Am looking for wood project

Hi! Good news! We made it to the final round of Creating with the Stars!! Final voting starts on Monday, so make sure to come back then for more info!!

We ended up photographing our new secretary in the garage since it was SO heavy! It doesnt look too bad, but I could barely pick up my side. We have no where to put it, so well be selling it! 


We started with a piece from Goodwill, they were remodeling the back end of the building so we got it for 50% off, which ended up at $30. Im thinking the drop panel was originally intended to be a dry bar, Goodwill even had it "staged" with an ice bucket and martini glasses ...

We decided to turn it into a secretary desk and I love the new layout! We also added little feet to help it look not as bottom heavy and swapped the hardware for something smaller.

We designed the stencils in the computer and cut them out on the silhouette. The big one is 9 - 12x12 sheets that were taped together!


and a few behind the scenes shots ...

This stencil was pretty exhausting since it was so big, I had to hold down the stencil as I went since it didnt want to stay flat on the wall. We did photograph it in the garage, but there is concrete there! I picked up some cheap (about $1 a ft) laminate from Home Depot. It looked nice for the price, I wonder if it would hold up well? Finally, when styling, Im a big place it and step back to see what it looks like, David was nice enough to move things around for me :)



I found these brass pieces at a local antique store, only a few dollars each!



Vase and pencil holder are votive containers from Target.


I was so excited to see ranunculus, my second favorite flower (favorite peonies) 


 See how thick that door is!? The doors alone were super heavy!



 I really love it :) I hope you do too!! Im off to work on my final project!! :) Wish me luck!

I owe this post to Shannon and his recent post about the hook he uses to hold his vacuum hose and electrical cord out of the way when sanding. My boom does the same thing, in a more permanent and flexible manner.

My vacuum boom arm is a simple jib made of scrap 3/8" plywood. I used existing rips I had on hand and cut the pieces to length using relative dimensioning and my dozuki. The boom is held together with Tightbond II wood glue and small stainless steel flat head screws which acted as clamps for the glue up and could now be removed if I cared to.

I installed the boom to the wall with simple butt hinges I had on hand. No hinge mortises were made. I just slapped the hinges on the boom and screwed them in. As I anticipate having to move the vacuum boom arm as I move my bench and alter my walls, I didnt put a screw in every hole when attaching the hinges to the wall (this was quite a feet as my anal retentiveness would usually require a screw in every hole).

Once the vacuum boom arm was mounted on the wall, it was time to install the vacuum hose and extension cord. The vacuum hose is a premium Ridgid vacuum hose from Home Depot. The extension cord is a 14 gauge, 6 foot, three outlet model. They are both attached to small I-bolts screwed into the side of the boom arm. In the case of the vacuum hose, there are springs installed between the hose and the boom arm to allow added play. All of the actual connections are made with plastic tie-wraps. The hose and cord drop behind my bench and when the vacuum boom arm is not in use I fold it against the wall and it stays out of the way. Between the swing of the boom arm and stretch of the springs the attached vacuum hose can now easily reach the length of my bench while always being held up and out of the way.

I have the same Festool RO sander/Dust Extractor combo as Shannon. I have not only used the vacuum boom arm with the Festool kit, Ive also used it with my Ridgid 6" RO sander and my ClearVue Blower/Vac Cyclone. In every sander/vacuum combo, the dust collection is superb and the vacuum hose and power cord stay out of the way.

So far, the vacuum boom arm is proving to me one of my easiest and most favored shop projects. Whats your favorite?