[Duane Bledsoe]

I fixed it to hold a multi color changing LED light and it shines down through the top into the crystal and shows off the etching inside it.

 

[Duane Bledsoe]

The stained top is removable to turn it on and off, but it can also be done without removing it using a small screwdriver. It turns different colors but I just happened to only photo it with the blue for these pics.

 

[Duane Bledsoe]

This is the first Christmas I turned out more than one handmade gift for people and it was lots of fun but very tiring. I didn't start it until after Thanksgiving and I made 5 gifts in all. I will definitely do this again but start sooner next time. Here's the oak plaque I'm currently working on for mom. It will hold a set of measuring spoons and hang on the wall in the kitchen using keyhole slots I routed into the back. It has since been stained but not yet polyurethaned. I'm still looking for something to write onto the plaque above the spoons so it's not so plain looking.

 

[Duane Bledsoe]

And last but not least, a Mr. and Mrs. Snowmen set for my wife's mother. Made from a simple 1x12 and a 2x8 base, and then hand painted. The buttons on the front are wooden and hot glued on. My wife crocheted the scarves and hat band and bow for them. All this stuff I've made is mostly country woodcraft kind of things. I know it's not fine furniture destined to become family heirlooms (maybe the train showcase could) but I'm proud to call this my work. Two years ago I didn't have the skills to do this kind of work and since getting into woodworking I'm getting better all the time. I can only go up from here. Thought you all might enjoy seeing some of the things I've made. By the way, none of this was from patterns or plans. We've made our own designs for everything. I prefer working that way. Seems creativity just flows when I do things that way, but sometimes mistakes and unforeseen disasters also flow with it. LOL

 

[Kenbo]

Well you have definitely been busy. All these projects look fantastic. Kind of makes me wish I was on your Christmas list. Great work.

 

[Duane Bledsoe]

Well here's one more. This is for mom. I bought an oak board and shaped it to this style to make a plaque from it. My parents have oak cabinets in their kitchen so I wanted it to match. It will get gold cup hooks installed to hang a set of measuring spoons from in mom's kitchen. I routed keyhole slots in the back to hang it on the wall flush. I hand painted the sunflowers as best I could. Never did any sort of painting beyond what's good enough for a barn, haha, but I think I did pretty good overall. I cheated though, I looked at other paintings of sunflowers online to get ideas. Otherwise, all these designs are ours. I wanted to make gifts that really were from US this year.

 

[Duane Bledsoe]

Here are the spoons that will go on the plaque. I had to buy these, no way around it.

 

[Tman1]

Very nice work. I just have two concerns:


1- I agree with the nail issue. If you are going to attach it to the wall by the back, you really need something better than nails holding the back to the cabinet. Like you said, it is holding $3000 worth of collectibles, plus you put a lot of work into the cabinet. Do you really want to have any doubt about whether or not the cabinet will pull away from the back?

2- From some of your earlier posts, I think you said the back is 1/4" thick. Now, I wouldn't be concerned about this (or the nails) if you weren't using the back to hold it to the wall. Once again, it will be vulnerable to being pulled away from the wall, either by the screws tearing through the holes, or by the back simply breaking.

I don't think anything would happen just from hanging on the wall. But, if something unexpected happened, the attachment of the back to the wall and the rest of the cabinet would be the two weak links.

Since the cabinet is done, you may want to consider adding hardwood strips behind the cabinet where you are screwing into the wall and screw them into the frame of the cabinet. You will have to consider whether or not you like the aesthetic effect, or add trim to hide the strips. You may also be able to take advantage of the blocks at the top. If they are well connected to the frame, you could screw through them into studs. This would make for a much more structurally sound attachment method.

 

[rayking49]

Those are good looking gifts. Insure everyone will love them. The lantern is cool. Can't wait to see all the trains loaded.

 

[Duane Bledsoe]

Ok I am sweating the back being attached well enough also. I attached it to the back with 60 one inch brad nails, 10 up each side (20 total), 3 per shelf (30 total), and 5 each in the top and bottom boards (10 total, for 60 in all). But after reading the replies here I went back and added 16 drywall screws also, 5 up each side and 2 each in three different shelves. Now I feel more confident that the screws will hold the back to the cabinet.

I feel it's too late to alter the cabinet by adding more wood to hold it to the wall though. I could add strips inside it but they'd show and mess up the look of it, and adding them in back will set the cabinet off the wall by however thick they are which I also don't like. Hitting those slanted wood blocks at the top will really mess up the look there so I just don't want to try that. So I believe I'm just going to have to rely on the screws through the back to hold it to the wall. I'm going to use panhead screws with washers to keep them from pulling through. Where I'll place them inside the cabinet, they won't show, they'll be concealed behind the trains inside. I'm using black screws and washers so they don't stand out a lot. This way they will look a bit better but they won't show anyway. This was my original plan to start with. Maybe I should use a few more than I first planned. Right now I'm planning 6 screws in all, two near each of the three shelves I added the drywall screws to.

 

[Duane Bledsoe]

Mom's gift fully finished. Apparently when I posted the freshly painted plaque I had forgotten that I had previously shown the unfinished version.

 

[Duane Bledsoe]

Well, due to the fact I didn't want to be installing this on Christmas Eve with family coming in and out, we went up today and presented the wooden gifts We made for the in laws. They both loved them. The train display cabinet was what the interest centered around though so I am posting a few pics here of it FULL OF TRAINS, as was requested. Enjoy!

 

[Duane Bledsoe]

He still needs to obtain two more engines. He's found one online, but still looking for the other. Has to wait until after Christmas though, the wife said so. :laughing:

 

[Duane Bledsoe]

He was tickled pink with it but is just barely tall enough to reach the top shelf to place the trains on. He plans to get track later for all of them to sit on, some kind that has gravel with them to appear more realistic. He also has a bunch of lapel pins of each rail company brand and he plans to drill small holes in the top angled boards on the top shelf to display all those as well. I did not plan the width of this case to hold anything but the engines. The patches and lapel pins, I never knew of those until today. It turns out I had yet another happy accident, as there was exactly enough room on each shelf to hold the engines and their patches. The top shelf engine had no extra room for its patch but it happened to be shaped differently so he was able to place it in front of the engine and not hide it excessively. The angled boards on the top shelf (that create the centered position for the top engine) will turn out to be perfect for all the lapel pins to fit. He has 20 of those, so 10 on each side for a perfect fit. Now how lucky was all that? Anyway, he's very happy with it.

 

[beelzerob]

First chance I had to see the finished product....veeeery nice! That would look good in a house whether trains are your hobby or not.

 

[Duane Bledsoe]

Thank you. This is the most involved I've gotten in woodworking since I started. Not just on this project but the whole Christmas in general. I had 5 projects of various sizes going on at once. The train display cabinet was the biggest though. I'm still just a novice woodworker but I sure learned a lot on these. I learn more by doing than reading about it but I seem to do more reading than doing mostly.

 

[Wema826]

Your display case is sweet looking! As I was reading your posts about the nail gun you used, I have the same type of stapler / nailer. I found that If I have to use a nail and it will show I will dial the PSI back to where the gun will not bury the nail head in the wood. leave it about an 1/8" proud. then use a nail set to set the nail. That way you dont end up with the - mark and get the . instead:thumbsup:

Keep up the good work! The lamp and the spoon display rock too!

 

[Art Rafael]

That is a very nice train rack. I'm sure that he will be very proud of it as you should be. It is a trophy in itself. I'm with Johnnie52. Screws would be better.

Ralph