Making Pins

Both the angle adjustment mechanism and the height adjustment mechanism have brass pins.  Starting with 3/8" brass rod, I cut to length the rods and filed the ends square.

Then I chucked them into my drill press, (with the drill running at a low rpm) sanded them up to 400 grit, and cut a chamfer on the bottom edge.

Using the edge of a small triangular file I cut notches, finishing with the edge of a flat file (I think the 90 degree angle looks better than the 60 degree).

I then polished the rod by holding my buffing wheel up to it (with the drill on).  They turned out pretty well.  Not bad for not having a lathe!

Final Post

The title of this post may be slightly misleading, as I still have some posts that I want to share, but I want to take this opportunity to reflect back on my project. The biggest success in my project was how the stand came out.  I am extremely pleased with it, and feel really good about presenting it on Monday.  Throughout this project, I have learned a lot about time management.  I wish that I could have done more in the beginning of my project, as I have found that in the past few weeks I have been scrambling to complete my project on time.  I would have liked to be done with the building by now, so I could focus on the magazine article, but that didn't happen, and I still have to complete the woodworking.  Overall I am very glad that I decided to do the WISE program, it has been a wonderful experience.

Stand Lip

Gluing the walnut lip to the stand:

 After the glue is dry I will plane the cherry flush with the walnut. 
With this done the only remaining things to do on the stand are screwing the stand on to the post, finishing the stand, drilling the holes for the adjustment mechanism, and making the pin for the height adjustment mechanism.  So close!

Pre-finishing

To simplify the finishing process, I am doing a lot of pre-finishing , which is applying the finish before the project is completely assembled.  The finish I used was a 50/50 blend of mineral spirits and varnish.  The mineral spirits is just a thinner that allows me to wipe on the varnish easily, which is my favorite application method.  I put about 3 coats on.  With the finishing out of the way, I glued the column into the base.

Close up of the large chamfer at the top of the column:

Now all that I have to do is glue on the lip to the stand, and attach it to the angle adjustment bracket.

Stand Pivot

 I was finally able to get the adjustment mechanism done:

 Using the pattern to rough cut the brackets out on the bandsaw.

 Using one of the brackets as a pattern for the other.

 Double stick tape keeps the brackets together while drilling the holes.

 Rough cutting the top of the post, I used a float and my block plane to refine the curve, finishing up with sandpaper.

How it works:

 Later I swapped the lower peg for a 3/8" one.

 For the pivot, I put it into the drill press and sanded it while it was rotating, creating a nice looking circular pattern on the end.  Using a file (with the drill running) I also beveled the edges.

 After epoxying the pin into the post, I pinned it with 1/8" brass pin-stock to ensure that it will never fall out, even if the epoxy weakens.

Sanded flush.

Stand Pivot Design

In order to finalize the design of the pivot I had to first determine what angles I wanted the stand to be able to adjust to.  I used a protractor on my own music stand, and determined that one of the positions should be about 20 degrees.  The other position should be about 70 degrees for playing above the stand.  To design the pivot bracket, I needed to make up a full-size template so I can be sure that the bracket will accommodate the locking pin at the right angle, while also being robust enough.  To do this I used sketch-up to print out a full sized template, which I learned to do from this blog article: Printing to Scale in Sketch-up.  Then I drew the bracket outline on the printout.  Next I will begin the shaping of the bracket.

Zeh, Joe. "Printing to Scale in Sketch-up." Web log post. Chiefwoodworker's Blog. 10 Nov. 2008. Web. 23 May 2012. <http://www.srww.com/blog/?p=117&cpage=1>.


I also did some much needed shop clean-up.
Before:

 After:

Presentation Plans

• Present project idea, reason for building stand.
• Talk about my design, the aesthetic (influences), and the functional aspects
• Talk about some challenges I had in building the stand (new techniques, finishing)
• Present a selection of tools that I used in my project as well as some wood samples
• Talk about my research into woodworking as a business (costs, ways to sell work, how to have a larger profit margin)
• Talk about how my tools affect my working style/speed
• Talk about my magazine article and present my process for writing it

Sample Presentation

In the sample presentation last night (which was very good), I was unsurprised that the full time was not taken for her speaking section.  Even with Katherine's speaking skills it was hard for her to take up the entire time.  This is because a half hour of talking is a very hard for anyone to take up.  For my presentation I will have to carefully plan out my presentation time, so it is organized, and so it fills up the entire time.  To do this I plan on bringing lots of visual aids (tools and wood), and will go into detail on some of the techniques.

Some Reflection

Recently I have been looking back on the earlier parts of my journal, to see how I can improve my journal.  In the beginning of my project, my journal was not so great.  Mostly this was because I was not really doing anything on my project, so I did not know what I should journal about.  My mentor was super helpful about this, she helped me by making sure I knew exactly what I was supposed to be doing for my journal.  It is still hard for me to write about topics outside my hands-on work, but looking at my more recent posts, I am very pleased about how my journal currently is. 

Magazine Article Research

For my magazine article I will be writing, I need to do some research on the general layout of a typical woodworking article.  To do this I browsed through a couple of Popular Woodworking Magazines, the most recent edition and the April 2012 edition, focusing on the feature article "Irish Chair" by Don Weber and the  cover article, "Cherry Wall Cabinet" by Matthew Teague.  Both share a similar layout and structure that I will use to guide my writing of my own article.  As both of these project articles are about fairly unusual projects and techniques, they focus on the unusual aspects, instead of going over every single aspect of the build.  This saves the reader from having to re-read information on basic woodworking techniques, so for my article I will focus on the aspect of this build that are unique to my project, such as the adjustment system, both height and angle.  I will briefly cover my methods of making the adjustment mechanism, and will also cover my influences for the design, and wood selection, as well as the finish I end up using.

Teague, Matthew. "Cherry Wall Cabinet." Popular Woodworking Magazine Apr. 2012. Print.

Weber, Don. "Irish Chair." Popular Woodworking Magazine June 2012. Print.

Adjustment Mechanism

With the stand almost done, I have started thinking more about the adjustment mechanism.  For the tightening screw, I will need some dowel, maple for durability.
http://www.leevalley.com/US/wood/page.aspx?p=32721&cat=1,250,43217,32721

For the overall shape of the pegs, they will be modeled after tuning pegs, which is not my idea, I saw it done somewhere, but I cannot remember where.  I think that I will top the maple screw with a darker wood, possibly macassar ebony, or burmese blackwood, both of which I have on hand.

Base Joinery

Moving on to the base joinery, which consists of a kind of half-lap joint that I had never cut before.  To prepare, I read Tage Frid's primer on mortise and tenon joints, and then I cut a practice joint.  It was surprisingly easy. 

I find that chalk rubbed in the cut-lines make them more visible on dark walnut.

One down!

Marking out the thickness of the column.

Halfway done.

Unfortunately one of my joints was too tight, and while I was fitting it, it snapped.  Luckily it was easily repaired with some glue.

All done.

So far this was one of the most fun parts of the project.  Most of the work has been milling, which is slightly boring, so it was nice that I was finally able to do some real joinery.  Iwas also very proud of the way it turned out, that (besides the one component breaking) everything went together very smoothly.  Overall I am very happy with the base.

Frid, Tage. Tage Frid Teaches Woodworking. Newtown: Taunton, 1986. Print. 

Thoughts About Final Presentation

I am beginning to brainstorm ideas for my final presentation:

• Bring in completed project
• Bring in wood samples
• Have slideshow of some interesting aspects of the build
• Answer a few of my research questions
• Present my magazine article

Power vs. Hand

As a follow-up to my post yesterday, I want to talk about why I could not earn a living with my woodworking, as I am currently set up.  When I first started purchasing tools, I only purchased hand tools, mainly because I could not afford or fit any power tools in my shop.  After a while I bought a bandsaw, a drill press, a grinder, and a router (all relatively small and inexpensive).  Why is this important?  Because about 80-90% of the time I have put in to this project so far has been milling.  Milling is making the wood the correct dimensions so I can cut joinery into it.  My current process it to use my bandsaw to rip the stock to the correct width, hand planing to flatten and square the faces, and hand sawing to cut the piece to length.  Almost every woodworker who makes money from making furniture has power tools to do almost all of these tasks, simply because milling by hand takes way too long.  If a task can be done more efficiently one way over another, it is unrealistic to do it the more inefficient way, and milling with power tools (using a jointer and planer) produce excellent results much quicker.  So to really start making money from woodworking, I would need to mechanize in order to reach maximum efficiency.

Column Progress

I did some more work this week on the column, mostly planing the outside, and making sure the bottom is square, because that's where the feet attach to.  It looks good.

Marking out a square line to plane to (on the left).

Woodworking as a Business

As part of my research component, I am interested in how much I would sell my project for, if I was selling it.  This is a very hard question as I am certainly not a professional trying to support myself with woodworking, so my costs are significantly less than a professional's.  So far what I can conclude from the literature I have read on pricing your work is this: it depends.

When I talked to Chris Lowe, he told me that he figures out how many hours it will take to complete each part of a project, and what the materials cost is, and uses this to calculate the total price.  A while ago I began making a detailed log of how many hours I spent on the stand, and on what.  Up to now I have spent approximately 20 hours on the build of this project, and have spent $55 on materials.  At a conservative $20/hr, that makes the total cost be about $415 not factoring in at least 6-7 more hours before completion.

However there are other ways to determine a price that take into account factors such as sale method, and the target market.  The most direct way to customers is (unsurprisingly) to sell to them directly.  However unless you already have a substantial customer base, you will have to put time and money into marketing your work, which takes away from your profits and production time.  Another way is to sell through something or someone, for example selling products through a gallery or a show.  Depending on the venue however, some of the purchase price will be given to the gallery/show.  Another important factor in pricing is your target customers.  How much are they willing to spend?  Can you justify your cost by the quality?

Because of my situation as a student, it is very difficult to make a hypothetical cost estimate.  I don't have to pay for my room or board, so my direct costs are only the materials cost at the beginning of the project.  Really I am just happy to have something work on that I know someone will value greatly.

http://www.thewoodwhisperer.com/articles/pricing-your-work/

http://bridgewooddesign.com/estimator/howto.htm

http://www.woodworkersjourney.com/category/pricing-your-work

Graves, Garth. Earn a Second Income from Your Woodworking. Cincinnati, OH: Betterway, 1997. Print.

Learning Observations

Learning involves memorization.  This has proven to be very true about my project, however my memorization is different than most.  Mine is physical memorization, teaching my body to be able to plane more accurately, to be able to saw exactly to a line.  I have vastly improved my woodworking skills throughout this project.  Being in the shop regularly has really helped with this.

My project is a perfect example of how learning is inconclusive.  Although I already possess the basic skills needed for this project, at every turn there are opportunities to learn new techniques and improve my skills.  For example in the joinery for the base, the joints a modified version of something I have done before, but are slightly different. The person I interviewed, Chris Lowe, told me that it takes at least 10 years to begin to feel comfortable with this work, but even for someone who has worked as a woodworker all their life, there are always new skills and techniques to learn.

Base Milling

 Before I can even start working on joinery for the feet, I have to do some milling.

The chalk indicates which surfaces are "reference surfaces", meaning that when I go to mark out joinery, I always reference my square or other layout tool off these surfaces.  The face and the edge reference surfaces are perfectly square to each other.

Using the reference edge on the bandsaw fence, all of the parts are ripped to the same width.

Happiness Revisited

I feel the most happy and contented when I have just completed something well that is very challenging, whether mentally, physically, or both.  This article on flow reminded me of something that my dad once told me; that nothing worthwhile gets completed in a 9-5 job.  Although this may sound like an insult to anyone who works from 9-5, it is not.  What he meant, and what this article explains, is that success is a "unintended side-effect of one's personal dedication."   That success and happiness are both things that come from stretching our bodies and/or minds to do things that we are passionate about.  In my project I am currently towards the lower part of the "flow channel."  right now the work I am doing is fairly repetitive, but is a necessary part of my project.  Soon however I will move upwards towards the more challenging region as I must begin working on some techniques that are very new to me, such as bridle joints.

Central Column Glue-up

Before gluing up the column, I had to make sure that the sliding action was as smooth as possible.  With the narrow sides clamped in place, I traced the width of the post onto each side.

Using my bandsaw and jointer plane, I cut and planed the sides to exactly the needed width.

While testing the fit of the post, I aimed for a fit that was fairly snug, as I will later plane the post carefully to make a perfect fit.  To begin the glue-up of the column, I begin with gluing one piece on, and wiping away all the glue squeeze-out with a wet rag.

After that was dry, I glued the other side on, using the post as reference, making sure to wipe away any glue squeeze out.

After that was dry I glued on the last piece, making sure to use glue sparingly, as any squeeze out would be essentially impossible to remove.

After all the glue was set, I planed the outside.  Not all the joints turned out perfect, but they are passable, after all I knew that this would be the hardest part of the project.  Now onto the base.

Central Post

The main component of the adjustment mechanism is the the central post that slides within the outer column.  To get to the thickness needed, I glued up two .75" thick pieces to make a 1.5" square piece.

For the mechanism to be smooth, it is essential to make sure all components are square and consistent thickness, without any twist.  Using a square and calipers I made sure the central post is very square and has less than 1/64" change in thickness along its length.  The outer column is made of four pieces glued up, so all of those components must be very square and flat as well.

Here is a mock-up of how the sliding mechanism will work:

Testing the squareness and fit for the outer column:

Stand Glue-up

The main focal point of this project is the stand, the part where the music sits.  It is also the largest surface, and I chose the most interesting boards for it.  First I joint the edges, and then glue them together.

Done properly this kind of joint is stronger than the wood itself.



After the glue is cured, I planed the face to clean up mill marks and to flatten it.

Planing reveals some gum pockets:

More on Steamed Walnut

A sample of how un-steamed walnut looks vs. steamed, left to right respectively: