In the ID program we make a lot of stuff. In an effort to broaden my repertoire of skills, and also to continue a path my Dad started me on when I was little, I took a class last semester called Wood Products and Processes. It began with basic woodworking skills and then progressed on to the use of some of the fancier machines. The place where I took this class is called the Advanced Wood Products Laboratory (AWPL). I always thought the name was sort of entertaining, largely because I associate wood products with craft fairs and that’s hardly advanced. Then I saw the equipment they get to play with.
AWPL is a full research facility and, along with machines to test the strength of various wood products, they have a full suite of production level woodworking machines. One small corner is devoted to things like tablesaws, bandsaws, planers, jointers, and the like. The rest of the shop is a little more complex. The AWPL has a deal with a machine company that works essentially like this: the company stores their new zillion dollar machines at AWPL and lets AWPL use them whenever and however they want; AWPL personnel, in return, train the company’s clients on how to use the machines. The actual machines at the AWPL change over time as existing machines are sold to the customers and new ones come in from the company. There is always at least one computer controlled router, at least one double-sided belt sander wide enough for whole sheets of plywood (not that you’d use it on plywood), and a host of other miscellaneous machines.
Our first project for the class used none of the big stuff. Indeed, I did much of my work at the architecture shop that had the twin conveniences of being next to my studio and open on weekends. The goal was to make a splined box with veneer tops and in the process learn about
jointing, planing, miters, dados, splines, veneering, basic finishes, and general assembly. Alan, our instructor, also used this as an opportunity to teach us one of his fundamental principles of wood work: “If you don’t think you’ll be able to hide it, make it stand out.” The splines on my box are deliberately obvious for this reason. If you try to hide it (very difficult) and fail, it will look like a mistake. If you emphasize it, it will look like a deliberate feature. We’ll call this The Alan Principle because I’m going to refer to it again.
The sides are poplar, the top and bottom are veneered with walnut, and the splines are made from aromatic cedar. The whole piece is finished with several layers of tung oil (three, I think, but I’m not sure). I designed it with my mother in mind and gave it to her for Christmas.
The next project made use of the computer-numeric-controlled routers (cnc). It was an attempt to familiarize us with the cnc so we were not allowed to do any other kind of machining. The entire piece had to be tab-in-slot or slot-in-slot construction, no screws, bolts, or any other addons, and needed to come from a single 2 foot by 4 foot sheet of wood. I made a cord-hider to deal with the rat nests under my computer and behind my entertainment setup. It’s made of half-inch birch plywood, again finished with several coats of tung oil.
The final project was a full piece of furniture, meant to be a flatpack, knockdown piece. In other words, it needs to be able to ship flat (the actual requirements were “fit flat in the trunk of a car”) and to be easy for the customer to assemble and disassemble. Ikea is the prime example of this, but much higher quality furniture is possible. I made this as a gift for Sarah and worked with her (with some inspiration from Jo) to come up with the basic design. After which, I kicked her out of the design process so there would be at least some surprise.
I used walnut plywood for the sides and top, and poplar plywood for all the horizontal surfaces and the inlays. The top opening is for glasses. You cannot see it in the pictures, but there are channels built into the top piece to hang stemware. It’s also tall enough for pints or other glasses to stand upright in the opening. The second opening contains a series of grooves that will each hold a wine bottle. They’re subtle but secure. The cabinet portion is tall enough to hold a variety of other bottles.
For the finish, I was getting a bit tired of tung oil. I made about twenty four samples of possible finishes using various dyes, stains, and topcoat layers. I showed them to Sarah and she picked… the tung oil. This time, though, there’s also a few layers of high-durability polyurethane on top of that to protect the wood from spills (alcohol does terrible things to most wood finishes) and other damage. There are blue highlights around the edges of the inlays, inside the wine bottle grooves, and inside the stemware channels. The inlays are deliberately raised away from the face, another application of the Alan Principle.
I also used the lasercutter to add two personal inscriptions inside the doors: one for myself,
and one for Sarah
(I only wish this had occurred to me earlier so I could have done the same with Mom’s card box).
For more creations by my classmates, check out the AWPL Gallery Page. I did pretty well in this class, but some of my classmates were amazing.
I thoroughly enjoyed this class and definitely got a lot out of it. Not the least of which is access to the cnc router and the rest of the AWPL equipment any time I need it. If you've got a project for me, let me know.
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