Art Mulder
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- 3,383
- Location
- London, Ontario
Some time ago here, I was pondering the design of a Stickley-inspired magazine stand -slash- display shelf.
There was some good ideas and discussion there, I thought, and I appreciate the folks here who tossed in their two bits. Well, as often happens, I sat on the idea for a good while (ie: months! ) before getting around to it again a week ago. I'm now a fair ways along in the construction, and thought I'd post a few photos and start this thread.
Just for anyone who hasn't read the prior thread, or doesn't feel like looking back, I started with an authentic Stickley Magazine shelf/stand -- from the book "Making Authentic Craftsman Furniture: Instructions and Plans for 62 Projects (Articles from The Craftsman, Edited by Gustav Stickley)" Here is the original drawing from there:
The original design was about 42-44" high, and that is what I was working with back then. I have since decided that I wanted it higher, more around 52-54". Consequently, I also wanted to make it a bit wider and deeper as well. (The intent is to give this to a charity auction at church, but the auction isn't guaranteed right now, so I'm trying to build it so that it could also be used as a shelf in my two sons' room.)
So my modified design looked like this:
And so far I've got the two side assemblies together -- haven't cut out the keyhole yet, maybe tomorrow or Sunday -- and I've also got the five shelves cut out. Looks like this so far:
I'm building it from reclaimed pine... that'll look good on the auction tag, don't you think? I don't think that I'll actually tell them that it's reclaimed from a waterbed frame that I pulled out of the trash last summer...
It's been a long time since I worked with pine in such a large fashion. I'd forgotten how light this stuff is. The table saw zips through cuts almost like it isn't there.
That mess of clamps in the above photo is one of my tweaks that I made to the design as I was building it. I'm a bit concerned about racking, since there is no back on this. So I've glued two pieces along the bottom of the top and bottom shelf, each 1-and-a-half inches tall. I'm counting on that bit of vertical attachment to help stiffen up the whole thing. If you don't get it, just wait a few days until I post more photos.
If you look at the drawing you see the angle of "88.7" degrees. Not a typo, and yes it was a pain to work with that. That'll teach me to design things this way. When designing, I started in Sketchup with a square "board" that was 12.5" wide by 54" tall, then I thought. Hmm, I want the top to be about 10" wide. So I measured in 1.25" on each side, made some marks, and then drew up my rough sketch on that. This worked great in the drawing program. But that is how I ended up with a silly angle like 88.7 degrees. Next time I should start with a reasonable angle first! That shouldd give me fewer headaches in the shop.
I know that Stickley/Craftsman doesn't quite make you think of pine. This is a case of just working with what I have on hand. And also a case of treating this a bit like an experiment and learning experience, so I want to use inexpensive materials. And also a bit of "I don't care, it's my design so there".
I'm waffling on finish. Stickley is usually dark fumed oak. I usually prefer to leave wood to it's natural colour. On this project, I dunno. I'm thinking right now of a fairly reddish tint/stain. Just to be different. (and I like red.) For one thing, I'd rather hide or minimize the knots.
And that's enough for now.
Thanks for looking,
...art
There was some good ideas and discussion there, I thought, and I appreciate the folks here who tossed in their two bits. Well, as often happens, I sat on the idea for a good while (ie: months! ) before getting around to it again a week ago. I'm now a fair ways along in the construction, and thought I'd post a few photos and start this thread.
Just for anyone who hasn't read the prior thread, or doesn't feel like looking back, I started with an authentic Stickley Magazine shelf/stand -- from the book "Making Authentic Craftsman Furniture: Instructions and Plans for 62 Projects (Articles from The Craftsman, Edited by Gustav Stickley)" Here is the original drawing from there:
The original design was about 42-44" high, and that is what I was working with back then. I have since decided that I wanted it higher, more around 52-54". Consequently, I also wanted to make it a bit wider and deeper as well. (The intent is to give this to a charity auction at church, but the auction isn't guaranteed right now, so I'm trying to build it so that it could also be used as a shelf in my two sons' room.)
So my modified design looked like this:
And so far I've got the two side assemblies together -- haven't cut out the keyhole yet, maybe tomorrow or Sunday -- and I've also got the five shelves cut out. Looks like this so far:
I'm building it from reclaimed pine... that'll look good on the auction tag, don't you think? I don't think that I'll actually tell them that it's reclaimed from a waterbed frame that I pulled out of the trash last summer...
It's been a long time since I worked with pine in such a large fashion. I'd forgotten how light this stuff is. The table saw zips through cuts almost like it isn't there.
That mess of clamps in the above photo is one of my tweaks that I made to the design as I was building it. I'm a bit concerned about racking, since there is no back on this. So I've glued two pieces along the bottom of the top and bottom shelf, each 1-and-a-half inches tall. I'm counting on that bit of vertical attachment to help stiffen up the whole thing. If you don't get it, just wait a few days until I post more photos.
If you look at the drawing you see the angle of "88.7" degrees. Not a typo, and yes it was a pain to work with that. That'll teach me to design things this way. When designing, I started in Sketchup with a square "board" that was 12.5" wide by 54" tall, then I thought. Hmm, I want the top to be about 10" wide. So I measured in 1.25" on each side, made some marks, and then drew up my rough sketch on that. This worked great in the drawing program. But that is how I ended up with a silly angle like 88.7 degrees. Next time I should start with a reasonable angle first! That shouldd give me fewer headaches in the shop.
I know that Stickley/Craftsman doesn't quite make you think of pine. This is a case of just working with what I have on hand. And also a case of treating this a bit like an experiment and learning experience, so I want to use inexpensive materials. And also a bit of "I don't care, it's my design so there".
I'm waffling on finish. Stickley is usually dark fumed oak. I usually prefer to leave wood to it's natural colour. On this project, I dunno. I'm thinking right now of a fairly reddish tint/stain. Just to be different. (and I like red.) For one thing, I'd rather hide or minimize the knots.
And that's enough for now.
Thanks for looking,
...art