71 – Folding Magazine Rack

Video - November 12, 2008

As the holidays approach, my mind always turns to small, simple (yet elegant) projects that we can make for our family and friends. I have two of them in store for you this year. And the first one is a collapsible magazine rack. The rack is designed to pull apart and collapse for shipping or storage. It’s lightweight but surprisingly sturdy. This piece should take about two days to build, and that’s just because you’ll be waiting for glue to dry. So let’s call it two half days. And best of all, it would take just as long to build 5 as it would building just one.

And just to help you along, I did my best to create a working SketchUp file that should be perfectly to scale. Just keep in mind that I am by no means a Sketchup expert, so please give all measurements the “common sense check”. Download the Sketchup File by clicking the link below. And if you haven’t used Sketchup before, you can download it here: Sketchup

Download the FREE Sketchup File

And to wrap things up here’s a basic cut list (also stated in the video):
(4) 3/8″ thick x 4 1/4″ wide x 16″ long
(1) 3/8″ thick x 4″ wide x 14″ long

And here are some links to the finishing materials used in the video:

General Finishes Water-based Dyes
General Finishes High Performance

Discussion

_funk November 12, 2008 11:47 pm

Great idea for a nice and easy xmas gift. I’ve gotta say, you’ve convinced me to give those water based finishes a try. Three cheers for less toxic alternatives!

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Jason November 13, 2008 7:25 am

I’ve been waiting to see these magazine racks since you mentioned them on Woodtalk Online. They are totally not what I was expecting…in a good way of course. Keep up the amazing work!

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John November 13, 2008 7:46 am

Those are really great, simple and fun little projects. These magazine racks gave me an idea that I could modify them for pet beds for cats. I have a friend that has 5 cats, and if my idea to modify them as cat beds works out, I may just try building up a few more. I already built a nice set of climbing stairs for her cats to climb on. She has a cat that suffered a broken leg when it was a kitten and the stairs I built for her has helped her cat to gain more mobility due to the exercise it gets from climbing the stairs.

I like these “one video” projects, it’s hard for me to follow the longer multiple video projects due to time constraints.

Thanks.

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ShawnR November 13, 2008 8:19 am

Thanks Marc, great idea. Also wanted to say that I picked up on the accented edge before you mentioned it and I thought it was a nice touch, very appropriate in this case. Keep up the good work.

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Claude Stewart November 13, 2008 12:15 pm

Hello Marc;
I wish I had time to build it but alas I’m working on the house. So I guess I’ll download it and save for later. Great thing about the internet. This is a really nice project. Keep up the good work we all appreciate it. Claude

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WiZeR November 13, 2008 2:33 pm

Nice project Marc, I didn’t think I’d be interested in making one, until I saw your design. It’s also a great way to practise finishing. Any reason why this wouldn’t work with 1/2″ veneered ply with solid wood edging?

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etienne November 13, 2008 4:59 pm

very good project! but it’s a little bit confusing to have comment here (thewoodwhisperer.com) and here thewoodwhisperer.tv and peharps in forum too.

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thewoodwhisperer November 13, 2008 7:04 pm

I understand etienne. The only alternative is to shut down the comments at one of the sites. Would that help?

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Germain November 13, 2008 7:27 pm

Spiffy project, Marc. I really like this video. It harkens back to the early days of The Wood Whisperer. I enjoyed the changeup over the past few months, but it’s nice to get back to your online roots.

I have found the water based finishes just don’t provide that silky, warm glow I get from oil based finishes. Does using the dye under the water based finish somewhat compensate for this?

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Dean November 13, 2008 7:33 pm

TMNT’s steal your razor?!!! good project! love the walnut!

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Leo November 14, 2008 7:49 am

Marc, once again we watch in awe! Taking something so simple and making it beautiful. Awesome project for both the misses and I to get involved in for gifts…keep up the great work!

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Richard Schink November 14, 2008 9:44 am

Sketchup is a great program, but I haven’t loaded it on my computer and I don’t want to take the time to learn it. I use AutoSketch. Sooooo a pdf file with the info on this neat magazine rack would be a kind addition to your offering.

Reply
thewoodwhisperer November 14, 2008 10:15 am

I just changed the Sketchup image so that it now links to a hi res 2D rendering of the SKetchup model, instead of the Sketchup file itself. That should give you all the information you need to make the rack.

Just an FYI, a finished sketchup model doesn’t require you learn the program at all. It just allows you to flip it around and view it from all angles so that you know exactly what the piece looks like. All the measurements are right there on the model. Any future project I put out will most likely include (when feasible) a sketchup model. So it just might come in handy for ya.

Thanks everyone for the kind words about the project. If you decide to build one (or ten), I would love to see them.

Reply
Ken Corkum November 14, 2008 11:26 am

Love the show. Was wondering why you ripped the vertical pieces and then cut the 40 degree cut for the joint instead of cutting the 40 degree joint half way through the vertical without ripping. Seems it would be less work and quicker????

Reply
John Cooper November 14, 2008 12:51 pm

Hey Marc,

Great video, as always – and a very nice design. I’m excited to build some for my family. There’s something very appealing about bite-sized projects like this, rather than my usual giant over-achieving multi-month efforts :)

The sketchup model looks perfect, and helps explain some of those complicated angles.

I still have no spray equipment, so I’ll probably stick to the usual wiping arm-r-seal. However, I’d like to try the green water based stuff. What’s your opinion of brushing polyacrylic versus wiping arm-r-seal. Comparable quality results? Is brushing poly much more difficult to get good results?

Thanks Marc!
John

Reply
Jeremy Kriewaldt (jmk89) November 14, 2008 1:00 pm

Marc

This episode doesnot seem to be on iTunes, except the Apple TV version.

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thewoodwhisperer November 14, 2008 1:32 pm

Sorry about that everyone. That Sketchup file really jacked up my feeds. So the file has been removed and all the feeds should function as usual.

John- Oddly enough we just got into a conversation like this in the forum. Check it out: http://woodwhispererforum.com/showthread.php?t=725

Ken- No reason you couldn’t do it that way Ken. And that would certainly save some time and effort. But unless you have a square tooth blade on your tablesaw, the inside of that joint is going to be pretty rough. While a little more labor intensive, ripping the pieces first results in a very clean joint. And at least in my hands, this is the best method for getting accurate and repeatable results. But if you have a square tooth blade, that would definitely be an easier way to go. Guess whats on my short wish list? Yep, a square tooth blade. lol

Reply
etienne November 14, 2008 2:01 pm

Hi marc,
I think an alternative is to close comment on thewoodwhisperer.com and on thewoodwhisperer.tv and redirect people to a dedicated area in the forum. So comments are not spread arround various website, In forum it’s easy to insert image for U or for user who need more explanation on one particular part. It gather every user in only one space, the forum. When a guy post a comment an other user can easily browse all other comment/message from this user. Imagine, a guy say your project are the worst he ever seen, -> Let’s have a look in his gallery :-)

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etienne November 14, 2008 2:26 pm

The other benefit is from the guy who just discover Woodwhisperer he spend one week looking each video episode, his whife want the famous “cutting board” but he need informations who are not in the video, imo it will be a very great idea if he can acces to a dedicated area (forum -> video -> episode 6 ) where he can read every comment or information about this video. This way you are sure you never receive 150 mails with the same question!
(You can merge this message with the previous one (can’t edit message here :) ) or simply delete it if you think it is redondant)

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thewoodwhisperer November 14, 2008 2:44 pm

Well, the only problem there is you need to be a member of the forum in order to post. On the blog, anyone can throw a quick comment in. And a blog without comments kinda feels like birdseye maple with no birdseyes. :)

Originally, I thought the forum would be a simple extension of this blog, where people could get into these discussions in more depth. But I soon realized that the forum really has a life of its own. And my shows are rarely a topic of conversation. Woodworking in general is really the focus there. So I wouldn’t worry too much about missing episode-specific information if you don’t feel like checking the forum. Having the comments directly attached to the video is a pretty valuable thing. But I do see the need to NOT allow comments on both websites. I just have to figure out a simple way to get people form TheWoodWhisperer.tv to the appropriate post at TheWoodWhisperer.com, where I would prefer the comments reside. I might just put a simple link at the end of the show notes, and remove the ability to actually comment over there.

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demowen November 15, 2008 1:09 pm

That edge ads a nice touch!

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demowen November 15, 2008 9:03 pm

I feel like such a loser, I must check this site about 4 times a day, just waiting for that icon that says “All Videos(107)” to magically appear into “All Videos(108)”… Sigh

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thewoodwhisperer November 15, 2008 9:21 pm

And I keep checking my comments thinking, “Oh man…..when is Demowen going to post another comment??” ;)

Actually, the next holiday project will be out early this week. So the wait will not be all that long. :) Thanks for your enthusiasm.

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demowen November 16, 2008 12:12 am

Ha Ha That’s great! Perhaps I can rest easy now that you gave me a time line, no more avoiding homework :(

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PigBear December 10, 2008 2:09 pm

I’m thinking of using either my jig saw or band saw angled at 40 degrees to cut the slots in the legs. I don’t have a thin kerf blade in/for the table saw so the grain won’t line up as nicely as it does naturally if I rip the legs and then cut the slots. Should be able to cut the two primary outside cuts for the slot and then nibble the rest out.

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Aggie83 September 18, 2009 10:35 am

Since the holiday season is once again right around the corner …

I have been thinking that by taking the ‘magazine rack’ design, increasing the “V” angle to one the is much more open or obtuse and, maybe, beefing it up a little, that it would make a nice book/Bible holder/display stand.

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jdog December 1, 2009 7:05 pm

I have a finishing question. I was in the live finishing chatroom and I’m pretty clueless when it comes to finishing. Is the Poly-acrylic you use different from polyurethane? I assume so because poly urethane is oil and resin and stuff, right. Is it different from an acrylic lacquer? Like I said Im pretty clueless when it comes to finishes so everything I said may be totally wrong.
thanks,
jdog

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CJ Compton November 14, 2010 10:30 am

Marc,

Great project! I have all my stock milled and was looking to get started this weekend. But when I went to print the sketchup pages the only part that will print is the intro pg. the other pages are blank. do you know how i can fix this problem.

Thanks alot
cj

Reply
- thewoodwhisperer November 14, 2010 10:45 am
  
  Hey CJ. As far as I know, you can’t really print directly from a SketchUp model. Its a model in 3D space and those tabs at the top are just pre-defined views of the model. So what you need to do is go to File, then Export, then 2D Grapic. That will allow you to have a jpg of the image that’s on the screen. You can then print that image as usual.
  
  Reply
Daniel Carr December 14, 2012 4:13 pm

Loved this concept and took on this project a while back, I had to get a friend to mill up the materials. It was used for a while as a magazine rack unfortunately it is now in use as a – toilet roll holder in our bathroom – Works Great

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Donny January 10, 2015 1:39 pm

I am trying to build this but I can’t seem to get the plans on my computer. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

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- Marc Spagnuolo January 10, 2015 2:15 pm
  
  Hey Donny. Even if you can’t download the sketchup file for whatever reason, the image above plus the video gives you all the info you need to build it.
  
  Reply
Donny January 18, 2015 1:56 pm

I can’t figure out the angles on the inside

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- Marc Spagnuolo January 18, 2015 7:17 pm
  
  The angle is 40 degrees.
  
  Reply

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71 – Folding Magazine Rack

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