Got a mini-lathe for Christmas last year and needed something to put it on. Hundreds of spinning tops and mushrooms later, I’m pretty sure it was worth it. Here’s a couple other things from my lathe.

My first bow turned out pretty nice I think

Mini bat for one of the neighborhood kids

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[–] 3 points 1 day ago (7 children)

Hi there! I don’t do woodworking but have always wondered about this, so maybe someone can enlighten me!

What advantages does using two planks of wood have over using one thicker chunk of wood? So, the first image I see the legs are two pieces of wood, and am just wondering why not use a thicker piece of wood?

Sorry for being clueless, but I find woodworking fascinating. :-)

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  • [–] 5 points 1 day ago (5 children)

    Ease of construction is the answer. The lower shelf rests all of its weight on the shorter leg portion 2x4 making a kind of faux half lap joint. If they used one chunk of wood for the leg instead of three pieces they would have to remove the material where the shelf nests into the leg which would take more time and complexity to the work.

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  • [–] 4 points 1 day ago (4 children)

    So, essentially, using this method, they were able to have the top part of the table rest on the outer side of the two planks, and the lower shelf's weight is distributed to the plank that was cut into?

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  • [–] [S] 4 points 1 day ago

    That’s it exactly. Adds the extra support without adding all the extra time of cutting that bit out of a 4x4. I could’ve just put a small piece to support the bottom, but this way all the weight is transferred to the ground.

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