Cosman Workbench Build for the Purple Heart Project @wisconsinwood

Rich Hedman Recently I volunteered for Rob Cosman's Purple Heart Project's (PHP) Bench Brigade. Rob started the PHP to introduce combat-wounded veterans the joy and serenity of hand tool woodworking. The PHP (thepurpleheartproject.org) is completely donation-driven, and through the program, the PHP awards scholarships to deserving veterans which includes transportation to Rob's Grand Bay, New Brunswick, Canada shop, lodging and meals, and a week of 7 AM to 7 PM hand tool woodworking instruction. When the vets depart for home with (last I heard) $4 - $4.5k worth of "Communized" hand woodworking tools (saws, planes, marking gauges, shooting boards, etc.), they have the knowledge and skills to hit the ground running. The only problem was that the vets would come home to a shop (garage, shed, basement, whatever) that in many cases included no bench to work on. That's where the Bench Brigade comes in.

The Bench Brigade is composed of volunteers like me all over the U.S. and Canada who build benches to the Rob Cosman specifications for these heroes, then delivers them to the veteran's home or shop. I had the pleasure of building a bench for a retired United States Marine named Michael. This was a fun project that was made easier by a great local company in Cedarburg, Wisconsin - Zuern Building Products and Design Center (https://www.zuerns.com). I cannot thank them enough for their generosity in donating all the lumber and a portion of the hardware for the project. Special thanks to Hayden Proefrock at Zuern for coordinating this awesome gift - THANK YOU Hayden!

So enjoy the video and please consider donating to the Purple Heart Project, which incidentally, is now an approved charity under the Combined Federal Campaign!

Thanks for watching and reading.
Rich

updated 2 years ago

Cosman Workbench Build for the Purple Heart Project

Rich Hedman 2024-07-07 | Recently I volunteered for Rob Cosman's Purple Heart Project's (PHP) Bench Brigade. Rob started the PHP to introduce combat-wounded veterans the joy and serenity of hand tool woodworking. The PHP (thepurpleheartproject.org) is completely donation-driven, and through the program, the PHP awards scholarships to deserving veterans which includes transportation to Rob's Grand Bay, New Brunswick, Canada shop, lodging and meals, and a week of 7 AM to 7 PM hand tool woodworking instruction. When the vets depart for home with (last I heard) $4 - $4.5k worth of "Communized" hand woodworking tools (saws, planes, marking gauges, shooting boards, etc.), they have the knowledge and skills to hit the ground running. The only problem was that the vets would come home to a shop (garage, shed, basement, whatever) that in many cases included no bench to work on. That's where the Bench Brigade comes in.

The Bench Brigade is composed of volunteers like me all over the U.S. and Canada who build benches to the Rob Cosman specifications for these heroes, then delivers them to the veteran's home or shop. I had the pleasure of building a bench for a retired United States Marine named Michael. This was a fun project that was made easier by a great local company in Cedarburg, Wisconsin - Zuern Building Products and Design Center (https://www.zuerns.com). I cannot thank them enough for their generosity in donating all the lumber and a portion of the hardware for the project. Special thanks to Hayden Proefrock at Zuern for coordinating this awesome gift - THANK YOU Hayden!

So enjoy the video and please consider donating to the Purple Heart Project, which incidentally, is now an approved charity under the Combined Federal Campaign!

Thanks for watching and reading.
Rich

Cherry Dining Table

Rich Hedman 2026-05-30 | Made this for my son recently. Give it a like!

Mid-Century Modern Desk Build

Rich Hedman 2026-03-06 | We got a new chair and glass mat for my father-in-law for Christmas. But when I looked at his desk, I knew I had to build him a new one. So, here is the video of that build. Hope you like it. All comments welcome.

Natura One Coat: amazon.com/dp/B0BXPGWBG6?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_fed_asin_title

Betesy Undermount Soft-Close Drawer Slides: amazon.com/dp/B097PKKCT4?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_fed_asin_title&th=1

Walnut Kitchen Table Build

Rich Hedman 2024-04-03 | My daughter-in-law requested I build a dining table. "Of course!", I said. The walnut came from a friend's back yard. It took about a year and a half to dry once it was slabbed-out, stacked, and strapped. Once the moisture content was at 9 percent, I went to work. I've got about 30 hours into it. The table top final dimensions are 42" x 60" x 1-3/8" thick. Table height is 31-1/2". I saved the best for the very last part of the video.

Music Credits:
Unicorn Heads - A New Orleans Crawfish Boil
Craig MacArthur - Point Green Getdown
Silent Partner - The Place Inside
Telecasted - Rooster
Chris Haugen - Swampland
Ryan McCaffrey - Time Slips By
Telecasted - Riding Into The Sun
TackTribe - Put It

Shooting Board Build

Rich Hedman 2022-12-20 | I am interested in making some boxes and in order to do that I will need to be able to create absolutely square corners. To do that a Shooting Board is needed. I made this one after watching several on YouTube, and settled on the Rob Cosman version/method. I highly recommend Rob's website for two reasons. First, his woodworking skill and teaching ability are second to none I've seen. Second, and I think more important, is Rob's support of combat wounded veterans, both U.S. and Canadian, through his Purple Heart Project (robcosman.com/pages/php-what-is-php). I encourage anyone interested in learning more about woodworking and those who are interested in supporting our combat wounded vets to check out his site and his YouTube channel. And if you are looking for some of the highest quality hand tools available, you'll find them on Rob's site. (https://robcosman.com).

Stumpy Nubs Crosscut Sled plans: stumpynubs.com/product/sled-large

Katz Moses Stop Block (as seen on my crosscut sled): kmtools.com/collections/frontpage/products/the-katz-moses-universal-no-deflection-stop-block-version-2-0-1

Chess Table Build

Rich Hedman 2022-11-28 | A while back I made a chessboard for my father-in-law. It was residing on his dining room table so he asked me to build a side table to store it on. So instead of just building a table with one function of serving as the base for a chessboard, I decided to give it a dual purpose. So I thought, what goes good with a nice chessboard? Why, a nice checkerboard of course!

I decided to build the base (legs) with a mid-century modern design, and the tabletop would be the checkerboard. For the legs I used 6/4 cherry, and for the checkerboard table top, I used cherry for the base and 1/4" thick layers of pauduk for the red squares and zircotie for the black squares on top. Then I trimmed it with cherry and pauduk. The zircotie isn't quite black like ebony is. But it's dark enough, and ebony was $244 per board foot! I finished the table with Rubio Monocoat Pure. I'm very happy with the way it turned out.

Comments welcome on things that you like, don't like, anything I could have done better, or ideas for my next build. Thanks for watching.

Toy Box Build

Rich Hedman 2022-09-29 | My oldest son and his wife are expecting their first child soon and a toy box was requested. So I went to JohnBuildsIt and bought a set of his plans.

John's YouTube Channel: youtube.com/c/JohnBuildsIt
Here's the link to his site and the toy box plans: johnbuildsit.com/plans/p/chesttoy-box-build-plans