64 – Gadget Station (7 of 12)

Video - September 23, 2008

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.

Discussion

Dustin September 24, 2008 5:35 am

It does look better Marc. Good call.

Reply
WiZeR September 24, 2008 8:43 am

Yup I saw it just before you said it. Good call, you couldn’t have left it like that. Where’ are you spoke shaves man? Love the outro music too…. funkeh!

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runningwood September 24, 2008 11:02 am

( Marc, if this is too “controversial ” feel free to edit and not post.)

Like it so far, but I really thought you were going to angle the tops outward not inward as you did. That way they complement the curve, to me it seems a bit jarring angling inward. Then again , that is just my view via the video. Don’t hate me for design critique.

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thewoodwhisperer September 24, 2008 11:18 am

First off, I would never discourage someone for offering a design critique. If we all agreed on what “looked” the best, it would be a very boring world. If I understand you correctly, you are talking about the compound angular cut at the top of the legs that slope down and in toward the top of the case? If so, that is exactly how I planned it from the beginning so nothing has changed. Regardless, the current angle looks “right” to my eye and the angle does complement the curve. The legs slope in at the center and bow out at the top and bottom. The angle on the top and the relief cuts at the bottom reinforce the appearance that the legs are sloping out. Well, at least that’s how my eye sees it.

If have time later I will play with the sketcup drawing and see what it would look like if the angle cut went the other way. Now I am curious.

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Josh September 24, 2008 12:15 pm

Lookin’ good you sylvan sussurator you. Ditto WiZeR on the spokeshaves, the Veritas low angle is relatively cheap and a pure joy to use. I agree, the back leg definitely needed the curve and it looks just as it should. As an alternative for future versions, what if you put the second curve on the side toward the case rather than toward the wall? That way it could still hang flush and be hung on a cleat and some of the bulk from the back leg is gone. It wouldn’t be symmetrical, but would also keep the orientation/flow of the piece toward the front where the user would stand. I hope that makes sense. FWIW I like the angle of the cuts at the tops of the legs as they are. Thanks!

Best,

Josh

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thewoodwhisperer September 24, 2008 1:34 pm

At the risk of sounding stupid, what the hell is a “sylvan sussurator”? lol

As for spokeshaves, I didn’t have a reliable one until last week. I picked up both the flat and round base versions from Veritas. The legs on this project combined with Matt bringing up spokeshaves on the last WTO episode inspired me to make the purchase. So I am sure we’ll have another opportunity to use them in the future.

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Josh September 24, 2008 4:01 pm

Sorry, I’m a nerd: sylvan=wood (closer to woodsy, but I wanted the alliteration) and sussurator=whisperer : )

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TJ September 24, 2008 5:45 pm

Hi Marc,

The project is looking good, thanks again and keep em coming :),

my 2c about reversing the top angle on the legs, i dont think it would look as good, as they are now they really are a bold feature, changing it would IMO detract from them and make the legs look bottom heavy, as they are now they look balanced, top and bottom.

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Denis Rezendes September 24, 2008 6:11 pm

hey Marc!
great video! i love the music and think you where right about the design decision. i don’t know but i really wouldn’t hang that thing. i think it looks much better freestanding but thats just me. great job so far though! i can’t wait to see the finished project.

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Bill Akins September 24, 2008 6:33 pm

I agree on the curve on the back of the legs and making it free standing. I always thought it odd that as a wall unit it had legs and feet. Much better this way. Your video editing skills have really improved. Or do you do your own editing? Looking forward to the next installation.

Reply
thewoodwhisperer September 24, 2008 6:46 pm

Thanks guys.

Bill, I do indeed do my own editing. Unfortunately, the way I shoot these long projects is not really conducive to the showing off my editing skills. Occasionally I luck out and find a little gem. Its one thing when I am doing an isolated technique video, but for these long projects, the primary goal is to make sure it makes sense. I just don’t have the ability to get all the extra shots I would need for the fun stuff. I have to walk a balance between paying attention to my project, and paying attention to filming for the show (which is a project in and of itself). I am still getting used to having my brain in two places at once and it still proves to be a challenge.
If you ever get a chance to check out the Festool videos I’ve made over the last year, you’ll see some of my best editing in action. When you are shooting something that is essentially an infomercial, its much easier to plan the shots and do some great visual work.

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Mark Mazzo September 24, 2008 7:19 pm

Hey Marc,

The project is looking good!

I’ll second the motion that I think it is better as a standing cabinet than a hanging one.

Oh, and it was me that offered the suggestion on the leg cutting technique where you leave the first piece attached until you make the second cut (no need for taping the off cut back on) I made the comment to one of your original episodes where you were prototyping the legs. I’ve used that technique for cutting cabriole legs and it works well. Glad to see that it worked for you as well.

–Mark
The Craftsman’s Path

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Todd September 25, 2008 6:30 am

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

Reply
thewoodwhisperer September 25, 2008 7:30 am

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.

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Shannon September 25, 2008 2:15 pm

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.

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George Barry September 26, 2008 9:01 am

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.

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John September 26, 2008 11:50 am

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!

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Vic September 26, 2008 11:45 pm

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.

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Vince September 28, 2008 7:48 am

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!

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Chaim Gottesman September 28, 2008 2:51 pm

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

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david September 9, 2009 11:47 am

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

Reply
- thewoodwhisperer September 9, 2009 12:11 pm
  
  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.
  
  Reply
Dan March 3, 2010 11:34 pm

Hi Marc,

When you cut out the leg (3:30) you didn’t go all the way through, then you added a shim and blue taped it so your other cut line on the 90 degree wasn’t removed. Cool idea, but… as you have a template that can effectively be inverted on the back side of the leg why not just draw the second cut line there?

Cheers.

Reply
- thewoodwhisperer March 4, 2010 8:28 am
  
  Because if you do, the side you just cut the first curve on would then be facing down. While its possible to do it this way, its not very stable. I prefer having a nice flat and stable surface when I am making these cuts.
  
  Reply
  - Dan March 4, 2010 5:42 pm
    
    Hey Marc,
    
    Excellent point. I guess this would then only work if the size of the curve was small enough to leave enough of a stable surface.
    
    P.S. Thanks man, i love how you take the time to respond to your viewers. I’m working through your videos just recently. Cheers for everything you’re doing. I LOVE RAVIOLI!
    
    Reply
    - thewoodwhisperer March 4, 2010 6:29 pm
      
      thanks Dan. And guess what’s for dinner tonight? Ravioli baby! :)
Alex January 13, 2013 12:35 am

Wow – cutting the curve in the rear legs made a huge difference. More than I would have thought.

Reply

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64 – Gadget Station (7 of 12)

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