Hi, I'm a complete beginner, I've never did any woodworking. How difficult would it be for me to construct some simple pieces of furniture (e.g. desk, closet, bed) and what is the easiest method? I wouldn't mind a rather ragged or basic look, however I live in a big city so that might limit my options as regarding to what I can easily build.
Thanks in adavance, Ido.
Try this:
2X4 Furniture: Simple, Inexpensive & Great-Looking Projects You Can Make (Paperback)$11.02 at Amazon.com
Desk is easily made with two 2 drawer file cabinets and a hollow core door. You can make one with a sheet of plywood too.
Bed frame can be 2 x 6's. Closet can be a frame of 2 x 3's and a plywood covering.
How basic or refined do you want to be? What do you have in the way of tools or be willing to buy?
People that live in cities make stuff too, not just country folk. Many a power tool has been fired up in a three room apartment. Depends on your tolerance to sawdust.
And the tolerance of neighbors to noise...
You could go to the nearest Ikea store and buy some of their kitsets. It's a start ... I haven't seen any Ikea stuff since I came to NZ 25years ago but in the 70ies their quality and design was good, the kitsets were well made and relatively easy to build without the need for a workshop or joinery machines.
-P.
Look into any classes offered by the local voctech high school. That's how I started. They can give you the basic instruction, help designing your projects, and you can use their power tools.
Depends on what you want and why you want to build. If it is to save money, then there are some creative ideas out there to be had, especially if you like the modern look.
Consider a desk made of glass bricks and Shelving boards. Easy to make, and if done carefully (I.E. actually mortaring the bricks) and with more some intricate design, it can look pretty nice.
For a closet, you can use iron pipe made into a basic frame with boards for shelves and fabric stretched across it to fill it in.
A bed is trickier as it has to support weight. One option is to use a harvard frame procured at a second-hand store for the box spring and take a simple sheet of plywood and upholster it for the headboard. Use the same fabric as for the closet and you are in business. To upholter, staple gun batting to the "show" side, then cover with fabric and staple from the back.
Call your style "College casual"
Biscuits and Pocket Screws are simple ways to make the simplest kind of joinery, butt joints, stronger. You can also get premade turned posts in a lot of styles. As long as you stick with presurfaced lumber you don't need a jointer and planer, but be aware that it's not necessarily uniform in thickness from one board to another which can pose a problem if you're gluing up a desk top. Choose your stock carefully.
I would suggest though that rather than try to find the shortcut way to do it and go straight to the end to try to build up your skill level with simpler projects.
-Leuf
Concrete blocks or bricks and premade panels.
Take a walk around any home center.
Barry
-Phil Crow
Assuming that this is just another troll...
Try some rough-sawn planks on a pile of bricks. Don't ask how thick, just try a few, and if they break get some thicker ones.
Why do people send this crap? Go to your library and read a book, or take a course like anyone else.
when reading and learning the basics of wood and joints, movement and moisture concerns are everywhere. I like thinking of it as a challenge. The basic joinery is not that hard to do. When you know what is going on it is easy to think how to do it. You can use the simplewst of materials and have the best of design. Pinned mortise and tenon joint is an example of a personal turn on. I like the look of mission furniture for this reason.
| I'm a complete beginner, I've never did any woodworking. | How difficult would it be for me to construct some simple pieces of | furniture (e.g. desk, closet, bed) and what is the easiest method? I | wouldn't mind a rather ragged or basic look, however I live in a big | city so that might limit my options as regarding to what I can | easily build.
Probably not very difficult. The easiest method would probably be pocket hole joinery. During my last extended business trip, I used common 2x4, 2x6, and 1x12 lumber (and three hollow core doors) to build a dining table, coffee table, and bookcase computer desk that looked good and worked well. I think the total cost was under $100 - and when I was ready to return home, it was all carried away for me by two happy young couples.
Something to consider: If you build carefully with inexpensive materials, you'll find ways to do better *and* you'll feel that you can afford to do so. The danger in this approach lies in addiction to the satisfaction that comes with each piece you design/redesign and build/rebuild. You've been warned...
-- Morris Dovey DeSoto Solar DeSoto, Iowa USA
Hopefully, he isn't a smoker! 8^(
Barry
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