How-To: Plycycle!
Instructables user LongToe, inspired by design student John Hobson, borrowed tools and techniques from plywood kayak construction to make this beautiful laminated Baltic birch bicycle frame. Best of all, he shows us how.
woodworking
Making a steamed-wood bench
This awesome video shows furniture maker extraordinaire Mike Jarvi creating one of his signature steamed-wood benches from a single slab of wood. The video documents the several-month-long process, from chainsawing the log to finishing the bench. Great filmmaking and soundtrack, too. Rock n’ roll woodworking! [Thanks, Eric!] Mike Jarvi
How-To: Make Organically-Shaped Gears
MAKE subscriber Dug North writes in to share this video tutorial on how to make gears with unusual contours.
Nice DIY bedframe design
With the exception of my couch, every piece of furniture in my home is something I built, or heavily modified, myself. This is both a source of personal pride and a bit of a pain, because if I want more furniture for whatever purpose, I’m sort of obliged, at this point, to build instead of buying. My mattress has been on the floor for years, but lately I’ve been thinking it’s time to commit to building a bedframe. Which is why this solid, minimalist, simple-tools design by Instructables user wholman caught my attention. It’s an entry in their ongoing Woodworking Contest.
Turning a hollow spiral candlestick
We’ve talked internally before about the fact that many of us are mesmerized by tutorial videos, even when we know nothing about the subject being demonstrated. I don’t know from woodworking, but I had a great time watching this five-part series on turning a hollow spiral candlestick on a router mill. Okay, so I might […]
A Sawhorse to Write Home About
I’ve mentioned my friends Scott Constable and Ene Osteraas-Constable here before, and gushed adoringly about their work. Recently, Scott’s ruminations about the ideal characteristics of the venerable sawhorse, along with a photo of some beautiful “indoor sawhorses” he’s made, seemed like good fodder for another mention. Scott writes: During the rainy season, projects would occasionally […]
DIY coffin-making
Illustration by for Len Churchill for Homemade Caskets: You Can Make a Coffin, Mother Earth News When I was 20 years old, I helped my best friend die of cancer. It was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done, and also one of the most soul-satisfying. In the grand circuitry of life, there is […]