What to
build next.
You took a class. You’ve got shop access. Now what? Seven projects, easiest to hardest — each one teaches what the next one needs. Start anywhere, skip whatever you already know. Nothing here is a course, and nothing is required.
Start where you are.
Each rung teaches what the next one needs. Which rung you step onto depends on what you’ve already built — not on where anyone says a beginner ought to start.
You’ve built the first one already. The Step Stool is next.
You built rung 4 with me at your elbow. The next step isn’t a harder project — it’s finishing one start to finish without me. Any of the first three will do it.
Take the Tool Tote class, or work through the Step Stool on your own.
Ignore all of the above. Everything is on one page for a reason.
Seven projects, easiest to hardest.
Tool Tote
One 8-foot board becomes the thing you carry everything else in.
Step Stool
Four parts, three hours. The first thing you’ll build entirely on your own.
Serving Tray
Your first real joinery, at a size you can finish in an afternoon.
Shaker Side Table
Real furniture. Mortise and tenon, tapered legs, a glued-up top.
Craftsman Bench
Quartersawn oak, arched rails, a slat seat. Bigger stock, less room to hide.
Whiskey Cabinet
Casework — a carcass, a drawer, a door. Everything at once.
Slat Back Dining Chair
Angles, repetition, and no flat surfaces to reference.
End Grain Cutting Board
Not step one on purpose — more glue-up exercise than woodworking. But people want one, and that’s a good enough reason.
The skills behind all of them.
Your Personal Tool Kit
The short list worth owning — and the much longer list the shop already covers.
Shop Safety: 2-3-12
Know your control surfaces, respect the guard, gut-check anything under a foot.
Milling Lumber
The four-step process that turns a rough board into a part you can build with.
Understanding Wood
Why boards move, why they fight you, and how to design around it.
Measuring & Marking
Consistency beats precision. Cut to fit, not to a number.
Using a Cabinet Scraper
A glass-smooth surface with no sandpaper — and the answer to figured grain and burns.
Stuck on any of it?
Open office hours run Wednesdays and Saturdays. Bring the project, bring the board, bring the question — somebody will be there.