Furniture Making Videos

How to Build as Simple Clock

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With all the modern clock movements that are available, building a functioning clock it much easier that it was a couple of decades ago. In the past you had to purchase mechanical time keeping movements, and keep them running. Now, with the highly accurate quartz, battery operated mechanisms, anyone can build clocks.

For me, the first thing a clock needs to be is to be able to tell accurate time, and to be clearly visible in displaying the time. I don't want to have to stop and have to try and calculate the time every time I look at the clock. The second thing I wang the clock to be is at least, somewhat attractive. To help match these criteria, I chose a blank white face, applied numbers at the appropriate locations, then surrounded it all with figured wood.  What I ended up with is a clock that I love, is quick and easy to tell the time from and is a nice looking clock.

Collecting all the parts is the first step with a project like this as there are a number of components, the clock mechanism, the face, the carcass, the numbers for the face, the hands (hour, minute and second) hinges and clasps if you need them and perhaps even some way of hanging or sitting the clock.

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Building and Arts & Crafts Style End Table

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 I have always loved Arts & Crafts (A&C) style furniture. I love the dark colors and the bold, simple designs. I am particularly fond of the Gustav Stickley furniture and especially like the designis of one of his workers who, sadly, left us at an all-to-young age of only 51, of heart disease, and that was Harvey Ellis. He only worked for Stickley for 7 months but during that time he was clearly in his element of design and produced some timeless furniture creations are are still being duplicated today.

The piece I am making is a more modern re-creation of what and Arts & Crafts piece in what the 21st century would create with the addition of the storage / magazine rack under the table, making it far more useful while still retaining the design elements of  A&C. I have had the good fortune to see a very few original pieces of the Stickley furniture and have been able to do some reading about their methods and have a bit more knowledge in how the factory made their furniture and what methods they used.

My version of this table is 21 inches high, by 14 inces wide and 20 inches long. The legs are 5.5" x 1.5" laminated boards for both strengh and stability. The storage area is 1" off the floor and is comprised of dado lwer of 2" x 3/4" and a dado upper of 1.5" x 3/4"  and pickets are 1" wide by 1/3" thick a,d 5" high.    Apron pieces are 3" x 3/4"

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Make a Wooden Dog Bed

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Sometimes things that seem simple, turn out to be more of a challenge that we expected, and such was the case with Dash's new bed. Dash is  an 8 week old beagle puppy who is growing up in an urban environment and his owners are doing their utmost to provide him with all the things a puppy needs to have and learn as they grow, and one important item is a bed, a place that a dog knows is secure. A place they can go and retreat to.

I checked out sizing for Beagles and settled on a size that looked suitable. I checked the internet for designs and was completely awestruck by the numbers and varieties of dog beds. Check it out for a moment, it's crazy. What I did not see was a design that I had in my head ... many similar but nothing the same, so this would be another "scratch build". It needed to have an upper frame to hold a cushion or some sort of bedding, and I wanted the whole bed to be off the floor to make it easier to clean around. It also needed to sturdy enough for an adult to sand on because I just know, someone ... somewhere well end up using it as step to get something out of reach, or change a light bulb, so it needs to be sturdy, strong and safe.

I started off making the base which is not unlike what you would have in your kitchen with a toe kick under the cabinets. The purpose of this was, to help make cleaning easier, but also to give the bed at least some elements of design without going overboard. I also wanted to have a place where the dog could enter and leave, like a doorway, but it would need to have rounded corners to help discourage any gnawing the puppies often do, and to make it a bit safer with no sharp upper corners.

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