Josh Hendrickson
If you have already tackled some small projects you can complete in a weekend, you might be ready to take on something more complicated. That can be furniture everyone in the home can enjoy or a project that implements new skills. These YouTube projects you can complete in a week, or whatever timeframe you can spare.
For the YouTube videos we’re featuring, we tried to focus on a few particular goals. An engaging personality is a must; if you can’t finish the video out of boredom, then you won’t learn much. The video should show many of the steps but not necessarily all of them. As your skills grow, it should be easier to spot how to do something without seeing all the ins and out; many projects share similar methods. Bonus points if there are plans.
The tutorials assume you have basic woodworking tools, like table saws, miter saws, circular saws, or routers. You may see jointers and planers, but if you buy the right wood, you can skip milling steps. And there’s always another way to make a cut if you don’t have a specific tool used in a video.
And while the guidance is generally a week to complete, you can always take longer if you can only spare a few hours here or there. In some cases, you may find your particular skill set will help you accomplish the project faster than a week. Let’s get making!
A Floating Desk From Wengel’s Workshop
New to our YouTube woodworking series, Wengel’s Workshop gets the nod for multiple reasons. This floating desk is practical, especially at a time when many people are working from home. You may find it’s less expensive to build a desk than to buy one, especially if you want a larger sturdy desk.
One of the difficult parts of building a desk is designing a sturdy leg system that also looks nice. But this project sidesteps the problem by “floating” the desk, you’ll attach it to your wall instead. The downside is, you’ll need a corner spot for extra support. And finally, thanks to using inexpensive materials, this is a practical project that doesn’t break the bank. You won’t find plans for this build, because home is different. But all the steps you need to know are there; you’re essentially building a box.
A Couch End Table From 3X3 Custom (Tamar Hannah)
Who doesn’t enjoy sitting down to watch some TV with a cold drink? But if space is a premium, you may not have any end tables to hold your drink for you. This end table from the 3X3 Custom channel solves that problem perfectly. It’s small, compact, can be custom fit to your couch’s arms, and even sports some storage.
You will find some challenging spots in this project, though, including miter cuts for a waterfall edge and router plunging. If you don’t have a crosscut sled, I suggest checking out Tamar’s crosscut sled video; it’s excellent. The 3X3 Custom website has inexpensive plans you can buy, and a written overview of the steps. You’ll just need to customize the height to work with your couch.
If you’re not sure about the more advanced techniques, you can check out Tamar’s simple version of this end table. All you’ll need for that is a circular saw.
An Adirondack Chair From Jackman Works
Traveling is all but a no-go during the pandemic, so you might find yourself hanging out at home more. But that doesn’t mean you can enjoy the outdoors, especially if you have a deck or a yard. So why not build an Adirondack chair?
This video from Jackman Works eschews his usual hypercut and minimal narration style to give you a thorough tutorial for the famous chair. You’ll still get some laughs from his legendary video cuts, but you’ll see clear instructions from near beginning to end. While he mentions building several in a week, the first few will likely take you longer—especially as you set up templates.
But thankfully, you can buy plans and see a written tutorial over at the Jacman Works website. And this one of those projects that you could even turn around and sell if you’re so inclined.
A Retro Arcade Cabinet From SimpleCove
If you’re visiting Review Geek and reading this article, there’s a good chance you share two interests: woodworking and video games. So why not combine the two? This may be the trickiest video in the bunch because you won’t find any plans or exact steps.
That’s because you’re creating a tiny arcade machine with a screen you source, and all screens are different. But you’ll find all the necessary steps to get an arcade shell created. You can find more traditional full-sized arcade tutorials, but this one uses less material and will fit on your desk.
When you finish, you’ll need to set up the Raspberry Pi to play retro games. The SimplyCove video doesn’t delve into that, but that’s OK. Our sister site, How-To Geek has you covered.
Of course, there are many more projects on YouTube you could consider. Consider these suggestions to inspire you. If you like a particular idea in this list, but want more instruction or a different style, you can likely find other YouTube makers who have tackled the same subject.
As you delve into more complicated projects, you’re bound to make more mistakes than you have in the past. Don’t be discouraged, consider them lessons to learn from, both in avoiding the error and how to fix it. As always, have fun making stuff.
