Making a Guitar Shaped Side Table with an X-Carve CNC Machine

I needed a side table to put next to my favorite chair in my office/music room.  I have several guitars on display, so I thought it would be cool to make a guitar shaped side table to keep the music theme going.  I used my X-Carve CNC Woodworking Machine from Inventables to cut the table top and legs.  Check out the video of this project below.

I'd like to thank Inventables for sponsoring this project.  I used their free EASEL online software to design the project.  The top is cut from a 16"x24" panel of 3/4" walnut.  The legs are cut from a 9"x21" section of 9/16" thick maple.  (I had to plane the maple down to 9/16" thick so that the standard tuning pegs would fit.  I also made the mortises 9/16" wide to match.)   Click here to open my EASEL project to see how it's designed.

The design includes the mortise and tenon joinery for gluing the legs into the table top.  The CNC leaves rounded inside corners on the tenons, so those need to be sharpened up with a chisel, file or saw so the joint will fit tightly.

I purchased an inexpensive set of Guitar Tuners from CB Gitty.  You will notice that one of the holes in the scaled-down guitar neck legs is larger than the others.  This is to mount one of the standard size guitar tuners on each leg.  I strung up a regular .042" A string between the tuners for some additional support to keep the legs from spreading apart under weight.  The .056" E string would be a little stronger and more visible, but I didn't have one on hand.

This Guitar Side Table is a great addition to my office/music room.  I love it and it's a great conversation piece.  The walnut and maple look beautiful and I think the "stringer" at the bottom is pretty clever if I do say so myself.  Thanks for checking out my project!

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Turning Pens from Drumsticks Using a Lathe

When I'm not woodworking, I love to play drums in my cover band.  I go through a lot of drumsticks, and since I'm a woodworker too, I am always looking for new uses for them.  In case you don't know, most drumsticks are made from hard maple or hickory, which is good for woodworking projects.  I've used drumsticks for dowels, axel rods, and CD/DVD spindles before, and now I've found yet another good way to upcycle them...Pens!

I recently delved into the world of pen turning and here are some pictures of some pens I've made from old drumsticks.  Drumsticks come in many different sizes and the challenge here is drilling a hole down the center without the bit exiting the side or cracking the wood.  I use size 5A drumsticks and the standard 7mm drill bit that is used for slimline pens fits within the drumstick quite nicely.

I usually like to put a clear finish on the pens to maintain the natural beauty of the wood and keep it looking somewhat like it came from a drumstick.  I decided to experiment with using green food coloring and really like the results of the green pen.

If you do woodworking, keep an eye out for alternate sources for wood and you might be surprised at what you can find...for FREE!