69 – Gadget Station (12 of 12)

Video - October 29, 2008

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.

Discussion

Shannon October 29, 2008 6:27 pm

Really well done Marc! This is your finest epic with greater details and insight than any other project. I caught some of the Twit Live broadcast as it was happening and I am looking forward to the rest in the next episode. The 10K question now is, how badly do you want your own gadget station now?

Shannon

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Claude Stewart October 29, 2008 7:00 pm

Hey Marc That gadget case is beautiful man. Claude

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Derek October 29, 2008 8:10 pm

Holy Smokes! It looks great Mark! I do have one question about the video. I like your method of relative dimensioning but I have had trouble with it in the past- the culprit… the pencil! How do you know that you are lining up your pencil marks exactly? When I do it, it seems that there is always one line thicker than the original or slightly off to one side. Do you make up for that difference when you carry the line over with the square? Any tips on getting perfectly lined markings? Thanks, Dimensionally-Challenged Derek.

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P-e-t-e-r October 30, 2008 3:12 am

Great work Marc!

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Maxime ThÃ?Â©riault October 30, 2008 6:51 am

Great project, I loved watching the whole thing as you gave a lot of neat tricks.

One of the thing that bugs me, looking at the end result, is the cable management. That thing will have a lot of spaghettis coming out of its back. I doubt it will be much of an issue, but it would be sweet to get pictures of it being used at Leo’s.

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Robby October 30, 2008 1:34 pm

Marc,

Its a beauty – i guess Leo is very happy with it.
Your the MAN !!!

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thewoodwhisperer October 30, 2008 1:39 pm

Hey Derek. Honestly, not to oversimplify, but all I really do is keep my pencil sharp. With a sharp pencil, you should be able to see when your mark is off. If its off, you erase and do it again. Now if you don’t have a steady hand, I suppose this could be a troublesome process. But I find keeping a bunch of sharp pencils (all the same kind) around the shop yields the best possible results.

Thanks for the kind words everyone! We’ll have that Leo video out very soon.

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Neil Broere October 30, 2008 2:19 pm

Looks great Marc! The design on the legs totally makes it. I especially like the angle at the top of each leg. Also, can I just say that I have the worst case of tool envy. Anyone else?!?!?

I’ve enjoyed watching all of your archived videos over the past couple of weeks. Look forward to more projects and great instruction!

Take care,
Neil
The Silent Woods Project
http://thesilentwoods.wordpress.com/

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Matt October 30, 2008 3:33 pm

All I can say is “WOW!”

This is probably my favorite piece you have made, as it seems even more unique than the other furniture I’ve seen on your podcast. And what Leo is getting here isn’t something that is mass produced or made on a CNC router…it was hand crafted and it looks great and one-of-a-kind, and as such, it has something very special about it.

I just wish I could see the finished product in person (haha!).

I’m really looking forward to your next project. Good luck on the drive to Leo’s and back! I’m sure he’s gonna be thrilled with this work of art. =)

Matt

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Mike Lingenfelter October 31, 2008 6:49 am

Marc,

I just finished the last episode and wow this a fun series! I hope you have more series like this planned. I especially like the time you spent on design. Once a woodworker gains a good set of skills, design is the next obstacle. There is so little out there on the design process, It’s nice to see how someone else does it. I really miss Wood Works, it was the first show that tried to show the design process. Carry David’s legacy forward :).

Mike

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Tim October 31, 2008 9:31 am

Very well done. I curious to know what you charged for this piece? Or price range?

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thewoodwhisperer October 31, 2008 9:42 am

Ready for this? NOTHING! We gave it to Leo for free. Small price to pay for allowing Nicole to meet one of her idols. :)

How much would I have charged? I would say over $3000. Doesn’t mean someone would ever buy it. ;)

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Kyle October 31, 2008 9:57 am

wow $3000! if you were still making to sell… is something you would make more than once and try to sell a few or is that not really a reproduction piece? and would that have been a good margin for you?

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Chuck October 31, 2008 10:28 pm

Marc,

Beautiful work on the station. Do you sign your projects? If so, what does your, “mark,” ( no pun intended) look like and how do you decide where to sign?

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thewoodwhisperer November 1, 2008 9:03 pm

Hard to tell Kyle. I didn’t really track my hours and they would have been totally skewed. $3000 is just a very rough estimate based on my gut.

And yes Chuck I do sign my work. Usually I do this in an area that is somewhat hidden, but easy to find if you are looking for it. This unit was signed on the back of the bottom shelf. You will see in the upcoming video with Leo exactly where it was signed.

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Drew November 3, 2008 2:14 pm

Hey Marc,
The gadget station is gorgeous. But even better than that, nice choice of tshirt! Right now I’m wearing a repro Empire Strikes Back T â

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Robby November 4, 2008 4:15 pm

Hey Derek,

Check out the gear. I got some really nice Woodwhisperer pencils…
I keep them sharp at all times, makes life a lot easier when you have to be precise.

http://www.thewoodwhisperer.co.....il-5-pack/

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Peter July 10, 2009 5:11 pm

Hi Marc,

Great piece… wow! Gorgeous. Two questions:
1) Do my eyes deceive me, or are the outer stiles darker in color than the rails? If so, how did you achieve this? (Because it looks great)

2) Does spalting do anything negative to wood over, say, 5, 10, or 20 years? I.e. will it change, split, etc. etc.?

– newb

Reply
- thewoodwhisperer July 10, 2009 5:44 pm
  
  Thanks Peter. The stiles were slightly darker than the rails. But its one of those differences that seems to be less and less obvious as you coat it with finish, and then put it into normal household lighting. A well-lit shop tends to exaggerate everything, which is awesome for finding flaws like that. But in this case, I didn’t notice it until I was well into the project and there was no way in heck I was going back. :)
  
  The spalting certainly seems like it would weaken a piece of wood or at least establish a likely breaking point. So I would probably never use it for something structural. But as a relatively thin panel, with finish on it, I imagine it will be very stable and will last as long as any other wood panel. I’ll let you know in 20 years. :)
  
  Reply
Justine April 17, 2010 9:15 pm

I’m just an observer but the concept is amazing! In time we’re gonna face more and more gadgets to store, together with the power supply. The wood used for the door makes the whole piece come to live.

I’d make a few adjustments, and the style doesn’t necessarily meet my taste, but that’s just my personal opinion.

So far it’s the best series I’ve seen from you.

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Hector July 26, 2010 2:12 am

All I know now is you have mad skills. This is one project I will love to do. I have a feeling I will do well thanks to your excellent instructions and tips, How ever the fantastic tool collection you have at your disposal will take me a long time to duplicate. having those tools would make me feel like I’m in heaven.

Perfection at it’s best

Hector.

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Selwyn Adelson October 17, 2010 2:47 am

It’s a great piece of furniture but I have one concern. Is it a good idea to put powerful rear earth magnets near sensitive electronic gear?

Reply
- thewoodwhisperer October 17, 2010 7:33 am
  
  Actually that’s a bit of a myth, especially with today’s flash drive media that we have in most devices that would go inside a cabinet like this. Here’s a PC World article on the topic:
  
  http://www.pcworld.com/article.....myths.html
  
  Reply
Jason Jones August 16, 2012 9:45 am

Marc

I am watching this series for the Gadget Station almost four years after you posted the videos and I couldn’t get through the videos fast enough to see how it turned out. It is beautiful to say the least. I do have two questions for you: The first is, for your handles did you end up putting a screw through the door and into the handles or did you just use the CA glue? The second is, with your doors being inset do the shelves inside act as a stop for the doors or do the hinges stop the travel?

Jason

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- thewoodwhisperer August 16, 2012 10:09 am
  
  Hey Jason. I believe I did use screws for the handles. Honestly I don’t recall the details though since it was so long ago, lol. But let’s just say screws would have been a good idea. :) As for the doors, the travel is stopped by the shelves.
  
  Reply
Patrick November 28, 2012 8:54 pm

I just recently found your website, thanks to Stumbleupon actually, and I’ve been working my way through the different projects. I have to say that this is my favorite project so far. Its a great mix of design and function all rolled into one beautiful piece. The spalted maple is probably the best part of the whole project. It contrasts well with the rest of the piece. And as an aside, I really appreciate the detail and care you go into when you’re explaining the techniques and thought processes; its really helpful to someone such as myself who is just starting into woodworking and doesn’t really have a clue.

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Clayton Baldwin December 7, 2012 9:30 am

I just saw this video after reviewing your present one. Great piece. I like the way you grain matched all the panels even to the extent of the ones with the magnets. That has to be challenging to keep them in order. Thanks for sharing

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Seth January 22, 2013 9:58 pm

Marc,
Great piece! I learn something in every video. And speaking of learning: Why did you decide to pin the tenons with dowels and then plug them with your contrasting wood? Could you not have just pinned them with square dowels in the contrasting wood and thus forgone the need to add the plug? It’s a technique I’ve seen done on table aprons.
Thanks!
-Seth

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Albin Vading June 8, 2014 2:13 pm

Awesome work! And what a beautiful piece of furniture. Well done! :)

One thought thou, rare earth magnets and electronics is usually not a good combo.
Don’t you think the magnets will risk to damage memory chips inside the electronics, with loss of data and faulty gadgets as a result?

Reply
- Marc Spagnuolo June 9, 2014 6:54 am
  
  I didn’t think so at the time and it hasn’t been a problem yet.
  
  Reply

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69 – Gadget Station (12 of 12)

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