David Picciuto 1/26/17 David Picciuto 1/26/17

How to Make Prescription Eyeglasses

I never would have thought I’d be making prescription glasses from scratch but here we are!

I never would have thought I’d be making prescription glasses from scratch but here we are! For this project I teamed up with the channel How To Make Everything. These glasses will be made for Andy, the host of that channel. Over at How To Make Everythingthey make items from scratch to learn how things are made. Andy blew the glass, cut the shape and ground the curvature until he reached his prescription. He also cut down a tree and dried the wood. And then sent me the dried wood and lenses for me to make frames.

Making the frames was fairly simple and most of the work was done on the bandsaw. The lenses were epoxyed in and the frames were permanently attached to the sides which means they don’t fold up. They were made this way because I didn’t have an easy way to make the hinges from scratch.

Check out How To Make Everything.

Tools and Supplies Used in This Woodworking Project

David Picciuto 1/2/17 David Picciuto 1/2/17

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

David Picciuto 12/7/16 David Picciuto 12/7/16

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

David Picciuto 11/30/16 David Picciuto 11/30/16

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

David Picciuto 11/21/16 David Picciuto 11/21/16

How to Make an Easy Leather Key Chain

Quick and easy project. A great first leather working project.

David Picciuto 10/27/16 David Picciuto 10/27/16

How to Make Classic Record Crates

Making a modern style wood record crates.

Walnut Wood Record Crates

Record Crate Plans

$5.00

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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

David Picciuto 10/25/16 David Picciuto 10/25/16

Making a Plaque From Wood and Brass

Making a wood plaque using a laser engraver and CNC.

How to Make a Wood Plaque from Mahogany and Brass

In this week’s project we make a wood plaque using a laser engraver and CNC. The Make Something logo was carved out backwards on the CNC while leaving a thin layer of wood on the front face. This allows me to glue it in place and keep all the letters perfectly aligned and spaced. The front face is then sanded away, a technique called onion skinning. The Making It logo was laser engraved into the wood and the brass plate was etched with a CNC and cut out on the bandsaw. In the above video I also answer a few questions that came in from Twitter. If you would like to learn more about the Making It Podcast I host with Jimmy Diresta and Bob Clagett from I Like to Make Stuff, check it out here. As always, have fun and Make Something!

Tools and Supplies Used in this Woodworking Project

David Picciuto 10/19/16 David Picciuto 10/19/16

How to Make a Kitchen Cart

How to make a kitchen cart with removable top shelf that turns into a serving tray.

David Picciuto 10/6/16 David Picciuto 10/6/16

Super Mario Made From Wood. Pixel by Pixel

How to make a Super Mario Bros wood art piece pixel by pixel using different wood species.

Although tedious, this was a fun woodworking project. Like many I grew up playing Super Mario Bros. on the NES and I still find myself playing once in a while as an adult. I’ve made this once before a few years ago before I was making videos and thought I’d recreate it to show how it’s done. I’m using three different species of wood for the three colors of Mario. Hard maple, walnut and mahogany are used for the skin color, shirt and overalls. Each piece is a 1” x 1” square glued to a piece of baltic birch plywood with CA glue. To give each piece more definition I chamfered the edges on my disc sander. The frame made from walnut measures 27” x 27” square and also has a matching chamfer.

Tools and supples used in this woodworking project

David Picciuto 9/28/16 David Picciuto 9/28/16

How to Make Wooden Clipboards

This is a real easy woodworking project anybody can do with a few basic woodworking tools.

Easy Woodworking Project For Beginners

This is a real easy woodworking project anybody can do with a few basic woodworking tools. It’s also a great woodworking project that you can easily redesign and make your own. These clipboards get planed down pretty thin so make sure you source well stable wood that’s not going to warp on you. You’ll also want to use closed grain or tight grain wood. And open grain is not a suitable material to write on. Using strips of multiple species will help keep everything flat. I also find that since they are so thin the screws that hold the clips down may need some help so I like to use a 5-minute epoxy as well. This is a great project that can be batched out and at the right price can sell well at craft fairs.

Final dimensions: 9″ x 12″ x 3/16″

Tools and Supplies Used in This Woodworking Project

David Picciuto 9/22/16 David Picciuto 9/22/16

How to Make a Rotating Crayon Holder

This is an easy and fun woodworking project that works great for displaying and organizing a set of 64 crayons!

Easy Woodworking Project

This is an easy and fun woodworking project that works great for displaying and organizing a set of 64 crayons! I’m using a lathe to do most of the work but this could easily be made without one using a bandsaw. The handle is made from a globe squishy ball found at my local craft store which is a great alternative to using wood. When I originally designed the project I planned on using a lazy Susan base for spinning but decided in the end it was overkill and not needed. If I were to make more of these wood crayon displays I would take the plastic sharpener that comes with the crayons and mount it on the side with a removable base for emptying out the shavings.

Tools and Supplies Used in this Woodworking Project

David Picciuto 9/14/16 David Picciuto 9/14/16

Quick & Easy Pencil Holders That You Can Sell

Looking for a quick and easy project that you can batch out and sell at craft shows? These pencil holders are a great way to earn some extra cash.

David Picciuto 9/11/16 David Picciuto 9/11/16

How to Make a Block Plane

How to make your own wood block plane. It’s easier than you might think!

Making a Hand Made Wooden Block Plane

Even though I’m not much of a hand tool user I find myself reaching for my hand made wooden block plane all the time. It’s great for rounding over corners or cleaning up an edge. The block plane I’ve been using comes from a kit by Hock Tools. In today’s project we’re going to make a new block plane that’s just a bit bigger using the same methods and shapes. Making your own planes is much easier than you might think and just as good as those expensive metal planes.

In this tutorial I’m breaking a few rules and using coconut palm wood. This is not the type of wood typically found in wooden hand planes but I love to experiment and have fun. Coconut palm is just absolutely beautiful and visually unlike any other wood. It’s is a bit splintery but once you get everything sanded smooth and rounded over it works just fine.

Tools and Supplies Used in this Woodworking Project

David Picciuto 9/7/16 David Picciuto 9/7/16

How to Make a Murphy Bed

How to make a bed that folds up into the wall.

Making a Bed That Folds Up Into the Wall

In our house we have one spare bedroom that Kelly uses as a basket making room. We would like to use this as a guest bedroom as well so we thought a Murphy wall bed would be perfect. Murphy beds fold up and out of the way into the wall which makes great use of space. I’m using the vertical mount Murphy bed hardware from Rockler.com. On Rockler’s site you will also find side mount Murphy beds. They both work the same so choose one that works best for your room and arrangement. Making the Murphy bed is not difficult but you will need space to move around large sheets of plywood and you will need a buddy for the final installation. I’m building my Murphy bed with the bare minimum plans which calls for four sheets of plywood. In the near future we will be adding trim and molding around the top, bottom and front face. We also plan on staining it and adding shelves and drawers. All of these add-ons will be in a future tutorial.

Tools and Supplies Used in this Woodworking Project

David Picciuto 8/26/16 David Picciuto 8/26/16

How to “Weld” Aluminum Without a Welder

Using a propane torch and some aluminum brazing rods is a quick way to bonding aluminum without using a welder.

Using a propane torch and some aluminum brazing rods is a quick way to bonding aluminum without using a welder. It makes for a very strong bond and with a little practice can be done quickly with great looking results.

Items Needed for Brazing Aluminum

David Picciuto 8/25/16 David Picciuto 8/25/16

How to Make a Bandsaw Box

How to make a simple bandsaw box with a pencil holder.

Bandsaw Box Making

In this woodworking tutorial we’re making a bandsaw box. Bandsaw boxes is what got me excited about woodworking a few years ago and the reason I am a woodworker. All the bandsaw boxes I make are my original designs and I recently put out a book on making eight different bandsaw boxs. You can find that book on Amazon here. The bandsaw box we’re making today comes directly from that book!

In this how-to we’re using bamboo plywood and mahogany. The drawer will open from both sides and unlike most bandsaw boxes this serves as a pencil and pen holder as well. You can follow along with the tutorial video above or the pictured steps below. If you end up making one of these please send me some pictures via Twitter! I’d love to see them. As always, be safe, be passionate and Make Something!

Tools and Supplies Used in This Woodworking Project

David Picciuto 8/19/16 David Picciuto 8/19/16

Wood Staining: Coca Cola vs Coffee

In this experiment I’m trying out Coca Cola and coffee as a wood stain.

In this experiment I’m trying out Coca Cola and coffee as a wood stain. I have seen in the past many people use coffee as a wood stain but never soda so I thought I’d try them both out and compare. I wanted to use these wood stains on real projects and not just scrap wood to show the results so I made 3 mitered corner boxes with splines out of red oak. I normally don’t use stain in my projects but when I have I’ve had the best luck with red oak as it seems to take stain well.

The coffee definitely stained the wood much more than the soda but had a slightly greenish tint to it. When compared to the other two boxes it seemed to have an unnatural color. The Coca Cola stain only slightly darkened the wood compared to the non-stained box but had the best results. The soda gave it a natural amber tint and was surprisingly not sticky at all once dried.

Would I stain a project again with soda or coffee? Probably not but I will experiment more with other products in the future. Maybe next time I’ll try motor oil and wine. Let me know in the comments down below what you’d like to see me experiment with in the future!

David Picciuto 8/16/16 David Picciuto 8/16/16

Tie Rack Woodworking Project from a 1959 School Textbook

Making a wiener dog tie rack from an old school text book.

How to Make a Tie Rack | Woodworking Project

I love collecting old woodworking books from thrift stores and antiques stores. There’s so much useful information in them and since woodworking technology moves slow these books are still relevant. Plus the illustrations are just fantastic to look at and represent the style from their time period.

While flipping through the book the other night I found this wiener dog tie project and about lost my marbles! I’m a wiener dog owner/lover and thought I just have to make this! The truth is I only own 1 tie so I had to go out and buy new used ties to demonstrate this project. This is a start to many more projects from old books. As always, be passionate and Make Something!