I’ve long been fascinated with woodworking. This past weekend I tackled an incredibly simple project with some scrap plywood from some shelving I put into one of our closets (I don’t consider that a woodworking project since there was zero polish involved).

This was a great first project because my tools are limited and it’s stupidly basic.

I present you my new monitor stand!

Lessons learned:

  • Countersunk drill bits take practice. I thought this would be set it and forget it, but you need to pay attention to depth otherwise…
  • Wood plugs are hard to get right. Leave too much to sand and it’ll be a bitch. Leave too little and you’ve missed the point.
  • Not all plywood is created equally. This is the best stuff available at Home Depot, but the outside layer was more of a veneer and sanded or chipped off with very little effort. We have some plywood construction at my office with THICK layers all the way through. I need to find nicer wood (TWSS).
  • It’s very difficult to make straight cuts with a circular saw. I sanded a whole bunch, but no matter how hard I tried I couldn’t get things perfectly flush. Might look into purchasing a guide.
  • Use painters tape where you’re making your cuts (assuming you have a crappy saw), otherwise you’re going to mangle your wood (TWSS).

The next project will be a much larger one that I want to get close to perfect. A BOOKSHELF FOR THE NURSERY. I don’t know when I’ll get to it, but I do think I’ll seek out a friend with a table saw or borrow one from the tool library if they’re available.