Comments on: 64- Gadget Station (Pt. 7)

By: thewoodwhisperer

thewoodwhisperer — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 19:11:51 +0000

Hey David. I can’t recall the exact episode number but I definitely covered the attachment of the legs. Check out the whole series and you will see how I did it. Really, you don’t need any tools because its a long-grain glue bond. The glue is enough to hold the legs into the sides. But you can use dowels or biscuits to aid in alignment. But that’s really optional.

By: david

david — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 18:47:37 +0000

this is one of the tightest things i seen made outta wood ima try to do the same but a lil enternaminte center for my ps3 im just wondering how u put the legs on and what tools would i need cuz i only got a miter saw some glue a table saw and a sander lol

By: Chaim Gottesman

Chaim Gottesman — Sun, 28 Sep 2008 21:51:16 +0000

Yo Mark, One of your best videos to date. I really enjoyed it and learned from your design compromise.
Thanks,
Chaim

By: Vince

Vince — Sun, 28 Sep 2008 14:48:01 +0000

Marc,

The Gadget Station looks great!

I agree that cutting the curve on the back of the rear legs looks better, but I have an alternative suggestion to offer…

What if you had marked the rear curve, and routed it out (about a half an inch deep), then ebonized it or simply painted it black? That would have provided the visual you were looking for while preserving the piece’s ability to hide the french cleat and be “hangable.”

Just a thought, let me know what you think.

Really enjoy the show, keep up the good work!

By: Vic

Vic — Sat, 27 Sep 2008 06:45:12 +0000

The design is progressing well. I disagree with the idea that reversing the angle of the end cuts would better compliment the curve. Do a quick sketch and you’ll see, while reversing the angle would work, the direction and angle you decided upon does a better job of “stretching” the legs. Small boxes, such as this, have a propensity to end up looking very much like a “box”. Small design considerations are what separate the mundane from the fabulous.

By: John

John — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 18:50:09 +0000

Marc,
Nice episode. This project is shaping up nicely. I thought about your french cleat dilemma for those who want to hang this cabinet on a wall.

If you centered a cleat across the back that was only a few inches long and not full width it would really never show from the side unless someone was able to look down the wall from a long distance. And keep the cleat as short as possible, from top to bottom. The top half would only have to extend below the top shelf enough to cut the chamfer along its bottom edge. The bottom cleat (the one that mounts on the wall) would only have to be a bit wider than necessary to screw to the wall and enough meat for the 45 degree chamfer on its top edge. That would make the mated cleats fairly short from top to bottom, maybe 3″ or so? Paint the ends black and it’ll really disappear. Going to the extreme, cut the ends of the cleat at a 45 (from top to bottom) so it fades away at something similar to the rate of curvature of your uprights. I could send a SketchUp if this isn’t quite clear.

Another benefit: having a gap at the ends beyond the cleat would help let air flow up the back and out the top which meets your design goal of more easily allowing airflow through the cabinet to cool chargers, etc.

Sorry for the run-on, great work!

By: George Barry

George Barry — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 16:01:57 +0000

Thanks to Todd for making the suggestion using the spindle sander to clean up the legs…I was thinking the same thing. I was also wondering about using the Veritas low angle spokeshave as I have never used one but I am thinking about trying it. I will look forward to see you use it Marc.
Great episode, great music, thanks.

By: Shannon

Shannon — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 21:15:30 +0000

Marc,
Great episode and great catch on the design change. It just didn’t work without the second cut on the back legs. As another alternative, I would go the spokeshave route to clean up the legs. This is my favorite tool and I am trying to get Matt V to use his more.
Also, why not put a few keyhole hangers on the back top of the legs. It looks like those would still be flat against the wall and you could still keep the option to hand open. It would mean routing in a space to put the hardware but I think even if you didn’t hang the cabinet it would be against something else and not used “in the round”. Just another hanging option without sacrificing the shape of the legs.

By: thewoodwhisperer

thewoodwhisperer — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 14:30:46 +0000

Hey Todd. My goal with the show is to expose people to as many options as possible when building furniture. Someone recently emailed me and asked why I didn’t just use a flush trim bit and use my template as a guide. Again, same answer.

A rasp is incredibly useful, and for someone who doesn’t have a spindle sander, its a viable option. And quite gratifying I might add. But you are absolutely correct, it is by no means the quickest option.

By: Todd

Todd — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 13:30:08 +0000

Mark,
Just a quick question. Why did you use the cabinetmaker’s rasp to smooth the curves on the legs? I think that a drum sander would have sufficed…. and been a lot quicker.
Keep up the good work.

-T