Design with White Pine: Plans for Three DIY Furniture Projects

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Have you checked out all the pine plans at carpenter Ana White’s website? Based in Alaska, White is probably best known for her imaginative tiny house designs, which include incredible space-saving modifications like an automated elevator bed that rises and lowers at the push of a button. But her website is also packed with inspiration and detailed plans for all sorts of projects, created by White herself or submitted by users. We found three examples that make use of beautiful white pine, from an easier console table to a more complex storage bed. Care to try your hand?

Beginner Level: Pine Console Table

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Modeled on the expensive Hyde Console Table at Pottery Barn, this ‘knockoff’ costs a mere $50 to build yourself, and it’s not too difficult. Though it’s listed as an intermediate project, it’s definitely doable as long as you have a minimum of carpentry experience. This one is left unfinished to allow the pine to age and weather naturally, but you could always paint it or stain it if that’s your preference.

Intermediate Level: Rustic X Coffee Table

rustic x coffee table

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Ready for a sturdy handmade coffee table with a beautiful rustic look? Ana White’s Rustic X Coffee Table is one of her most popular projects, with a surface made of 2”x6” stud-length boards. User Aleeman27 posted images of his version, made of raw white pine and coated with Cabot Natural Stain with glossy polyurethane for a mirror shine.

Expert Level: White Pine Storage Bed

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White’s Farmhouse Storage Bed with Drawers packs lots of storage into a compact space, and it’s the kind of solid, durable furniture you can pass down as an heirloom. She notes that it’s best not to attempt this bed if you’re a beginner, because “for the drawers to work, you must build perfectly square, and all cuts must be square and straight.” In the photo above, a user named Wisconsin Woodworker shows off their interpretation made of local white pine sourced from the Wisconsin Northern State Fair grounds in Chippewa Falls.

Young Woodworking Professionals Competition 2018: Check Out the Entries!

young woodworking

The Woodworking Network’s Young Woodworking Professionals Week kicks off today, January 8th, and there’s already a lot to see! The annual competition celebrates outstanding projects created by young makers aged 18-35, who submit their entries via the hashtag #YWPweek on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook. This open entry process is pretty cool for us spectators, allowing us to easily check out all the goods before winners are chosen.

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The competition is open to any type of project, including furniture, cabinetry, millwork and sculpture. Wanna vote on your favorites? Head to the Woodworking Network’s Facebook page this week, through January 12th. The Top 5 will be recognized at Wood Pro Expo Charlotte, and the winner will be announced on February 15th at 4pm at the Woodworking Network’s Wood Pro Expo booth.

Here are some of the entries contestants have shared:

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Top photo: A previous award-winning creation by Martin Goebel.

Watch an Expert Woodworker Carve Perfect Fibonacci Spirals with a Hand Chisel

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Woodworking is a prime example of how math is used in real-life scenarios, proving that these skills are useful long beyond test-taking in school. Woodworkers often have to learn all sorts of formulas and calculations to get the proportions of their creations just right – but the Fibonacci sequence – a series of numbers in which each one is the sum of the two numbers before it – isn’t seen quite as often as others. When you make a square with these widths (0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21 and so on…) you get a beautiful spiral.

fibonacci sequence

In this short but immensely satisfying video, expert woodworker Paul Sellers shows us what it takes to create perfect Fibonacci spirals with a razor-sharp hand chisel.

Though Fibonacci developed his numerical sequence to provide a formula that’s used throughout many mathematical considerations, and mathematicians may enjoy its reality in their work, it also occurs naturally in elements of nature too. The nautilus shell is an example and so too the natural numbering system appears in the arrangement of plant leaves, pinecones, pineapple cones, rose petal arrangements and so much more. The scroll in the violin range of instruments relies on the same system. Though technically not a Fibonacci sequence, I thought you would enjoy what we put together here where we combine the art of woodworking with the art of video craft. Enjoy and share!

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Weekend Project: How to Build a White Pine Farmhouse Table

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Here’s a fun Eastern White Pine woodworking project you can complete in a weekend: a rustic farmhouse dining table. The site ‘DIY Projects with Pete’ will guide you through the whole process of building this gorgeous wooden table out of 4×4, 2×4 and 2z10 lumber. As Pete says, “The large beams give this table a bold look and make the table as solid as a tank.” Modified from a plan found on Ana-White.com, a source for hundreds of free woodworking plans,  the table is long and wide enough to accommodate the whole family.

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Like traditional tables, this one is built to last, so you can hand it down to subsequent generations of your family. The project takes about a day to assemble and finish, and calls for a power drill, miter saw, Kreg jig, orbital sander and clamps along with the screws and wood. Every single step is meticulously photographed and documented, including the addition of two benches finished with steel wool and vinegar for a weathered appearance.

Nightingale Floors: Simple Technique Turns Floorboards Into an Alarm System

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Here’s a fun flooring fact for building geeks: a type of flooring called ‘nightingale’ or uguisu-bari uses a special structure to make noise when an unknowing intruder walks across it, warning of their presence. They got their nickname because they seem to ‘sing’ in response to pressure when the mechanism is activated. Developed in Japan to guard treasures against approaching ninjas, the most famous example of uguisu-bari can be seen in Kyoto’s Nijo Castle.

The mechanism intentionally places planks of wood atop a framework of supporting beams loosely enough to enable a bit of play. When even a tiny amount of pressure is applied, flooring nails rub against a jacket or clamp, creating chirping noises that sound like little birds.

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In fact, the quieter people try to walk, the louder the sounds. The floors are pretty complex, and not everyone could afford them, so they’re most often found in seats of power, and are still in use today.

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The joints look like upside-down V-shapes when spotted under the Nijo Castle walkway, which was built during the Edo period in 1679. It’s said that when a commander visited the castle, bodyguards would be stationed in hidden doorways, waiting for signs of potential trouble. Guards and allies learned a special way of walking on them in a set rhythm so they weren’t mistaken for intruders.

6 Sculptural Tree Trunk & Log Staircases to Spur Your Imagination

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Rustic stairs that retain the feel of a living tree act as a sculptural centerpiece, bringing the sense of connection to nature into a building’s interior. While they’re most often found in log cabins, timber frame homes and tree houses, tree trunk and log-based staircases look incredible integrated with all sorts of architectural styles. These 6 examples might just give you some ideas for your next project.

The rugged beauty pictured above can be found in a two-story coastal Eastern White Pine log cabin in Trinity, Texas, which is currently for sale.

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The ‘Signature’ spiral stair by Stairmeister Log Works features a log column with an optional root flare intact at the base for a treehouse-like effect. The company also builds circular and straight-run stairs around rustic tree trunks.

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A 42-foot-tall tree supports the single-stringer stairs on this incredible thee-story log staircase by Bill Miller. “The railings serve as trusses to provide strength and stability to each log tread,” he says. “The railings were all built in place.

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Carved right into a single log, this steep staircase at the ‘Crazy House’ in Vietnam probably wouldn’t pass muster with building inspectors in the United States, but it’s an interesting idea.

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Built around a pile of stacked logs, this unusual staircase can be found in one of AirBnB’s most popular tree houses.

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Smith Built Inc. created this log staircase for a custom home in the South Sound area of Washington State.