Crafting a Cat-tastic Dodecahedron Basket: Woodworking Fail turned into Epic Feature!

Goeie dag! (Dutch for good day!)
Join me on an adventure in woodworking as I turn a failed dodecahedron project into an epic success! I set out to create a cat basket from oak wood, only to discover I made a fundamental mistake. Watch as I transform this setback into a stunning feature, using a custom CNC jig and contrasting wooden strips to hide the imperfections and upgrading the design at the same time! With a feline-inspired touch, I shape the opening of the basket like a cat's head. Tune in to see how creativity, resilience, and a little woodworking know-how can turn a simple project into a cat-tastic masterpiece!
FREE 3D models to 3D print: www.printables... [ Printables]
Support the channel and explore the tools I use with the affiliate links below:
TOOLS:
Panel clamps: amzn.to/3Wg4epd [Amazon]
Straight Router Bit: amzn.to/3Ls8bT3 [Amazon]
Microjig Gripper: amzn.to/3xL9fOb [Amazon]
Wood glue: amzn.to/3UoEZkX [Amazon]
Glue brush: amzn.to/3UozS4k [Amazon]
Portable planer: amzn.to/4445FLc [Amazon]
Clamps: amzn.to/4f712Fh [Amazon]
Green Woodworking Pencil: amzn.to/3LuB94x [Amazon]

[@Idea2Item-uo5ix]

By Populair request: Panel clamps: amzn.to/3Wg4epd [Amazon]

[@wrendellajoens3984]

Thank you for this link! Small footprint on a useful tool is especially helpful for the solo woodworker in a small shop. Be well!

[@generationfilmmaker9800]

It's beautiful. Great ingenuity on fixing your glue up problem, looks fantastic.

[@FullStackWoodworking]

The end result turned out great, the darker strips really add to the design.

[@Idea2Item-uo5ix]

Thank you! I just checked out your channel as well, and I absolutely loved it!😊(Subbed of course) It looks like we're both just starting out on this "Woodworking KZbin channel" adventure. It's also fun to see how we have somewhat similar tools and shop size limitations. I also like watching you use "Woodworking-Plus techniques" like your CNC and 3D printer and a bit of soldering and 3D drawing skills😃. I'd love to have a chat with you about woodworking and KZbin if you're up for it😊

[@FullStackWoodworking]

​@@Idea2Item-uo5ix Thanks, likewise subbed. I thought the same and and is interesting to see what you come up with. Yeah that would be good :)

[@SUSTHEEM]

Such a beautiful project! Now let's build geodesic domes with a fireplace inside! ;-)

[@mahj]

Loved to see the entire process. The subtle cat silhouette at the opening is a great touch!

[@Idea2Item-uo5ix]

Thank you my friend, I appreciate that!😊

[@RemyRackham]

You have two cats, and you only built one of those?! The audacity.

[@Idea2Item-uo5ix]

Well... the other one likes to sit somewhere high up, and I'm still finalizing a plan to make her a penthous basket 😌

[@johnritchie3889]

We had two cats. And if I had built two of these, one would have gone unused. They liked to cuddle.

[@are_sh3509]

Amazing project and very inspiring workshop since my space is slightly smaller, subscribed!

[@ArtisticEndeavors]

A comment for the algorithm and a huge Thank You to the creator! ✌🏻🎨☕️

[@Idea2Item-uo5ix]

Looks like you know how tihis works! Thank you 😊.

[@hansangb]

Wow. Those are OUTSTANDING jigs. Oh yeah, the cat box turned out great as well 😅. And the panel clamping is a great idea as well.

[@kristelvangoozen-schippers619]

Wow! Great to see how you turned a 'failure' into a nice feature :-)

[@mariananeto3794]

Absolutely gorgeous results!! I truly love what you said about the trick to being a decent woodworker not being to not make mistakes, but to have the ingenuity and creativity to hide them or turn them into features. I love all forms of crafting (sewing, woodworking, leather working, crocheting, 3D modeling…) and that is honestly the best advice I’ve ever seen, it’s not about not making mistakes, it says about creatively dealing with them as they come. Loving the channel and looking forward to whatever you have planned next!

[@Idea2Item-uo5ix]

Thank you 😊 That is one hell of a comment! I think the best one I had ever on this Channel haha.

[@BruceNotAmused]

wow, zo mooi! echt tof ook met die oortjes

[@Idea2Item-uo5ix]

Dank je 😊. Ik moest wel even hardop lachen toen ik je profielfoto en naam zag🤣

[@gabrielmaroto18]

Love it!

[@horusfalcon]

So very well done!

[@Ernzt8]

Very creative solutions for an amazing build, well done! Impressive wood shop by the way

[@daviswooddesigns]

Great video. great idea, great editing, and amazing job with the fix rather than scrapping. Good luck on growing. Subscribed

[@Idea2Item-uo5ix]

Thank you for the confidence😁

[@claudiazandvliet719]

What a great build! And the exidental feature looks awesome!❤

[@lauramarshall6376]

This is beautiful.

[@ilonetheuns4672]

Wow i don't have cats but yours can be satisfied with such nice bed

[@TheOneCleanHippy]

Great video man. Your production is pretty top notch. I think if you keep consistently making videos like this, you'll be able to make a career out of KZbin.

[@Idea2Item-uo5ix]

Thank you, I have already been there, done that haha. (Search for "shadow elenter", that channel has 68k subs😜) I'm not sure if I wanna put in the effort to get there again haha.

[@SomeDudeOnline]

Love the "Glue clamp porcupine monster"! For future reference on something like those inlays where you can't really get a clamp, you can use masking tape (stretched) like you did for the joints around the opening to get a little clamping pressure, or cut up some bicycle tire inner tubes and tightly wrap them around.

[@Idea2Item-uo5ix]

Might have been a good one...🤔 But really it was not necessary here. It is not a structural joint and the tight fit combine with the suction working from the glue worked like a dream. And you know you fear it... It's in your dreams as well as mine. I think it important to talk openly about the glueclamp porcupine Monster. We have to get rid of the taboo resting on the subject and Work through it together!💪

[@Phyysics]

Awesome build!

[@Auroniar.]

5:55 i thought, now i'm excited to see how he's going to clean up that "fail" and it's the first video i saw from you and thought, he's for sure not useing a cnc... god damn, are there any youtube woodworkers without a cnc ? 😂😂😂😂

[@Idea2Item-uo5ix]

Wahaha, it's the modern word🤷🏻‍♂️ I only used it to make a jig you could also make with hand tools. I got iritated and took the fast way haha😊 Did you like the rest though?

[@CardsbyMaaike]

leuk hoor mijn katten ...erhm...houden meer van dozen dan dure bedden of speciaal voor hen gemaakte dingen ;-) maar deze zijn erg leuk en lekker knus

[@Idea2Item-uo5ix]

Ik vrees dat we hier hetzelfde probleem hebben... 😅 En ik ben dan weer zo'n sukkel die het zielig vind om hun favoriete doos weg te gooien wahaha Hoe heten jou katten?

[@artgroendale2733]

yet another excellent craftsmanship project, really nice👌👌

[@Tynster747]

Huh well okay. the YT algorithm served this one up. Surprised to see such a small channel. Love what i see so far, ill stick around and subbed

[@Idea2Item-uo5ix]

The KZbin algorithm is a black box of Mystery... 😅 That is also why it is so hard to grow a new KZbin channel. Anyway thank you for the support and welcome aboard on the ground level!😋

[@compunurse]

Appreciate your comments as a firefighter. As the son of a house painter/handyman, came home from a date, one evening to find my father‘s work van on fire. he had forgotten to take out the batch of linseed oil soaked rags that he had used earlier in the day. Yes, spontaneous combustion is a thing.

[@Idea2Item-uo5ix]

Yes, it is a very dangerous thing. Mostly because people don't realise it's a dangerous thing. I have seen people unknowningly burn down there home Simply because they did not know. If you buy oil at a hardware store and only read the label until you know how to apply it, and skip the rest (like most people with most products) you might be in for a nasty suprise...🫣

[@crafttobasic]

Dang, this looks amazing, if I only had cats.

[@HainjeDAF]

Mooi hoor!🐈🐈‍⬛ Castlefest this year?

[@Idea2Item-uo5ix]

We are thinking about it... Not sure what day yet though. You?

[@HainjeDAF]

​@@Idea2Item-uo5ix I'm there all 4 days. I tried apping gf to no avail.

[@Idea2Item-uo5ix]

We're going today😊

[@HainjeDAF]

@@Idea2Item-uo5ix Was nice meeting up. Hope you enjoyed it!

[@TalRohan]

cool project ......seems cats are just obsessed with having angles on their boxes

[@Idea2Item-uo5ix]

Who knows what motivates these weird creatures...😅

[@johnritchie3889]

There’s really no difference in preparing rough sawn lumber, or repurposed lumber. Except the repurposed might be more stable. Nicely done.

[@Idea2Item-uo5ix]

I prefere it actually 😊. You do have to be super careful and check it well. I busted my sawblade on a random nail in an unexpected spot more than once unfortunately... Do you work a lot with repurposed lumber?

[@johnritchie3889]

@@Idea2Item-uo5ix I work with repurposed lumber sometimes, mostly for small projects. The constraints are that you have to design the project for the lumber you have rather than design the project and go buy the lumber you need. I agree that you lose a lot after cutting out all the screws and dowels, but you can get some really nice wood.

[@justinek.4495]

😁👍

[@douglasribeiro5431]

First of all, excellent final result! Did you consider the 116.57 dihedral angle when cutting? Apparently thats the reason they didnt align when gluing. Also the dominos need to be installed with half of that angle which is 58,28 and in the video it seems you passed 60 degrees.

[@Idea2Item-uo5ix]

The setting is on 59° actually. I tested on a piece of scrap and this worked slightly better the. 57° or 58°. I did concider the dihedral angle. Infact, I redrew the entire dodecahedron in fusion 360 too make sure I got all the angle measurements perfect. The discrepantie can com from a bunch of steps. If the jig on the mitersaw was off by even a fraction. That mistake compounds 5x because the cut is referenced off the last one. I could also have had one cut just not perfectly pressed into the reference jig. During glue-up there could be a preasure difference on th clamps... In reality, it's probably a bit of all the above don't you think?😅 How would you have made it to exclude these errors?

[@woodandwheelz]

You mentioned "As a firefighter" in your video about oil rags, I have a question. In another video I watched, I'm sorry that I don't remember which one or who the creator was, they mentioned that sealing the oily rags in a baggy with the air removed prevents the rags from combusting. What they did, and I do, is that when they were done with the oil filled rag, as they took off their rubber glove, they encased the oily rag in the glove(s), and then placed them in a plastic bag. They then squeezed all the air out and sealed it. I have started doing this and have had no problems so far. Of course, I don't throw them in the trash and place them outside of my shop just in case. Every time I feel the balled up bagged oily rag, it always feels cold. Is this a good method or is it just a fluke that nothing has happened yet? I seriously would like your professional answer on this. Thank you for taking the time to read my comment and I also want to add that this was a great build video and that you now have a new subscriber. Thank you and God bless.

[@Idea2Item-uo5ix]

Hello, thanky and welcome aboard!😊 The glove thing works. You deprive the oil from oxigen it requires to do it's exothermal reaction. That said, please NEVER do it again... Say you throw it in the trash after having observed it not getting warm fo a few days. The garbage truck comes and picks it up. Most of them have a internal trash compactor, and the crushing action could very well ruptuur the glove. The rags now get acces to oxigen again and the rags can start there exothermic reaction...🫣🔥🚚🔥 🚒 I could be wrong but it's sounds to me like the glove thing makes a potential delayed-timer fire hazard 😶 If you lay the rages out and Let them dry. The exotermic reaction takes Place but doesn't get very hot at all because it's not condenced. After the rags stop reacting, they will be dryed out and save to throw away because that chemicals that reacts are already done reacting but in a control Manner. I hope this helps and welcome again 😊

[@woodandwheelz]

@@Idea2Item-uo5ix Thank you for your Expert opinion. At this point I merely have a small pile of balled up rubber gloves (6), but I haven't thrown them in the collection bin yet. I don't stain that often, but I do use oil based stains. It is not a problem for me to just lay the rags out and wait a few weeks for them to dry. I say a few weeks because where I lay them out, I forget they are there, LoL. I don't keep them in the shop. Thank you again and God bless.

[@alanmittan4651]

Beautiful. But cats after all are so unpredictable. All that work and I would bet my cats would go sit in thier old cardboard box!

[@Idea2Item-uo5ix]

Yep, you guest it! We had to throw the old cartboard box away😅 Did you have the same thing?

[@alanmittan4651]

@@Idea2Item-uo5ix no I learned my lesson and don't buy them expensive things anymore not even toys. They like bottle caps, twist ties, and chasing bugs more than store bought stuff. They have some boxes and pillows they sit in on old tables by the windows and seem very happy.

[@c.j.hellwig7142]

I'm a cat!

[@Idea2Item-uo5ix]

Meow!

[@Rob_65]

@11:10 "as a fire fighter" Please look at @8:18 - Having a heater sitting on the table next to all that wood dust is not a good idea. Writing that ... having such a heater in a wood working shop is not a good idea at all. At least the thumbnail made all up for that small mistake ❤

[@Idea2Item-uo5ix]

Yea, it wasn't on. I could have removed it from the shot though, to avoid confusion. I also always blow it out with the compressor before use. They're fine to use, just requires som maintenance and common sense 😉

[@Rob_65]

​@@Idea2Item-uo5ix Indeed, those little heaters are great and this one is easy to clean. We just had our "scoop 10" approval end of last year and I removed heaters like this from the office just to prevent any issues

[@sferaefdeer3465]

Слишком маленький дом для такой большой кошки

[@Idea2Item-uo5ix]

Trust me, they lay in WAY smaller boxes completely voluntarily! Cats are like liquid 😅.

[@David_K_pi]

Ugh! You lost me once you introduced the CNC machine to the process. I don't have one and have no intention of ever getting one. I'm more interested in woodworking with affordable tools in my little shop. Nice looking cat hut, though. 👍🙂

[@Idea2Item-uo5ix]

I hear ya, The CNC is a whole hobby on its own... 😅 You don't need one to make great stuff anyway. To be honest I only reached for it in an moment of frustration after messing the miters up😅. The jigs can be made by hand easily also😉. What tools do you have in your shop that you are more accustomed to?

[@NyaMoon_]

Oh man, please dont do what you did with the first cut 😅 some day this won’t go good and that’s so fcking dangerous

[@Idea2Item-uo5ix]

You're the first one to comment on that... What was so dangerous about that cut, and how would you do it? I don't mean to display unsafe practices, but I'm not always aware something could be dangerous.

[@NyaMoon_]

@@Idea2Item-uo5ix standing right in front of the blade and kinda leaning over it to push the wood 😬 I imagine pretty nasty injuries if the wood breaks 😅