Gilham Woodshop

I spotted this Black Limba at KJP Hardwoods and couldn’t resist picking some up. Love the grain on these boards and I can’t wait to dig in to some projects.

I’m not sure if it’s a problem everywhere, but businesses in our area love littering coroplast signs — the ones with metal prong feet — all over the public boulevards. Including right outside our house. I used to just throw them away, but I eventually realized I was ditching valuable material.

Now, I toss the plastic and cut the metal into long rods. It’s amazing how often it comes in handy. This weekend, for example, I used some to replace a toy monster truck’s broken axle.

Wrapped my up frame for my new print from Jimmy DiResta. Continuing my love for big, wide picture frames. Used some more of my leftover poplar and finished with Rubio Monocoat. Feeling pretty happy with how it turned out.

Building a frame for this beautiful print from the man himself. Picked up the Veritas shooting board & plane and my 45° mitres have never looked better.

Built two plant pot shelves out of some leftover poplar from the bathroom built-ins. Will end up painted, sealed, and mounted in the backyard.

Custom built-in shelving for our recent bathroom renovation. 3/4" plywood for the carcass and shelves, with poplar face frames to clean it all up. Built shaker-style cabinet doors for the first time, which was made much easier by picking up a rail & stile router bit set. Quite happy with how it turned out.

Been playing around with a small hobby CNC machine. Made some quick upgrades — including the spindle & mount, end stops, and the emergency stop button. I’ve been doing some test cuts, but I’m excited to continue learning and creating with it.

The second iteration of my crosscut sled, which has thoroughly replaced my mitre saw for most tasks. Just over 20 1/2" deep and constructed from 3/4" plywood it — combined with the extra infeed support on my table saw cart — allows me to crosscut some pretty wide stock. The end stop was carried over from my previous sled, but the hold-down clamps are new and already proving useful.

The third iteration of my table saw cart. I don’t have the space for a proper table saw, but I’ve had great luck with this DeWalt DWE7485 job site saw. I added outfeed support with mitre slot extensions, side wings, and infeed support. All of which fold down for storage. Combined with the Bow Xtender fence, I’ve been able to cut some sizeable stock on this setup.

Continuing my obsession with chunky items, I built a picture frame for my partner’s fabulous artwork. I used some nice maple, cut a bevel on the inside, and cut down some acrylic for the “glass.” First time trying out the point driver, which worked out quite well.

The boy likes to skate. We made a rink out of 1/4" plywood, some homemade stakes, a tarp, and a bit of luck.

Quick shot of my previous dust collection setup. The good ol' “shop-vac and cyclone on a bucket” setup served me well for a very long time. I added a twist by 3D-printing a wye and some blast gates, which let me swap between a long hose for the big tools (table saw, router table, etc) and handheld tools at the bench. I’ve since added a dedicated dust collector for the big stuff.

My son was loving bean-bag toss games, so I decided to surprise him with this. Constructed almost entirely out of plywood scraps I had lying around. The numbers are 3D-printed. It was a big hit.

Glued up three oak boards and took a run at my first round tabletop. I used a palm router (beefed up with some aftermarket handles) and a circle jig, which turned out really well. I attempted a spray poly finish, but could have done more sanding between coats. The midges loved the poly, which didn’t help. I attached the legs to the bottom of the tabletop — next time I’ll explore some alternatives.

Another chunky box. I finished it with spray-on poly, buffing with Kraft paper in-between coats. I managed to refine my half-laps and added the angled handle to the lid.

Sometimes you just want a box that’s small and chunky. This was my first time practicing half-lap joints on the table saw. The box lives on in my son’s room, containing various knick-knacks.

When we moved into this house, the backyard had a rickety chainlink gate that was falling over. I enlisted some help from my Dad to get the 6x6 posts set, then another two weekends to build the gates and mount them. Pretty enough to please the neighbours, but wide enough to drive a camper through.

Farmhouse-style bench for the back patio, built from Home Depot 2x4 material. My finishing/staining technique has improved considerably since completing this project, but it has held up well for more than two years.

Sometimes, in life, you have a tiny person in your care who likes to run. And then you need a gate.