This is a great video – with accompanying Instructables project – by woodworker Mike Warren. I especially dig the ‘floating router’ jig for planing all the pieces from above – that’s a clever approach that I definitely plan on using for other purposes.
Watch:
Natural wood beverage coasters made from thinly sliced tree branches. Stylish and fun to make, these coasters are a great addition to any home, and make great gifts!
Dry tree branches were chopped up on a tabletop band saw into small pucks, which were then glued to a thin sheet of plywood. The pucks were staggered and were glued to overhang the edge of the plywood on three sides, leaving the fourth side straight as a reference for the table saw fence.
Once the glue had dried overnight, the straight edge of the plywood was referenced to the table saw fence and planks were cut. To make the surface level a router was used as a planer. Setting the router base on a wide sled which rides on temporary rails. The planks were set between the rails with hot glue, then the router was lower after every pass to trim the wood down to a consistent height. The planks were easy pried up after planing.
Using a cross cut sled, the level planks were cut square. Each was finished with Teak Oil to give a nice color and finish. Rubber pads were placed on the underside to stop them from sliding around on a table.
Adafruit publishes a wide range of writing and video content, including interviews and reporting on the maker market and the wider technology world. Our standards page is intended as a guide to best practices that Adafruit uses, as well as an outline of the ethical standards Adafruit aspires to. While Adafruit is not an independent journalistic institution, Adafruit strives to be a fair, informative, and positive voice within the community – check it out here: adafruit.com/editorialstandards
Stop breadboarding and soldering – start making immediately! Adafruit’s Circuit Playground is jam-packed with LEDs, sensors, buttons, alligator clip pads and more. Build projects with Circuit Playground in a few minutes with the drag-and-drop MakeCode programming site, learn computer science using the CS Discoveries class on code.org, jump into CircuitPython to learn Python and hardware together, TinyGO, or even use the Arduino IDE. Circuit Playground Express is the newest and best Circuit Playground board, with support for CircuitPython, MakeCode, and Arduino. It has a powerful processor, 10 NeoPixels, mini speaker, InfraRed receive and transmit, two buttons, a switch, 14 alligator clip pads, and lots of sensors: capacitive touch, IR proximity, temperature, light, motion and sound. A whole wide world of electronics and coding is waiting for you, and it fits in the palm of your hand.
Have an amazing project to share? The Electronics Show and Tell is every Wednesday at 7:30pm ET! To join, head over to YouTube and check out the show’s live chat and our Discord!
