Woodworking Adventures

Woodworking Adventures

David Moody shows that even with limited tools, budget and space, you can still make some useful woodworking projects

“I love working with wood, but…” Perhaps you don’t have space for a workshop, or you don’t have the money you need to buy the tools you want, or maybe you have other reasons for not pursuing the adventure of woodworking. Been there, done that, worn the T-shirt – and burned it! What I am going to share with you isn’t so much a how-to, but a why-not! Be encouraged! Be inspired!

The cake stand was one of my more ambitious woodworking projects

Initial projects

In 2006 I immigrated to Phuket, Thailand. Homes here are much smaller than Australian homes, and yard space is either significantly smaller or non-existent. So, how do you set up a workshop? For a long time I didn’t but I did slowly collect useful tools. I started with some basic tools that my wife had and a rip saw that I bought in the hardware store, and built my first project – a plant stand.

The wood was found dumped in the bush near our home. Anyhow, the wood was rough, and perfectly suited to this project. It was made simply by cutting halfway into the uprights, and into the shelves, and then hammering the shelves home. I even used the hammer to break off the waste from inside the joints. I think some purists will be cringing at the thought of doing this, but limited resources require odd methods! No glue, no screws, just carefully measured tight joints that lock the whole thing together, and it served us very well.


The kennel is a very simple build, but effective!

The next project was a simple one: we needed a large crucifix for an Easter play at church, so back into the bush I went and found two rough pieces of wood, which I simply bound together with rope. It worked well. Along the way we got a dog, and she needed a kennel. It was a very simple build: just a steel frame underneath, cheap five-ply, small wood blocks to frame it up, a pair of cheap hinges and fi ne corrugated steel sheet for the roof, which opened for cleaning - Olive loved it!

Read the full article in Good Woodworking June 2017

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