What makes a good small craft
A first project should be small enough to finish in a session, forgiving enough that a slightly long cut can be trimmed, and useful or good-looking enough to keep. It should also teach one skill well: a square cut, a mitre, a glue joint, a finish. The crafts on this page and the pages it links are chosen that way, and each gives the stock to buy, the cuts to make and the tools that make them.
| Project | Skill it teaches | Main tools | Where it is |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hexagon frame | Accurate mitres and glue-up | Miter saw or mitre box, band clamp | This page |
| Plaque | Edge shaping and finishing | Saw, block plane or router with a chamfer bit | This page |
| Keepsake box | Rabbets, grooves and a fitted lid | Table saw or router table | Box plans |
| Bookends and a desk riser | Getting several parts from one board | Saw, drill/driver | Small woodworking projects |
| Key rack and trivet | Repeat parts in batches | Saw, drill, square | Projects that sell |
| Boot rack and door wedges | Working with offcuts and 2×4s | Saw, drill/driver | Scrap wood projects |
| Star ornament and slat tree | Laying out and cutting shapes | Coping saw or band saw, drill | Christmas projects |
| Unit block set | Repeatable sizes and safe edges | Saw, router or sandpaper | Toy plans |
All are BenchRoot designs with drawings and cut lists on their pages. Not a ranking.
Pattern 1: a hexagon wall frame
Six identical pieces make a hexagon, and the only number that matters is the angle: the inside corners of a regular hexagon are 120°, so each piece is cut 30° from square at both ends, and the two 30° faces meet in a 60° gap closed by the next piece. Any error repeats six times, so cut one test pair first. The angle for other shapes is worked out in the miter angle calculator.
| Part | Qty | Size (in) | Material |
|---|---|---|---|
| Side | 6 | 1/2 × 1-1/2 × 6 on the outside edge, both ends 30° | Straight-grained hardwood or pine |
About 10-3/8 in across the flats (6 × √3) and 12 in across the corners. Allow extra length for test cuts.
Making the hexagon frame
Set and test the angle
Set the saw to 30° from square and cut two pieces. Hold them together: the mitre should close to a 120° corner with no gap at either edge.
Cut six matching pieces
Use a stop so all six are exactly the same length along the outside edge — 6 in — and cut the opposite end of each with the piece flipped.
Dry-fit
Lay the six pieces out on a flat surface. Gaps at the outside of every joint mean the angle is slightly under 30°; gaps inside mean it is over.
Glue and clamp
Glue the mitres and pull all six together with a band clamp. See how to use wood glue and clamps.
Finish and hang
Sand, finish, and hang it with picture hardware chosen for your wall. It is a decorative frame; no load rating is claimed.
Pattern 2: a chamfered plaque
A plaque is a single board — 3/4 × 7-1/4 × 16 in here — with its front edges chamfered 1/4 in and a design painted, stencilled or lettered on it. Choose a board that is flat and free of knots for the face, and cut the chamfer with a block plane or a router and chamfer bit; router set-up is covered in the router guide. Paint or finish the back as well as the front so both faces take up moisture alike: wood shrinks and swells across the grain as its moisture changes, as the Forest Products Laboratory explains.
Finishes and materials
- Food contact. For anything that touches food, the Forest Products Laboratory points to mineral oil — never baby oil — or a finish whose label or maker says it is safe for food. More in the finishing oil guide.
- Children's things. Paint on a children's product must contain less than 0.009% lead by weight under the CPSC's rule; use a paint whose maker says it meets it. Toys have further rules, set out in toy plans.
- Everything else. Choosing and applying finishes is covered in the wood finish guide.
- Buying wood. Hardwood is sold by the board foot — 144 cubic inches — so a small craft often uses less than one; work out the amount with the board foot calculator and choose boards with how to choose lumber.
All the small projects
- Box plans: a keepsake box with rabbeted corners, a floating plywood bottom and a fitted lift-off lid.
- Small woodworking projects: bookends and a desk riser cut from one 48 in board.
- Woodworking projects that sell: a key rack and a trivet designed for batches, with a way to work out cost per piece.
- Scrap wood projects: a boot rack and door wedges from offcuts, 2×4s and pallet boards.
- Christmas woodworking projects: a star ornament and a slat tree.
- Toy plans: a unit block set, with the federal rules for children's products.
- Turned pieces: coasters and knobs in wood turning projects; a dovetailed box in dovetail projects.
Safety— Small parts, held safely
Small pieces bring hands close to blades. Cut parts from a longer board and hold short work with a clamp or a stop rather than fingers; follow each machine's own manual. See woodworking safety rules and the miter saw guide.
Before starting a small craft
- Pattern dimensions checked; stock bought with extra for test cuts
- Saw angle tested on scrap for any mitre
- Short parts cut from a longer board, held by a clamp or stop
- Glue, clamps and a flat surface ready
- Finish chosen for how the piece will be used
More project plans
Looking for a larger collection of woodworking project plans?
Ted’s Woodworking is a digital plan library sold by a third party. BenchRoot did not create it and has not reviewed every plan in it, so check what it includes before you buy.
Paid link — BenchRoot may earn a commission if you purchase through this link.
Sources
Both patterns are BenchRoot designs; every dimension is on the drawing and in the cut lists. The hexagon's angles are geometry: six equal pieces meet at 120°, so each end is cut 30° from square. The designs were not built for this page; no load rating is claimed and no downloadable pattern is offered.
- 1.
NIST Handbook 130 (2026), IV.B Uniform Regulation for the Method of Sale of Commodities. National Institute of Standards and Technology, 2026.
Used for: The board foot as 144 cubic inches — a board 1 ft long, 1 ft wide and 1 in thick — the unit hardwood is sold by.
- 2.
Chapter 4: Moisture Relations and Physical Properties of Wood. USDA Forest Service, Forest Products Laboratory — Wood Handbook, FPL-GTR-282, 2021.
Used for: Wood shrinking and swelling across the grain with moisture, so a solid panel must be free to move.
- 3.
Mark Knaebe. Finishes for Wood Bowls, Butcher Blocks, Other Items Used for Food, and Children's Toys (FinishLine). USDA Forest Service, Forest Products Laboratory, 2013.
Used for: Finishes for wooden items that touch food: mineral oil, never baby oil, and a finish whose label or maker says it is safe for food.
- 4.
Lead in Paint (16 CFR part 1303). U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission.
Used for: Paints and surface coatings on children's products banned at 0.009% lead by weight or more (16 CFR part 1303).
About this guide
Written by BenchRoot Editorial. How BenchRoot sources, checks and corrects its pages is set out in the Editorial Policy. If something here is wrong or unclear, the contact page explains how to tell us.