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Cool wood working christmas ideas?

Looking for a cheap thing for christmas gifts. what are cool things i could make using a table saw? I’ve done a few chess boards what else could you do?

I like making log cabin birdhouses using willow branches or whatever other straight branches I find locally (for free).

First cut a bunch of side "logs" (presuming your house is a traditional rectangle shape there’s 4 different wall lengths involved for one house, by the time the wall logs criss-cross around a rectangle shaped bottom board that unscrews for yearly cleaning) using the table saw. What makes this neat for gifts and (semi) mass-production is, you end up with a bunch of different diameter logs that wouldn’t look good all in any one house, but I sort them into different diameters, and make houses all of one size log, so they look "right". After the walls are nailed, I like to make peaked roofs using all my scrap twigs on the two ends, and after they’re nailed in place, I cut the roof angles with the table saw – that way, they all match. I’ve nailed them together with brown-colored paneling nails, and with an air powered brad nailer. If there’s any gaps that are too big, stuff a little moss there. Top them with a big log ridgebeam and shingle roofs (I just use one shingle for each side) and a wire hanger, and people really love them as presents, and most hang them and get birds to live in them, too.

Look on the web for the right size house dimensions and hole size to attract the kinds of birds that nest in houses in your area.

Sure is a whole lot faster and easier than making chess boards! And, everybody loves watching the birds, too.

This entry was posted on Monday, February 8th, 2010 at 4:09 pm and is filed under wood working. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

4 Responses to “Cool wood working christmas ideas?”

  1. picture frames.
    References :

  2. how about checkerboards. just kidding. my 20 year old daughter just suggested birdhouses. or birdfeeders. the library would be a good place to find woodworking project books.
    References :

  3. I like making log cabin birdhouses using willow branches or whatever other straight branches I find locally (for free).

    First cut a bunch of side "logs" (presuming your house is a traditional rectangle shape there’s 4 different wall lengths involved for one house, by the time the wall logs criss-cross around a rectangle shaped bottom board that unscrews for yearly cleaning) using the table saw. What makes this neat for gifts and (semi) mass-production is, you end up with a bunch of different diameter logs that wouldn’t look good all in any one house, but I sort them into different diameters, and make houses all of one size log, so they look "right". After the walls are nailed, I like to make peaked roofs using all my scrap twigs on the two ends, and after they’re nailed in place, I cut the roof angles with the table saw – that way, they all match. I’ve nailed them together with brown-colored paneling nails, and with an air powered brad nailer. If there’s any gaps that are too big, stuff a little moss there. Top them with a big log ridgebeam and shingle roofs (I just use one shingle for each side) and a wire hanger, and people really love them as presents, and most hang them and get birds to live in them, too.

    Look on the web for the right size house dimensions and hole size to attract the kinds of birds that nest in houses in your area.

    Sure is a whole lot faster and easier than making chess boards! And, everybody loves watching the birds, too.
    References :

  4. Shelving, everyone needs a shelf somewhere in the house. Or frames. maybe a square planter w/ herbs?
    References :

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