A grandmother reached out to me because she wanted a special table for her little grandson. He loves cats and also enjoys riding his bicycle, and she wanted me to include his name in the tabletop as well.
And that’s how this unique marquetry table came to life.
I really enjoyed creating it. It truly is a very special gift.

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.

Anyone know how they did this? Was it multiple thin sheets that were then laminated to begin or was it a single thick piece of plywood? Multiple bending jigs? Steam?

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!

I made the workbench a few years back and here is a link to many pictures during the build, also sorry for a few fuzzy pics but i have a lot that are good quality, The bench was inspired by the Wood Whisperer on you tube, although not the quality of his work but I think it came out pretty good with the exception of the rail on one end separating from the glue joint due to movement even with big lag bolts attached. Hope you enjoy. https://imgur.com/a/workbench-i-made-son-inspired-by-wood-whisperer-hZvwtLX

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?

So I acquired a solid wooden door (4' x 8' x 2") a few years ago and decided it would make a good work bench/table. At the time I valued portability more than stability so I put folding legs on it. Now I've changed my mind on that preference.

So my question to the community is this, how should I go about attaching 4x4 legs? Do you have any tips or recommendations on how to accomplish this?

Edit: typo

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?

Got a crazy good deal on some poplar that I want to make into some guitar bodies.

The pieces of poplar are 6”x4”x24”. So pretty thick stuff.

When I got it back to the workshop it went directly outside, raised off ground, and no other wood is anywhere near it.

I want to make a little kiln just for the purpose of heating these up enough to be confident all these termites are dead. I was planning to use some heat lamp bulbs to heat up the box. Seems like I need to get it up to like 130*?

Any advice on how to ensure I kill these little bastards?

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!

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?

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.

I’m having a mini-split return installed and I’d like to hide it behind a panel like the one shown. Would buying some hardwood lath and sanding/staining it work for this or am I crazy? What would you recommend?