Projects of Dave Fernandes

These projects are from Dave Fernandes dave@cgs-systems.com of Nashville,Tennessee, USA.

"I built the dresser out of both beech and poplar.  I used poplar for the drawers simply because it was cheaper.  The drawer fronts are beech.  I have never used beech before but now it is my favorite wood.  It has less of the wavy grain of oak and gives a much smoother finish (ya it costs more!)."

"For finish I used shellac (clear) and then laquer.  I like shellac because even clear adds color but it also leaves drips if you're not careful since it has almost instant drying.  The laquer is fantastic.  You want a shine and a smooth finish, it is the way to go. Sadly, it also dries like lightening and can leave drips that are VERY hard to see -- trust me on this one.  (of course my eyes are not what they used to be!" (LOL)

"I gave it to Avi last night and she looked at it, sipped from her sippy cup and moved on.  Oh well...I love it".

"Here are the final photos of the very long and very hard bed project. It is made of solid oak (not quartersawn sorry) and oak plywood (thanks Home Depot for that great "straight" plywood!) I finished it with two coats of shellac and Deft Clear Lacquer. We got a great deal on a mattress and I added a 1/2 sheet of plywood underneath the mattress for those trampoline wannabe's."

"Special thanks to:
Vic - for the tapering jig and for the plywood idea
Don Firth - for years of encouragement & the Deft lacquer suggestion
Jerry Schiller - for the shellac idea
Tom Dowling - for the picnic table
Wood magazine - for the plan"

Here are a couple more shots of Dave's bed project.

"Here's a very simple project - a storage box, that I made out of curly cherry - very, very expensive, even rough sawn. I chose very simple jointery and so forth because I cared about the wood's look."

"After over a month's worth of work, Naomi and I can show our first dresser. Without a doubt, THE hardest project I ever tackled.  It challenged me in every turn. First time I ever did tongue and groove and never did so many drawers in my life. The router was a great. great tool to get this done. 

I bought roughsawn lumber at the end and it saved me lots of money. The planner got a workout. 

The drawers are poplar and the rest is solid red oak. Now my older daughter can live out of the dresser vs. paper bags.

Thanks grampa - couldn't have done it without you. I also see 10,000 mistakes and flaws in this dresser but live and learn."

"Here's a medicine cabinet I made. I wasn't proud of it at first because the door handles were slightly off from each other (one higher than the other). I couldn't believe I did that, but as I use it daily, it's grown on me. Besides the finish is like glass. Naomi picked out the heart doorknobs."

"This was more sweat than anything I have ever done. My wife did the upholstery (bless her heart).  It's made of solid oak and poplar. I waxed it as well. I call it an Ottoman."

"Here's a scooter for my daughter Avi.  It is made of Douglas Fir scraps."

"I finally got some cherry off the local lumber yard in the scrap bin. Never believing in waste, I put a pencil box together with it, although my wife calls it a Barbie Coffin.

Anyway, I used the finishing tips on WoodWorker magazine and it looks so cool. The ends are oak for contrast and I have now lots of scrap oak to use up!"

Entertainment Center: "This project I did over the summer. It's oak plywood with oak trim. The right side has adjustable shelves a feature that I liked but of course we never actually use! It really eliminated lots of clutter but as you can see, we found more to create!"

Message Center: "This was the last project I completed before my wife left for China. I wanted to surprise her but ran out of time to complete as I wanted so I took a shortcut or two but it looks good and we use it every day."

EndTable: "I owe Don a great deal for answering questions for me. Without a doubt, the hardest thing I ever done. I was given only the spec of 18" tall and with one drawer and a shelf. It's solid oak outside of the plywood shelf and plywood bottom for the drawer. It took many a weekends from idea to paper design to putting it together. When I ran into hiccups I am grateful that Don was able to answer this newbie's questions. It really is beautiful to me and yes, there are some flaws but, as my wife says, unless you point them out, you can't see em."

Recently making finger jointed boxes, Dave has sent shots of this nicely done oak box. He accomplished this precision, using the "finger joint/box joint" jig like mine, available from Oak Park Enterprises. This material is available both in Canada and the USA. Check the appropriate catalogue at their website for further information.

"My first project.  A simple pencil holder built entirely from scrap lumber.  My wife came up with the idea of using dowels to hold some scrap paper.  It's simply 5 layers of different wood glued together with holes up top."

"A magazine rack.  I like this one because it involves no screws but then again doing all that doweling and matching it up (even with a template) is a challenge.  This was made entirely out of pine."

"I got the initial plan for the stool and then a friend suggested I build a door and seal it all off for storage in the stool.  For the top I purposely used cherry plugs covering the screws to hold the steps since I thought it would look pretty."

"My thirst for storage cabinet space was a royal challenge. It has hardboard
glued to 3/4 plywood with dado's cut for each of the removeable trays. I wanted it because
it kept the dust out.  The pictures do not show it but it rolls around on wheels.
The pipeclamps are there because I am lazy sometimes about putting things away!"

"This was a very challenging project but I built it all from red oak ($$$).  Totally doweled connection with birth dowels for shoes.  I used a custom stain for the color which looks awesome on oak.  It can separate into 4 sections with a top that also separates.  I don't know why I did it this way but I thought it would look kinda cool."

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