By Rain Noe - Jun 07, 2017

DiResta's Cut: Oak & Leather Toolbox

In this episode of DiResta's Cut, Jimmy creates a tool tote using old oak palette wood, leather, upholstery tacks and slam rivets

By Rain Noe - May 03, 2017

DiResta's Cut: Brass 'Bot Lamps

Cleaning out his shop, Jimmy DiResta finds a piece of a stripper pole from an older project. He gets an idea for a pair of fanciful lamps, and along with other scraps lying around and a nearby lighting supply store, is able to whip them up in short order. As

By Rain Noe - Apr 05, 2017

DiResta's Cut: Bin Cabinet

In this episode of DiResta's Cut, Jimmy creates a storage unit that incorporates a bunch of old metal bins he found on the street. He gives you some useful tips for creating a router jig to cut consistent dadoes, explains when not to do math, rigs up some DIY steel

By Rain Noe - Mar 01, 2017

DiResta's Cut: Experimenting with Branches and Resin

Inspired by artists Peter Brown and Lee Jaehyo, this month Jimmy undertakes an experiment with wood, resin and a new lathe. There are some setbacks along the way but he perseveres, improvising fixes, analyzing the problems and adjusting his techniques on the fly:

By Rain Noe - Feb 01, 2017

DiResta's Cut: Vintage Showcase Rehabilitation

This month Jimmy rehabilitates a vintage retail showcase, using a variety of tricks and techniques to retain the vintage look while shoring up the structure:

By Rain Noe - Jan 04, 2017

DiResta's Cut: Five Work Tables

How did you spend your holidays? Jimmy DiResta spent his working, both in his city and country shops, to produce (from scratch, naturally) a series of work tables for a school. As always he offers plenty of his signature tips, from why he prefers a bandsaw for cutting steel bar

By Rain Noe - Dec 07, 2016

DiResta's Cut: Dope Jams Record Box

Here's an unusual commission: A DJ and record store owner friend of Jimmy's asked him to make a special commemorative box that will hold three LPs, a 32-page booklet, a magic wand and a DVD. We always enjoy watching and hearing Jimmy design out loud, not to mention his

By Rain Noe - Nov 02, 2016

DiResta's Cut: Steel & Leather Tool Tote

This month, Jimmy engages in "an experiment in design and fashion," creating the form factor of a wooden tool tote with unusual materials: steel rod and leather. He explains why in the video and, as always, shows you tons of fabrication and efficiency tips:

By Rain Noe - Oct 05, 2016

DiResta's Cut: Massive Outdoor Chalkboard

Here Jimmy DiResta makes "one of the heaviest things I've ever put together," for what have to be the smallest end-users: He's been hired by a school to create a massive outdoor chalkboard, and he starts from scratch. There's a good amount of planning required here, with Jimmy figuring

By Jimmy DiResta - Sep 16, 2016

Sponsored Post: Jimmy DiResta's Tips and Tricks for 3M VHB Tape

Sometimes you need an adhesive bond that gives you the right amount of stretch AND a strong hold. With 3M's VHB Tape, get a solid bond without the stress of rivets and screws or the messiness of liquid epoxies. In this video, Jimmy shares some tips and tricks for using

By Rain Noe - Sep 07, 2016

DiResta's Cut: Paul-Evans-Inspired Stereo Cabinet

Jimmy pays homage to the artist and furniture designer

Here's an unusual DiResta's Cut project: Jimmy's got a friend who's a fan of artist Paul R. Evans, and owns two of Evans' pieces. Said friend would like a third, custom-built to hold stereo equipment, but he can't exactly commission one; Evans passed away in the late '80s. So

By Rain Noe - Aug 04, 2016

DiResta's Cut: Built-in Seating & Storage Unit

From initial sketch to final installation

Here Jimmy DiResta has to create a built-in for what looks like a new, or newly-renovated, apartment. We get to see him go from sketch to finished product, offering his signature tips along the way (like how to get your workpieces not to shift against one another when you drill

By Rain Noe - Jul 06, 2016

DiResta's Cut: How to Build an Eleven-Foot Farmhouse Dining Table

While Jimmy DiResta always makes his builds look easy, this is one that we might actually be able to do. This month Jimmy builds a massive, eleven-foot-plus farmhouse dining table, using a very limited amount of tools, reminding us that you don't need a fully-outfitted shop in order to build

By Rain Noe - Jun 01, 2016

DiResta's Cut: Building a Chicken Coop

A fox-proof enclosure with both indoor and outdoor areas

Here's a problem we didn't expect Jimmy DiResta to have: Needing to house fast-growing chickens. The chicks he and girlfriend Taylor recently acquired to populate their upstate farm have rapidly grown into chickens, and they're getting too big to live in the house. Solution? Build them a chicken coop. A

By Rain Noe - May 10, 2016

DiResta's Cut, Behind the Scenes: David Waelder's Bee Bungalow B-Roll

Here's what you didn't get to see in the final cut

Last week we saw Jimmy DiResta, along with assistant Willy and shopmate David Waelder, build that modular beehive house. Waelder, who has worked with Jimmy for years and has his own well-trafficked YouTube channel, brought his own cameras (and a drone!) to shoot B-roll. So in addition to Jimmy's

By Rain Noe - May 04, 2016

DiResta's Cut: Building a Beehive House 

Lets the bees in, keeps the bears and birds out

In this episode of DiResta's Cut, Jimmy goes out into the field—literally. While we're used to seeing him operate in either his NYC or upstate shops, here he's got to build a house to hold beehives for a local farmer, pre-fab style, and his yard out in the country is

By Rain Noe - Apr 08, 2016

DiResta's Cut: Hinged Butterfly Panel Room Dividers

Built with a combination of hi-tech and low-tech tools

In this episode of DiResta's Cut, Jimmy creates a hinged-panel room divider for a friend's apartment, getting an assist from shopmate David Waelder. DiResta shows us how he gets around the limitations of a CNC machine that only has an 18"x24" bed, creating large panels with a repeating pattern. Also

By Rain Noe - Mar 02, 2016

A DIY Dual-Drawer Toolbox in this Episode of DiResta's Cut

"I know I'm going to get a letter from Festool saying 'That's not how you're supposed to use that'"

Toolboxes are handy for keeping things all in one place, but they aren't much good if you can't quickly access everything in them. The classic problem is that you need to fish to reach what's in the bottom. For the past ten years Jimmy DiResta has lived with this design

By Rain Noe - Feb 03, 2016

Duplicating a Favorite Piece of Found Furniture: DiResta's Steel & Walnut Stool

Reclaiming biscuit-joined walnut, quickly transferring furniture dimensions, how to get a great patina on steel and more

What do you do when your favorite piece of furniture is something you found in the street—and you want another one? Here Jimmy DiResta shows us how he duplicated the dimensions of his favorite stool, then built a far sturdier version. He manages to incorporate some otherwise useless but

By Rain Noe - Jan 06, 2016

DiResta's Cut: Screw Caddy

Making a heavy duty tote for the shop

In this episode of DiResta's Cut, Jimmy needs to make a heavy duty screw caddy for his upstate shop. He whips one out using Japanese sycamore, some rope and some ipe edging for abrasion resistance. Along the way he shows you a trick for cutting thin pieces on a table

By Rain Noe - Dec 09, 2015

DiResta's Cut: Lathe Drawer

Jimmy builds a heavy-duty storage drawer with removable bins, then has to figure out how to mount it in an inconvenient location

Jimmy DiResta's lathe bench has been spinning (no pun intended) out of control, in terms of the tools and clutter gathering around it. This month he's got to get it straightened out by building a storage drawer with removable bins. The problem: His legacy lathe bench has an inconveniently-placed piece

By Rain Noe - Nov 04, 2015

DiResta's Cut: Corian LED Lamp

Corian ain't just for countertops

In his sprawling underground NYC shop, Jimmy DiResta has what seems like every tool and material known to man, all tucked away somewhere in the labyrinth. In this episode of DiResta's Cut, Jimmy whips out a tool and material we haven't seen yet in this series: A desktop CNC mill

By Rain Noe - Oct 07, 2015

DiResta's Cut: Tree Slice Stool

The final tree-based furniture piece in the series

Finishing up his trilogy of furniture built from large tree parts, Jimmy DiResta tackles seating in this episode of DiResta's Cut. (The previous two installments included a live-edge shelf and a table.) Though under the weather, Jimmy DiResta still managed to get into the shop to crank out this latest

By Rain Noe - Sep 02, 2015

DiResta's Cut: Vampire Spike Table

Experiments with a tapering jig on an old lathe led to this table design

Jimmy recently got his hands on a killer, and historical, piece of equipment: A vintage South Bend lathe. Manufactured in 1944, Jimmy's model was undoubtedly created for the war effort, as the famous South Bend Lathe Works served both the Bureau of Ordnance and the U.S. Navy; but here he's

By Rain Noe - Aug 05, 2015

DiResta's Cut: Live Edge Shelf

How can "When life gives you lemons, make lemonade" apply to furniture creation? Jimmy DiResta demonstrates

In this second episode of our "Diresta's Cut" series, Jimmy DiResta starts out with a loose plan that Mother Nature instantly sends off of the rails. After encountering a ruined cedar tree on his property in upstate New York, Jimmy figured he'd make something out of the stump; but after

By Core Jr - Jul 03, 2015

DiResta's Cut: Massive Dovetail-Joined Bench

Watch, listen and learn as master maker Jimmy DiResta walks and talks you through a furniture build

Most of you have seen a Jimmy DiResta video by now. As 220,000 subscribers agree, it's fun watching him turn piles of wood, metal, plastic, leather, etc. into objects and furniture, using every tool known to man and techniques both conventional and unconventional. As Jimmy—or occasionally Super Jimmy, wordlessly