Christmas shoe shelf

Let me start by saying that I do not consider myself a Lumber “Jock”.. Maybe a Lumber “Joke” for now.. But I am having fun trying!

I decided to make a show shelf for the front door for my girlfriend for Christmas. Overall I am very happy with the way it turned out. Other than my large but basic work bench, this is my first wood working project since grade 10 shop class, which I may not have attended…

I went into this having drawn my own plans for it, as some blueprints online are a bit intimidating to my skill level right now. Probably the thing I enjoyed doing the most was using a router for the joints. Never used a router before, so cool learning experience and Mrs. Clause was good enough to bring my a set of router bits for Christmas so I look forward to trying to make new fittings and edging designs.

My biggest problem with this project was staining. Again, no previous experience with stain, and I am not sure if the “clumping” and darker bits around the edges was due to my lack of experience, the wrong tool, or the -25 degrees that was.

Anyway, my first project, first post.