TV Stand - Giving it a try...

My wife had been asking me for a while to try out a TV Stand from the Craftsman Drive website. After reviewing the plans and the part list I went to the Home Depot and picked everything up.

Luckily I brought my (sedan) truck along and was able to fit it all in...barely...HA!

   

As a quick side note, from what I could tell, the following are the GRK screws that were listed on the supply list from the site where I got the plans from.

      

I tried using structural screws for the pocket holes but found out that the head of the screws were too large in diameter to fit so I ended up just using the Trim Head Screws. Best I could tell I got the wrong screws. I was able to use them in a few places later on but had to get creative.

I started out by cutting 4 legs and 2 cross pieces from the 2x4s at 32 inches and 17 inches respectively.

   

I predrilled the ends of the 32-inch legs and used the trim screws to attach them to the 17-inch cross pieces.

      

I then cut two 2x4s to 69 inches and attached them to the two sets of legs with pocket holes and the trim screws.

      

I then attached the first shelf made of the 2x2s and 1x8s.

               

I then flipped the table over so I could add the shelf supports. No pocket holes on this one. I just used short screws and screwed it into the bottom of the shelf.

Next was adding the supports to the top of the table. After drilling the pocket holes in the two 2x4 supports I used two thin boards and my claps to hold the support in place. I put the pocket holes towards the top so that when I put the douglas fir on top you wouldn't be able to see the holes.

      

 And finally...the top 2x8s were secured into place.

   

Time for sanding. I am pretty sensitive to dust so for extra protection I got myself a respirator and some filters from Amazon. The great thing with this respirator is that you can interchange with all types of filters for different types of projects. I didn't take pictures of all of the sanding but I did take a few pictures of how I finished the legs. I beveled the edges to keep it from splintering later. I liked how it turned out.

         

After further contemplation, I decided the table wasn't secure enough to hold up under the number of kids we had in our house. I was pretty sure that if my 4-year-old climbed onto the shelves that they would break. I decided to add two additional 1x3 braces for each shelf. I also added to more 2x4s to each side of the center of the table. It helped a lot. It still was 100% secure but it was much better and I was confident it would hold up to possibly being used as a playground. LOL

Ah, looking good. I brought it in the garage (door open) to stain and coat with polyacrylic.

 I have used the MiniWax Weathered Oak stain on several projects now and really like it a lot. There is some grey color paint added to it that gives it the weathered look. Just make sure if you try it to use a paint mixer to get the paint off the bottom as it tends to settle under the stain.

      

 After the second coat of poly I brought the table in and added some protective pads to keep the table from scratching the flooring. I put two on each leg for good measure...this table is super heavy.

 Put it in front of the TV...check out the details on the shelves. Some great character and the stain really brought out the colors.

 DONE!!! Let me know what you think.

 

First Build - .223 / 5.56 (ArmaLite Rifle-15 or AR-15)

Shooting and guns weren't one of my families interests growing up. I went shooting with friends a few times but it wasn't until after I was adult and became interested in small game hunting that I purchased my first gun.

My first purchase was a Remington 870 Express Super Magnum for use with quail and dove hunting. I got the Magnum for the option of being able to shoot 3.5-inch shells for turkey hunting. I got it in black synthetic and have been extremely happy with it. At some point, I would like to upgrade to an over-under or semi-auto. Since it was my first gun and I wasn't sure if I would like shooting and hunting I started with a solid budget model. I did a lot of research and it was between a Mossberg 500 and the Remington 870. I heard great things about both but ended up choosing the Remington.

After that, I acquired a .357 Ruger Vaquero Blued Single-Action Revolver and a Remington 770 .30/06 scoped in camo.

In February I decided to try out buying and building my first AR-15. As a point of clarification, "AR" does not stand for "assult rifle". It stands for "ArmaLite Rifle" after the original manufacturer or this style of sporting rifle in 1956. I was mostly concerned that with all of the regulation in-work to ban sporting rifles that I might not have a chance. I learned a whole lot and found out that piecemealing together cheap parts wasn't necessarily the cheapest way to go. Palmetto State Armory has some great deals on kits that you can still assemble for a great price. As of the time of this writing, they had kits ready for assembly starting at $299.99. My build cost me roughly $500. This is still a great deal on an AR-15 but if I was going for cheapest there were definitely some other options.

I started by assembling my Anderson lower receiver with the lower parts kit. I had a small issue with the magazine release not fitting but I was able to return it to the store and got a new one. Next, I got the stock and buffer tube kit which I installed onto the back of the lower receiver. The upper receiver and the upper receiver parts kit was next.

The final assembly took place after I attached the barrel to the front of the upper receiver and installed the gas block/gas tube, floating handguard, and muzzle brake/compensator.

Then it was simply a matter of sliding in the bolt carrier group and charging handle and then attaching the total upper assembly to the lower receiver.

Overall I was very happy with the end product.

I will be receiving the front and back pop-up sites in a couple of days. Once I do I will take it to the range and see how it shoots. I will provide updates as I get them.

Please let me know if you have any questions to get you started building your own rifle.

Kitchen Shutters

I was looking around on Pinterest one day and came across the idea for some country style window shutters (click here). I really liked the look and figured it would be something easy to try out.

First I took the measurements and then designed what I wanted in an Excel spreadsheet.

The original plan was to build it out of 1x6 common board from Home Depot (Model # 914762/ Internet # 202074481/ Store SKU # 914762) and cut it down to the right dimensions. However, when I got to the store I found that Home Depot had started carrying 1x5 common board. It was cheaper and would require less work for me to cut down on the table saw. Perfect! I also picked up some Tee Hinges (Model # 15032/ Internet #202034066/ Store SKU #102024), four black heavy duty decorative strap hinge (Model # 15024/ Internet #202034146/ Store SKU #101974), two light duty door pulls (Model # 15447/ Internet #202034078/ Store SKU #831328), and a small decorative eye and hook clasp.

Unfortunately I did not know that I would be blogging about this later so did not take a lot of pictures of the process. It was pretty simple though. I cut the 6 ft long 1x5s in half and laid the eight pieces next to each other and then one across the top and bottom. I made sure they were square and then marked the two crossing boards where I would need to cut them. Once they were cut I lined the boards up and ensured that they were square with my large metal square. If they are not aligned properly they will not fit into the window properly when you reconnect them with the hardware.

I then attached the boards with a nail gun. The nails didn't hold as well as I hoped so I ended up attaching wood screws through the back to secure everything together. Once attached I had the kids take some screw drivers and other tools and beat up the different pieces of wood to add some character. Then I painted the boards with some leftover white paint from another project. After the paint dried I took some sand paper to the edges of the boards to give it some additional wear. Then I took some stain and ran it along the edges and wiped off the residue.

The last thing was to attach the hardware. It really started taking shape with the hardware. Here is what it looked like before I installed in the kitchen.

Here is the view from the front.

Here is close-up from the front.

Here is the detail from the back. Love the black on white. Screw holes add some additional characters too.

When I went to hang the shutters in the window I realized that because the corners were rounded it would be difficult to attach the hardware to the walls. To get around this I took some 1x3s and attached them to the outside edge of the window sill to create square edges. I then attached the shutters to the 1x3s.

It turned out very nicely and with the light that was blocked in the afternoon this area became one of the coolest rooms in the house.

Here is the window with the shutters opened.

Here is the final product with the wall around the window freshly painted and some plants from IKEA as a finishing touch.

Hope you enjoyed how it turned out as well as I did. Please let me know if you end up trying it yourself. It is always neat to see what others try and the variations.