Furniture
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Cherry Bookshelf
I built this American cherry bookshelf during my first semester of eighth grade with the assistance of my instructor, Mr. Tracey. This was the first piece of furniture I'd ever constructed in a woodworking class. At the time, the three wood options available to students were eastern white pine, red oak, and cherry, the last of which I deemed most luxurious. We attached three shelves to the sides using dadoes and drilled a hole in the back board to allow electrical cords to pass through.
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Cherry Table
I built this American cherry table in my second semester of eighth grade with the assistance of my instructor, Mr. Tracey, to complement the bookshelf I'd constructed earlier that year. (Note the identical router pattern on the tops.) In fact, the only difference I can recall when finishing was that I sanded the table's surface with 400-grit sandpaper (instead of just 220-grit), making it irresistibly soft and smooth.
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Red Cedar Adirondack Chair
I built this red cedar Adirondack chair in my second semester of junior year in high school with the assistance of my instructor, Mr. Peterson. Using the special design of carpenter and television host, Norm Abram, from PBS's This Old House, I constructed the piece to maximize both style and comfort. I chose red cedar both because I love the aroma and we had many boards in the woodshop that hadn't been used in years. Cedar works well for such chairs, but tends to be less popular than other woods like cypress, which weather better outside. Fortunately, we keep the project indoors where it remains protected from the harsh elements of New England.
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Red Oak Garden Bench
I built this red oak garden bench in my second semester of senior year in high school with the assistance of my instructor, Mr. Peterson. Using slightly-modified plans from Minxwax.com, this project was perhaps the most challenging of anything I've ever built, which was fitting given the timing. Unlike the Adirondack chair, the bench required several mortise-and-tenon joints (which I hadn't practiced since middle school) and I decided to plug all the screw holes such that no hardware would be visible. Similarly, however, I plan to keep it safe inside my house. September, 2019 update: We got custom-made cushions!
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