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The bathroom cabinet is my own design, although I referred to an antique cabinet we use as a TV cabinet for basic design concepts. It is made out of Maple, and is stained with a 50/50 blend of Minwax Red Oak and MinWax Jacobean stains. Because it was going into a bathroom, I finished the cabinet off with Minwax's Durable Helmsman Satin Polyurethane. I jointed the boards using a biscuit joiner.
The knife tray is my first project. I got the plans from the internet (I don't remember which website now). It is made from poplar, was stained with MinWax Red Oak stain, and I used Minwax Fast Drying Satin Polyurethane. This is the first time I had to use the compound functionality of my compound miter saw.
Steve writes - This shaker two-step stool is made out of red oak, and was finished with red oak stain and three coats of exterior-grade satin polyurethane. I used this project to learn dovetail construction techniques. The plans for this project came from Thomas Moser's excellent book, How to Build Shaker Furniture
Steve writes - I designed this CD rack myself. To save table space, I incorporated the subwoofer into the design. I built this project to learn how to cut dado slots, and to learn rabbet joinery. The dimensions are 12” wide x 5 ½” deep x 20 ½” high. It is made from Poplar, stained with Minwax Red Mahogany and finished with Minwax Fast Drying Satin Polyurethane.
Steve writes – I designed this quilt rack myself, it is made out of Cherry. It measures 39 ½” wide x 3” deep x 5” high. Because Cherry darkens quickly when exposed to sunlight (I set this project outside on three or four sunny days — that's all it took to bring out the rich dark color you see above), it didn't require stain.
This was also my first project using a hand-rubbed finishing technique. I applied four coats of boiled linseed oil and three coats of carnauba wax, as described in Thomas Moser's book, How to Build Shaker Furniture. This provided a beautiful finish that can't be equaled using polyurethane products.
