Wood Trivet
by
Robin Lewis
7 Materials
$135
2 Days
Easy
This is a simple wood trivet made from 1x2s (or 19mm x 42mm) pine boards. These are sold in almost every big box store, and are cheap and easy to find.
While pine boards are often considered "junk wood", it's cheap enough to enable beginner wood workers and it's an easy way of personalising your home.
For this project you'll need some basic wood working tools, plus a jigsaw. See below for a detailed list. The one tool that's a bit more advanced is a jigsaw but these have drastically come down in price in recent years at most big box stores.
Start by using the handsaw to cut the boards so you have 6 boards at 300mm (12 inches) long.
Take 4 of the boards and glue them together on their edges.
Once you've added a thin bead of glue use some clamps to apply pressure.
And make sure to clean any excess glue squeeze-out while it's still liquid. Once the glue dries it becomes more work to get rid of it, so now's the time to take care of it. Most wood glues are water based, so a damp rag will remove the glue easily.
Next we're going to cut the feet. Take the remaining 2 boards and flip them on their side. You need to draw a curve on each of the 4 feet, this can be done using anything that has a circular edge. In my case I measured 2 lines, then used a paint tin to draw the curve between them.
Using a jigsaw, slowly cut along the line. A jigsaw can be tricky but the most important thing to remember is to not force it, let the blade cut at it's own pace. Gently press the tool forward.
Here you can see the shape we're going for. Now that you're done cutting with the jigsaw grab a sanding block and smooth all the surfaces and edges.
Now you can glue the feet to the main section you glued up earlier.
Don't forget to clean up that glue with a damp rag.
After a couple hours the glue will be dry and you can get to sanding. Spend as much time on this as you want, depending on how rustic you want it to look.
Lastly, apply a finish. In my case I'm using a water-based polyurethane.
A handmade trivet is a great way to dress up a table and it's functional too. This project is simple enough to do in a weekend and it's a great introduction into wood working.
Thanks for taking a look and let me know if you have any questions.
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1 comment
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I would like to see a DIY on 5 Tools a DIYer Needs, or 10, or a similar post by you. Robin. Tools might have different brands, but if you describe how it is used and for what purpose, you would really be helping many of us. Thank you 😇
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Great instructions. I was thinking if I made it smaller I might use it as a lamp base. Think that would work?
Very nice!!
But... Does your cost include the tools? Otherwise, it seems very expensive to me!