Free Projects
Book of Free
Wood & Craft Projects
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Contents
Wooden School Bus ...................... 3
Lace Teacher ................................ 5
Bear Threader ............................... 7
Fish Puzzle ................................... 9
Nail Puzzle ................................... 11
Wooden Cheese Knife Holder ........ 13
French Style Plaque ...................... 15
Wooden Pens ............................... 17
Salt Dough Greeting Cards ............ 21
Two Toning with Stain .................... 23
Projects & Plans Courtesy of Rockler. 25
More to Come!
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Wooden
School Bus
Click to download plan
Materials you'll need:
2X4 stock (Any type of wood) - no less then 5 1/4" long.
Four 1" contour wheels.- With a 1/4" hole in the center
1/4" Dowel
Various grits of Sand paper
Glue
Ruler and a pencil
.
Tools you'll need:
Hand saw or jig saw or band saw or coping saw
3/4" Forstner or spade drill bit
9/32" or 5/16" Drill bit (Preferably 9/32")
Drill press
Mallet
Copy shape using the measurements provided.
Drill appropriate size holes in the places indicated.
Use desired saw and cut out the bus' shape.
Sand smooth, rounding off any sharp edges.
Attach wheels using 1/4" dowels and glue
(you may need a mallet to assemble the wheels).
© Copyright Alice's Workshop
Lace Teacher
1 Wood of choice - 3/4" X 8 3/4" X 3 1/2"
220 grit Sand paper
Paint, Stain and Varnish (optional)
Shoe lace
Scroll Saw or Coping Saw
Power Drill or Drill Press
5/16" Drill Bit
.1. Copy shape or trace a childs shoe, and transfer it onto your wood.
2. Using a coping saw or a scroll saw, cut along the line of the pattern
3. Drill holes in the indicated spots
4. Sand piece smooth rounding off any sharp edges.
5. Paint, Stain, or dye if desired
6. Thread shoe lace
Bear
Threader
1 Wood of choice - 1/2 X 6 X 7
1 1/4 Dowel cap
1 length 3/8 diameter dowel
1 length 1/8 Nylon rope
220 grit Sandpaper
Carpenters glue
Coping saw or scroll saw
Drill of choice
1/8" Drill bit
1/2" Drill bit
C-clamp or other vise tool
1. Copy pattern onto your wood.
2. Drill eight 1/2 holes, and one 1/8 hole in the specified locations.
3. Cut out bear shape using a coping saw or a scroll saw.
4. Sand smooth, rounding off any sharp edges. Paint & stain if desired.
5. Thread nylon rope through the 1/8 hole from the back and tie a knot in the front.
6. Glue and clamp a dowel cap over the knot.
7. Carefully drill a 1/8 hole length wise into your 3/8 dowel.
8. Glue the end of the nylon rope into the 1/8 hole of the dowel and wedge a small splinter of wood into the hole along with the rope to keep the rope from coming out.
Fish
Puzzle
1 Wood of choice - 1/4" X 6 1/2" X 5"
1 1/4" Dowel cap
Wood Glue
C-Clamp or other vise tool
.1. Copy pattern and transfer it onto your wood.
2. Using a coping saw or a scroll saw, cut along the lines
3. Sand pieces smooth rounding off any sharp edges.
4. Glue and clamp down dowel cap for the eye
* If you wish to paint this project, do so before gluing down the eye
Did you Know?...
Blade Lubricant Sticks extend the life of your blades. A special blend of oils and wax helps protect saw blades from heat damage and clogging. Keeps blades sharper longer. They can be used on band saw, scroll saws and coping saw blades- and more!
Nail Puzzle
What you see here is nothing more then a tiangular piece of wood that holds 11 nails. In short, a fancy nail holder. But give this to your friend and say "bet you can't balance 10 nails on top of the top one without them falling over" and you'll get that "What? You mean this thing actually does something?" look.
Your friend will be at it for hours, days, weeks or months. And may never figure it out until you give away the solution.
This nail puzzle doesn't need a tiangular base, or any wood at all for that matter. All you really need is something that will hold one nail up fairly sturdy (a wax candle, pierced through a bottle cap... whatever), and 10 nails to stack. But I am including instructions on how I made my triangle base incase you want to make one, and don't know how to go about making one of your own.
I had a 2 X 4 in my scrap pile, and Drew a 45 degree triangle on it.
Drew a line of what would be the peak and drilled a hole of the same diameter as my nails,
in the center.
Cut the triangle out using my compound mitre saw, set at 45 degrees.
Drew a line down the center, along the sides of the triangle, and marked off 5 spots equally spaced.
Drilled holes one size larger then the diameter of my nails along the side lines and where I had marked them off. One size bigger because these nails will have to be easily removed.
Once done, I sanded it smooth.
Now for the solution
1
Start by laying the nails in the manner shown
3
2
Put 4 nails on both sides, and lay your last nail on top
Carefully lift the nails up and balance on the nail that's on the top of the triangle.
Wooden Cheese
Knife Holder
What you need to make a wooden cheese wedge:
2 X 4 wood of choice (preferably light colored and minimal knots)
pencil
ruler
Drill press & drill bits
Saw of choice
Clamps
Draw a triangle onto a piece of 2X4 and draw a triangle using a pencil and a ruler. The triangle should measure about 3 1/4" at the base and about 4" high.
Using a miter saw and box or a table saw, cut a slit in the wood about 1" deep, and 3/4" away from the triangle base line
Using several different sizes of drill bits and your drill press, drill hole pockets in a random pattern. Be sure not to drill too deep.
Set your choice of saw to 70 degrees, and cut off one side of the triangle
Clamp the scrap triangle that you cut off to the side you haven't cut yet. The top should be level. Again, with different sizes of drill bits, drill pockets in a random pattern.
Cut the other side of the triangle, and clamp everything together in the same fashion shown. Make sure the side you are about to drill, is level
Cut the base of the triangle, and clamp your pieces together as shown. Drill more pockets using drill bits of different sizes
Sand your cheese wedge smooth, and apply
salad bowl finish if desired.
French style plaque
What you need to make a plaque like the one above:
wood
Drill press & a forstner Drill Bit
A Saw
Wood burner
metal straight edge
penny
Note: This is just one of many techniques of how a French style plaque can be made. The dimentions of this project can be changed to any size you desire.
Draw a 2 1/2" X 3" rectangle onto a piece of 1/4" wood, using a pencil or a marker and a ruler
Drill a hole at each corner of the rectangle using a 3/4" Forstner Drill bit.
Cut your rectangle out along the lines with your saw, and sand your piece smooth.
With a pencil, draw a border
Use a metal straight edge and a penny to help you burn your border
You're Done!
8 Easy Steps To Making Pens
Without the use of a Lathe
Ideally you would use a lathe and a turning set to turn pens,
but not everyone has the space for a large tool, or they just simply can't afford one.
Making pens is very simple, inexpensive, and doesn't require much time.
I was able to make a pen in under an hour without a lathe using the technique shown.
What you absolutely need:
A saw or any tool that can cut through 1/2" material
Drill press & a 7 mm drill bit
Pen blank
epoxy glue
pen mill
mandrel & bushings
Pen kit
Sand paper
Take a pen blank, and cut it in half using your typical
miter saw and box. Or use whatever tool you have that can cut through a piece of 1/2" material.
Step 1
Step 2
Drill a hole all the way through the center of both pieces lengthwise using a drill press and a 7 mm drill bit.
Pen blanks are basically just a strip of 5" X 1/2" X 1/2" wood or corian.
You can either cut your own out of 1/2" stock, use pieces of scrap you have laying around in your shop, or buy precut blanks.
The advantage of buying precut blanks is that you have many varieties of woods to choose from that you may have a hard time finding in your area. It also gives you a chance to to experiment with different woods before you go all out and and invest a small fortune on a wood you know nothing about.
Step 3
Glue the brass tube that comes with your pen kit to the inside of each half of the blanks using epoxy glue.
This step is pretty messy! It gets all over your hands and even gets inside the tube,
so you may want to wear a pair of gloves.
As for the glue inside the tube, use a pen mill to clean the glue out. A pen mill also squares off the ends of your pen blanks to ensure a perfect fit when it comes time to assemble your pen.
cont...
Step 4
Insert a pen mill into each of the blanks,
and turn clockwise.
Be sure to do both ends!
Step 5
Mount your pen blanks onto a mandrel, along with 3 bushings
(one on each end and one in the middle, separating the 2 blanks).
Step 6
Use a drill press and a sanding drum to rough out the shape of the pen.
I have the advantage of owning sanding drums.
If you don't have any, you can achieve step 6 by hand, by using a sander, or by using whatever tool you may have that can do the job.
Step 7
Mound your mandrel onto your drill press, and use a piece of sandpaper glued onto a piece of ply wood, to make the wood flush with the bushings.
This is what your pen blanks should look like when you're done.
If you plan on applying a finish to your pen
(like lacquer, varnish, turning wax, or even painting a design on it),
now would be the time to do it!
Step 8
The hard part is over with! Remove your blanks from the mandrel, and assemble your pen using your pen kit. Press everything together.
Your done!
Salt Dough
Greeting Cards
Materials list and instructions:
Paper for the actual card (regular white paper, construction paper, card stock, which ever you prefer, 8 1/2 X 11 or larger). Fold it to desired size.
Colored paper for the background is optional, but it does give a nice effect. You can use Origami paper, construction paper, colored photocopy paper. You can even use markers or crayons to make a background.
Glue sticks and a ruler to glue down your background paper onto the card. The ruler is used to slide out any air bubbles you may have trapped under your paper.
Salt Dough is easily made by combining 1 cup of all-purpose flour, 1/2 cup of water, and 1/2 cup of salt (adjust texture by adding more water or flour).
Tin foil is used as a working area and also serves as a cookie sheet (Salt dough can be pretty messy). Plop your Salt dough onto the tin foil and pat down till it's about 1/8" thick.
Cookie cutters are optional. You can cut shapes out using a cookie cutter, or shape your own design.
When you're finished making shapes, you can let them air dry for several days or put them in the oven at 200F for about an hour or so.
Paint your creations using acrylic craft paint, or water colors (you can also add food coloring to your dough while mixing all the ingredients together).
Hot glue your "ornament" to your card. If you used regular printer paper, you may want to glue a piece of card board under the ornament (such as the back of a paper pad) before you glue your ornament on. Just unfold your card and glue the cardboard to the back of where the ornament will be (use a glue stick and ruler to glue the cardboard down). Refold your card and hot glue your ornament to the front of your card. Write a message on the inside, and you're done!
Two Toning with Stain
Although two toning can be done on any wooden surface, I decided to use an unfinished napkin ring as an example.
I decided to use a water based stain rather then oil based. Oil based stains tend to "bleed" leaving it hard to fix.
I used "golden oak" color stain for the middle part of the napkin ring with a paint brush so that I can easily get into the groove.
Once I finished the center, it was time to do the rim and the inside of the napkin ring.
Again with the paintbrush using "fruitwood" color stain, I stained the rest.
I wiped off the excess stain with a
paper towel, and VOILA!
the two toned napkin ring is finished.
These cute acorn houses are sometimes called mosquito houses.
They are usually displayed in a small house plant, or outside in the garden.
All you have to do is drill 2 small holes (One as an entrance hole, and one for the stick), And then stain it using the Two Toning technique.
Glue your stick in and you're done!
Unfinished hardwood acorns can be found at some woodworking supply stores.
How did I get those cubes inside each other?
I'll never tell :o)
But I will let you on a little secret....
I used the two toning technique to finish it off.
Did you know? ...
You should use an acrylic bristle paint brush for any water based paint or stain. Using a brush with natrual hair bristles will result in sloppy work, because the water in the paint or stain makes the hair swell.
More free Projects and plans.
Courtesy of Rockler Woodworking
Just click on a picture,
and a new window will take you to the project page
Poker Chip Box
Music Box
6' CD/DVD TOWER
Picture Frame
Mail Truck Bank
Sudoku
Cast Iron Coffee Mill
Domino Box
Hour Glass
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