The Wood Whisperer » gadget station

Greene & Greene Gadget Station

thewoodwhisperer — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 03:57:13 +0000

This Viewer Project comes from Margaret from Magnolia Works. Let’s hear what she has to say!

I decided to answer your challenge to build a Gadget Station. I built one in Greene & Greene style, designed after a lantern in the Gamble House in Pasadena, California. My Station is made of genuine mahogany with ebony accents. It has a layered stained glass panel in the door, glass shelves with 1/8″ slots and stepped back panels for cord access. The drawer has vents in the bottom for air circulation and is sized for a surge protector. Thank you for your inspiration!

Margaret and her husband Todd do some amazing custom woodworking and produce some beautiful Greene & Greene inspired pieces. Definitely take a moment to check out their website: Magnolia Works

Gadget Station – Project of the Week

thewoodwhisperer — Thu, 25 Dec 2008 02:13:40 +0000

This week’s project is submitted by Mike. Let’s check it out:

“Just as I finished up my gadget station, my boss told me about your website and your gadget station. Mine is a built-in that goes in a wall between the hall that goes to my garage (my main entrance into my house) and my basement stairs. The front of it (the drawer side) goes toward the garage hall and the back (the door side – kind of looks like a medicine cabinet) goes in the basement stairway. It is made of aspen and poplar and painted white. I normally don’t like to paint my woodworking projects, but all of the trim in the house is white, so I figured this would match better. The box is put together with glue and biscuits. I used delrin for the drawer slides and used the drawer fronts as a positive stop to set the drawer depth – it worked out pretty well.”

“I put an outlet in the basement wall side of it and plugged in a power strip. It is currently used to charge two cell phones and my camera battery. The drawers store our keys, my wallet, our cameras and my portable GPS. It also has a plastic bin in the top of the the inside of the door. I use that to put bills and mail that eventually need to go down the basement to my office. The door still needs a knob (I forgot about it when I bought the knobs for the drawer) and the paint around the basement side still needs to be touched up, but I am onto my next project, so that can wait.”

Gadget Station/Desk – Project of the Week

thewoodwhisperer — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 07:23:41 +0000

This week’s project is submitted by Chris. Let’s check it out and see what he has to say:

“I’ve been watching your videos for the last few months, and find them very enjoyable. I watched Part 1 of the gadget station last night, and what you’re working on is very much like a project I built for myself earlier in the spring.”

“Back in the old days, Stickley built a desk called the #706. It’s a small secretary-type desk, and the top of it is basically a gadget station with a drop down door for a laptop (like your first station, but this one has a better way for supporting the door). For somebody who wants a gadget station but also needs a small desk for a laptop, it’s perfect. That’s what I use mine for.”

“The desk itself was built entirely with hand tools…vintage panel and back saws, hand planes (most vintage, but a few new Lie-Nielsen and Veritas planes), and chisels (short chisels are Ashley Isles, long chisels are mostly vintage). The top and bottom shelf are attached to the sides using hand cut wedged through-mortises. The back is ship lapped pine boards. The door utilized haunched mortise-and-tenon joinery with floating solid panels. I will admit to using a random orbit sander to get the inside of the door perfectly level though, but I did get it pretty close with just hand planes. :) I finished the desk with shellac….something like 18 coats padded on.”

“It’s built with clear pine…I’m a total hand tool person so quartersawn oak was not going to happen (original Stickleys in QS oak looks AMAZING though). One pic is when it was brand new and one is with the adjustable shelving system I built for it. Devices that need charging sit in the middle (iPod, cellphone, etc.), and the side shelving is wide enough to accommodate CD/DVD storage. When not in use, the laptop stands on edge and leans back against the shelves….it tilts backwards slightly so it won’t fall out.”

“You’ll see that the door’s pivot location is about 1/4 from the bottom, so the shelf in the desk actually supports the door when it’s open (better than using mechanical supports). Overall, I’m really happy with it….maybe somebody else watching the videos might find the design to their liking as well, or maybe this will give you a little inspiration or something.”

70- A Chat with Leo Laporte

thewoodwhisperer — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 17:28:36 +0000

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The title says it all. We drove all the way up to Petaluma, CA to deliver the gadget station to the one and only, Leo Laporte. We had the pleasure of hanging out in the TWiT Cottage where Leo records all of his shows, and streams them live at TwitLive.tv. And the coolest part is that the gadget station seems to have found a permanent home on the shelf behind Leo’s desk. Nicole and I were quite ecstatic to meet Leo. Mission accomplished!

Want to see this project being built? Start Here!

69- Gadget Station (Pt. 12)

thewoodwhisperer — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 23:51:32 +0000

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Well I finally made it to the finish line. This episode covers the hinge installation, pegging the tenons in the doors, making custom ebony handles, and finishing. I end the video with a justification of my design.

If you are interested in the Gripper system I showed for cutting small parts, you can pick one up in our Amazon.com Store. And if you are looking for the finishing DVD I mentioned, you can find that right here.

This series is now available on DVD! Order your copy today!

Links:
Gadget Station (Pt. 1)
Gadget Station (Pt. 2)
Gadget Station (Pt. 3)
Gadget Station (Pt. 4)
Gadget Station (Pt. 5)
Gadget Station (Pt. 6)
Gadget Station (Pt. 7)
Gadget Station (Pt. 8)
Gadget Station (Pt. 9)
Gadget Station (Pt. 10)
Gadget Station (Pt. 11)

68- Gadget Station (Pt. 11)

thewoodwhisperer — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 03:26:48 +0000

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In this video, I resaw the spalted maple panels on the bandsaw using Laguna’s Resaw King. What a bandsaw blade! I then glue up the doors and begin creating the ebony plugs for the case. I finish up by showing my process for fitting inset doors.

This series is now available on DVD! Order your copy today!

Gadget Station is Internet Famous

thewoodwhisperer — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 15:31:54 +0000

Last week we finally had a chance to deliver the Gadget Station to Leo Laporte. We actually had a chance to be on his show TWiTLive.tv and Leo was incredibly grateful. You can hear him discuss the gadget station on a recent GizWiz show: Giz Wiz #682. As an added bonus, I had the good fortune of meeting Cali Lewis from one of my favorite podcasts, GeekBrief.tv. Cali and Neal were very cool and lucky for us, they decided to mention the gadget station on a recent show as well: GeekBrief #450. Enjoy!

67- Gadget Station (Pt. 10)

thewoodwhisperer — Sat, 18 Oct 2008 03:02:32 +0000

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In this video, I cut and fit the door components. I also cut the mortise and tenon joinery for the rails and stiles. A stupid mistake causes a small injury and a bit of a setback, so the last part of the video is dedicated to fixing that mistake.

This series is now available on DVD! Order your copy today!

64- Gadget Station (Pt. 7)

thewoodwhisperer — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 03:00:36 +0000

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I made quite a bit of progress in this video. The legs are cut from the bubinga blanks, and I finally have an opportunity to do a dry fit. I am in for a surprise as you will see, and a change is made to the original plans.

This series is now available on DVD! Order your copy today!

62- Gadget Station (Pt. 5)

thewoodwhisperer — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 23:33:32 +0000

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Road Trip! I was originally convinced that the Gadget Station would call for knife hinges. But just for fun I decided to take a trip to my local Woodcraft to see what they might suggest. Well, surprise surprise! I discovered a hinge that I had never noticed before. The Soss Invisible Hinge. I actually like this hinge better and I think it will suit this application perfectly. I hope you enjoy this little review of common hinges with our friend Frank Galloway, at the Chandler, AZ Woodcraft Store.

This series is now available on DVD! Order your copy today!