Great Rockler projects for brand-new woodworkers
May 12, 2015
You just make speaker boxes any way you know how, in any type of wood or plywood, drill a few holes, and install the speaker hardware.
Sometimes friends approach me about getting into woodworking, starting with no skills or tools, and it is hard to tell them what to try first. Now I have an answer. Looking at Rockler’s latest cool project for unskilled woodworkers, two bookshelf speaker kits, I remembered a bunch of others from Rockler in the past few years. Here they are. Go to Rockler.com for more.
You can use off-the-shelf lumber for these, from your local home center, and make projects that are worth building, and skewed toward modern tastes and needs, unlike the usual moldy and slightly pointless projects for beginners.
This isn’t the first time I have extolled Rockler products for newbies. A few years ago I used their very cheap and very effective dowel jigs to build an entire nightstand, in a free video series on our companion site, StartWoodworking.com.
As a FWW editor, I’m not allowed any Rockler freebies for all this free PR, so you know I’m telling the truth!
Here are links to the speaker kits, the hairpin legs, the three-rod legs, the shelf blocks, and the passive iPhone amplifier.
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You just make speaker boxes any way you know how, in any type of wood or plywood, drill a few holes, and install the speaker hardware.
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The hardware comes with good instructions for installation. You can buy a 5-in. model or one with a 6-1/2 in. woofer, for bigger sound.
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Even simpler is this passive amplifier for an iPhone. All you have to do is glue and clamp the parts, and then trim and finish it as desired.
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You can bevel the finished block it so it sits like this, and I've heard it sounds surprisingly loud and good.
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If you can cut boards to size and finish them, you can use Rockler's I-semble shelf blocks to make projects of all kinds.
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With larger pieces, you can make a desk. Try reclaimed wood for a hip look.
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These hairpin legs screw onto projects of all kinds, meaning you don't have to learn the mortise-and-tenon just yet.
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I love the hairpin legs on this cabinet box, completing a Mid-Century Modern end table.
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This three-rod version of the modern legs gives an even sturdier look and feel. This is the pricier stainless-steel version.
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There is lots more for beginners at Rockler, like these shelf brackets that can be used to create this ladder-style bookcase.
Comments
Thanks for posting this. I'm looking to get back into woodworking and I need something easy to start with.
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