1 for checker or chess boards. Students can look on their smartphones for instructions to play the game...

[MARK MASLONKOWSKI]

My first shop class project was a small pince cutting board with a design routed into the back side with a v-bit. then the edges and the design side got finished and the cutting side got an olive oil finish

[KevinB]

We didn't have woodshop growing up, so I was an adult when I first started as a beginner. A good friend of mine helped me and we built a knockdown trestle-table with a folding top for some camping events. I don't have any photos unfortunately (I actually traded the table to a friend who's a seamstress for her work). basically it was two simple ends with a pair of stretchers connected by through mortises and pinned with some tapered dowels. The top was a glue up with a wooden hinge running down the senter so it would fold in half (it was about four inches thick folded). It was simple enough that we were able to build it with just a jigsaw, a drill and a couple of clamps. The stock was s4s and we also biscuits for alignment. It's a simple one or two day project that incorporated some basic joinery techniques that resulted in a usable outcome.

[WoodChip]

Keeping in the spirit of the season, I would like to submit this project from December of 2007... Perhaps not my favorite project, but certainly one that brought back a lot of old memories while working in the shop.

Go back in time to the mid 1950's! My older brother took a high school woodworking class - his class project was to build a buffet for my Mom! At some point-in-time over the last 50+ years, the buffet was demoted to a garage storage cabinet, and unceremoniously mounted upside-down on the garage wall. It was used as a storage cabinet; the doors were long gone! I salvaged the old cabinet during an estate sale, with the hope of making something useful.

I was inspired by WOOD magazine's Portable Glue/Paper Towel Center - June/July 2004 Issue 156. So far I have made five, four as gifts and one for myself! Some changes were made to the original plan to enhance the appearance: The front piece uses dado joinery, and the towel bar hangers are closet rod hangers. The first one was special for the reason stated above, and was a gift to my brother!

[croessler]

Mine was a Butcher Block table.... sorry no picture to share.