About Me

I am an engineer at heart, and I love to create things.  I have a background in mathematics, electrical engineering, and computer science.  I've had to be very resourceful in my life as a Marine Corps scout sniper, a volunteer engineer in India, a robotics engineer in Silicon Valley, and even more so as a parent!  I'd like to share the woodwork, art, and projects that I create, and enjoy the company of other people doing the same.

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Popular Posts

New Epoxy Top for a Struggling Ikea Table

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I started with an Ikea table from work that someone sat on and accidentally broke one of the legs. The table was likely going to get thrown out, but I rescued it, fixed the leg, and totally transformed the boring beige coffee table. I believe it was this table in tan from Ikea:   Above, you can see the underside of the table with the legs removed. The top right corner is where the leg folded and broke the particle board. I put the piece back in place with some wood glue and left it clamped overnight. Next I added some wooden trim around the entire base to make it more sturdy. The legs have screws that protrude out of the top, and the whole leg is rotated to screw it on to the table. In order to screw the legs back in, I needed to drill holes through the trim that lined up with the existing holes in the table. When I epoxy a table top, I round the edges of the table top so that the epoxy can run over the sides. I couldn't sand the
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Porch Swing

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I built this porch swing because my wife wanted a place that we could sit and watch the kids when they're playing in the front yard. It's not as comfortable as I would have hoped, but I think it turned out great for the space. The framing is built from pressure treated lumber, and the bench slats are made from pine. I made the frame first, from 4x4's and some 2x6's for support. I used 8" bolts to connect the 4x4 pieces, which actually felt like it would have held together without any lumber for structural support. I didn't want to risk my wife and I falling on our rear-ends the first time we sat in the swing though :-P  To make the bench, I freehand drew an 'S' curve in a 2x6 to create the shape I wanted in the bottom of the bench. I made two more copies of that to provide the frame for connecting the pine slats. It just so happened that the other side of that 'S' worked out for the back of the bench. I connected them with 2
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Epoxy River Coffee Table

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There are lots of people out there making some amazing epoxy river tables that sell for thousands of dollars. They generally use live edge slabs of specialty wood that can cost $1000+ alone, not to mention the tables sometimes contain $500+ of epoxy as well. I wanted to try to make a low-cost version of one of these amazing tables. I spent: $16.00  (2) 2" x 6" x 96" fir construction lumber $28  (2) 1/8" x 2" x 72" flat steel ~$17.50  32oz of a one-gallon kit 2-part epoxy ~$15  finish, paint, screws, etc. That brings me out to a total of roughly $76. First I used a biscuit joiner to align and glue (4) 4-foot lengths of the construction lumber together to form the table top.  I let the glue dry for a few days before taking it out of the clamps, and filling any remaining gaps with clear epoxy. I put some parchment paper down between the center support to prevent the epoxy from sticking. The center support board is to prevent the ta
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Walnut Live Edge Coffee Table

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I finished up my first live edge table, made from a solid slab of walnut! It started as a rough-cut slab with a few cracks and imperfections, but I could tell as soon as I saw it there was some beautiful grain beneath the surface. I got it roughly level and smooth before filling any cracks with black epoxy. Then it was back to sanding, sanding, and more sanding... I sanded down to 400 grit before applying some Danish Oil, natural. Man, did that grain pop! I did 3 coats of oil in total. While the table top cured, I welded together some stainless steel legs. Because of the shape of the top, I made one leg more narrow. I was worried the different sized legs would look out of place, but ultimately I think it helps it look like a custom piece of furniture. The legs got 4 coats of semi-gloss black paint, and I mounted them on the underside of the table. Here's the final product! This was a really fun project, and I l
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Custom Built Wooden Computer Case

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I've wanted to do a custom computer build for quite a while now, and I finally found the opportunity to build one when I traded an old laptop for a "mostly" working gaming rig. Some of the ports and buttons weren't functioning, and the previous owner had lost the 2 side panels to the case. The previous owner clearly didn't know what they had, and it didn't look like it had been used in some time. Hopefully he'll get more use out of the laptop. I wanted to make this truly custom, so I tore apart the case (literally) and built my own computer case out of birch. Yup, I said birch, as in wood! I also made the top plate out of plexi-glass so you can see all that beautiful hardware. Here are the tech specs of the hardware going in this sweet machine: Intel i7 4790k processor 16GB (4x4) of Corsair Vengence RAM Asus Z97 Mainboard Thermaltake 750W Power Supply Corsair Water Cooler + (2) 4" Exhaust Fans + (1) 8" Intake fan w/ blue LED's
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