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My local Menards store had 1.5" thick butcher block birch counter/bench tops on sale recently. I needed a new desk to replace a plastic topped desk that I use as a computer desk. The plastic top rests on a metal tube base, but has started to sag and crack under the weight and heat from my PC.
I previously came up with a tenon array joint that makes a great connection between legs ends and table tops. The 1.5" thick hardwood is plenty thick for a good joint. All I would need would be something with a little cross sectional area to use for legs to support it. No stretchers required.
I've used cedar 4x4 posts in the past as legs for shop benches and my CNC cart. With a little picking through of what was available I found some straight and clear 8' cedar 4x4s to use.
I wanted my desk to be 29" to the top when done. I cut 4 leg sections roughly 28.5" long to allow for 1 inch tenons to penetrate the top.
My CNC just barely had the capacity to hold the 48" x 25" top. I used it as shown to cut the four mortise arrays each centered 1/5 of the length and width from the edges of the top.
The legs were first cut at a compound angle to tilt 4 degrees in the long direction and 2 degrees in the short direction. Then I clamped them into my compound angle clamping rig and cut the tenon arrays with the CNC. I made the tenons .004" smaller than the mortises for a slip fit and some room for glue.
I left the top clamped to the CNC while I tested the fit of the joints. I made a mistake when cutting the end on one of the legs, so I had to recut it a little shorter. The tenons ended up .75" long and the mortises I cut .8" deep. The legs slipped in with just a little wiggling back and forth. They come out using the same technique.
If the legs would not have fit easily I could revise the CNC file for the mortises and recut them a little larger. I didn't need to in this case. All legs fit fine.
I haven't glued the legs in yet. They need some sanding and finish, which will be easier with them detached from the top. The outward flare of the legs give the desk a more solid stance, with less tendency to rack or twist than if they were vertical and all parallel.
The 3.5" x 3.5" mass of the legs has room for and begs a more interesting profile. In use though I'll never see these legs. The birch top will look great with some clear finish on it. I may paint the legs white or black to make a less distracting setting for the top.
I used my CNC to chamfer the bottom of the legs. With the bottom plane at a compound angle each corner bevel is slightly different. A little hard to see in the photo below as most of the 1/2" chamfer sinks into the carpet. The chamfer should keep the leg bottoms from getting snagged/worn as the table is moved/scooted around.
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Inspired by several videos I've seen on YouTube, I thought I'd take a crack at making a simple rack to hold my camera vertically above what I want to photograph or video record.
My solution has as few parts as possible.
It maximizes the structural interaction between all parts.
Mount/dismount of the camera is quick and easy.
The camera position adjusts up or down, and left or right.
The camera stays plum above the base on its own.
The base of the rack minimally imposes on the surface it sits on.
Material I already had or acquired quickly:
- Salvaged, white painted metal pipe from an abandoned tent kit. 29.25" long and .625" diameter.
- 1/4-20 x .75 knobs bought from Amazon.com. These knobs arrived 3/30/2016 and are all metal with knurled rim. Nicer than I was expecting them to be for their low cost.
- Lighting is yet to be determined. I've started with the LimoStudio Photography Light Set from Amazon. These come with their own stands.
- Two vertical posts. Strong/stiff connection to overhead pipe. 36" tall.
- Two feet for the vertical posts. Just enough to let each stand securely on their own or together.
This rack disassembles easily, relying on gravity and clever joinery to stay together when in use.
A quick inspection of my lumber supply reminded me I had some 1" x 2" hard maple scraps that are long enough for the posts and feet. Already rounded over on two corners, so that was considered when planning the joints/connection to their adjacent parts.
With a little testing, it turns out a hole that the pipe fits snuggly into is all that is needed to hold it there. For joining the posts to the feet I drew up and cut a 4-tenon joint. Although the tenons were tight in the matching mortises I cut for them they did go together. So far "simple" is where I remain.
I drew up and used my CNC to cut out this vertical camera hanger bar. I had a pretty crappy looking scrap of 1/2" Baltic Birch plywood which was big enough to use for this part. Scarred as it is, it will still do the job fine. The stepped hole was perhaps not my best idea, as it requires completely unscrewing of the top adjustment bolt to raise or lower the camera. The initial conceptual advantage is 1/8" stepped height adjustment, and once the bolt is in place, even loose, it won't slip down.
The final part is a bracket to hang on the top rail. I had a 1/4-20 t-nut for the camera slide to bolt into. My idea for front to back adjustment for plumbing the camera works, but there may be a simpler more useful solution in this rack's future. I should have added a little tolerance between the fingers and the slots between the back plate and the side plates of the bracket. They went together under duress, requiring a heavy hammer and a bench vise. While I enjoy using this finger joint I can cut on my CNC, a simpler rabbeted edge in the oak into a slot in the plywood would have been a fine way to connect this oak backplate to the plywood sides. Expansion/contraction of the oak part may lead to self destruction. Time will tell. These are the scraps I had available to use.
Putting it all together and adding a photo camera reveals two mistaken assumptions I made. First, the balance point was closer to the inside than I expected. I left enough adjustment room to get the camera to hang vertically, but having added that adjustment the camera now will swing like a pendulum with any breeze or slight bump. Pressing any button on the camera gets it swinging.
A rubber band provided a simple way to clamp the current bracket to the pipe,
I noticed that my current camera has an HDMI output. It requires a mini HDMI-to-HDMI cable which I don't have, so I ordered one from Amazon. I have a spare monitor with HDMI inputs so I'll see if the camera shows real-time video out that cable when on. It would still be nice to have a remote control for it though.
The tendency to swing when bumped I have now minimized by wrapping a couple of rubber bands around the pole and bolt head.
The digital 8 video camera I have also mounts fine on this rack. It has the same 1/4-20 tripod socket as almost all photo and video cameras have. Larger than the previous photo camera I tried it needed the top bracket slid to its outmost point of balance to hang the camera vertically. I found I could keep it in that position using a rubber band wrapped around the pipe and bracket. With its own pivoting fold-out viewfinder screen I don't necessarily need to run video to a larger monitor. I'll see if it works with the TV I already have though. I'll have to find a video cable that works with both the camera and the TV.
I've got a wireless remote controller that works with this video camera. Using it should eliminate wiggling the camera to start and stop recording. I will have to order a more modern video camera that doesn't use 8mm tapes. It is a pain to rewind and copy video files to my PC.
Update: I now have added LED lights to the posts, one on each side. Info on the brackets I made to hold the lights is ( here ).
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