Self-Isolation Accessory -- Kindle Holder

The mornings pass passably well, but the afternoons can get long.  Time then to pick up a good book without cricking the neck or tiring the arms.  The hand not changing pages can either rest on the base or wrap around the bottom of the upright.  The Kindle is held by light compression, the side supports adjustable tighter or looser.  The angle can be changed and the whole assembly flipped over to position the upright on the left side instead.  A set of holes in the upright allow the Kindle to be raised or lowered.  It can also be moved up or down on its platform to obtain the perfect reading height.  The side supports can also be expanded to fit a tablet.  Without access to the "shop," this was a fairly easy garage project, for a happy wife is the secret to true business success.

Pneumatic Secret Compartment for Poker Table

My client warned me not to reveal the mechanism of this secret compartment, or he would have to shoot me, a threat I took seriously as the compartment was designed to hide his 45 which would be easily accessible should a poker game turn south. But, of course, this is the West. You see a tug on the perimeter of the table sets the pneumatic lifters, lifted from trunk lifting parts, into motion, briskly raising the tabletop above its interior apron and making the contents quickly available. Large custom made wooden scissor hinges keep the two pieces aligned and a nylon strap limits the upward motion.

The tricky part was finding lifters of exactly the right pressure and length, which would deal with the flat force angle and yet not snap the tabletop upward dangerously fast. Anyhow, my hope now is that the requisite number of years has passed, not to mention that this was one of six seemingly identical tables which I built, though only one with the compartment. The many apron segments are splined, and the whole apron screwed to the top in order to allow for wood movement. Aprons glued to their tabletops are, of course, a most common novice woodworker error.

Missing Stile Home Library -- Woodworking Tip #18

Home libraries have certainly populated my woodworking career, and though my design preference for small shelving units is the Hungarian Shelf; when the collection reaches a certain size books just feel better “housed” rather than “shelved,” cozying themselves with walls on five out of six sides. When used on a huge wall there is something disconcerting, upsetting, precipitous about Hungarian Shelves...some number on the Richter Scale being conjured.

For these larger libraries I have often used the “missing stile” approach as above, leaving the stile off one side of each vertical bay. Each subsequent carcass slides behind the stile (vertical) on the one already placed giving the whole library the look of having been built in place. I have used this system successfully even in series of six bays. The resulting junction of the stile and rails is resolved in one of three ways: the rail is either of considerably less thickness, its end is curved, or, in the case above, beveled.

No matter which method, from a design perspective, the library also avoids a kitchen cabinet look wherein rails and stiles are sanded flush. One hint with this method is not to glue the back in its dado, thus allowing ever so little racking, if required, when the carcasses are screwed together.

Queen Murphy Bed

Through both time and culture many are the instances where the bed was not a permanent, stand-alone piece of furniture. From the 20^th century minimalist roll-up futons to the 17^th century Dutch sleeping cupboards to the American Indian blanket, these beds were not in the way during the day. Whether William L. Murphy really designed his bed to disappear in order to avoid the impropriety of bringing a lady to his small San Francisco apartment might be debatable, but it's function of saving space certainly is not.

This particular bed allowed an office to double as a guest room. I used Create-A-Bed hardware, which was well-machined, operated perfectly the first time, and in no way utilized Murphy's Law. I took some liberties with their plans, however, such as making the bed header (top) assembly a single finished piece of woodwork that required no crown molding. This simplifies both assembly and disassembly but requires strict adherence to the plan dimensions. The kickboard is not shown but screws onto the sides at the base thus avoiding the use of a nailed-on baseboard. C.A.B., Inc. makes their own hinges which allow two of the pull blocks to not only rotate into legs but also cleverly release the safety latches at the top.

Interestingly, as of 1989, the name Murphy Bed is no longer proprietary and has entered our language as a common word to describe any pull-down or wall bed, making Mr. Murphy just as famous as Mr. Kleenex.

Flagstaff First Friday ArtWalk Tonight!

Print Display Rack

The most excellent nature photographer Tony Freeman Nature Exposed Photography will be displaying his work tonight at his law offices in downtown Flagstaff, 19 W Birch Ave., between 6:00 PM and 9:00 PM.  An added bonus will be the giving of awards to the winners of the Youth Lens High School Photography Competition.  Do see the amazing work of these young people.  Also, fan through his prints in this display rack, which I built for his gallery, and take one home with you!

2-Drawer File Cabinet Revisited

2-Drawer File Cabinet

Viking Express Bed Extension

Resultant Full Size Bed

       This was a shamefully easy woodworking project that was inspired when we purchased this incredible little tent trailer that weighs only 455 pounds and can be pulled by any compact car.  Though the two bunks and mattresses provided will each fit two people we wanted more room and padding to spin the old bones.  The solution was to create a plywood extension that mounts on spacers, resting on the two supports that hold the bunk when the unit is closed, and is supported in the middle by a removable PVC post threaded onto a fitting embedded in the plywood.

Plywood Bed Extension

Viking Express by Forest River

The plywood measures 5" x 70," but the 4" high density foam that is glued to it measures 6" by 70" providing an overhang that rests on the bunk's piano hinge and presses firmly against the existing mattress.  The separate spacers are four layers of baltic birch with a thickness of 1.875," and a carriage bolt holds the whole assembly to the metal triangles with a wing nut. The spacers are recessed from the edge of the plywood extension to allow a contour sheet to wrap around all.  Over the existing mattress and bed extension a 52" x 74" x 2" thick full size egg carton mattress topper is placed.  The bed extension and attached foam fit neatly in the trailer box against the stored mattresses when the unit is closed.  Pretty darn comfy and roomy!  Thoreau's cabin but not his bed.

See also our shop at:  www.etsy.com/shop/FlyingCircusStudios

See another use of the Viking Express as a cargo trailer:  Viking Express Camping/Cargo Trailer Conversion 

Stud Depth Cabinets