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hey brass cake I know man good good yeah
yeah go inside all right hey there
welcome to DIY projects with Pete
this weekend I'm here in Nashville
Tennessee with my buddy Brad from the
fix this build that YouTube channel link
in the description below
this weekend we built a couple different
projects Brad what did we build together
yeah so we built the concrete top
outdoor coffee table side table and you
can make this whole thing out of two
seater two by fours and a bag of
concrete very easy build I love this
love how it turned out and we also did
this accent light it's got a concrete
base a walnut side and an Edison light
bulb two great projects and I had a
blast building with you here and
Tennessee Brett it was also a heavy pea
thanks for coming all right well let's
go ahead and get started with this
project the first step was to draw our
design and Brad had the idea to do sort
of a Jenga style walnut shade and I of
course thought concrete would tie in
well for the base so Brad had a shelf
full of walnut we picked through it and
found some of the best boards to use for
our project the board's all needed to be
planed down to the correct thickness so
we ran into the board's through the
planer a couple of times and you know
having two of us working on the project
definitely made a lot of the steps go by
quickly and it seemed like things were a
lot easier actually you know I think
it's just nice to have a second set of
hands or a helper whenever you're
working on projects so we both normally
actually build a lot of our projects on
our own so collaborating was really a
lot of fun the next step in preparing
the walnut was to run it through the
jointer and we did this for each of the
boards prior to taking it over to the
table saw before making those next cuts
Brad said we needed to do a little shop
maintenance and he brought up a good
point that it's a good idea to clean
your table saw blade from time to time
by using a cleaning solution and then
brushing each blade tooth next we cut
each walnut board down to the proper
width on the table saw and make sure
when you're doing this that you're using
push blocks so that you safely cut each
board and while you're at it always have
your
I protection and hearing protection as
well now there's a few that need to be
cut so take your time and just enjoy the
process and once they were all cut we
looked over the board's to make sure
they looked good before cutting the
lengths on the miter saw there were
three different size blocks for this
project so we did make a jig that helped
us cut each block lengths efficiently we
started by cutting the longest blocks
and then finished with the shortest and
for more information and the
measurements for this project check out
DIY Pete com4 slash walnut lamp now that
the blocks are all cut go ahead and sand
the ends by hand with some 220 grit
sandpaper
we're basically removing any rough edges
you might have on the corners prior to
assembling to help make the assembly
process easier we made a jig out of a
few strips of scrap wood and some
plywood now grabs all about making jigs
for just about everything which is
awesome it you know it takes a little
bit more time to build a jig but they
typically make the job easier and much
more efficient then we started piecing
the blocks in the pattern within the jig
we came up with a layout we thought
looked good and then built each side one
at a time you'll need to plan out each
side to ensure the finger joints line up
correctly so everything pieces together
in the long run now once the correct
pattern is laid out you can apply a
quick setting glue to attach each block
to each other
use that jig to help keep the block
square and so you know there's
definitely more than one way to assemble
this lamp so if you have a better way or
if you want to try another method by all
means go ahead this is simply what we
chose to do and it worked out for us but
go ahead and do whatever works best for
you next we drive fit a couple the sides
together to see how everything matched
up and once we determined it was all
going to work as planned you know we got
some wood glue out and began to butter
up those connection points with some
wood glue Brad had some silicone brushes
that we use to apply the glue which
worked great and I'm actually going to
order a set when I get a chance because
they work well plus they're super easy
to clean since you can just let the glue
dry on them and then pick it out or peel
it out later
we used a rubber mallet to lightly tap
the sides in place and then use clamps
to bring them together if some of the
joints aren't completely tight once the
corners were connected we used a bunch
of
small clamps to help secure those joints
while they dried and you know at this
time you can use a damp cloth to remove
any excess glue if you need to repeat
the process with the other two sides
apply glue to the blocks as needed and
then slowly piece together this sides
wipe away excess glue and then use the
clamps to pull the corners tight and to
secure them in place while they dry
remove the clamps for each side once the
glue is dried and then you'll be able to
attach the two halves together apply
wood glue to the connection point
similar to in previous steps and then
slowly piece the sides together we use
the clamps to move the blocks in place
and help line everything up and we
worked our way around each side and
adjusted each connection as needed now
once everything is in place go ahead and
secure things with clamps while that
wood glue dries after the wood glue is
dry go ahead and remove the clamps and
then trace around the base of the walnut
shade to determine the dimensions for
that concrete base the base is going to
line up on all four sides to the walnut
and so cut a two inch wide strip of
melamine on a table saw and then cut it
down to the dimensions to form a square
that's going to match the walnut shade
then attach the strips to the base by
pre-drilling with a countersink bit and
then inserting two inch screws from the
top of each side strip next find the
center of the box and then drill a
shallow hole it's about the same
diameter as a pencil we're actually
going to make a knockout for the lamp
hardware to feed through by cutting a
pencil down and length wrapping it with
some duct tape and then putting the
pencil in the shallow hole to help keep
it in place
lastly we'll vacuum the square mold out
before mixing up any concrete for this
project we're using a rapid setting
concrete mix so we can tackle the
project all in one day the rapid set
concrete for a project this size will
actually cure and be ready to pull out
of the mold in about 20 minutes which is
crazy but trust me it works that way but
feel free to use any concrete mix you
have laying around the garage just read
the instructions for curing time
add water to get the concrete to about
an oatmeal like consistency and then
pack the concrete into the mold use your
fingers to get it into all the corners
and the sides and fill up the mold until
it's completely full once the mold is
full go ahead and level it out as best
as possible and then vibrate the
concrete to remove air pockets you can
actually lift the work surface up and
down and shake it similar to what I'm
doing and then I'd recommend tapping the
sides with a mallet or using an orbital
sander to vibrate the sides
lastly use a trowel to smooth out the
concrete and to level things out a
little bit more then use a wood scrap to
carve a channel in the concrete for the
cord and a channel around the hole in
the center so there's a recessed area
for that lamp hardware while the
concrete was curing Brad got started on
the finished work for the walnut shade
he used the oscillating belt sander
first to sand down a couple the blocks
that didn't line up 100% perfect and
once those were sand and he took the
lamp shade outside and went around all
four sides with an orbital sander and
some 220 grit sandpaper once the sanding
was done Brad applied a spray lacquer to
the walnut this was a quick and easy way
to finish this piece especially with all
those nooks and crannies to get the
sealer in and let the sealer dry once
you got that first coat done and then
add a second coat next we'll remove the
concrete from the mold and we'll do that
by undoing the screws and removing one
sidewall at a time once that's done pull
the concrete piece away from the base
and check out how it looks you'll want
to use a sanding block to go over the
edges a bit and to smooth out any other
rough areas then it's time to lightly
tap the knockout and pull it out to
release it from the concrete now I
normally spend a lot more time finishing
concrete if it was a counter or table
but this concrete block actually turned
out really nice just the way it did and
I like the organic look of the couple
small voids in the concrete we did use a
spray sealer on the concrete and did a
couple coats to seal it next we
installed the lamp hardware and I cut
the hollow threaded rod down with a
cut-off blade on a dremel tool so the
light bulb would sit just a little bit
lower
then you'll want to feed the wire
through the threaded rod cinch the
threaded rod in place from the top and
bottom side of the concrete with the
nuts that come in the kit and then
connect the wires to the socket and
finally thread the bulb socket onto the
threaded rod read the directions in your
lamp kit to make sure everything goes
together correctly in your project we
added a few felt pads to the underside
of the concrete and then dry fit
everything in place
I'd recommend connecting the wood to the
concrete with silicone once it's done
alright I hope you enjoyed checking out
the project and collaboration and if you
did please give the video a thumbs up
and definitely go subscribe and check
out Brad from fix this build that
YouTube channel and check out the video
we did together on how to make outdoor
concrete side tables I think you'll
enjoy it alright thanks so much for
watching and lastly I want to give a
huge shout out to everyone who stopped
out for our Nashville DIY Meetup it was
awesome to get to meet you all and hear
about your project so keep up the good
work and keep in touch
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you