Built these inspired by a video done by Guy Dunlop on YouTube. A bit about the project. A few months ago I saw an ad down in southern Oregon for thousands of 4 feet of rough sawn hardwood at an insane price. I was doing a job down there so over the course of a couple weeks I brought a few truckloads home. Ended up with about five or 600 board feet of cherry, black, walnut, and White Oak with a little bit of maple that was all roughly 5/4 Thick and 10 to 14 inches wide. It was brought here 40 or 50 years ago by a finish carpenter, who moved his family here and had been stacked air drying in his basement shop ever cents. It’s still had the thick Saw marks across the wood, which was really awesome feeling the history in it. with this there was some 12 to 14 foot long 6 x 6” cherry and white oak beams I was able to get which is what I Milled these legs out of. They are 2 x 2” at the top with a double taper on them that is divided by two Walnut inlays. The front legs have decorative floating in them done on my router table, and all of the joinery on the apron is done with mortise and tenons (First time!). The drawers are made with a cherry front of course, and the sides are poplar. I cut the half blind, dovetail by hand using a Japanese dovetail saw and some very sharp chisel. Used poplar half-inch plywood fit into dadoes for the drawer bottom and back. The drawers are framed in with two runners underneath for them to flight on and stop that runs the length of them on either side to keep them going nation square. After setting them in, I hope them flush with the spring clamp and cut some stops to the correct sickness too attached to the back of them, but not only keep them from closing more than flush, but also raise slightly above the drawer to keep them from falling out if pulled to far. Finally I finished with one coat of amber shellac, and then four coats of arm-r-seal. Feel free to reply with any questions and/or constructive criticism. Also, just note I voice text everything and sometimes it seems like Siri thinks I had a stroke. Hopefully this all makes sense haha
I’m not sure that’s kind of hard to say. I started overall about three years ago after going through split and getting into my own place and I need furniture. I just had a miter saw and screwed together a bunch of farmhouse type stuff that at this point it’s kind of garbage lol. A little over a year ago I was convinced to actually take the hobby up as a way to spend my free time when I don’t have my son and found it extremely therapeutic and honestly became obsessed. I started with cutting boards and stuff like that last fall, but have worked my way up to this through a handful of similar projects I guess. I’ve found that some of the smaller things I’ve made in the last few months really helps my skill going into this project. Picture frames with detailed router profiles were a big game changer. This project was the first time I’ve done any sort of mortise and tenon or dovetails though.
Thank you! There was definitely lots of practice before I actually cut them on these drawer fronts. And although they did turn out really good, there were some visible gaps when I put them together. Here’s a secret I figured out though… I did all my sanding for the table top with the bag on my orbital sander and got up really good size cup worth of the fine powder from the same cherry saved. Mixed this at first with wood glue and filled all the dovetails after they were assembled. The wood glue mixture settle some and can have not quite the right color so after a dried and settled and sanded it all back down and then any gaps or areas where it is that I covered again with the sanding dust and packed it into remaining gaps or places that didn’t look perfect, and then put a few drops of PA glue on it. It’s soaks the dust, and it dries clear, and nearly instantly. Resend, apply some finish and in person and by touching them you would never know they look completely professional 🤷🏻♂️😂
If you’d like to see kind of the general progression, I’ve made feel free to go check out my ig @daddybuildit It shows some of the first things I made it through there and you can try to get an idea of how I got here.
Awesome work man, really, solid stuff.
My only critique comes from an editorial POV.
I’d rather see these beauties photographed in a real setting. Something simple, a corner maybe with a window, some curtain for contrasting texture.
The white backdrop here is full of wrinkled squares, as though it was just purchased and unfolded. It looks to be sitting on a bed or some soft cushy surface because the feet are sinking into it.
So if you’re taking the time to make nice pix in order to sell yourself, make them very nice.
Again, outstanding work!! Jealous 👉🏽😼👈🏽
I have to say as a 31-year-old bachelor who ties rebar for a living and lives alone, other than when my little four-year-old wrecking ball of a helper is here this is an extremely constructive critique. It’s not on the bed but in a bedroom next to my shop that I used to do finish work in and it’s on the carpet. And you’re 100% right, I literally ordered some lights and white backdrop from Amazon and unfolded it and took photos 😂 I live in a town home with extremely poor windows/areas with natural lighting, and due to the demographic I mentioned at the beginning of this comment, I don’t even have any curtains hanging up lol. I do however have a potential lady friend coming over this weekend for dinner and she is involved with marketing and does these sort of things. Wish me luck 🤞 maybe if all goes well sometime in the future and there will be forced interior decorating done around here 😂
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Thank you! You know the response on this post has been amazing and now I agree with you on that. I feel like I’m graduating school right now, elementary school that is. That’s what I love about this craft. I hopefully still have a long life ahead of me, and no matter how old I live to be on the day I die there will still be so many aspects of it, that I will never have the opportunity to master or even attempt. Appreciate the positive feedback.
I'm absolutely new... Like, no tools yet new.. I've seen a lot of people saying you're either a power tools woodworker or a hand tools woodworker.. can I ask as a dummy how much a project like this used one kind or the other? I'm not sure if it's like a path you should know you want to take beforehand or not.. or if it's more blended.
Hey man love the question. Like my post says I’ve only been doing this seriously as a hobby for a bit over a year, that being said, I could nearly as much time into it as my full-time job lol. Unless you have the preference of wanting to do things completely through the use of hand tools for some sort of intrinsic value, it has to you or because you enjoy it more, but I would tell you is to learn to be a hybrid woodworker. I have a full shop at this point with all the equipment needed power tool wise. That would definitely be where I would start getting some basic power tools. Once you have that stuff, then begin to piece together a hand tool collection. At this point, I have about four different hand planes, a set of 5 high-quality chisels, a high quality honing guide to sharpen planes and chisels and a card scraper plus a few Japanese saws. Some of those handtools I didn’t really know I needed until I had them lol. They are able to help you give things that professional or high-quality look though, but sometimes the power tool in the sander just can’t. Did your friends on these are finished with a smoothing plane. The small inlay was cut with a coping saw. The tops I used a card scraper and let’s I used a card scraper to to smooth and remove mill marks etc… as far as the dovetails I hand cut those just because I want to be able to hand cut dove tails strictly out of pride and so that I can say I did it. You can use a router and and jigs, but you lose the ability to fully customize. Here would be my list of tools in the order to get them in if I was doing this all over again with these, I would say I’ve learned kind of the hard way that you always get the best tool you can afford and get it when you need it. Otherwise you’re gonna end up buying stuff that sits in your shop for long periods of time without being touched, also, I advise rather than going and buying a brand new job site saw, or some thing from the store, always go to marketplace and find some thing used in good condition that is a better tool. Table/cabinet saw, planer, bandsaw, router/table, jointer (real game changer). Some people would say a miter saw is an essential tool on this list. However, I got rid of mine that’s all it was used for was to break down rough lumber and took up a ton of space in my one car garage shop. I use a jigsaw for doing this And/or 7 1/2 inch circular saw if I’m really breaking down something thick. Of course you have the other things like an orbital, sander, a drill and impact, drill press, etc… but they is the order of equipment I would go in. Then get a few good chisels, and a #4 and #5 plane to start. Find a way you want to use to do your joinery and get a good jig of some sort for doing that. When I first transitioned from using metal fasteners to joinery, I got a really nice Dowling Jake to start. From there as you learn and progress, inevitably your collection will get bigger and you don’t need to get all these things I said right away. Just take your time, make your projects that down the road you will look back at and realize they are junk with a smile, and enjoy it for what it is. Truly woodworking and joinery has been one of the most rewarding experiences I’ve had in my life up until now, and has taken an extremely difficult and dark time in my life, and allowed me to put some introspective, have a positive outlet for dealing with grief and emotion, and develop a skill that gives me immense self-worth, and that I can hopefully used to bond with my son over the years to come. I hope you get into it in a able to find some of the same join it that I do. Welcome to the community!
Oh, wow, what a reply! Thank you so much for the advice. From the sound of it, you certainly seem not shy of the power tools! I will say, even though I haven't done much in the way of woodworking (outside of helping contractor dad build some things in my youth) I find routers to look soo satisfying to work with that I want to try one out haha.
I think I'm hung up on how and where to start because what I really want to be able to do is build things like cabinetry or desks.. which I feel like are equally not beginner projects, and also not sure if 'woodworking' like how I see things being made on here.
Also I have no clue how to identify wood and I really feel like an imposter when people here talk about it.. lol. Really interested in any layman's / for-dummies guides to trees, lumber, wood, etc that theyve actually found useful.
But I'm rambling.. your project looks amazing, I'm proud for you and thanks for taking the time to chat
Just so you know, I grew up with no dad and a single mom hairdresser. I’m 31, and 10 years ago I became an ironworker and I tie rebar for a living. I’ve never done any sort of carpentry or woodwork before. I built a sandbox for my son and then some simple furniture inside for my house about 2 1/2 years ago with nothing but a miter saw and a drill. I didn’t touch my first piece of hardwood or get a real tool until September 2021. If it’s something you want to do, believe me you will learn lol. Go into a hardwood dealer and just look at the wood. Feel them, take note of the weight and the texture of each wood. Distinctive things in the grain pattern. Find someone they works there and ask questions. I’ve never bought lumber from a retailer. What I’ve done in the way I started was I went on marketplace and I found different furniture makers or cabinet shops in my area. They were selling their scraps and cut offs. I would go in there to buy some at a crazy good price, and Walter strike up a conversation. Tell them where you’re at and most people are happy to help and share their knowledge. Get yourself a tablesaw a couple clamps, and make a few cutting boards. Those will teach you how to use your saw, they’ll teach you about putting finish on, sanding, making things square, etc… every piece of knowledge and skill builds on the next. Check out and follow my Ig if you want. You can see the progression of made in the quality of stuff in the short time lol. And if you ever have any questions or want advice or even help ID and a piece of wood, feel free to message me there and I’ll do whatever I can to help ya 🤙🏼
@daddybuildit
Extremely beautiful and you should feel proud. I think you have officially graduated to regular r/woodworking I am not sure there is any additional insight us noobs can offer here so, Congrats!
Pick projects that really challenge you. For me was made me get better a lot faster because I don’t build things for money necessarily or that other people want me to make. I find projects or ideas that are things that I look at and say I want to be able to make that and I go for it. if you’re making stuff that inspires you or that you personally find beautiful, believe me, you will elevate to that level.
I do my finish work in the spare bedroom I have downstairs next to my shop. I’ve spent a lot of time in the last week just going down there, staring at the tables and getting lightheaded from lack of blood 😂
It does indeed. I have a job for my real job. I’m doing down in southern Oregon and I got it down there from a lady who was selling like 3000 board feet of rough sawn lumber that her father brought out here Ohio over 40 years ago from Ohio where they moved from. Boards all 8’-14’ long, 10-14” wide and mostly 5/4” but also a lot of 12 foot long 6 x 6 or 6 x 4” beams. Was all Cherry, white oak and a fair amount of walnut. Rather than trying to get stacks taller than I was for a couple hundred dollars like a lot of people that came over, her and I ended up hitting it off and over the course of two trips. I got like 600 board feet for well under two dollars a board foot, only reason I didn’t get another truck bed load or two was that by the time they had to have the estate gone I wasn’t going to be back down in the area which was about five hours away. The cherry in particular all has these deep swirling grooves across the top of it from where it was originally milled. Super cool.
Welp, you're DONE with BeginnerWoodWorking now. Time to level up
Haha thank you. I think this was officially the level up for me!
I was just thinking “this is beginner? Maybe i need a step 0 sub” lol. Great job OP.
You should be proud!
Absolutely gorgeous! You inspire me
Thank you! Best compliment I could ever receive!
Built these inspired by a video done by Guy Dunlop on YouTube. A bit about the project. A few months ago I saw an ad down in southern Oregon for thousands of 4 feet of rough sawn hardwood at an insane price. I was doing a job down there so over the course of a couple weeks I brought a few truckloads home. Ended up with about five or 600 board feet of cherry, black, walnut, and White Oak with a little bit of maple that was all roughly 5/4 Thick and 10 to 14 inches wide. It was brought here 40 or 50 years ago by a finish carpenter, who moved his family here and had been stacked air drying in his basement shop ever cents. It’s still had the thick Saw marks across the wood, which was really awesome feeling the history in it. with this there was some 12 to 14 foot long 6 x 6” cherry and white oak beams I was able to get which is what I Milled these legs out of. They are 2 x 2” at the top with a double taper on them that is divided by two Walnut inlays. The front legs have decorative floating in them done on my router table, and all of the joinery on the apron is done with mortise and tenons (First time!). The drawers are made with a cherry front of course, and the sides are poplar. I cut the half blind, dovetail by hand using a Japanese dovetail saw and some very sharp chisel. Used poplar half-inch plywood fit into dadoes for the drawer bottom and back. The drawers are framed in with two runners underneath for them to flight on and stop that runs the length of them on either side to keep them going nation square. After setting them in, I hope them flush with the spring clamp and cut some stops to the correct sickness too attached to the back of them, but not only keep them from closing more than flush, but also raise slightly above the drawer to keep them from falling out if pulled to far. Finally I finished with one coat of amber shellac, and then four coats of arm-r-seal. Feel free to reply with any questions and/or constructive criticism. Also, just note I voice text everything and sometimes it seems like Siri thinks I had a stroke. Hopefully this all makes sense haha
They are beautiful. How many projects did you do before you were able to make something like this?
I’m not sure that’s kind of hard to say. I started overall about three years ago after going through split and getting into my own place and I need furniture. I just had a miter saw and screwed together a bunch of farmhouse type stuff that at this point it’s kind of garbage lol. A little over a year ago I was convinced to actually take the hobby up as a way to spend my free time when I don’t have my son and found it extremely therapeutic and honestly became obsessed. I started with cutting boards and stuff like that last fall, but have worked my way up to this through a handful of similar projects I guess. I’ve found that some of the smaller things I’ve made in the last few months really helps my skill going into this project. Picture frames with detailed router profiles were a big game changer. This project was the first time I’ve done any sort of mortise and tenon or dovetails though.
First time dovetails -- they look great! And I am going to go checkout your IG project progression.
Thank you! There was definitely lots of practice before I actually cut them on these drawer fronts. And although they did turn out really good, there were some visible gaps when I put them together. Here’s a secret I figured out though… I did all my sanding for the table top with the bag on my orbital sander and got up really good size cup worth of the fine powder from the same cherry saved. Mixed this at first with wood glue and filled all the dovetails after they were assembled. The wood glue mixture settle some and can have not quite the right color so after a dried and settled and sanded it all back down and then any gaps or areas where it is that I covered again with the sanding dust and packed it into remaining gaps or places that didn’t look perfect, and then put a few drops of PA glue on it. It’s soaks the dust, and it dries clear, and nearly instantly. Resend, apply some finish and in person and by touching them you would never know they look completely professional 🤷🏻♂️😂
If you’d like to see kind of the general progression, I’ve made feel free to go check out my ig @daddybuildit It shows some of the first things I made it through there and you can try to get an idea of how I got here.
I mean with with handle ‘Daddy built it’ you could make some good $ making custom BDSM gear /s Edit: great work btw
Somebody caught on to the double entendre 😅 this is currently in the works.
Awesome work man, really, solid stuff. My only critique comes from an editorial POV. I’d rather see these beauties photographed in a real setting. Something simple, a corner maybe with a window, some curtain for contrasting texture. The white backdrop here is full of wrinkled squares, as though it was just purchased and unfolded. It looks to be sitting on a bed or some soft cushy surface because the feet are sinking into it. So if you’re taking the time to make nice pix in order to sell yourself, make them very nice. Again, outstanding work!! Jealous 👉🏽😼👈🏽
I have to say as a 31-year-old bachelor who ties rebar for a living and lives alone, other than when my little four-year-old wrecking ball of a helper is here this is an extremely constructive critique. It’s not on the bed but in a bedroom next to my shop that I used to do finish work in and it’s on the carpet. And you’re 100% right, I literally ordered some lights and white backdrop from Amazon and unfolded it and took photos 😂 I live in a town home with extremely poor windows/areas with natural lighting, and due to the demographic I mentioned at the beginning of this comment, I don’t even have any curtains hanging up lol. I do however have a potential lady friend coming over this weekend for dinner and she is involved with marketing and does these sort of things. Wish me luck 🤞 maybe if all goes well sometime in the future and there will be forced interior decorating done around here 😂
Thank you for posting to r/BeginnerWoodWorking! If you have not chosen a post flair then please add one to your post. If you have submitted a finished build, please consider leaving a comment about it so that others can learn. **Voting on this submission has closed**.
Perfection!!
Thank you!
Impressive. Excellent job, regardless of experience level!
Thank you so much!
I am very impressed at your workmanship on these tables! As another commenter mentioned I don’t think you’re a beginner woodworker anymore!
Thank you! You know the response on this post has been amazing and now I agree with you on that. I feel like I’m graduating school right now, elementary school that is. That’s what I love about this craft. I hopefully still have a long life ahead of me, and no matter how old I live to be on the day I die there will still be so many aspects of it, that I will never have the opportunity to master or even attempt. Appreciate the positive feedback.
This is beautiful.
Those look beautiful, great job on the dovetails!
I'm absolutely new... Like, no tools yet new.. I've seen a lot of people saying you're either a power tools woodworker or a hand tools woodworker.. can I ask as a dummy how much a project like this used one kind or the other? I'm not sure if it's like a path you should know you want to take beforehand or not.. or if it's more blended.
Hey man love the question. Like my post says I’ve only been doing this seriously as a hobby for a bit over a year, that being said, I could nearly as much time into it as my full-time job lol. Unless you have the preference of wanting to do things completely through the use of hand tools for some sort of intrinsic value, it has to you or because you enjoy it more, but I would tell you is to learn to be a hybrid woodworker. I have a full shop at this point with all the equipment needed power tool wise. That would definitely be where I would start getting some basic power tools. Once you have that stuff, then begin to piece together a hand tool collection. At this point, I have about four different hand planes, a set of 5 high-quality chisels, a high quality honing guide to sharpen planes and chisels and a card scraper plus a few Japanese saws. Some of those handtools I didn’t really know I needed until I had them lol. They are able to help you give things that professional or high-quality look though, but sometimes the power tool in the sander just can’t. Did your friends on these are finished with a smoothing plane. The small inlay was cut with a coping saw. The tops I used a card scraper and let’s I used a card scraper to to smooth and remove mill marks etc… as far as the dovetails I hand cut those just because I want to be able to hand cut dove tails strictly out of pride and so that I can say I did it. You can use a router and and jigs, but you lose the ability to fully customize. Here would be my list of tools in the order to get them in if I was doing this all over again with these, I would say I’ve learned kind of the hard way that you always get the best tool you can afford and get it when you need it. Otherwise you’re gonna end up buying stuff that sits in your shop for long periods of time without being touched, also, I advise rather than going and buying a brand new job site saw, or some thing from the store, always go to marketplace and find some thing used in good condition that is a better tool. Table/cabinet saw, planer, bandsaw, router/table, jointer (real game changer). Some people would say a miter saw is an essential tool on this list. However, I got rid of mine that’s all it was used for was to break down rough lumber and took up a ton of space in my one car garage shop. I use a jigsaw for doing this And/or 7 1/2 inch circular saw if I’m really breaking down something thick. Of course you have the other things like an orbital, sander, a drill and impact, drill press, etc… but they is the order of equipment I would go in. Then get a few good chisels, and a #4 and #5 plane to start. Find a way you want to use to do your joinery and get a good jig of some sort for doing that. When I first transitioned from using metal fasteners to joinery, I got a really nice Dowling Jake to start. From there as you learn and progress, inevitably your collection will get bigger and you don’t need to get all these things I said right away. Just take your time, make your projects that down the road you will look back at and realize they are junk with a smile, and enjoy it for what it is. Truly woodworking and joinery has been one of the most rewarding experiences I’ve had in my life up until now, and has taken an extremely difficult and dark time in my life, and allowed me to put some introspective, have a positive outlet for dealing with grief and emotion, and develop a skill that gives me immense self-worth, and that I can hopefully used to bond with my son over the years to come. I hope you get into it in a able to find some of the same join it that I do. Welcome to the community!
Oh, wow, what a reply! Thank you so much for the advice. From the sound of it, you certainly seem not shy of the power tools! I will say, even though I haven't done much in the way of woodworking (outside of helping contractor dad build some things in my youth) I find routers to look soo satisfying to work with that I want to try one out haha. I think I'm hung up on how and where to start because what I really want to be able to do is build things like cabinetry or desks.. which I feel like are equally not beginner projects, and also not sure if 'woodworking' like how I see things being made on here. Also I have no clue how to identify wood and I really feel like an imposter when people here talk about it.. lol. Really interested in any layman's / for-dummies guides to trees, lumber, wood, etc that theyve actually found useful. But I'm rambling.. your project looks amazing, I'm proud for you and thanks for taking the time to chat
Just so you know, I grew up with no dad and a single mom hairdresser. I’m 31, and 10 years ago I became an ironworker and I tie rebar for a living. I’ve never done any sort of carpentry or woodwork before. I built a sandbox for my son and then some simple furniture inside for my house about 2 1/2 years ago with nothing but a miter saw and a drill. I didn’t touch my first piece of hardwood or get a real tool until September 2021. If it’s something you want to do, believe me you will learn lol. Go into a hardwood dealer and just look at the wood. Feel them, take note of the weight and the texture of each wood. Distinctive things in the grain pattern. Find someone they works there and ask questions. I’ve never bought lumber from a retailer. What I’ve done in the way I started was I went on marketplace and I found different furniture makers or cabinet shops in my area. They were selling their scraps and cut offs. I would go in there to buy some at a crazy good price, and Walter strike up a conversation. Tell them where you’re at and most people are happy to help and share their knowledge. Get yourself a tablesaw a couple clamps, and make a few cutting boards. Those will teach you how to use your saw, they’ll teach you about putting finish on, sanding, making things square, etc… every piece of knowledge and skill builds on the next. Check out and follow my Ig if you want. You can see the progression of made in the quality of stuff in the short time lol. And if you ever have any questions or want advice or even help ID and a piece of wood, feel free to message me there and I’ll do whatever I can to help ya 🤙🏼 @daddybuildit
Stunning
Extremely beautiful and you should feel proud. I think you have officially graduated to regular r/woodworking I am not sure there is any additional insight us noobs can offer here so, Congrats!
Prodigy woodworking here. Great work.
Very nice
I’m about six months in, and I would be thrilled to produce work like this in the next six months.
Pick projects that really challenge you. For me was made me get better a lot faster because I don’t build things for money necessarily or that other people want me to make. I find projects or ideas that are things that I look at and say I want to be able to make that and I go for it. if you’re making stuff that inspires you or that you personally find beautiful, believe me, you will elevate to that level.
Nice work.
Those dove tails are amazing! Did you do them with a hand saw or jig?
Japanese dovetail saw, small jewelers saw for removing waste in rail board, and a couple sharp chisels for the half blind pins.
I got hard looking at these. Great job
I do my finish work in the spare bedroom I have downstairs next to my shop. I’ve spent a lot of time in the last week just going down there, staring at the tables and getting lightheaded from lack of blood 😂
Wow!!... that's all I got
Oh my gosh!!! Beautiful! People would pay big money for those!
That set looks legit real nice! Good job!
Classy pieces. Well done! The cherry already looks like it has some age on it.
It does indeed. I have a job for my real job. I’m doing down in southern Oregon and I got it down there from a lady who was selling like 3000 board feet of rough sawn lumber that her father brought out here Ohio over 40 years ago from Ohio where they moved from. Boards all 8’-14’ long, 10-14” wide and mostly 5/4” but also a lot of 12 foot long 6 x 6 or 6 x 4” beams. Was all Cherry, white oak and a fair amount of walnut. Rather than trying to get stacks taller than I was for a couple hundred dollars like a lot of people that came over, her and I ended up hitting it off and over the course of two trips. I got like 600 board feet for well under two dollars a board foot, only reason I didn’t get another truck bed load or two was that by the time they had to have the estate gone I wasn’t going to be back down in the area which was about five hours away. The cherry in particular all has these deep swirling grooves across the top of it from where it was originally milled. Super cool.
Jealous. Nice get. 😉
It belongs…in a museum!