Eight Frugal Easy Woodworking Projects

We are living in difficult economic times. Many of us are having to tighten our belts and this may extend to woodworking projects. 

Popular Mechanics has a page on their website listing eight different easy woodworking projects that emphasize frugality by such tactics as using reclaimed wood and avoiding high cost machinery. The eight projects themselves are from the website Instructables, which gives step-by-step instructions on how to complete them in detail with pictures. The projects are as follows:

1. A table made from reclaimed wood. The finished product is a stylish, modern-looking table with steel legs. The reclaimed wood has to have nails, staples, and other debris removed and must be sanded before it is ready to use.

2. A method of flattening out lumber without using a jointer. A jointer is an expensive, specialized piece of equipment that many of us do not have access to. This article explains how to use a sanding drum in place of a jointer.

3. Projects using old fence boards. Several projects are detailed in this article using fence boards as old as fifty years. They include a router table, saw stand, picture frames, kitchen hutch, signs, and fence gate.

4. A substitute for a lathe. This project shows how to use a drill and grindstone for wood turning instead of using a professional lathe. It includes a method for creating identical objects such as drawer handles as well as how to create a unique object.

5. Woodworking without metal hardware or glue. This project explains how to make mortise-and-tenons, hinges and dovetails, and simple joints without using glue or metal fasteners.

6. Stool made from wheelbarrow wheel. A designer describes how he salvaged a wheelbarrow wheel to make a stool with a swivelling seat.

7. Low cost marquetry. This article describes how to use a wood burning tool to draw an image onto a wood plank and stain it to simulate the expensive practice of marquetry.

8. Make your own oars with 2×4s. The process of crafting oars from a 2×4 is described here, avoiding the necessity of buying the expensive item. You must have an existing oar to trace for the project, however.

These projects are worth checking out as low cost, do-it-yourself ways of creating economical quality projects. Who can afford to be wasteful in these times?