#HTE

Make Your Own Big Ass Knife, Declutter Your Workspace and Learn Wood Glue Basics in This Week’s Maker’s Roundup

Getting Your Workspace Organized

Ron Paulk has been optimizing the on-board storage in his Rolling Toolbox, and here he shows us how he executes an important task: Decluttering the workspace so that all of his tools are right where he needs them. Ron recognizes that this is an ongoing process and is tackling it one section at a time. Here he starts with a single drawer, showing you what the problem is:

Here in Part Two, he shows you his solutions:

Big Ass Knife

Talk about upcycling! This week Jimmy DiResta takes a rusty, otherwise worthless chunk of metal from an old piece of farming machinery and turns it into one burly-ass knife:

Izzy Swan’s Shop Tour

Izzy Swan has been hesitant to give a shop tour, for fear that those who possess less tools might be intimidated out of trying to make stuff. But as he points out, you only need a few items to get started. A surprise bit of news at the end inspired him to finally walk you through his shop and all of the items in it. We also get a look at a mysterious snakebot-looking thing he’s been working on.

“How A Carpenter Says I Love You”

For months now, the Samurai Carpenter has been showing glimpses of the carved jewelry box he’s been working on for Mrs. Samurai Carpenter’s upcoming birthday. Well, the big day is here, and he finally gets to present it:

Turned Finger-Jointed Bowl

Frank Howarth continues experimenting with geometry, this time combining both his CNC mill and lathework to create a finger-jointed turned bowl:

Wood Glue Basics

Here Steve Ramsey runs down the basics of a crucial ingredient of projects involving wood: Wood glue. He also covers the adhesives you’ll need to join wood to non-wood materials like plastic, metal or glass.

How to Apply Water Finishes On Top of Oil Finishes

Applying finishes is definitely the black art of woodworking. Here Marc Spagnuolo demystifies the process a bit, explaining how you can actually get an oil-based finish to color the wood to your liking, then actually get a water-based finish on top:

Dining Table Build

This week Jay Bates builds a beautiful dining table, and in addition to seeing his construction methods we also get to see him adding some design accents. I love that the table is sized specifically to he and his wife’s needs, which he explains at the end.

Under-Bed Storage Accessed Via Gas Struts

There’s not a lot of detail in this one, but if you’ve ever wondered how you can build a simple bed with under-mattress storage, here you go. Ana White shows you her simple design, which relies on two gas struts to make lifting the platform a breeze:

Chisel Rack

Here Cactus Workshop creates a chisel rack made out of pallet-wood. There’s one mid-project failure and a quick recovery:

Floating Desk

This week we see Bob Clagett do a rare piece of client work, creating a floating desk and installing it on-site. Some things don’t go as planned, but that’s always the nature of on-site work:

Distressed Wood Beam Floating Shelf

Sandra Powell bangs out an impressivly-authentic looking distressed beam, using nothing more than cheap lumber from the home center and some Briwax:

Creating Handles From Exotic Woods

Wood geeks: Has your budget got you stuck with domestic species, while you dream about working with exotics? Live vicariously here through Linn from Darbin Orvar, who this episode turns handles made from African Blackwood, Black Palm, Bloodwood, Desert Ironwood and Orange Osage: