Thought I’d just share a few projects I’ve made in my first explorations into woodworking over the past ~7 months or so! Plenty of mistakes made, lessons learned, and ideas for improvements, but has been a lot of fun too.
Project #1: Forest sounds box.
Little box that just plays soundscapes recorded from tropical rainforests in Borneo.
I designed the electronics (PCB, speaker choice etc) for this ages ago and had a 3D printed enclosure, but redesigned for a 2-part construction on the mini CNC for a more natural feel. Made from sapele, an off the shelf rotary encoder knob, and a 3D printed green base.
New skills: mini CNC, using fusion for CNC toolpaths
Project #2: Plant riser
Moving from the mini CNC, I started to learn how to use some of the hand tools in the workshop. To practice with the hand plane, I cut some strips of pine, planed them, then glued together. I used some of the left over sapele from the sound box project to make the feet.
New skills: hand planing, lamination
Project #3: Clock
I stuck cherry and sapele boards together, cut strips, planed, then glued to have a striped block. Then I cut the clock outline and engraved numbers using the big CNC. The mechanism sits inside a pocket CNCed into the rear.
I filled the numbers with black dyed epoxy resin, but the dye stained the wood. Surfaced the whole thing, engraved again and slightly fixed by using a clear layer of resin first followed by micah powder rather than liquid dye. Despite there being no bleed on a test scrap, on the real thing there was still some staining of the cherry.
New skills: big CNC, epoxy resin
Project #4: Digital piano stand
We (my family) got my dad a digital keyboard for his birthday - this is a stand for it. My first foray into large-ish furniture, so used MDF to make life a bit easier (and cheaper in case it ended up as scrap). All panels done on the big CNC, threaded inserts and countersunk screws to support the pocketed joints, spray painted black.
I don’t have physical access to the piano but will probably drill holes in the top table and use bolts to fix it together.
Overestimated how hard it would be to get a reasonable paint job, but underestimated how hard it would be to get a really good finish. Would seal the MDF better - especially the edges - before painting if I were to do it again.
New skills: using a chisel to square rounded CNC pockets, painting
Final note
I wouldn’t have been able to learn any of this without the incredible people of SLMS and having such affordable access to the amazing tools. Thank you to everyone who has helped already, and thank you in advance to those who are going to get roped into helping me on any future projects!
