Here is a black bookshelf that I originally made for my office but my wife claimed it. It was my first time making a finished shelf but I was happy with how it turned out.
Made by Jay
Made by Jay (MBJ) features pictures of things that I’ve made since 2006 when I built my first poker table. I have each project numbered because I’m planning on setting goals for myself each year to tackle a certain number of projects.
Below are pictures of a desk that I built for myself about three years ago. I was just moving it back into my office (from another room in the house) and thought I’d snap some pictures of it while it was cleaned off.
I built it out of a 4′x8′ sheet of Birch plywood and 8 metal legs that I ordered online from IKEA. I made it by cutting out my pieces, routing the edges (made them curved) and then I put on three coats of clear coat polyurethane. I’ve taken it apart and moved it at least four times and it’s held up really well. My total investment in the desk was way below what I would have had to pay at a store and I really like how it turned out.
A few years ago, I built a carpetball table for the family. Carpetball is a pretty simple game. You basically set up your pool balls in whatever configuration you want and you try to knock your opponents balls in to the pocket (at each end) by rolling a cue ball at them. If the cue ball goes in (scratch), you have to pull the balls back out. The first person to knock all the balls in, wins.
I built the table for the family because even my little kids can play and it’s a lot of fun. The paint has been nicked up a bit but it fits perfectly in a hallway in our basement.
This pictures shows the pocket at each end of the table.
As a co-leader of my son’s Tiger Scout den, I had the opportunity to create a car for a Mini Pinewood Derby. The rules required that the car be a smaller size than typical Pinewood Derby cars. I got the idea for the Happy Meal after seeing a scout eating Chicken McNuggets in one of our pack meetings. It was slow as heck on the track but it sure looked good.
The Midwest Poker Series hired me to build eight custom poker tabletops featuring a padded rail, custom printed cloth, dealer cutout and chip tray for use in their poker tournaments at local bars and other establishments.
This was the second poker table that I built. It was based off the plans I used for my purple poker table. I added a 3″ raised rail all the way around and used red suited poker cloth for the playing surface. Even though I loved this table, I ended up selling it because we didn’t use it very often.
I got the idea for the ice cream truck playset after seeing a custom bunk bed set built by a family member. I wanted to make something fun for my kids and they love(d) ice cream. I sketched out some ideas and went from there. I ordered all the ice cream truck stickers off eBay. Unfortunately for my kids, I decided to sell the playset when we moved back in 2007 because I was worried that it would get destroyed during the move.
This was the first poker table I ever built and my first big woodworking project. At the time, I didn’t even own any tools and built the table in my uncle’s garage. The design was based on plans I found online from Mark Junell. It was a wonderful table but I sold it when we moved back in 2007.
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