Tracey and I decided that we wanted something a little different for our living room coffee table, and wanted a couple matching side tables as well – something I don’t think we’ve had in the last 25+ years!
So I started looking at various designs, and tried drawing one up myself – but ended up finding a design through the magazine Fine Woodworking. As it turns out, Fine Woodworking also sold plans for the coffee table, that also included a Google Sketchup file. So, I purchased the plan, and then duplicated and modified it to come up with a design for a matching side table.
The coffee table is a Mission-style – I’m simplifying a couple sections, and I’m also going to look at building in USB charging ports into the side tables – probably along with an outlet to plug in a table lamp. Another change is adjusting the height of the shelf, to provide clearance for Tracey’s Roomba.
The side tables will be the same width as the coffee table, and a couple inches taller.
Went and picked out a bunch of oak to get the project started, a combination of quartersawn white oak, and some red oak. The white oak is being used to build up the legs. Did some miscalculation in our heads while at the store, meaning we had to make a second trip to get more lumber – which brought the cost up to almost $800 just in oak!
Category Archives: Hobbies
Denison Barbs in the Aquarium
I’ve seen these fish a few times, and really like their colour, schooling behaviour, and overall activity. Tried making a deal at Big Al’s a couple weeks ago, but they wouldn’t sell them to me. Yesterday they had a sale, 25% off all fish, so I went in to see if they had any left, and I was in luck.
They look awesome in the tank, and it seems the other fish have altered their behaviour a little – the school of Black Tetra’s are out in the open more, swimming along with the Denison barbs, even though they’re 1/3 their size. We have a school of Siamese Algae Eaters that tend to be a little shy until feeding time, but they are out a lot more, swimming along with their new tank mates.
The new fish may grow as large as 6″, currently, they’re around 2.5″ to 3″.
There are a number of names they go by, Indian Flasher Barbs, Roseline Sharks, or Denison’s Barb. The scientific name is Sahyadria denisonii.
The Roof is Done
Well, surprisingly, it was a lot more difficult to find the corrugated steel that I had initially planned on using as a roof material.
Continue reading The Roof is Done
A roof for the pizza oven
This past weekend I started to build a roof for the pizza oven. I was debating whether to use pressure treated lumber or cedar when Home Depot made up my mind for me putting cedar on sale (15% off) – making it the less expensive option.
Continue reading A roof for the pizza oven
Beautiful bread boards!
This past Christmas, Chef Michael Smith showed a great looking bread board in a prize package he was putting together. The board was a demi-baguette board, made by Apple & Acorn Woodworking, in Ontario.
I ordered one as a birthday gift for my Mom, and she loves it! the craftsmanship of these boards is excellent, with a flawless finish, and there are rubber feet on the underside, so that the board doesn’t slide around on you. The board was well packed, and shipped via Canada Post, which was very reasonable. A nice added touch is that the board is inside a burlap bag, which will be useful if you need to store the board in a cupboard. My mom is going to find a spot in their kitchen to hang the board up and display it though – it’s really too beautiful to tuck away 🙂
