Bookcase/Nightstand combo.

And now, the first project that kickstarted this whole thing.

One summer, I was contemplating gifts for Keelyn.  I wanted to get on the birthday/Christmas bandwagon sooner rather than later because at the time I was working for Craig's Cruisers as a video game tech and taking classes, and as such was rather poor.  I wanted a gift that would reflect her as a person, and me as not totally useless.  I decided on a book case.  The dimensions were to be 4 feet tall, approximately 2 feet wide, and 1 foot deep adjustable shelves.  I took a sheet of graphing paper, drew up a bookcase, then mapped out a 4'x8' sheet of plywood and figured my measurements.  I noticed that I only needed a little over half the sheet to make the book case, so using the other half, I designed a nightstand out of the remaining part. This way, I had 2 gifts to present to her for both her birthday and Christmas (which are within a week of each other) since I was commuting three hours once a month to see her.  Sadly the progress pictures are non-existent, as I really wasn't planning this sort of thing 3 years ago.  But here are the finished products (as well as a mirrored set I made for myself while living with her parents).

The first set was assembled using nothing more than a circular saw, guides and clamps, a drill press, wood glue and a finish nailer and 1.25in nails.

Since they are all made of plywood, the edges would show layers.  I got iron-on veneer to cover the edges, and make it look more like solid wood.  Even though it was made of birch, the grain and color matched the maple well.

The second set was done using a legitimate table saw, a drill and countersink bit, drywall screws, a drill press with plug-cutter head, wood glue, and finish nailer with 1.25in nails.

The second set isn't quite done yet.  The shelves are set by 2 drywall screws, 3 finish nails, and a liberal application of glue..  The holes were plugged with maple pegs, glued into place, then sawed and sanded down to be flush with the sides.  The bedside table only needs the door hardware installed and a back nailed on.

First refinish project

This project was done summer of 2009.  It was the first refinish, and was actually a lot of fun, very rewarding and one of the easiest projects to date.

The table started out looking like this:

I saved this little gem from the dumpsters at Grand Valley.  I was an RA, and one of the residents was going to throw it out, so I took it of their hands. As you can see, it was very badly abused by all previous owners.  The top was scratched deep into the finish, the shelf was scuffed up and sloppy on the edges, and the legs were spotty and pock marked with dings and scratches.

Luckily, this was an easy save.  All that was needed was some painters plastic, plastic scrapers, Citrustrip (my personal choice for stripping compound), plastic scrapers, mineral spirits, rubber gloves, and high grit sand paper.

Apply an hearty coat of the Citrustrip, and let stand for 30 minutes to an hour.  Begin scraping the slop off of the surface, and it starts to transform instantly.

It was my first time using it so it took a couple of tries, but I eventually removed all of the finish with the Citrustrip.  I then rubbed it down with mineral spirits to remove any excess chemical residue, sanded lightly, and rubbed down with tack cloth.  The result:

The end result was a slightly discolored table top with a lot of fantastic grain to it, and a deep and rich red coloration on the shelf.  It was left to sit for a day or so in order to make sure that all mineral spirits had evaporated and were not present in the wood when it came time to polyurethane.





With a few thick coats of polyurethane, and a light sanding between each coat, the end product looks something like this:

And now this piece sits in our entryway by the staircase, with a small lamp, and bowl for keys.

The picture quality on this isn't great as it was taken with my phone, but you get the idea.

In my humble opinion, this was a way better route to go than to trash this beautiful piece, or to paint it.  It's much easier to salvage this dirty gold than people would like to believe.  I'm very glad I did because this was the perfect addition to our foyer area.