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Heatwave tools, edition 2023
The recent heatwave pushed me away from my workshop to my garden, where I could enjoy all the benefits of sunshine and fresh air. It was also a good time to travel and to BBQ. The woodworking and workshop tools were used a little less on behalf of garden tools and garden equipment. Still, some work was done and I didn’t let my tools rust. Please let me present a few of them that joined my tool collection recently. DeWalt DWE7492 is my 3rd table saw. It is also the largest – it uses a 10″ blade, just like my…
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Mini shipping crate
It’s built very similar to a full-size shipping crate but due to the size of the parts, it’s glued together and not nailed. Most importantly, each side is made of plywood and is reinforced with timber braces but also, the original idea of built-in forklift slots somehow remains. I made many of these full-size shipping crates in my day job and was always impressed with the simplicity of their construction and the way they were put together. Just nails, screws and exposed plywood edges – I wanted to recreate a box like this, just scaled down but using a similar…
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Fruit fence
This simple fence was built to prop up laden blackcurrant branches and to keep them off the ground. The bush was growing in every direction, towards the greenhouse, through the property fence and it was taking up an unnecessary amount of space. The fence I built solved all these problems and brought a breath of fresh air into that corner of the garden. It looks rustic yet professional and the bush seems to be under control and well looked after. The job was straightforward and fun, I generally love making garden projects because of all the benefits of sunshine and…
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Soft-start module on DeWalt DWE7492
This is a fairly inexpensive upgrade that is quite easy to implement and, most importantly, significantly prolongs the saw’s lifespan. With this soft-start module installed, the saw starts slowly and gains speed gradually, which helps save the bearings and the motor. The whole process can be reversed to the factory setup, ensuring that the warranty isn’t voided. All the pictures shown below can be viewed in full size to make understanding each step even easier. Additionally, at the end of the post, I have included a short video to demonstrate the difference between before and after the module was installed.…
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Garden bench drink holder
This is one of those projects that can be built in just 15 minutes, on a whim. Although similar holders can be found online in almost every Far East marketplace, my project competes in both price and delivery time. Additionally, it can be customized to fit any garden bench and accommodate preferred drink containers, such as cans, bottles, or travel mugs, making it a winner in this competition. The drink holder is built with galvanized steel banding and angle brackets, both of which are widely available at any hardware shop. It is held together with rivets and requires no finishing.…
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Mitred plywood box with a sliding lid
This box features a bottom panel that sits in a groove, as well as a sliding lid. The corners are mitred and the entire assembly is held together with glue alone, with no metal fasteners. The glue-up process was quick and easy, requiring only blue painter’s tape and light-duty spring clamps. The only challenge was cutting all the pieces to the correct length, width and angle which meant precision. Fortunately, all the cuts were tear-out-free even without taping over the cut lines. I’m not sure if I achieved these professional results due to a good blade or just plain luck.…
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All DIY-ed floating shelf with a bracket
This shelf is entirely made from scratch, both the wooden board, as well as the metal bracket, are shop-made. They’re built using basic and widely available materials with no welding involved. The shelf bracket is held in place with 2 and not 4 screws, making drilling in concrete a little easier, faster and generating less noise. Unlike the other shelf I made in the past, this one uses a single and not double bracket rail, which seems to be less overkilling and more suitable for a light shelf like this. I am not a big fan of drilling in concrete…
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Mitre saw storage rails
Due to my limited storage space, these two saws – table and new mitre saw – must be stacked when stored. That way I can squeeze out the most space possible and thanks to the rails, both saws stay securely in place, one on top of the other, even if knocked accidentally, they won’t fall. To make the rails, I reused a couple of old pallet boards from a disassembled towel rack (that explains the notches cut in them), additionally, I used a couple of bolts, wing nuts and advertisement wall fixings. The leftovers of yellow paint I used were…
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3-legged coffee table
This table is a reproduction of a coffee table available at Jysk Stores, with a solid wood tabletop instead of glass. The tripod legs are typically designed to look best with a transparent top, but since I couldn’t use glass, I had to opt for wood. Although my table isn’t an exact copy of Jysk’s, it’s based on it, and all the dimensions and angles are similar. I must admit, however, that a glass tabletop would look nicer if I had the option to make one. To build these legs, I used timber that I had stored for some time,…
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Various trim repairs
There was a need to repair certain parts of the wooden trim in the house, parts that were either incorrectly installed or hadn’t stood the time well. That series of individual projects which involved woodworking and some creativity, not only helped to improve the look of the house but also built up my carpentry skills. Hiring somebody wasn’t considered as it all looked manageable and had to be done neatly – no silicone, no nails and no mess. There were more jobs successfully completed in that process and those were repaired skirting boards (with internal and external mitres), the stairs…
