Reading Nook

When we bought our current house, my oldest daughter was two and my youngest was 2 months from being born. In one of the bedrooms there was an alcove in the corner of the room. It seemed a little odd to me but my wife knew exactly what she wanted to be there: a reading nook. So I built this reading area for our kids and installed a light in it. Then we had someone make the curtains and pillows to put it in.

Entertainment Center

Entertainment center I built back in 2010 back when I needed storage for lots of equipment and lots of DVDs.

When Will We Ever Use This Stuff in Real Life?

Didn't we all ask this question at least once in Algebra class? Well, here's an example of trigonometry in the real world.

The Problem

Cut an octagon from a board. Sounds easy enough, but without the right measurements the sides will not all be the same size. (Said from experience.)

The Solution

Use a little high school trig to determine where to mark the board for 45° cuts with the miter saw.

Let's start with the Pythagorean theorem:



Now let's plug in our values. In this case, both legs of our right triangle are the same length (x).



So now if we solve for y, we can determine x and vice versa. With a board of width w:



Now we can just plug in our nominal lumber size w and get values for x and y. It helps to either have a project calculator that will return the results in fractions or a tape measure with decimal values.

Homemade Drum Throne for Rock Band

So why build a drum throne when you can just buy one? This project was not just about utility. I have been a student of woodworking for a few years and I was anxious to try out some of the techniques that I had been learning. Below is the process I followed to build my own drum throne for Rock Band.

Design

Whether it's a sketch on a napkin or a 3D computer-generated model, woodworking projects start with a design. For this one I took some measurements from a basic drum throne and started scribbling down some ideas in a sketch book. I started with the legs. Using a set of French curves, I began drawing out a few different leg designs. After several attempts, I finally came up with a design I liked, but the scale was not right. So I scanned it into Photoshop and rescaled it to the size I needed.

Construction

The first thing I did was cut out the seat. Using a scrap piece of 1/2" plywood, I cut out a circle 12" in diameter using a jigsaw.



Once the seat was completed, I moved onto the legs. To make the legs, I began by printing out my template onto a piece of card stock and then laying the template onto a piece of scrap MDF.



Using the jigsaw, I cut out the leg template leaving my pencil mark visible. I then used a Dremel to smooth out the edges.

(Please excuse the drop of sweat on the wood. It gets hot in Texas!)

Once the template was complete, it was time to fabricate 4 legs. To do this, I traced the pattern onto some scrap hickory wood and roughly cut out the design using a jigsaw. Then, I placed the rough cut leg onto my workbench and placed some painter's tape on top of the leg.



Then on top of the tape, I placed my MDF template.



Next I chucked a flush cutting bit into the router. The idea is that the ball bearing on the router bit will follow the template while the blade below cuts outs the pattern on the wood below.



(You will also notice a 3rd piece of wood on the bottom. This is a soft piece of cedar that I put under the legs while cutting since the router bit extended past the depth of the leg.)

After cutting out the legs, I put in a roundover bit to put a nice smooth edge on the legs.




With the legs completed, it was now time to attach them. First, I ripped a piece of oak stock to 2" x 2" using the table saw to serve as the center support. Next I needed to drill holes into the center support and the legs for dowels. To ensure that I drilled the holes consistently and centered, I built a jig out of scrap 3/4" plywood. One side fit the center support and one side fit the legs. I labeled which way was down to make sure that all holes were drilled the same.




Now using my jig, I drilled dowel holes into the legs and center support.





Before I attached the legs, I needed to drill one more hole for the seat adjustment. Using a 1-1/4" Forstner bit, I drilled a hole down the middle of the center support to receive a dowel of the same diameter.



Now with all of the parts finished, it was time to put everything together. Before gluing up the pieces, I first sanded all of the pieces to make the task of finishing easier. Once the sanding was completed, I glued up the pieces.



To complete the seat, I cut a piece of 3" foam to go on top of the plywood seat. I covered it with a custom-made bar stool cover that I bought off of eBay and then stapled the cover down over the foam and plywood. I attached a block of oak to the bottom of the seat cover with a hole to receive a 1-1/4" dowel. I added a T-nut and a thumbscrew to hold the dowel in place.



I added another T-nut on the center support to adjust the height of the seat.

Lessons Learned

As I said at the beginning, part of the reason for building this drum throne was to be a learning experience.

Choose the right woods - I started this project trying to use some scrap cedar but soon learned that it was not strong enough for a project of this nature the first time the spinning router bit touched the wood. The oak and hickory wood proved to be very sturdy.

Choose the right drill bit - While trying to drill the center hole, I began using a spade bit. I found that a spade was not sufficient for drilling a deep hole into solid oak. All it did was produce a lot of smoke and bog down the drill press.

What tools are essential - As woodworkers, we all want to have Norm Abram's tool shop, but for most of us that isn't practical. During this process I learned what tools were essential for my woodworking and what I could do without. For instance, I could have cut out the legs with a scroll saw and completed them with a oscillating sander, but with a little ingenuity, I was able to get the same effect with a jig saw and a router. On the other hand, I started off trying to drill freehand and ended up with a very off-center hole. At that point I borrowed a drill press from a friend to finish up the project.

Conclusion

Well, if you've made it this far you are either very patient or family. Thanks for stopping by. I would love to hear your comments!



(By the way, I also built the guitar stand in the photo.)