Words On Wednesday

In the past few months, I’ve built quite a few different things with some tools, some lumber, and my own two hands. I guess I’m becoming something of a casual woodworker. One quick and easy project that I definitely see myself completing again is this neat little  Leopold bench that’s super quick, super cheap, and super sturdy. The “ Rogue Engineer ” Jamison Rantz has some incredible woodworking plans with very detailed instructions and a cut list that you would have to actively try to mess up. You buy the lumber, mark it according to his diagrams, and cut it. It literally doesn’t get any easier. The one note that I would provide is that an 8’ board may not be EXACTLY the advertised length. Ours were something in the ballpark of 8’1” and I ended up shaving a little bit off the end of each to get exactly 48” for the seat and back. If you wanted to really maximize the size of the bench and minimize waste, you could measure the boards and cut them exactly in half (provided the two bo...

I’ve gotten a little more handy with woodworking in the past few years, and I recently made a king size bed that I’m really proud of. The whole thing started when my wife and I got a king mattress and we were looking into options for the bed. After we sold our house, we tossed our queen bed and mattress. They were both pretty beat up and we were interested in getting a king size anyway because of how often the kids end up in the bed with us. Figured it’s one less thing to move and store. We got a king mattress (I’m not above sleeping on a mattress on the floor) and decided we would postpone the bed for a little while. I don’t know if y’all realize, but beds are expensive. We looked at a couple of beds at a few different stores and none of them really fit what we wanted. They were either prohibitively expensive, they looked like they would break if I sat down on them too hard, or both. I’m a big guy and I’ve broken beds several times before. I want something that would hold up to plenty...