Three Legged Table

This project could easily be done with traditional woodworking tools but a CNC takes it from a week long project down to a weekend project. With traditional jigs and fixtures to make the circle and locate the leg hardware it takes longer to get things laid out and even with a drill press if you are off even a bit the hardware doesn't fit properly. With a CNC I was able to precisely locate the four holes for each leg and size the holes to sub millimeter precision to ensure the threaded inserts fit perfectly. I was also able to make three-leg and four-leg versions. I could probably cut out a half dozen of them in an evening and do the finishing the following day.

The tops for two of the tables are cherry and the third one is poplar. The poplar was just a prototype and I had some 2 inch stock laying around. I wanted the tops to be beefy. The taller table is 18 inches and the shorter one is 24 inches. After I CNC'd the circle and cut out the holes for the inserts I use the router table to cut a 22.5 degree chamfer on the underside. It provides a lighter look for the thick top. The legs are metal and purchased off of Amazon which has a lot more selection than just hairpin legs. Finish was Rubio Mono-Coat which is now my favorite finish even though it is a bit expensive. They are of course not designed to be sat on but they are surprisingly sturdy considering their light look. 

 

Coffee Bar

I wanted to make a tea box but we didn’t have room for a tea box on the counter. Then my wife and daughter started making fancy drinks with syrup and we had those syrup bottles on the counter. Then my wife started making coffee at home with our very old drip coffee maker and that needed a place on the counter. That was the last straw. Time to make a coffee bar. I started by figuring out what I wanted to do for the fridge. Previously we had a chest freezer in this location and it was my intention to buy a two drawer freezer to replace it. Turns out small undercounter freezers are incredibly expensive. I suspect because they are a niche market for large custom homes. I switched directions and went with a drink fridge instead. Another issue we have is too many drinks in our main fridge and rather than have a second fridge in the garage the plan was to move the chest freezer to the garage and install a drink fridge here. Once I knew that it was quick work to figure out the dimensions of the space. The wall is straight in this spot but curves off to the right so I maximized the drawer width and set the depth to align with what the fridge needed.

The cabinets are made of poplar and birch plywood and painted white. For a small project like this a I prime with a roller and then use a few cans of semi-gloss spray paint which gives a nice finish. The top was white oak which was surprisingly expensive even though it wasn't quartersawn. I did some projects with this wood a few years ago and it was much cheaper. There was already power for the fridge and I ran the led lights from a transformer in the cabinet to the shelf above and used a remote for the light switch. That door has a sliding door so I couldn't really run wires. I used a metal bracket for the floating shelf. I was amazed at how much tea and coffee we owned in other cabinets. It barely fit. 

Tea Box

I've wanted to build a simple tea box for a while but never had any place to store it which is why my next post will describe the coffee bar I designed and built. I thought about going bigger but I wanted to keep it on the counter so I figured more compact would be better. Each of the squares is wide enough to hold your standard tea bag in a package and there are six spaces. The idea is you can present this to your guest to allow them to pick out the tea they want. I did mess up a bit when I built it and it wasn't as deep as I intended. I measured incorrectly and was off by a half inch. Turned out okay though as I just don't cram the tea in and they lay down a bit which is better for viewing the packaging anyway.

The wood is Sapele and I wanted something interesting for the top and went with a subtle Disney theme. The box lid is set in grooves as is the plywood bottom. The hardware was brass hinges and I had some 1/8 inch brass lying around so I decided to make my old lid lift hardware. It's just a brass plate with a curved front inlaid into the lid with countersunk holes for the screws. It's very effective for how the box is used since it mostly stays where it is and you just need to lift the lid. Finish was a wipe-on poly. 

 

Coffee Bar Sign

In a later post I will explain the steps that lead to deciding to build a coffee bar but this post is focused on the Coffee & Tea sign for the coffee bar. I'd recently seen some white oak and white epoxy signs and really liked the look. I wasn't sure how epoxy and white oak would behave but I had a few tricks to reduce risk. For some woods, epoxy can bleed through the grain but white oak is very close grained. In addition after I carved the lettering I sprayed on several coats of poly before pouring the epoxy. The only issue I had was there was still some holes in the wood and I got a lot of bubbling that happened during the cure despite using a heat gun. Next time I will use a wash coat of epoxy first. Still turned out great!
 

Battery Storage Tray

Another win for owning a CNC. We have a drawer in our China cabinet where we put all of our batteries and inevitably they get thrown around and start to touch and start to leak. We also will get free sets of batteries at our grocery store and we lose track of which ones are the oldest so we use those ones first. This was a quick evening project and simply involved measuring the types of batteries I wanted to store and doing a layout that fit the drawer. We did have some older C and D size batteries but realized we hadn't used those since our kids needed them for various toys so I focused on the AA and AAA as well as the 9-Volt that we use for things like smoke detectors and water sensors. there was room at the front for the miscellaneous button batteries for things like alarm sensors. A quick coat of spray poly and the project was done. I was briefly worried I might be connecting the batteries in series through the wood but so far so good. Even if they do leak, the chemicals will be contained. Things could get out of hand quickly if I think about all the custom inserts for drawers I can now create. 
 

Glow in the Dark Clock

The purpose for this project was two fold. I wanted to design and build a simple wooden clock and I wanted to prove that those videos of brilliant blue, glow in the dark wood tables was likely not what they looked like in reality. The clock was cut on the CNC. I cut the lettering and the hole from the front and then made a space in the back for the clock mechanism with a separate carve from the back. I then filled all the lettering with glow in the dark pigmented epoxy. You can of course view it very clearly in the dark if you shine a black light on it for a few minutes to charge it but it fades quickly. Would probably work nicely for a cosmic bowling lane. Still looks good as just an epoxy filled clock pattern. 
 

Dishwasher Tags

I work for the local Electric utility and work in Information Technology so I'm in the office at least a couple times a week. We used to have this ratty old sign for the dishwasher to indicate whether the load is clean or dirty. In an office environment it's fairly consistent that someone comes along and opens the door thinking it's a dirty load. To fix this I made a wooden magnet that includes a 'Clean' and 'Dirty' sign on each side. When you turn the dishwasher on you place this over the handle and indicate it's 'Clean'. That way someone knows to empty the dishwaher if the cycle is complete. I've made a few of them and secretly placed them on a few floors.