DIY hexagonal waste bin

I had a few melamine shelves laying around and I decided to upcycle them to a scrap bin for my shop. The bin's design is something like an extruded hexagon. That kind of shape is fairly easy to make and it's space efficient.

Each side of the hexagon must have a 60 degree bevel. To do that I tilted the blase of my table saw at 30 degrees.

I cut the bevels in both sides of all my boards. This way, when to boards are united, they create a 120 degree angle. A hexagon has 6 120 degree angles.

I joined my boards using glue and biscuits. I used my biscuit joiner yo create the slots on all boards. Before that I marked all my pieces so I knew which board goes where.

I glued the sides in 3 pairs first. After the pairs where dry I glued them all together. Clamping was tricky at that point, so I used a few ring clamps to hold everything together.

I then cut a piece of melamine on the band saw to create the bottom of my bin.

I screwed it in place after first making pilot holes. I used my flush trim saw to cut it flush with the sides of the bin.

I also screwed  4 wheels in place.

I then used my band saw to cut a piece of plywood for the bin’s top. To cut the inside piece I made entry holes on my drill press and cut the inside with my scroll saw. I cut that flange a bit bigger than I had to. 

I nailed it temporarily in place. I used a flush trim bit on my router and trimmed the flange flush with the rest of the bin.

I then secured the flange in place with screws. I predrilled and counter sinked the holes before adding the screws.

I filled gaps and imperfections with wood filler. After it dried I sanded everything with a sanding block.

I then designed a handle on a piece of plywood and cut it out on the band saw. I used the first handle as a guide to make another one.

I screwed the handles in place.

I gave the whole piece a couple of coats of grey acrylic paint.

My bin was now ready, I hope you liked it.

DIY picture frame on the table saw

I wanted to make a picture frame, using the table saw as my primary tool. 

I used spruce and walnut for this project.

I begun by ripping  a 2x4 to size using my table saw. I used an 8mm piece of plywood to measure the height of my blade using a caliper. After I adjusted the height of my blade I created a groove on my picture frame’s sides. 

I moved the fence over a couple of times and I repeated the cut. This way I extended my groove to size. I also used a chisel, to clean up a few miss cuts of the blade.

To created the miters for the corners using my miter sled. I also marked which miter matches which, because this procedure might get a bit confusing.

I applied glue to the joints, and used my picture frame clamp to glue the frame together.

I used my spline jig to make cuts in the corners for the splines. I ripped a piece of walnut to size. I planed it down to size, using my block plane upside down on a vise. I cut the splines to size with my cross cut sled and a stop block.

The splines where now ready to be glued in place. They have to fit snugly, so I used a mallet to force them in place.

While the glue dried, I used my cross cut sled again, to cut a piece of laminated MDF for my picture frame’s back.

I used a glass cutter and a ruler to cut a piece of glass for my frame. I also sanded it’s edges a little bit.

At this point I cut the splines flush, using my flush trim saw. 

The splines act both as reinforcements and as a decorative element. The miters are end grain to end grain glued together, which is not a strong joint. That is why we use the spines. It is nice to use contrasting woods for the frame and the splines. This way the splines look nicer.

I used my block plane to round over the edges of my frame.

I made a quick and dirty sanding block. I just stapled a piece of sandpaper on a scrap plywood piece.

I sanded the piece.

I applied three coats of water based clear satin finish to the frame. I sanded between coats.

I made two closings on the bandsaw. I made countersinked holes on them on my drill press.

I also made a hole to hang the frame.

At this point I assembled the frame and hanged it on the wall.

I think it came out nice. I hope you liked it!

How to convert old bookcases to a hanging shop shelf

I am moving to  a new shop and I had to rearrange my stuff to fit the new one. In the old shop I had two old IKEA bookcases made of melamine.

To save space, I thought it would be a cool idea to convert those cases to a hanging shelf. This way I still can fill them with a bunch of stuff but I can use the floor space for something else.

First of all I disassembled the bookcases.

Then I used my circular saw with a guide rail, to cut the carcass pieces to size.

I then used my 90 degree corner clamps, to keep the sides in place, while I predrilled pilot holes and screwed them in place.

I then used again my circular saw to cut the pieces for the spacers. On the spares I cut out a piece in order for the french cleat to sit it.I made that cut on the bandsaw. I used the first piece to mark the others.

After I fitted the spacers in place, I used my square to make sure that they sit straight. I added a clamp to secure them and screwed them in place.

I then used my table saw to cut a strip of melamine. I tilted the blade of the table saw to 45 degrees and cut the strip in half. This is my French cleat.

I screwed one piece of the cleat on my shelf. I created countersinked holes on the other part using my drill press.

I drilled holes on the wall and hammered in a few upats.

I screwed the cleat on the wall. 

At this point I lifted the shelf and joined the two pieces of the cleat together.

With this hanging method you can secure really heavy objects on the wall.

I hope you found this build useful!

How to make a very simple workbench

I made this bench mostly to host my desktop power tools. It’s dimensions are 2x0,5m and 0,8m high.

For this project I used MDF, plywood and spruce solid wood.

First of all I cut my legs out of a 2x4. I used my circular saw and my guide rail for that job.

I then cut the other parts of the legs using my table saw and my cross cutting sled.

I clamped the pieces of the legs, made pilot holes and screwed them together.

Now I screw the long cleats with the legs. To reinforce the structure I also added another 4 cleats on the top and bottom.

The bottom panels are made of 8mm MDF and are two pieces. I measured my feet with a caliper and used my jigsaw to cut put the corners. I screwed the two panels in place.

The top is made from two 12mm plywood pieces which I also screwed in place.

My bench was now ready. 

Installing the beehive

At this point Lefteris (the beekeeper) has applied a few coats of linseed oil to all the parts of the hive. He also painted the exterior with bright colors.

Next we wood burned the number of the hive using a burning stamp.

We went to the bee place and Lefteris prepared smoke using dry pine needles to keep the bees calm.

Next he took ready made frames from a grown hive and placed them in the new one.

We examined the bees for a while and we were pretty much done.

I want to thank Lefteris and Giannis for all the help.

You can also watch how the beehive was done here:

Part A

Part B

How to make a miter sled for your table saw

This sled is actually a jig that allows you to cut accurate 45 degree miters on your table saw.

This is actually my version of Steve Ramsey’s sled. You can check out his project here.

I made my sled from a scrap piece of MDF which I cut to size on my table saw.

I then added a few washers to in my saw’s top grooves. Those act like spacers. I measured the distance from top to washer with a caliper and transferred my measurement to the tabs saw’s fence. Then I cut my sled’s rails from a piece of wood who’s thickness is the same with the grooves of the saw.

I added the rails in the grooves, applied glue and added the top. I also glued two MDF pieces to make a security block for the blade.

After a couple of hours, the glue was dry enough to add screws. I predrilled and counter sinked the holes, before adding the screws.

I made my first cut with the sled. I cut about half the way. I then used the 45 degree angle of a triangle against the blade and marked a line. 

I applied glue and added the first fence of my sled, parallel to the line I drew before. After a couple of hours I cut the excess material of the fence. 

I used the first fence to cut the miter of the other one. Again the same procedure only this time I use a 90 degree square to make sure that the two fences are facing each other at exactly 90 degrees.

I used a saw to cut off the excess rails. I then secured the fences in place with counter sinked screws.

I used my cross cut sled to cut the security block to size. I glued and screwed it in place.

In order for the sled to roll nicely, I applied a couple of coats of beeswax and olive oil finish on the rails.

I make another half way cut and my sled is ready.

The way the miter sled works is fairly simple. You make the first cut on one side of the fence. To make the other cut you place the other piece on the other fence. This way when you bring your two miters together you get an accurate 90 degree angle!

I hope you find it useful!

How to make a spline jig for the table saw.

I wanted to make a jig for making splines. I want to use splines to reinforce 45 degree mitered joints that are usually end grain to end grain. This technique is really useful especially in making picture frames and boxes. 

I used a scrap piece of 20mm thick plywood. The jig will be fitted on my table saw’s fence. I made my measurements using a caliper and cut all my pieces to size.

For the cross cuts, I used my cross cut sled and stop blocks when needed.

I glued and screwed the pieces of my jig’s base. I predrilled and countersinked all the holes on my drill press.

I used a compass and a 90 degree square to find the center of my base. I then used the 90 degree corner of a triangle as a guide to glue and screw two stop blocks. I used a handsaw to trim the edges flush with the jig’s base.

Now, I was ready for a test. I made a wooden corner and clamped it on my jig. I adjusted the table saw’s fence and made my first cut. I then flipped the piece over and made another cut.

I used a caliper to find the width of my cut and cut a piece of spline on my bandsaw. The spline was a bit snug. So i clamped my block plane upside down on my vise and planed the thin spline down to the width that I wanted.

I applied glue to my joint and added the splines. After the glue was a bit dry, I used my flush trim saw to cut the splines flush. I then used a sanding block to finish my joint.

I hope you find this jig useful.

Off course many people have made jigs like that. Check out a few of them here:

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Nick Ferry

Jay Bates

Jon Peters Art & Home