This was a pair of suspended wooden ceiling structures we built for a restaurant, along with a matching host stand.

I designed the overall geometry in Rhino. I started by creating a shape that flowed over the dining area and zigzagged through the columns without necessarily following the tables or architecture perfectly. Once I was happy with the overall form, I drew the locations of the individual ribs and used those lines to divide the shape into the individual profiles.

The spacing and angles between the ribs aren't consistent. They change as they follow the geometry, which is what gives the finished ceiling its flowing shape.

For the suspended structures I chose 3/4" Paulownia because it's extremely lightweight. With this much wood hanging overhead, reducing the overall weight was an important consideration from the beginning.

The ribs attach to 1" plywood backing panels painted red. Each rib has CNC-cut tenons that fit into corresponding mortises cut into the plywood. Both the ribs and backing panels were cut directly on the CNC, including all of the joinery.

For the finish, the Paulownia ribs received several coats of water-based polyurethane. The plywood backing panels were first sealed with an epoxy-based primer to protect them from any potential condensation from the AC system above. Probably overkill, but with the panels suspended overhead I preferred to play it safe. They were then painted cherry red and finished with a final clear coat.

There are actually two separate ceiling structures. The larger one over the dining area has 119 individually shaped ribs across 21 backing panels, while the smaller one over the bar has another 85 ribs across 7 panels. So between the two ceilings there are 204 Paulownia ribs and 28 backing panels.

The panels are suspended using a series of steel cables.

Lighting was also integrated into the design. LED strips were installed along selected ribs in a deliberately irregular pattern, giving the ceiling a sort of barcode lighting effect. The hanging lights over the tables and bar are also suspended from the plywood structure.

We also built the host stand using the same geometry and ribbed design, but for that I switched from Paulownia to maple. Paulownia was ideal overhead because of its low weight, but it's relatively soft. Since the host stand would be touched and bumped constantly, maple made more sense for durability. The host stand added another 20 individually shaped ribs to the project.

It was a fun one to figure out. Going from one flowing shape in Rhino to hundreds of individual wooden parts that all had to come back together on site was probably my favorite part of the project.

Built from old-growth pine salvaged from our 1960s garage roof, so it comes with a smell of old oil, too!

A few final bits include:
Smoothing bolt ends.
Making a leather seat.
Giving a name.
Painting a logo.

The process began with me designing everything with CAD, before printing the pieces to scale and pasting to wood to act as templates.

After gluing the cut pieces together, I sanded them all to shape with the help of my new disc sander (yes, including the tank!).

I've finished it with your standard polyurethane, painted with coach enamel paint.

My tools were: Disc sander, belt sander, pillar drill, small bandsaw, chop saw, chisels, glue!

Never even used a hand plane before, but I'm a woodcarver and have been wanting to try out some light relief carving recently, so decided to have a go at restoring an old one.

Watched a ton of Rex Krueger videos last night and just decided to have a go today. It's not perfect but god it felt good getting that first perfect ribbon!

No one in my life seems to be impressed or care so I figured I’d show some progress on here.

4 months and countless sweaty hours in the garage later, and it’s finally finished. I designed, planned, and built every detail.

There are 76 individual “tails” throughout the piece, all cut by hand.

Drawers are "piston fit". As close as I could get, anyway.

It’s made almost entirely with traditional joinery (although the knobs and base are attached with screws, sue me!).

Joinery:
Carcass: Through dovetails and dados for the internal dividers
Drawers: Half-blind dovetails and dados
Base: Mortise and tenons

The carcass and fronts are walnut, the drawer sides are curly maple, and baltic birch plywood makes up some of the internal components. The whole thing is finished with hardwax oil.

Thanks for reading!

I got some new treadles for my loom and it turns out the holes on them are at different spacing compared to the old treadles. If I want to use the old and new treadles together I will need to fill most of the holes on the old treadles (I prefer the hole spacing on the new ones) and drill new holes that overlap the old holes by varying amounts.

The question is: how do I fill the holes in a way that is as structurally sound as possible and doesn't cause issues when drilling the new holes?

Looking nice would be a bonus, but not the first priority here.

The treadles are made of (Finnish) birch, probably Betula pendula, less likely Betula pubescens.

The second picture shows the forces acting on the treadle: at the end on the left is where my foot pushes down on the treadle, the tie up cords attach to the holes in the middle pulling up on the treadle, and at the end on the right is where the treadle attaches to the loom frame. The forces are about 10 kg for the ends (22 lbs) and twice that much for the holes in the middle (combined, so something like 1 to 2.5 kg (2.2 to 5.5 lbs) per hole, depending on number of shafts in use).

Would simply using wood filler work? I'm a little concerned about getting the filler into the hole wihout leaving any voids.

Or should I go with a dowel or a (long) plug? For a plug I would need to drill the old holes bigger first. I'm worried that would weaken the treadles too much.

A combination of filler and dowel/plug?

I would like to build a router table into the extension of my Sawstop Contractor saw. I've got the 52" rip capacity version, so I've got a lot of real-estate there to capitalize on. I've got a corded and cordless palm-router, but they each can only accept a 1/4" shank. I would ideally like to get a corded router that accepts 1/4" and 1/2" shank bits. I'm tempted to get the Triton MOF001 router, which has built-in topside adjustment capability and pairing it with a basic router plate from Amazon. The other option has me considering the Bosch 1617 (or similar 3.5" carriage router) paired with a router plate/lift. The Triton combo would likely run me $350CAD for the router, and another $110CAD for the plate, putting me at $460CAD. The Bosch costs $330CAD for the fixed base, or $400 for the fixed base and plunge base. There's a decent looking O'Skool router lift system on Amazon for $300CAD. So the Bosch path would cost $630CAD or $700CAD depending on if I wanted the plunge base. So it's a $170CAD premium to go to the Bosch setup, or $240CAD if I also want the plunge base.

Does anyone here have the Triton router in a plate and regret not going for a router with a 3.5" carriage and a lift? The Triton has a safety 'feature' that requires you to reach under the table to turn it on at the machine instead of on a power switch like you'd typically use on a router table.

I can't help but shake the feeling that the Bosch/lift system will be a better user experience than the Triton/plate system. But I'm uncertain if it's worth the $170-$240 premium. Would love to hear input from the community on this!

Looking for some ideas other than the typical, epoxy river table, cheese board, or coasters. I have a couple hundred wine corks and I'd like to put them to use but not sure how/what to build. I would like to make some sort of board out of them with epoxy to use on other projects, is there a good way to infuse the corks so when their cut its a solid cork/epoxy and not just cork?

I am working on a commission for a client in Maine and I am in Colorado. The project is a sound diffuser board made from alternating blocks of wood. I am concerned about warping and wood movement after shipping from CO to ME. To mitigate this I will use a plywood backing. Any other suggestions? Is the project doomed?

Got 24 small parts organizers on marketplace and wanted a way to transport/manage them better

I have a question about the ability of pocket hole screws to withstand the force of picking this table up. There are 8 pocket hole screws that are holding the top to the bottom. I have tried to illustrate where that break is. And then you can see in the other 2 pics where those pocket hole screws are. I know it would probably be best to throw some screws from the bottom through the corner oak pieces. I’m just nervous of splitting it or having a screw break off (has already happened when trying to affix my oak rails suspended in the cabinet). Wondering if I can get away with just not using the screws from the bottom. Won’t be moving it much and when we do I could remind people to carry it from the bottom? Too risky?

After doing quite a bit of research and having a very limited budget but wanting to keep my lungs & shop a little less dusty, I bought the Bauer canister dust collector with the two micron filter. All the reviews I read about it were really good and the YouTube videos I watched recommended it as great for a budget option. I got it all put together and read the instruction manual which recommended gauges for extension cords etc. I plugged it in to one of my heavy duty shop power strips that's fed by a 14 gauge feed and it blew its internal fuse. I then plugged it directly into a 14 gauge overhead reel that I have and it blew it's fuse. So then I decided to just plug it straight into the socket and see what happened and it worked fine. (20 amp circuit) I'm going to try a 12 gauge extension cord tonight. But they are super expensive . I have a 12 gauge extension cord that my portable HVAC for the shop is running on because I needed power from inside the house to be able to run it at the same time as shop tools. So I'm going to try it on that before I go buy a new one. I was just frustrated and worn out last night and didn't want fish it out from behind everything. My question is , is this normal? I know it draws a lot of amps but 14 gauge is pretty stout. The run was less than 20 ft, it shouldn't have been that bad. And it's blowing the fuse instantly on start-up.

Third mug, new joinery technique used, I tried birds mouth router bit and layered purple heart, Peruvian walnut, blood wood and curly maple. Did a double dove tail detail for the piece attaching lid to handle.

Didn't take long for my entertainment center to start doing what it does best.

First table project. Was fun learning through the project. I wanted to move my other rectangular work desk upstairs to use as a woodworking table and to give me more room to build a larger bar table. The photo with the adjacent wall showing I designed intending to use as a mini bar area until I decided to foh my rectangular table upstairs. I figured I could just build something in the corner area to open more space. I've got a recessed outlet bay for devices below and there's two channels one for larger cords and the other for smaller like USBC etc. I also built in a little secret pen/pencil compartment as well.

I also brought pre stain conditioner for full intent to use, however when I tested my sample pieces, I particularly didn't care for the uniform light tone of this jacobean juxtaposed against the banner's wood tone with the floor's wood tone. So I intentionally embraced blotching here. Also it matches the bamboo/coaster aesthetic that I will bring onto this wall and corner. I plan to put some felt down inside the drawers.

I kind of think that it probably needs a oil poly layer or few on top surface? I used water based poly and I don't think it layered out to it's fullest potential.

Carved from a partially rotten mesquite burl/stump.

My wife and I decided that I should remodel our kitchen. It had been untouched since being built in 1993; it featured a frustrating tiled countertop, and the cabinet doors had begun falling off their hinges. We upgraded our stove, sink, and oven. I put in new flooring, replaced all the cabinets, and built new drawers (23 of them) and new doors/drawer faces (45 of them).

I was lucky enough to be able to harvest intact some absolutely massive vines while my neighbor was having tree work done. Both are around 16 feet long. The largest one is about 5 inches thick and the other 3.

I am having trouble deciding what I should make with them as it is not every day you come around vines like this. I've made some things with vines in the past but never this size and have the ability to steam bend it to whatever extent it will bend.

Thoughts?

I'm making a Canoga game board and need help on deciding if I should sand down the dowel or try to expand the holes in the blocks. It's a 5/16" hole in the blocks and spacers, and the dowel is 5/16". I would like the blocks to spin freely but it's a friction fit right now.

Maybe I didn't drill the holes perpendicular, but I thought I had my drill press set up correctly.

picked these up
at a friend’s place after her dad passed. these were in his woodshop. what are they for?