Projects of Wayne Gerhart

Wayne Gerhart of Seattle, Washington, USA, wayno_is@yahoo.com has sent in some great looking projects. His comments accompany them below.

"This is a set of four cabinets that I built support SHADOW (a non-profit organization in Seattle www.shadowhabitat.org). They needed some storage space and prefabricated cabinets are generally particle board and too small for their application. The cabinets are made from agatha plywood and 5/4 x 4 cedar' framing.

The doors are built in a similar fashion and hung with closet door track. The interior uprights have adjustable shelving made by just drilling a hole pattern through a 'pegboard tool' to give consistent  hole spacing. The  picture of the installed cabinet is somewhat deceiving  as to the size of the project.  It is 30 feet long, four feet tall and 17" deep."

"These are two adirondack chairs that I built for an auction, also to support SHADOW. They are built out of cedar that was readily available at the local lumber warehouse. The seat slats are 5/4 x 4 decking material that comes pre-routered on all four edges and the back slats are 1 x 6 fence boards that I put through the planer to smooth the side one sits against. This is a fairly easy weekend project that cost under $100."
For chair plans click HERE

"This is a lectern that I built for my sister and her husband. They had received a nice, unabridged dictionary for Christmas and wanted a stand. While having dinner one evening, I grabbed a scratch pad and sketched several ideas out. This was the general shape that they wanted, but it didn't really have any book storage underneath." 

"Jokingly, someone mentioned that the pedestal would only be large enough to store a bottle of wine, but they liked the look of the sketch and decided to forgo the bookcase underneath.  I guess you always need to be careful what you ask for..."

"The first is a guitar stand that I built for my son. Made from oak, oak ply and satin ribbon attached with foam double-backed tape, this makes a nice addition to a room where a guitar is stored."

"The second is a barometer that is a very simple project. It consists of a simple piece of hardwood with two holes carved into it to fit barometric gages available from Rockler.  It is a good idea to bore the holes al the way through the back and space the unit away from the wall with foam pads for airflow."

"The third project is a napkin holder for the kitchen. This one consists of three pieces of 1/2" oak salvaged from an old recycled pallet."

"This is another of those small side tables of a slightly different design. This one is one that I have actually taken through the whole process. I aquired the wood as a maple tree from a friend's lot and had it sawn. It has been drying since last winter and I am just starting to reap the harvest now.

The plan for the table can be found at the following link: http://members.aol.com/wwwayno/woodwork/mapltabl.pdf "

Here's a nice plant stand that Wayne made from some recycled wood he got from the wood lot of a local company.

"Here is a lateral file that I recently built for myself.  I needed room for files beyond what I had, so this seemed like the best solution. It is oak and oak ply construction patterned to match the furniture in my office.  It uses full-extension drawer track and holds both 11" and 14" files."

"Here is a Quick weekend project that I made for my in-laws who needed a TV stand."  

"It is oak and oak-ply construction with an adjustable shelf and access holes to fit the nintendo wiring.   This project ran less than $60 and a weekend."

"This is a side table that I have seen for sale in local furniture shops for around $60. It is a solid oak unit with an acrylic finish that can be built for less than $25. A simplified plan is availiable for free at http://members.aol.com/wwwayno/woodwork/couchtabl.pdf."

"This entertainment center is a corner unit for a 32" TV. I couldn't find one that we liked large enough for a 32" TV with the VCR above, so I made one. It is my usual oak and oak-ply construction. This time I used a spray clear acrylic instead of Polyurethane finish.  It was a little more expensive, but it was easy to get consistent and fits well with the other woodwork finishes in the room."

"This pinewood derby car display stand is a little day project that is well suited for a beginner.  It really only requires a table saw, scroll saw, drill and router.  These were made from recycled oak from used pallets. The spring clips were made from used pallet-banding formed in a vise, sanded and then painted with spray enamel."

"This is a sewing center that I built for my mother-in-law for Christmas. She had wanted one for years, but found them rather expensive in sewing shops. It is a modification of one found in Today's Woodworker - issue 54, vol. 9, No 6 (Nov 1997) that I simplified and made more compact."

Wine Cabinet

"I just wanted my father-in-law to have a nice place to store his collectible wines.  It seemed like a nice gift idea for his birthday. 

Woodworkers Note: If ever you do an internal rack like this, stain the racks before you put them in."

Fly-tie Table

"This is a fly-tying table that I built for a friend. The pegs in the rear are for bobbins and the tray fits glue bottles. The rails on each side mount the vise and hold the hemostats. On one side, there is a small brass rod that works as a 'clothes line' for the finished flies. Just by word of mouth, I wound up making five. (musta sold 'em too cheap).

These run anywhere from $40 to $75 if you buy them from a tackle supply store. I just couldn't let a friend pay that kinda money for something that minor."

Wayne has been busy this summer, and also completed the lovely desk below, with more to come!

"Poker should always be played with clay chips. This is a Poker Chip Box built for about $40 US. They just don't sell quality cases for them.   The few that you find are too small for a seven person buy-in (and usually of poor quality).  Besides, my poker buddies bought it for me" (so to speak).

"This is a nightstand (one of two) that I built in the summer of '98.  It seems that for about $100, the local furniture stores will sell you a piece of particleboard junk.  For $150, I built two of these oak-ply nightstands complete.

Keep in mind that although Plywood is not as nice as solid wood in many respects, it is not 'junk' in the same way that particle board is.  It is dimensionally stable and predictable.  It doesn't 'pull-out' around screws the way that particle board will.  If you take reasonable care of it, it will last a lifetime.  Sawdust held together by glue will not.

This unit uses roller track for drawer guides and has solid oak casing around all exposed ply edges.  The finish is Behr water-based polyurethane,  a good non-toxic, lasting finish. I highly recommend it."

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