August 10, 2025
Three weekends, two trips to the lumber yard, and one spectacular glue-up disaster later — the walnut floating shelf is finally on the wall. Learned more about French cleats than I ever expected, and the grain turned out gorgeous after a coat of Danish oil.
walnut shelving
July 27, 2025
Practised half-blind dovetails in poplar scraps all Saturday. They look like a toddler drew the layout lines, but the joints are tight and the box is sturdy. Progress over perfection — that's the whole point of the bench.
joinery hand tools
July 13, 2025
Moved the car out, swept the cobwebs, built a workbench from construction lumber and a sheet of MDF. Nothing fancy — just enough flat surface to clamp things to. Added a pegboard for the hand tools and finally have a place that isn't the kitchen table.
shop setup