Wood Projects for Beginners
You will find below some of the easiest, attractive, yet useful wood projects for beginners. The best thing about these projects is that you don’t need an entire workshop or a complete set of tools to get them done. All you need are some common wood working tools and a bit of patience. Check them out below!
Beginner Project #1 – Wooden Chopping Board
This chopping board doubles up as a serving tray, which is quite innovative. After chopping up your food on it, you can give it a quick rinse and then serve the food on top when it’s cooked.
This project will take 1 day to finish and is very easy. It’s also a cheap project since the materials will only cost less than $20.
Here are the tools and materials you will need:
- Tape measure
- Safety glasses
- Orbital sander
- Miter saw
- Jigsaw
- Forstner drill bits
- Cordless drill
- Two 5-in. x 1/2-in.-diameter dowels for the handles
- A pair of 23-1/2-in. x 1/2-in. x 3/4-in. walnut strips
- Three pieces of 20-in. x 3-1/2-in. maple boards
- And four pieces of 3/4-in. x 3/4-in.-diameter dowels
Procedure
Grab your walnut strips and drill half inch holes centered about three quarters of an inch from the ends. Clamp all five boards together. Mark the arcs or curves at the end of the boards using a pencil.
Take the boards off the clamp, saw the arcs and then sand them. Glue the board assembly together but leave the dowels (i.e. the handles) unglued.
Drill three quarter holes on each on each of the underside corners of your chopping board. Make them a quarter of an inch deep. Glue in the feet and the handles. Wipe on two coats of Butcher Block Oil.
Beginner Project #2 – Wooden Bench
Need to make something where your guests can sit on? Things don’t have to be complicated or expensive. This bench follows suit after the classic Aldo Leopold design, which is pretty streamlined. It’s so easy to make you only need two hours to work on each bench. It only requires the most basic of tools and all you need to build it is a pair of boards and 18 screws. When you’re done, each bench will cost only $25 (excluding labor of course).
Here are the tools and materials that you will need to complete this project:
- Two 10-foot 2x8s
- Exterior finish
- 2x8s
- Construction adhesive
- Speed square
- Circular saw
- Drill/driver
- Cordless
- Countersink drill bit
- 2-1/2-in. deck screws
Here are the things you need to cut out from the pair of 10 foot 2 x 8 boards:
- Rear legs – cut them out as 2×8 x 17-1/4″ make sure to make 22-1/2-degree cuts.
- For the front legs – cut out 2×8 x 36″ making 22-1/2-degree cuts on the wood.
- For the seat you need to cut out 2×8 x 42″ pieces
- Finally, for the back you need to cut out 2×8 x 45″ pieces Instructions and Assembly
Remember that you should be getting rot resistant wood. These benches will tend to be exposed to the elements, which is why they need to be tough and sturdy. Begin by cutting out the legs from the 2 x 8 x 10 foot boards. Start at one end of the board. Mark and then cut out the 22 and ½ degree cuts. You will need to cut at that angle about 5 times which will produce the four legs of this bench.
After that you need to cut out the seat and then the back rest from the 8 x 2×8 foot boards.
After that you should lay out and then assemble the sides. They should be mirror images of each other. Next, join the legs using 2 and ½ inch deck screws plus construction adhesive.
Use a countersink bit to predrill the screw holes. This will help prevent the wood from splitting. Setup the sides so that they are parallel to each other. Finally glue and screw the back and the seat into place.
Give for the glue on the assembled pieces some time to dry. As a finishing touch, coat the exterior with a stain and then let it air dry.
And that pretty much completes our wood projects for beginners. If you enjoyed working on these projects, you will surely enjoy the our other projects.
