var projectsArray = new Array(
new Array("Small Side Table with Shelf", "side_table.jpg", "", "Built in 2000/2001, this is probably my first real woodworking project. My Dad and I built this after Krystal found a picture of a similar table in the Pottery Barn Kids catalog. The table was built prior to Davis being born.  When completed it sat next to the glider in his room and has been used to hold books ever since. It's made of Red Oak with approximate dimensions of 22\"H x 18\"W x 14\"D. It utilizes mortise and tenon joinery and is finished with multiple coats of high gloss polyurethane. The shelf is angled up slightly to keep the books from falling out.")
, new Array("U-Shaped Play Table & Storage Bins", "play_table.jpg", "", "In 2002, Davis was beginning to collect a lot of toys. We needed a table for him play on that was his height and was large enough to hold his Little People toys. I knew it was going to be painted, and we didn't want to spend a lot of money one it, so MDF was the material of choice. The tabletop is a full 4'x8' sheet of 5/8\" MDF (with a small rectangle cut out) dadoed and nailed into the side rails. The bins were added a few months later when the need for storage space became evident. Both the table and the storage bins are on casters making it mobile. Given the nature of MDF, it's way too heavy for a child to move, but adults can move it without too much effort. Krystal finished off the bins with the decorative paint job.")
, new Array("Cedar Planters", "planter.jpg", "", "I built two of these cedar planters in 2003. It was my first outdoor project and it showed. At that time I didn't know there was waterproof wood glue, so needless to say, they didn't last long. They were 2'x2'x2', with mortise and tenon joinery. The panels were assembled with glue and biscuits. I may re-build them some day now that I have more experience and better tools, not to mention waterproof glue.")
, new Array("Cake Cutting Knife Display Box", "knife_box1.jpg", "knife_box.html", "A friend of mine got married in early 2004. A few months before the wedding, he asked me if I could build a box to store and display a cake cutting knife that was given to him by his parents. I made the box out of Honduran Mahogany and put three coats of satin polyurethane on it. The box is assembled with box joints and the inside is lined with velvet. This was my first project using a nice expensive wood. It was a lot of fun to make.")
, new Array("Alder Tray Table", "tray_table.jpg", "tray_table.html", "In early 2004, we had moved out of our house and were building another one. I wanted to build some furniture for the new house, and Krystal had found this tray table at Pottery Barn. Their version wobbled and was pretty poorly constructed, so I figured I'd build it myself. The table is made of Alder and stained with 2 coats of Cherry stain. The tray section is assembled using box joints.")
, new Array("Step Stool", "blue_step_stool2.jpg", "", "Davis was getting very independent and no longer wanted our help getting ready for bed. He needed a step stool so he could reach his sink. Krystal found the inspiration for this at Ethan Allen. They wanted a whopping $90 for it.  I figured I could built it for a fraction of the cost. This one is made with MDF and is about 1 foot tall. I painted it blue to match the theme we were going to use in his new bathroom. I think it came out to about $15 or so.")
, new Array("Coffee Table", "coffee_table1.jpg", "", "After moving into our house in 2004, we wanted new furniture. I had already built the tray table, and we wanted a coffee table that matched. The inspiration for this came from yet another Pottery Barn table. This table is also Alder with the same finish as the tray table. This is the first project where I needed a bandsaw and jointer. Since I had my new shop (3rd stall of our garage), I had a place to put these large tools. The bandsaw was needed to create the profile on the legs. It was my first time using a bandsaw, and they came out OK.")
, new Array("Alder Step Stool", "alder_stool.jpg", "", "Since I had some scraps of Alder left over, and I wanted to use my mini lathe, I decided to make this step stool. It's kept in the master bathroom so Davis can reach the light switch. Is has a honey maple stain and the small wedges at the top of the legs are walnut. The legs meet the top at a 10º angle.")
, new Array("Laptop Table", "laptop_table.jpg", "", "A friend at work was looking for a table that he could use for his laptop. He didn't want a large desk, so he came up with the idea of a 1/4 circle table that could site in the corner of a room. He came over to help, and we built this Red Oak table. We finished it in one day, and he took it home to apply the finish, which I believe he still has not done to this day.")
, new Array("Baby Cradle", "cradle.jpg", "", "When our daughter (Callie) was on the way, we needed a cradle for her to use. We had borrowed one when we had Davis, but I thought I'd built one now that I could. Since I still had a lot of left over Alder, I went ahead and used it to make this cradle. It's hinged at the top so it can rock. It also has a pin that can keep it from moving. It was built using mortise and tenon joinery, and is finished with a honey maple stain and multiple coats of satin poly. The inside dimensions are 18\"x36\", which holds a standard cradle mattress. The only negative is that it does not break down. Now that Callie is too big for it, we had to store it at my parent's house, since they have available attic space. When Callie is older, we may bring it back out so she can play with it. ")
, new Array("Dollhouse Bookshelf", "bookshelf2.jpg", "dollhouse.html", "In late 2004, Callie was almost here. Her room was complete for the most part, but we wanted to have a bookshelf next to her glider. Krystal had seen the Pottery Bard Kids Dollhouse Bookshelf in a catalog, and I had seen a picture from a fellow woodworker online. Krystal and I liked it so much, I thought I'd duplicate it. The main dollhouse is plywood with poplar edging. The roof, base and window trim is 16 year old solid cherry that was salvaged from my parents kitchen when they remodeled it. I took a few large pieces home, removed the nails, straightened them up and used them for the roof. Some of the screw and nail holes still show in the roof, giving a good back story that we can tell for years. All the cherry is finished with 2 coats of Danish Oil.")
, new Array("Christmas Clocks", "clocks.jpg", "", "For Christmas of 2004, I wanted to build some gifts. I had seen clocks similar to these online, and thought I could build four of them for gifts. All the clocks are made using birdseye maple for the face, and curly cherry for everything else. The clock face is about 3\", making the height about 10\" and the width about 7\". They were received very well from all the family.")
, new Array("Changing Table Storage Boxes", "boxes.jpg", "", "The finishing touch to Callie's room (at least before she arrived) were these storage boxes. They are each 15\"x17\" and angled at about 10º. They are constructed of poplar, and painted with the glossy version of Callie's wall color. Krystal and I put on the ladybug and dragonfly paint job once they were built. ")
, new Array("Small Round Table", "small_table.jpg", "", "After we got our upholstered furniture delivered, I wanted to build a small round table that could fit between two chairs. To match the rest of the furniture in the room, I again used alder and a cherry stain. The top is about 18\". The legs are mortise and tenon, but they were built as temporary legs until we found a wrought iron base that would work. We've had no luck so far, but we're still hoping we can find something. ")
, new Array("Display Shelves", "shelf1.jpg", "shelf.html", "In our old house, we had a shelf in Davis' room that was a foot or two from the ceiling. We had put lots of sports paraphernalia up there. Since we still had all the stuff when we moved, I figured I'd build another one. This is made of poplar and painted with a high gloss blue paint. The triangular supports are in a high gloss red.")
, new Array("Nightstand", "nightstand1.jpg", "nightstand.html", "Davis had seen me building all this stuff for his sister and inquired one day when I could build something for him. We wanted to put a nightstand next to his bed so he could have a clock and a lamp as well as a place to hold a few toys. Krystal found a nightstand she liked, and I proceeded to make it out of hard maple. The drawer construction was my first attempt at dovetails (jig, not hand cut). The angled opening for the toy area proved to be the hardest part, but it all came out very well, and Davis loved it. It is finished with Golden Oak Danish Oil and multiple coats of poly. I even turned the knob on my mini lathe.")
, new Array("Laundry Room Cabinet", "laundry_cabinet2.jpg", "cabinet.html", "This was my fist cabinet. It was also my first attempt at rail and stile construction. There are two panels (left side and cabinet door) that are made with poplar for the rails and stiles and 1/2 birch ply for the floating panel. There is an adjustable shelf inside, and the door hinges are euro hinges that can't been seen when the door is closed. It is painted using the same paint as the trim in our house.")
, new Array("Master Bath Cabinet", "bath_cabinet1.jpg", "bath_cabinet.html", "This is my second attempt at a cabinet, and my first unpainted one. This is made of birch ply for the main cabinet with solid maple face frames and cabinet doors. It was built to match the rest of the cabinets in the house. The dimensions are exact, but the maple I used had more grain and figure than that of the rest of the house. The color is also a shade lighter. The opening to this room is very small and did not allow for the cabinet to be installed in one piece. The main box is two cabinets, joined with a single face frame.")
, new Array("Kitchen Table", "kitchen_table2.jpg", "kitchen_table.html", "My brother-in-law needed a kitchen table for his apartment at college. He wanted a budget job, as cheap as possible, so we used MDF for the top and construction grade 2x4s for the legs. The apron intersects the tapered legs with mortise and tenon joinery. He painted it black once it was built. The overall size is 3'x6'. I think it came in under $50 including all the finishing materials. ")
, new Array("Red Oak Baby Gate", "baby_gate1.jpg", "baby_gate.html", "Callie was getting ready to crawl, so in order to stay on top of things, I built a baby gate for the top of the stairs. The gate is Red Oak with Watco Walnut Danish Oil applied to try to match our existing railing. It's pretty close. The gate uses spring hinges and a regular door knob so Davis can open it, and it will self close. We can also lock it from the stairs side of the gate. The gate attaches to the spindles with plastic zip ties, and oak wraps three sides of the spindle to keep it from moving. This way, when it is time to take the gate down, there are no holes to fill. The gate is assembled with mortise and tenon joinery, and room was allowed at the bottom to allow the cat to get upstairs to her litter box.")
, new Array("Cherry End Table", "cherry_table2.jpg", "cherry_table.html", "I salvaged the base of this table from my parents lake house that burned down in August '05. It took a lot of work grinding off the rust, and painting it dark brown. The top was more of the 16 year old cherry taken from cabinet doors from my parents remodel of their main house. The top is finished with Watco natural and a wipe on poly.")
, new Array("Poker Table", "poker_table1.jpg", "poker_table.html", "This is a poker table I built for our regular monthly neighborhood game. It's made of birch plywood, and upholstered with marine vinyl for the rail and a fake suede for the playing surface. I used 1/2\" high density foam padding for the top and 1\" for the rail. I bought the legs at the local big orange box.")
, new Array("Red Oak Baby Gate 2.0", "baby_gate_big.jpg", "", "To match the gate at the top of the stairs, I built a larger one to keep Callie (and the dog) out of the dining room and away from the bottom of the stairs. Like its smaller counterpart, this gate is made of Red Oak with Watco Walnut Danish Oil applied to try to match our existing railing. The gate uses spring hinges and a regular door knob so Davis can open it, and it will self close. We can also lock it if necessary. The gate is assembled with mortise and tenon joinery, and larger hole was made at the bottom to allow the cat to get through. The problem is the cat chooses to squeeze under the bottom instead of use the larger opening...stupid cat.")
, new Array("Antiqued Bathroom Cabinet", "half_bath_cabinet.jpg", "", "Made of about 90% scrap wood that I had lying around the garage...er...shop, this is a copy of a piece that Krystal found in a magazine. I modified the dimensions a little to fit better. This is made of birch ply, MDF, hard maple and birch hardwood, almost all of which was leftover from previous projects. 1/4 MDF was the only thing I needed to buy for the drawer bottoms and the back panel. The insides are painted with a beige semi-gloss and the outside is black semi-gloss \"antiqued\" with some sandpaper and block of wood. I borrowed my Dad's lathe to turn the feet. My mini lathe couldn't handle the width. ")
, new Array("Birch Play Table", "birch_play_table.jpg", "", "This is a commissioned piece I made for my parents house. They wanted a set of childrens play furniture that all matched, so this was piece 1 of 4. It's 3' x 4' and about 16 inches high. Made of birch hardwood and plywood. The two bins are full depth and rest on casters to allow the grand kids the ability to move them around. ")
, new Array("Blocks Box", "blocks_box.jpg", "", "This is another commissioned piece I made for my parents' house. It's the 2nd of 4 pieces I made for their house. Made of solid birch hardwood and joined with box joints, this blocks box is 16 inches by about 12 inches. It's got handles and casters so the grand kids can drag it around. It's pretty heavy when fully loaded, so it's a little tough on them right now. ")
, new Array("Toy Box and Hutch", "hutch1.jpg", "hutch.html", "Item 3 of 4 of the commissioned pieces. This is also birch hardwood and birch ply. The hutch is detachable so it can be moved around. It requires unscrewing in the back and under the hutch, so once it's attached, the grand kids can climb all over it and it won't fall. It's about 2 1/2' wide and about 4' tall. There was a little figured birch in the pile, and it ended up as edge banding. I couldn't tell until I got the poly on it...oh well. ")
, new Array("Toy Shelf", "toy_shelf.jpg", "", "The last and simplest of the commissioned pieces. This, like it's counterparts, is birch and birch ply. The shelves will hold a total of 12 plastic bins. It was designed around them. The edge banding creates a lip in front and back to keep the bins from sliding off too easily. This is 4' wide and 3' tall.")
, new Array("Walnut Poker Table", "walnut_poker_table.jpg", "walnut_poker_table.html", "This octagonal poker table was built based on plans purchased from The New Yankee Workshop. It's made of various materials but all of the visible wood is either walnut or walnut plywood. This project has more angled cuts and bevels than anything else I've ever built. There are very few 90° cuts. This is also the first project I've ever built from real plans, and let me tell you, that makes things so much easier. It will be hard going back to designing (or copying) ideas without plans. This will reside at my parents' lake house. It's finished with Danish Oil and Waterlox. The cloth is a speed cloth made for poker tables. ")
, new Array("Mesquite Media Room Shutters", "shutter_close.jpg", "mesquite_shutters.html", "This is a set of 3 built for my parents' lake house. They are both decorative and functional in that they can black out the room when closed. They are solid mesquite about 6 feet tall and 3' wide (the house has 12' ceilings). We had a hard time finding a supplier that carried a decent quantity of mesquite in long lengths, but we came across a place north of the DFW area. The media room furniture consisted of a mesquite coffee table and rocker (not pictured), so we thought it would be a nice idea to match the shutters to the other furniture. The black veins you see are black epoxy that we used as filler.")
, new Array("Quartersawn White Oak Child's Table", "table.jpg", "qswo_table.html", "A quartersawn white oak table I built for my parents' lake house. It resides in the kids' playroom. It's about 3' in diameter and was built to accommodate the chairs that are sitting around it. The color matches the trim around the room pretty well. ")
, new Array("Checker Board", "checker-front.jpg", "checker.html", "A checker board I had intended to make for my son, but once it was done, I thought it looked too nice to leave in the room of a 6 year old. The checker board field is made of red heart and figured imbuya. It has a small border of wenge, and the side frame is lightly figured sapeli. The base is made of curly maple and walnut. The final accent wood is ebony. It's used as the drawer handle, and in the miter splines of the frame. The checkers are the same wood as the checker board field. The finish is multiple coats of shellac and a few top coats of Waterlox high gloss. ")
, new Array("Floating Shelves", "guest_room_shelves.jpg", "", "Simple shelves made to appear to be sticking out of the wall.  They are built with plywood and standard mouldings and painted black.  2x4s attached to the wall fit inside the shelves to make them float.")
, new Array("Painted Dresser", "dresser.jpg", "dresser.html", "This is the first dresser I've made, and it lives in our guest room.  It is poplar painted with black semi-gloss paint.  The top piece is easily removable in case we go with a different TV some day and don't need the cubbies.  The drawers are all dovetailed and made of solid poplar with a shellac interior finish.")
, new Array("Tile Top Nightstand", "guest_room_nightstand.jpg", "guest_room_nightstand.html", "A piece for our guest room made of poplar and painted.  The top of the nightstand features an inlaid set of hand made tiles Krystal and I bought in Portugal back in 1999 or 2000.  The hardware matches that of the dresser.")
, new Array("Cypress Plant Stand", "plant_stand_2.jpg", "plant_stand.html", "I made this plant stand for my parents when the one they had for years began to fall apart.  I used the existing pieces as templates and made a nearly exact copy of what they already had.  This one is made of cypress rather than plywood and pine like their store bought version was.  By far the most difficult part was routing the grooves in the shelves.  They are routed from both sides and where the grooves intersect, they create small holes for water to drain out.")
, new Array("Natural Edge Bench", "bench.jpg", "bench.html", "This is a natural edge bench I made from free wood given to me by a local woodworker.  It is sitting at the top of the stairs at the lake house.  I believe the top to be a slab of cherry, and I don't know what the leg material is, but that is its natural color.  The slab had a bunch of cracks and checks in it, and instead of cutting them out, I featured them and strengthened them with epoxy.")
, new Array("Dress Up Clothes Carousel", "dress_up.jpg", "dress_up.html", "I copied this design from one we saw on a website.  The dimensions are different, but the layout is about the same.  This is made from 5/8\" MDF, 1/2\" birch plywood and stock trim.  There is lazy susan hardware between the bottom two bases to allow it to be rotated.  Mirrors on both ends let the little one check herself out.  We painted it pink and added a polka-dot theme.")
, new Array("Quartersawn White Oak Trestle Table", "qswo_table.jpg", "qswo_rect_table.html", "The base of this trestle table was built by my dad over 30 years ago out of red oak.  It was the base of the kitchen table we had growing up.  I stripped the old finish, filled some knot holes with epoxy, sanded the rough edges and re-applied a new finish.  The old top was a fake butcher block laminate, so it had to go.  I built a new top out of quartersawn white oak, added the breadboard ends and decorative plugs and splines made of wenge.  The stain is a 50/50 mix of a couple different colors to achieve the right look.  This matches the small round play table I built and resides in the same playroom.")
, new Array("Walnut and Lacewood Sofa Table with Nested Tables", "game_table.jpg", "game_table.html", "This table will live at the lake house next to the walnut poker table I built.  It's walnut with a lacewood veneer top and contains one small drawer for holding cards or chess pieces.  The nested tables serve three purposes.  They are the right height to be used as extra seating, or act as small tables to use when playing cards. They can also be used for playing checkers or chess.  The small tables are walnut with walnut and curly maple veneer checkerboard tops.")
, new Array("Arched Cedar Pergola", "pergola.jpg", "pergola.html", "We recently finished our pool and patio.  I wanted to add a nice shady area for our outdoor table, so I built this arched pergola.  We saw pictures of a similar one online and I decided to take my inspiration from it.  It's 15 feet long and 12 feet wide.  The overall height is around 11 feet at the peak.  1 1/2\" thick cedar lattace fills the holes and provides most of the shade.  The arches were each constructed out of 7 pieces of 2x12 2 feet long and joined together with half lap joints.  The posts are 6x6 anchored to the slab with wedge anchors.")
, new Array("Entertainment Center", "entertainment_center.jpg", "entertainment_center.html", "The kids' playroom had the first entertainment center we ever bought, and it was way too old, not to mention that it maxed out with a 27 inch TV.   I built this new one out of birch plywood and poplar, and painted it white.  It's about 8 feet tall and 8 feet wide.  I made it modular so that when we move one of these days, we can reconfigure the boxes to accommodate our needs.  I moved our old 32 inch TV in here now that I could.  The entertainment center will be able to accommodate a larger HDTV if we ever decide to give the kids one of those.")
, new Array("Large Dresser", "large_dresser7.jpg", "large_dresser.html", "Callie needed a new dresser since her last one was full and also didn't match the rest of the furniture in her room.  This one is 4'x4' and painted white.  It is based on an Ethan Allen design.  Callie picked the knobs out and Krystal made them while I painted it.  The drawers are on full extension slides so it will be easier for her to open them.")
, new Array("Wardrobe", "wardrobe.jpg", "wardrobe.html", "To match the dresser I already built, I built this piece for Callie's room.  It's poplar, plywood and the same custom knobs we used on the dresser.  The legs and turnings were purchases and modified to work as I needed them.")
, new Array("Cypress Golden Rectangle Table", "cypress_table.jpg", "cypress_table.html", "This is an outdoor table based on the golden ratio.  The inside glass dimensions are a ratio of 1:1.618.  The inner frame demonstrates that if a square is removed from the rectangle, another rectangle of the same ratio is left, and so on.  It's made of cypress, and I used a vinegar and steel wool solution to stain the cypress black.  It ended up a dark purple, so I added some ebony stain to get to the final color.  It is finished with a top coat of teak oil.  It's finished off with a piece of 1/4\" tempered glass.")
, new Array("Alder Dovetailed Chest", "alder_chest.jpg", "alder_chest.html", "I made this for Davis's room so he can store his Legos in it. It's made of Alder and it was the first opportunity I had to use my new Leigh D4R dovetail jig. The lid functions with torsion hinges that keep it open so it won't slam on fingers.  There is a divider inside so works in progress can be kept separate from other legos.  There are horizontal runners in there so I can build a tray at a later date.")

);