Making an LED tracing light box for creating illustrations and animations

Tools and materials I propose:

Cordless drill

Metal square

Air compressor, nail and staple gun kit

Table saw

Random orbit sander

Jointer planer

Picture frame clamp

Soldering iron kit

Heat shrinking tube

LED stripes

I made this lightbox out of pallet wood, plexiglass and LED strips. It is ideal for tracing images. You can also use it to create hand drawn animations.

First of all I cleaned my wood with a wire brush and my random orbit sander. I then flattened two edges of each board with my jointer. I passed the boards 

through the thickness planer and finally I finished squaring up my material on my table saw.

I set up a stop block on my cross cut sled and made the butt joints of the box. I then glued and nailed the box sides. I also used a picture frame clamp. 

Next I glued and nailed the cleats in place. Those cleats would hold the milky plexiglass top. I cut the plexiglass to size on my table saw. 

The bottom was just a laminated MDF piece which I also cut on the table saw.

I glued and nailed the bottom in place.

To solder all the electric parts I first coated everything with solder. It was then easy to join the jumper wires with the LED strip contacts. I connected the pluses with the pluses and the minuses with the minuses. I also added a dimmer and a power supply. I secured the LED strips in place with my hot glue gun.

Using a forstner bit I opened up a hole for the cable. I created a knot with the cable so it can’t get pulled out. I screwed the dimmer and the power supply in place and connected them with the rest of the circuit. I also added some heat shrinking tube to keep the wires nice and tidy. 

At this point my light box was ready. It is really useful for tracing images for illustrations. But the most fun part is that you can use it to create hand drawn animations.

But anyway, I hope you liked it, because that was it, see you soon with a new project video.

Disclosure: Some of the links below are affiliate links, meaning, that at no cost to you, I get a small commission if you click through and make a purchase.

How to make a simple DIY box guitar

Tools and materials I propose:

Block plane

Coping saw

Rotary tool

Chisel set

Mandolin tuning pegs

Cordless drill

Flush trim saw

Bamboo sticks

Miter box

Hand saw

Speed square

Cutting board

Hole saw

Random orbit sander

Clamp

This is the simplest string instrument I have ever made. I made it mostly out of reclaimed pallet wood.

I begun by cutting and planing my pallet wood to size. You can use pre planed clean lumber from your local wood supplier. 

I then used my miter box and a handsaw to cut the sides of my box. I cleaned any burrs using a sanding block.

I then glued and nailed the four sides of my box. 

I glued and nailed a thin MDF melamine piece in the back of my box. You can find pieces like this one on old drawers. I took mine from the back of an old bookcase. I then flush trimmed the piece with a saw. 

I filled any imperfections of the wood, using saw dust and super glue. 

The top of my instrument is a thin spruce panel. I had one in stock but you can use thin plywood or the thin sides of vegetable crates.

I found the center of the top and used a hole saw to open up the sound hole. 

I then glued a brace and a thin piece to support the bridge. Once the glue was dry, I shaped the brace with a chisel.

I made a small block on which the fretboard would be placed. To glue it in place I added two nails and cut their heads off. The nails kept the block from sliding around while glue up.

I then secured the block in place with two screws. I glued the block in such a way, so that when the top was placed it was flush with the block. 

I glued the top in place. Again I added two nails to prevent the piece from sliding around while glue up. I removed them later on.

Using an exact knife I trimmed the top flush. I finished the job with a block plane.

To make sure the top pieces where dead flat, I sanded against a sanding block which I made out of plexiglass. 

I finished sanding with my random orbit sander.

It was now time to start working on my fretboard. I gave it some round overs to make it look a bit nicer. 

I removed some material from the headstock so that the tuning pegs and the nut would stay nicely in place. First I did a series of cross cuts and then I removed the material with a chisel and sandpaper. 

The scale of my instrument is 43cm from nut to bridge. I went on an online fret calculator to find the fret positions. 

I then marked the fret positions with a pencil. I created a small groove over each fret using a saw. I then widened up the slots using a V shaped file. This provided enough glueing surface.

At this point I glued some bamboo sticks in place as fret position indicators. 

My guitar uses nylon classical guitar’s strings. So I used bamboo sticks as frets. I glued them in the slots I created earlier. I then trimmed the frets flush and leveled them with a sanding block to avoid string buzzing. 

I removed some parts from the tuning pegs so I could mark the locations of their holes. I then drilled the tuning peg holes. 

At this point I glued and screwed the fretboard in place. 

Out of a scrap piece of iroko I created a string holder. I glued and screwed it in place.

Again out of iroko I created a bridge and a nut. I shaped them with a block plane. I created the string slots with a V shaped file. 

Finally I installed the tuning pegs and glued the nut in place. 

I used a rotary tool with a sanding bit to open up the sound hole. This increases the volume of the instrument a little. I also added a string guide on the headstock.

Finally my little box guitar was ready.

It came out great. I think most people can make it using a few basic tools.

It does’t sound bad! I think it can play the blues really well.

Anyway, I hope you liked it because that was it, see you soon with a new project video.

Disclosure: Some of the links below are affiliate links, meaning, that at no cost to you, I get a small commission if you click through and make a purchase. 

How to make a DIY rustic decorative boat

I made this fishing boat out of pallet wood. It is a pretty easy DIY project you can make in a few hours with limited tools. 

This is my last video before vacations. 

First of all I lightly sanded my pallet wood with the angle grinder. I used a really cool sanding attachment that uses velcro to attach the sandpaper.

I then marked the basic template design on one board. I used my miter box to make the cross cuts with a handsaw. To make the curved cuts, I first removed much material with the saw and then sanded the rest of the shape with the grinder.

I used the first piece as a template and then made two more. I glued the pieces together. Because I did not want to wait for the glue to dry, I clamped the pieces together, pre drilled pilot holes, counter sunked them and screwed them together. 

Using similar techniques I cut the front part of my boat. I glued and nailed it in place.

I then sanded everything flush with the grinder.

To shape the front, I created a guide line and sanded the area off. I then blended the sides with the center line. 

To make the cockpit I glued and nailed three pieces together. I then used the grinder to shape and sand the piece. I glued and screwed the cockpit in place. 

I then thinned some white latex paint with water to make a stain. I applied one coat on the boat. Then I used my heat gun, to speed up the drying process. I then sanded with 100grit to remove the paint from the high spots and create the rustic effect.

I applied a second color to some areas of the boat. I then dried with the heat gun and sanded again. 

I named my boat. 

I finished my boat with two coats of water based, clear, satin varnish.

My boat was ready, it came out great. It was a really easy limited tools project.

I hope you all enjoyed this build, see you soon with new woodworking projects.

Until then, have all a nice summer!

DIY rainstick on the lathe, out of pallet wood

This musical instrument kind of mimics the sound of rain drops falling.

It is actually a wooden tube with bamboo sticks in it. It is also filled with rice. When  the rice falls it gets slowed down by the sticks and a rainy sound is produced. People used to make these from cactus. They turned the nails of the cactus inside out and filled the tube with small rocks or seeds.

I made my rainstick out of pallet wood. I used a jigsaw to remove the wood boards from the pallet.

I then used my jointing jig, to straighten one edge of my pallet boards one the table saw.

The main cylinder is made out of 12 segments. This means that the boards need to have a 15 degree bevel on each side. I created that bevel on the table saw.

I then glued the pieces of the cylinder together using blue masking tape to clamp them.

I also glued two boards together. This gave me enough material to cut out two circles for the cylinder’s caps. I cut them out on the bandsaw.

After the glue dried, I trimmed  the cylinder to size on my table saw, using my cross cut sled.

I flattened the caps and the cylinder’s edges on my disc sander.

I glued the caps to the cylinder.

I used a center finder, to find  the center of the caps.

I then screwed the face plate on the cylinder and mounted the whole piece on the lathe.

Using a spindle gouge I turned the cylinder round. I used a flat chisel to make the finishing cut.

I then sanded the piece with 100 grit sand paper.

I used a piece of cord and masking tape to mark a spiral around the cylinder. I then drilled holes for the bamboo sticks around the spiral.

I placed the bamboo sticks in place and added super glue. I flush trimmed  the sticks with a flush trim saw and then sanded the piece again moving from 100 to 320grit.

I filled the gaps using wood glue and sanding dust.

I drilled a hole on one cap to add the rice. I added the rice and then turned a plug on the lathe, which I then glued in the hole. I sanded the cap flush on my disc sander.

I then finished the piece with 3 coats of clear, satin water based varnish. I sanded between coats with 320grit sand paper.

I am really happy with the way the my rainstick came out, I hope you like it!

How to make a disc sander for the lathe

I did not have a disc sander, and I decided to make one. After watching a few other people (on you tube)  that had already converted their lathe into a disc sander, I decided to make one too.

You can watch other people’s builds here:
Dema's WoodShop
George Fotinakes
Patrick's Work Shop

I made this build with whatever scraps I had in my shop.

I begun by salvaging a few boards from a pallet, using my circular saw.

I squared the ends of the boards on my table saw, using a cross cut sled.

To create some thicker stock, I glued and clamped two boards together.

After the glue dried, I flattened the piece with my hand plane.

I cut it to size with a saw and a miter box and reduced it’s thickness, using my hand plane again. I did that in order for that piece to fit snuggly in the lathe’s runners.

I then used my angle grinder, to cut a metal piece on which I drilled a hole in the middle, using my drill press.

I then used my band saw, and cut two pieces in a way they fit together with a half lap joint. I glued those pieces together and drilled a hole on them to receive an M6 screw.

I then cut out a screw’s head with a hacksaw.

I connected the wooden block, the metal piece and the screw with butterfly nuts and washers. This is actually the base of the sander and it’s mounting mechanism.

I cut a circle on the band saw from 10mm plywood. I mounted on my face plate  and used a scrapper to turn it even all around. I then glued on a piece of sandpaper using spray adhesive. I trimmed the sand paper flush with an exact knife.

I then cut and drilled the rest of the pieces on my bandsaw and drill press.

I predrilled, counter sinked and screwed the pieces together. For the moving parts I also used M6 screws, washers and butterfly nuts.

To make the sanding platform, I cut a piece of melamine to size, using my circular saw and a guide rail. Because the cut was across the grain , I used masking tape to reduce tear-out.

I then used a 90 degree straight edge to mount the platform at 90 degrees. I screwed it in place.

My sander is ready, it works nicely with around 100 grit sand paper.

I hope you like it,it is a really useful tool to have in the shop!

How to make a rustic pallet Christmas tree

I had some pallet wood laying around, and I decided to make a Christmas tree.

First of all I roughly sanded my pallet boards with my orbital sander, using 50 grit sandpaper.

I then cut off the edges of my tree’s main branch, using my cross cut sled, on my table saw. You can also do that with a regular saw and a jitter box.

I glued and screwed my center piece of the rest of the tree. I first pre drilled some pilot holes, before screwing my piece.

I added thee screws which I connected with string, in order to have the basic triangle, of my piece’s shape. I used a chalk to trace around that triangle, my tree’s shape.

I cut out the shape of my tree with my jigsaw.

I then cut the pieces of the tree’s base using my cross cut sled, on the table saw.

I glued and screwed them together.

I marked the positions of the screws of the base and drilled the holes. I also counter sinked them to the bottom of my base.

I clamped the tree on my vise upside down, used the screws of the bottom as marking pins and predrilled the holes on the tree. 

I didn’t glue the base to the body, because I wanted to be able to take the tree apart for storage. 

I finally screwed the bottom and the main body of the tree together.

I sanded again the piece and applied three coats of clear water based satin varnish with light sanding between coats.

I wanted to add Christmas lights to the back of my tree, in order to create a back light effect.

I added screws on the back and mounted the lights on the screws, using zip ties.

My tree is ready.

Merry Christmas to all!

How to make a garden hose hanger out of pallet wood!

I found an old pallet in the garbage and I decided to make a hose hanger out of it.

First of all I disassembled the pallet using my hammer to remove the old nails. I kept only the bottom wood of the pallet because that was the only good wood on it.

I roughly joined the pieces with my block plane.

Then I cut my pieces roughly with my circular saw.

I glued the pieces together to make a panel.

Then I used my circle cutting jig and my router to cut a circle out of my panel. I used a straight bit and several light passes to avoid wood burns.

Then using a hand saw I cut the circle in half. 

I used my block plane to round over all the edges and to make things straighter when needed.

I cut a few more pallet wood with a hand saw on my miter box, to create the inside cleats.

I rounded over the cleat’s outer edges with my block plane.

I glued the piece together. To increase the strength of the piece I drilled a few pilot holes, I chamfered the edges and added screws.

I also drilled the holes for the mounting.

I lightly sanded the piece and then I applied a few coats of water based wood stain in the color of walnut.

I set my drill to hammer mode and I drilled the hole on the wall using a bit for wall drilling.

Then I hammered in the upat using my mallet and using screws I mounted the piece on the wall.

My garden hose hanger is ready!

I want to give my special thanks to BM tools for the garden hose.