I got home from work today, and decided that the best way to lower my stress level was to go into the garage and make something. I didn’t really have a project in mind. I’ve been pondering making a drill press table and have been thinking about a couple of design options, some of which I mocked up over the weekend in Fusion 360. The inspiration was this really simple base that I found in one of my many sessions of binge YouTube watching:

By modeling this in Fusion 360, I could easily use parametric design to adjust the top size and angle, as well as the height of the shelf, and it would calculate all the odd lengths to reproduce it. But this still has a couple of things in my head that I needed to think about, and I didn’t feel like thinking that hard.

I could have probably started on this simpler design for a drill press stand:

But I don’t need two drill press stands. I was also thinking about making a stand for my combination belt/disk sander, but I wanted to think about that some more too.

So, I settled on a project that I told Carmen I’d do: a simple little potting stand for use on our (freshly weeded) backyard. We guessed at the dimensions, which were a top at about 36″ high, and about 33″x24″. I had enough 2×4 stock on hand to build the two frames and the legs. The goal is not to make anything fancy: it will consist of a top frame and a bottom frame, covered in some cheap fence boards for the top. In fact, it’s almost exactly the same design as the simple garden stool that I did a few days ago, except that instead of just having a top frame, it has a shelf frame as well. I also decided that I’d spend a little time ripping the sides off the 2x4s, taking 1/4″ off each so that the final stock is a little straighter and has nice crisp edges. I also think that using Kreg pocket screws to build the top is probably a waste: I plan to just use butt joints and deck screws and glue.

Anyway, there are still some details about the assembly that I have to work through, but I spent an hour cutting all the parts to length and ripping the sides, and then some more time cleaning off my assembly table and doing other small bits of tidying.

I think the frames will be glued and screwed together, but that I’ll attach the legs with carriage bolts so that if we ever want to disassemble the table, I could just remove the bolts and stack everything down into a small space.

I was too lazy to take any pictures tonight, and besides, there isn’t anything actually exciting: I just have a pile of lengths of wood on my desk. Tomorrow I’ll glue and assemble the frames, and then cut the slats for the top and the bottom shelf, and it will begin to resemble a bench.

The good thing is that I feel kind of relaxed now. It was a peaceful time in the shop.

Catch you all later.