Simple 2X4 Desk

Hello Again,


Today I'm going to show you how I built a simple, yet sturdy desk for my house. The desk was a pretty simple to make, it only took a few minutes to figure out the dimensions of what I wanted the desk to encompass. The following images were taken as I was building the unit.

The following materials were used in this project:

1 - 3.5 lb box of 3" Coarse Threaded Drywall screws
2 - 2X10X6 (for the top)
4 - 2X4X8 (Frame)


The cuts are as follows:

4 - 28" 2X4
6 - 8" 2X4
2 - 48" 2X4
1 - 45" 2X4
2 - 60" 2X10


The frames are pretty simple to make, follow the pictures as shown below. Make the two leg frames out of 2 sets of the 8" and 28" pieces, If you'll notice the bottom is flat and flush with the two uprights whereas the top bracing is vertical and flush with the ends.

The side rails were added afterwards to ensure that the desk top would be sturdy enough for what ever I wanted to put on it. The two 48" pieces are used for this. The 2 - 60" pieces of 2X10s were screwed in from the bottom, so the top could be stained, and sealed as shown in the last images. 

 The final touch was adding the accent bracing and rear brace of the legs.

Free, I said Free ...

Hello and welcome back to another post of my adventures. Well as you may already know from my previous posts that I'm pretty much all over the place at times. Moving forward, I was asked to clean out the 37 ft Silverton that belongs to my father. And in doing so I guess he realized how much crap, for the lack of a better word; he's got.

SO that being said, he and my younger brother came up from Miami and swung by my apartment in Central FL to pick up his stuff. But what happened next was astonishing, he left me with the following tools/parts/car:

- Air Compressor
- Brad Nailer
- Table Saw
- 1000 W DC to AC power inverter
- Deep Cycle batteries
- 99 Honda Civic (which he wants me to sell)
- a ton of drill bits and taps
- digital caliper

And that's from what I remember last night, this morning, I'm going over to check what else I can find in the stash he left behind as well as what's inside the car. As always I'll keep you posted, I'll be making a video for my youtube channel today. It's probably going to be a setup video on how to setup an at home/garage wood shop or something to that effect.

Boating Mishap

A Captain is a Captain no matter the size of the boat nor the size of the body of water, and your's truly has come in to the possession of a 1980 Silverton yacht, well, its too big for a trailer. Being a 37' monstrosity with dual Caterpillar engines, onboard Genset and a shit load of stuff I barely care to mention. But alas its for sale, so I'm entertaining offers on this thing. As I'm investigating its potential for fun under the sun. 

So yes, I'm happy this has come in to my life but I cant afford the dock rent as I'm trying to save for a house. So I'm serious, if you're interested in buying this boat let me know. 

Pallet Recycling 101

Welcome back for the latest installment of my adventures in woodworking.

So recently, on a pallet hunting trip, I decided to make a video to add to my fledgling YouTube channel (1 Video). So apparently having an old iPhone as my camera turned out to be pretty good, I just need a few things to get these projects/videos and blog posts coming on a scheduled basis. The first thing, well the one thing that comes to my mind when sourcing pallets is Etiquette.

I for one am grateful when individuals or a company posts on Craig's List for free pallets or crates or whatever industrial trash they no longer want and I can re-use or recycle in to something someone might want to have or keep. So in an effort to help other newbies such as myself.

I decided to post a video on my YouTube channel, on what I look for and how I go about doing it.

Collapsible Pallet Work Bench

For today's post, I'm going to show you how to I created a collapsible pallet work bench out of recycled 2X4s and a crate. The work bench is sturdy enough to hold all 325 lbs of me and will not wobble. 

The following is what you're going to need to make this bench for both tools and materials, I tried to keep it as basic as possible so anyone can replicate it. 

Tools needed:

- Drill

- #2 Phillips Drill Bit

- Miter Saw/Chop Saw/Circular Saw/Jig Saw/Hand Saw.

- Glue, lots of glue. (If you think you've got enough glue, go get more.)

- 12" Clamps at least 6, if you're working solo. 

Materials: 

- 5 LB Box of 2-1/2" Coarse Thread Drywall Screws

- 15 - 36" - 2X4

- 4 - 14" - 2X4

- 8 - 6" - 2X4

- 2 - 40" - 1X12 (I got mine from a crate that a workstation came in at one of my previous employers.)

- Various pieces of scrap 2X4. 

It's a pretty basic concept, first you'll start by gluing and screwing together 2 of the 2X4s to make corner pieces and make them in to an L shape. Use the clamps to hold the pieces securely in place while allowing the glue and screws to set. 

Once you have 4 of the corner pieces, arrange them on a flat surface facing one another and use 2 more pieces as spreaders. Place the top spreader piece flush with the tops of the legs, use a scrap piece of 2X4 to act as a spacer. See examples below of the completed leg assemblies. 

  

Next you can begin assembling the top, as shown below, the top consist of an I piece which is made up of 2 - 14" pieces of 2X4 and one of the 36" pieces, I would suggest using a square to find the straightest line for the center of these pieces, and use some imagination when placing the pieces on the 1X12. Use 2 pieces of 12" lengths of 2X4 to act as bracing for the top of legs. 

Next step is to assemble the bottom pieces that lock the legs in to a straight position, first, assemble the table with the legs facing down as show below.

The spacers can be assembled with the table holding the pieces in place, its a pretty simple process to make the bottom spacers, just make 2 Ls  with 4 of 6" pieces, then make 2 mirrored sets using the remaining 4 pieces. And use the 2 14" pieces as shown below and remember to screw and glue together as you're going along. 

Once you assemble your table it should look like this one below. 

If you have any questions as to the durability of the bench would like a video posted explaining how to assemble it. Leave a comment below and let me know your thoughts. 

Go Go Gadget Honda!!

Hello Everyone,


Welcome back for another installment of my adventures as a woodworker or DIY-er or modder or handyman. Well if you've been reading my posts, you'll already know I own an old Honda. And with this car, I have great potential for awkward police stops or looks from people that have trucks. So lately, it seems that every Tom, Dick or Harry has some video about how they're so environmentally conscious by recycling pallets. 

Well I'm not one to brag, but not only do I recycle pallets, I also do fences, sheds, or other demolition type gigs to get as much free lumber as possible. Or I'll start calling a few local print shops to see if they have any crates as shown in the pictures below. 

Yes, I know wouldnt it be cheaper to buy an old truck and do all the reclaiming my heart desires. Yes it would, however, your's truly is a bit more inventive than most so here is what I came up with. 

That's right folks, I made a roof rack for my Honda and with this I've been able to gather a ton of pallets, 2X4s, and plywood. Mostly for free from Craigs List as well as other not so documented sources (my employer). I'm blessed to work at a warehouse and my employer sometimes gets crates in that we cannot use on our racks, so I take them off of the company's hands, so to speak. And turn them in to pieces of art or furniture or stuff. 

So with my car's rear seats being able to fold forward, I can do the following. 

And yes, I know my car is ugly as it sits but for a cheap ride, and a few minor repairs, I drive this car all over central FL and down in to the Miami area 3 to 4 times a year. Its not like I cant afford a roof-rack, I'd just rather not pay for some plastic and aluminum piece of garbage that will only hold about 100 lbs of stuff and eventually break. If my roof rack breaks, I can always unscrew the broken piece and fix it. All I need now is to get a few sets of ratchet straps to hold the main portions down as well as the rack itself.

Thanks for reading.   

From Pallets to ...

Today's posting, hmm, lets see. Ah Ha! Well I'm in to woodworking and follow other people out in social media that are also in to wood working. And for my next trick, I guess I can show you a fort I built for my kids at a place I no longer live at. Please excuse the quality of my work as it was the first time I built a tree-house/hunting platform as an adult. The platform sat about 4 feet off of the ground. 

So first thing is first.. I guess. I've got two kids that have a lot of energy. So I thought this would be a fun project to start doing on the weekends that I had them. The only items purchased for this project were the 3 - PT (Pressure Treated) 2X8s, the 4 - 8" Lag Screws with lock washes and flat washers, the 10 or so 2X4s, and a box of 2-1/2" Coarse Thread Drywall screws. 

Total spent out of pocket: $75

Total Money Saved: a few $100

It started like this. 

The base of the platform was made out of the PT 2X8 using the third as additional bracing on this pine tree. 

The base was plumb and level on both sides, I'm kind of anal when it comes to having a flat surface on which to walk on or in this case for my kids to walk on. 

The platform was made out of the 10 or so 2X4, each piece was equally spaced out from the other and strapped to the 2X8, floor joists if you will. The ladder was from a previous project, I built my kids a bunk bed a few years ago. This ladder was removed from it when the bunk beds were split and I kept it for this project. The planking used in this project came out of a ton (50 or so) 1/2 size pallets. Lets just say, I'm thankful for having a good reciprocating saw. 

As you can see, I was able to get the entire platform covered with this free pallet hardwood. And I even began using some of the pallets as walls so my kids don't get hurt. 

From the front of the tree-house, I added a few additional supports at the corners, though truth be told. It was a solid platform and it did not move at all. But better safe than sorry. 

I added paint to the platform and the legs to ensure that it would be somewhat water repellent. The paint color wasn't of my choosing, it came out of a friend's garage, and a bunch of 1/2 used paint samples came out with this grayish/blueish tone. 

We ended up painting both sides of the tree-house walls and ladder the same color. But I don't have any pictures of the finished project. I do have a video of my son painting it though, but I'm a bit too guarded to post it. 

Thanks for reading.