Ash and Red Zebra Wood Plant Stand

White Ash and Red Zebra Wood

Among the scraps of wood in my garage I found a nice big block of what looks like white ash wood. It was thick enough and large enough to make another plant stand top from.  Roughly 9" x 9.5", and 1.1875" thick.  

Taller and Wider

A little larger in diameter, and taller than the previous stands I recently made., This stand has three legs made from red zebra scraps I had. They are 3/4" diameter legs rather than the 5/8" dowels used for the previous two stands.  My thought is that if 3 rather than 4 they should be a bit larger to hold up the same weight. Using a little math tells us that four legs 5/8" diameter have a total cross section area of 1.227sq.in..  Three legs that are 3/4" diameter have a total cross section area of 1.325sq.in..  So in theory this little stand should be easily as strong as the two with 4 legs each.  A few other factors come into play, but with similar joinery and nearly the same angle to the floor both should do well. 

Detail continuity:  The radius of the dome shape is simply derived from the maximum useful diameter and thickness of the board used. The center point of the dome arc is also where the legs point to, and the chamfer on the edge also points to the same focus point. There is nothing arbitrary about each design consideration of these plant stands.  Even the length of the legs was determined from the diameter of the top.  They stop right below the edge.  The woods used and the finish applied are the only variables.  

The white ash wood was a bit splintery and chipped out an edge of the top surface.  A scar to remind us of its hard life before becoming a plant stand top. I could "fix" it with a patch, but that may be more obvious than the little chip out.  

I'd love to see a comment or ten with thoughts on what these should sell for.  There is about $20 of wood and finish in each one. 

4D

   

A Little Pedestal Table

This project was inspired by a thread posted on a woodworking forum about a 3-legged  pedestal table. It was missing a top and had been discarded. It was found and restored with a new top by the woodworker. 

The detailed center post of the table had considerable aesthetic appeal. The 3 legs that dovetailed into it showed a classic way to connect pedestal legs. 

I've had a 3" x 3" block of oak wood mounted on the rotary axis of my CNC for the last 3 months or so.   It was waiting to discover what it wanted to be.  Becoming the center post of a new table seemed to agree with the wood block, so this is where this project started.  The 4th axis toolpaths I cut using my CNC would result in this shape from that block:

Render from Aspire

Actual cut time took a few hours.  The square block had to be reduce to a cylinder. 

First reduce square into a cylinder.

There is a gadget in Aspire that creates a toolpath specifically to remove the corners of square blocks to leave a cylinder. 

From a cylinder, then roughly shaped.

A roughing pass was done to remove most of the waste area from the cylinder. 

Rough cut contours

3/4 done

A final pass with a 1/8" diameter ball nosed bit works its way slowly down the cylinder to produce the final smooth shape. 

Final Shape

Flat areas on the bottom section will be where the feet join into the post. These areas of the bottom section are where dovetail slots were cut.

I flipped the post over end to end so the area where dovetail cuts were needed was at the top (right in the photo) and approachable by the spinning dovetail bit. 

First came pocket clearance cuts done with a 1/4" end mill to remove all the area except where the dovetail undercut would be.  Less work for the dovetail bit to do. 

1/4" end mill set for clearance cuts.

The pocket cut was repeated around the post every 120 degrees. 

Clearance pockets done.

Next came a bit change to a dovetail bit.  This one is 9/16" diameter and has 8 degree sloped sides. 

Setup for a dovetail pass.

The dovetail pass was repeated every 120 degrees around the post.  Once done the post was removed from the rotary axis mount. 

Dovetail cuts done.

With the post done it was time for the legs.  A few sketches of the table with legs were productive. Sketches pointed out that the wood needed to make the legs from needed to be found before the final shape of the legs could be determined.  I had in my scrap bin a couple of oak stretchers left from an abandoned chair design I never finished. They were 3" wide, 1" thick, and 25 inches long. Unfortunately their edges had been rounded over.  I planed them down to 7/8" thick, taking the same amount of wood off of each side. This left about 2.5" of width that was flat in the center of each stretcher.  The leg design I came up with is a simple curve with a hooked foot. Three were cut from that 2.5" width of wood.  

A challenge with the legs was to cut the male dovetail end that would fit into the center post. 

Jigged up for the dovetail cut.

I took care to clamp the first leg so the area for the dovetail was horizontal and sticking up where the router bit could reach it.  I then added supports and stops around it so repeating the cut on the next two legs could use the same setup. 

Dovetail bit zeroed out on the leg top. 

To start the cut I needed to zero the dovetail bit against the left and front edges and the top of the leg. 

 

Dovetail cut.

First dovetail looked centered and correct.  It was time to check if it fit in the post slots.

Fit is good. 

The dovetail slot is tapered to match the tapered shape of this leg end.  The leg slips in easily and snugs up tight.  With a good fit all I needed to do was repeat the cut on two more legs.  With all three cut I could stand up the table base for aesthetic evaluation and detail contemplation. 

Three legs fit. 

The top was yet to come.  I spent a few days contemplating the top.  Final shape. Edge detail?  Inlays maybe?  How the top ends up influences the final details I add to the legs.

Often it takes building an initial design idea to reveal the reality of it compared to renderings on a PC.  That is true for this table. It is a prototype.  A design in progress. The center post was the inspiration for making a table.  Initially the "fancy" post seemed to beg for a fancy top to hold up.  Eventually I realize I was wrong.  

It needed a simple top. Just a nice circle with some subtle detail and curve. My goal was to bring focus to the post.  

Simple round top.

I made this round top to enforce detail continuity.  The legs now stand out as the last parts with minimized relationship to the post.   Below is some iterative playtime with the leg design.

First idea was to taper the leg from top to bottom. Remove some of the visual mass. 

The round top has a subtle elliptical curve on the bottom, and to relate the leg an elliptical taper could be applied.  Perhaps too subtle.
 

A completely new leg profile was tried. A section of an ellipse.

Redirecting the groove to better define the foot.  I may have to make at least one to evaluate how well it adds to the aesthetic composition of the pedestal table. 

The groove on the side of the legs could continue from leg to leg around the section of the post where the legs attach.  Linking the legs specifically to the  post. 

Perimeter groove to continue grooves on legs around the post.

Actual making of that last leg design would present a challenge. It has to be cut from both sides, and the only area around the shape that isn't cut is the back of the dovetail section.  I would need to divide the toolpaths into two sessions, to allow at least two clamps to hold it down.  Cut one side of the edges, then move the clamp to that side before cutting the other side.  Flip the board over and repeat.  Extra effort for a leg that may not be the right leg for this table. 

I used a 3/16" radius round-over bit to soften the round top edge and also the edges of the original legs. My initial instincts to focus on the post and de-focus on the legs and top did the job.  I've concluded it is time to wrap this project up.   The initial legs will do. 

Final less finish.

Some cherry stain on the red oak, followed with a clear finish will match the color of this table to other furniture projects I have in my house.  

Feel free to comment, criticize, or post any questions you may have. 

4D 

Iterative Progression

In furniture or product design often what you hope will be a good design ends up with obvious room for improvement. This is why initial builds are considered to be prototypes. It takes seeing and testing the first prototype to realize where flaws exist or where there is room for improvement in aesthetics or strength or performance or functionality or simplicity of build.

Shown here is a sequence of Balans style chairs I designed and made. Inspired initially by the original rocking Balans chair my pursuit was to find a design that was simple to build, adjustable, and stable.  In my PhDesk article photos you can see most of an earlier 3 caster perch version done as a class project by my students. The design was static with no adjustability or flexibility. Link:  PhDesk Article

Imbuia Wood Collapsible 

My Imbuia and leather prototype above improves on that earlier student design with knee pads that could rotate to meet your shins at a whatever was the most comfortable angle.   Initially the frame post beneath the seat was intended to be moved to different positions along the lower rails. This prototype revealed that changing the angle of the seat would also tilt the caster stems off vertical and reduce the ease of rolling the chair around. The frame could collapse by lifting the center post off the pin it rests on. Collapsed it would  fit in a smaller box for shipping or storage.

3 wheels Adjustable Height

Highest Perch Position

The 3 wheeled version above could be adjusted in height/angle.  This design isolates the caster base from the adjustability of the seat and knee rest. An aluminum push button  releases the aluminum post when pushed in and locks the post position when released. Knee pads pivot to meet shins at the most comfortable angle.

4 Wheels Adjustable

In use.

While there is an economic benefit to using 3 casters rather that four, a 3 point footprint comes with a flaw discovered in use. They could tip and roll out from under the occupant when leaning to the back right or left.  This four wheeled version eliminated the tipping flaw of all the 3 wheeled versions.  This version stretched the frame back so the back caster beam was behind foot clearance. It had the same push button height adjustment and pivoting knee rest as the 3 wheeled version above.  

The sharp bend in the center frame of the 3 and 4 caster versions above required making them from 80 very thin veneer layers of wood. This later version used far fewer and thicker wood layers by changing the center frame to a smooth arc from under the seat down to the rear caster beam. Below a few photos of the arced frame. It has a seat that can be slid forward or back and locked in position with a cam lever.  The arc made room under the frame for occupant heels to meet or cross. This final version was gifted to the International Woodworking Fair management office in Fall 1988. 

Hinge Point

Push Button Height Adjustment

Cam Release Seat Adjustment

The version above was the simplest build, the safest to sit on, and had adjustable height, seat position adjustment, and pivoting knee rests.  It was a design that only came about after making and using the previous designs. They were all built in a university fab lab and benefited from being tried out by several students and other professors. Feedback gained from each version led to advancements in later versions.  This sequence shows iterative progression in action. This iterative research help me gain promotion from Assistant Professor to Associate Professor at Kansas State University. 

An even later iteration I designed is my rocking Balans.  You can read about it HERE.   

Iteration during the sketching stage of an idea always leads my to something nicer, more unique than what I started with.  Yet still, after building a piece, there might be slight imperfect aspect that deserve more iteration to improve.  That was the case with my TV tray table design you can find here: An-improved-tv-tray-table-design

Nagging imperfections/details only found resolution with 3 following iterations:

1. Variations-of-tv-tray-table, Oak

2. Refinement-in-detail, Cherry

3. Tv-tray-table, Maple, 4th variation.

While my first Maple version worked fine, details in the shape of the outer legs, tension cables, and pivot bolts all found improvement in the following iterations.  Details no sketch would have revealed as needing improvement.   

Comments and questions are encouraged!

4D

Ze Chair. A Chair Design that Failed.

I designed and built Ze Chair in the Spring semester of 1980 while in college. It won first place in the quick assembly category of the 1980 IWF Design Emphasis Student Furniture Design Competition. With padded seat and back it was very comfortable to sit in. 

Ze Chair

"Ze Chair" was an obvious name for the zig zagging frame of this chair design. "Gravizy" was my second choice. It is gravity that holds the design in its Z shape. The design bolts together and can be taken apart for compact storage, packaging, and shipping. It can also be unfolded, although when stretched out flat the length is impractical to hang or store. 

The back of Z pivots to meet the back of the occupant at whatever angle is most comfortable. This meant that most who sat in it, no matter their posture, found it comfortable. 

I made two prototypes of this design.  The first had thinner parts and was made from locust.  The wood split at the bolted half lap joints when first put under load. This should have been a clue. I (temporally) solved that problem by increasing the part size and using red oak instead. My second prototype survived a competition (where it won 1st place) and 2 years of use before failing the same way the first prototype had.  It eventually started to split at the half lap corners. 

I also won an award for the poster design I designed for Ze Chair. It was a first place award from the National Association of Furniture Manufacturers, 1980 local student furniture design competition / poster division. Sadly I no longer have this poster or any record of it.  

The frame unfolds.

I often revisit this design with the hope of finding a way to reproduce it without the potential flaws. I know now far more about joinery, the forces involved, and production methods for making the parts. The chair doesn't need to unfold, and that it did made it a challenge to pick up. That it can be quickly put together and taken apart is a nice feature though which I'd like to keep.

I've thought about trying this design one more time.  One idea is to trim away 3mm from each side of the half-lap corner joints and glue in a piece of 3mm Baltic birch plywood.  The plywood shouldn't split. Glued to the oak it should help keep the oak from splitting.  I can even pocket out a recess for the plywood so it doesn't show when the joint is together. First task would be to find/buy material to make the parts.  

If this was an initial design of a student of mine I would encourage them to keep iterating, perhaps toward some triangulation in the design that would remove splitting stress on the folding corners.   The bottom piece running from front to back could be eliminated and a rear leg could run up and connect to the angling front leg, seat rail and the arm rest for example. That would triangulate the structure and lock all the pieces together.

Questions and comments are encouraged!

4D

A Folding Desk

This is my PhDesk. I designed and built it in 1981. This original has a 12mm thick Baltic Birch plywood top, trimmed by 2" wide solid maple sides. The bottom panel is 1/4" thick hardboard. The front and back trim is rounded over to compliment the maple base details. It has a center pencil drawer that can be locked shut when the desk is folded up to carry.  The asymmetric X base folds up easily. The desk is 4" thick when folded flat.

PhDesk with Side Drawer

4" Thick when Folded

It was designed and built when I was a college student and moved several times. I wanted it to fold up so it would be easy to carry and would take up minimum space in the back of my small car. It won 1st place in the case goods category of the 1982 IWF Design Emphasis student furniture design competition. 

Several copies of this design were built for family and friends. My Furniture Design professor liked it enough to make his own copy of it while I was in the workshop making one.  Most have survived including my original prototype.  It was picked up by a furniture manufacturer who thought they could sell it to a line of kitchen accessory stores. They showed me a factory sample made from oak, but never succeeded in selling any.

Oak sample

My original has survived 8 moves so far.  It spent several years as the office desk for a local ophthalmologist. I retrieved it when that office closed.  

It is 24" deep, 29" tall, and 42" wide.  

In Use. TI994A workstation.

One flaw in the original design is that if the front of the desk is lifted the desk may collapse. This "feature" is a source of surprise and consternation for the unsuspecting. Curious spectators are tempted to lift up the front.  That challenge was solved with a strap that attached to the center of the top stretcher and connected to a slot in the underside of the desktop.  The strap is strategically designed to also let the desk fold up. 

My award winning success with the PhDesk, Fit Lounge, and an unfolding Z chair design caught the attention of the university and led to them hiring me to teach the furniture design courses. 

Comments are encouraged!

4D    

  

Leaning Shelves

These shelves were a quick and dirty project I made sometime before 1988.  With a wobble dado blade on my radial arm saw it was easy to cut slots for all the shelves on the side posts. I cut the slots before rounding over the edges of the posts to reduce any blowout consequences of the dado cuts.

Lean Too?

The shelves are 2' wide and 10" deep. The system is 68" tall. Shelves are 18mm thick Baltic Birch plywood. Two screws through each post side hold each shelf in the dado slots.  The screws are countersunk with my intention to eventually cover them with plugs.  At the time I made these shelves I didn't have a plug cutter so that task was put off and obviously forgotten.  They have been in constant use since being made. My current house has several 2' wide wall sections that these shelves have leaned on over the time I've lived here. 

The advantage of leaning shelves with no back legs is that they don't have to deal with tack strips under carpet edges that make conventional shelves tip forward slightly. When the posts lean against a wall the shelves have a 1/2" gap from the wall.  Great for power cords if needed. 

For Scale

What is kept on the shelves has changed over the years though.  The TI994A PC and cassette player with a tape carousel was my first personal PC.  I won it in a drawing from a Target store opening day celebration in 1980. Learning to program it changed the course of my life.  Programs were saved through a modem to audio cassette tapes. A floppy disk file system came later. I still have this computer and all the accessories/programs. It hides in a box that is hidden somewhere in my house. 

Comments encouraged!

4D

A Folding Lounge Chair

Fit. Red oak,  Cherry Stain

This chair I designed and built in 1981. I call it my Fit Lounge.  Look up the word "fit" for a rounded out description that very well matches the chair's features. 

Dictionary.com: Fit

Fit is a good example of 4th dimension design.  For most of its life it stands still and ready.  Welcoming me in for some time off my feet.  Several times in its life it has folded up flat for easy carry and compact shipping. 

4th Dimension Design.

The cushions are supported by canvas.  Under the seat the canvas is stretched drum tight using two aluminum bar cam levers. Originally the cam levers were made from oak. Not being sure how long the oak levers would last I replaced them with some 1/4" thick aluminum bar stock.  Through the cushion you never "bottom out" and feel a hard surface.  During shipping/moving the cam levers can release the tension to let the canvas relax.  The back canvas wraps around the top rail, runs over two elastic straps, around a 1" dowel to the low base stretcher between the back legs. It runs around that stretcher and with sewn in Velcro strips it sticks to itself. When the chair is folded up the path for the back canvas is a little shorter, easing tension on the back straps.  The back straps add a flexible lumbar contour to the back cushion. Much more comfortable than a flat plane. 

Canvas Support

Pivot points between the seat and the outer frame have a 1/16" thick nylon washer to keep the wood from rubbing against wood.  The black bracket is 1/16" thick aluminum plate sprayed black for contrast.  If I made a new one I would have the plates powder coated. The cushions have been recovered twice, and are due for one more update. Perhaps with leather this time. 

Folded up it is four inches thick with cushions removed.

All outer edges are rounded over.  A friend volunteered to model it for me.

Gretchen

Fit won 1st place in the summer casual furniture category at IWF's Design Emphasis competition in 1982.  I mentioned to the judges that I also had a redwood version that I took out to my deck when the weather was nice.  Because it folded up flat for easy carry it was easy to take in and out.  

Fit has proven its durability and usefulness.  It has been my favorite landing spot after a hard day of work for 41 years. 

Questions and comments are encouraged!

4D

A Toolbox

Carpe Diem!

This toolbox I made as an example to show my Workshop One (beginning) furniture design students. It was the semester that the pandemic came to the states. Within a few days after starting on their own version all classes were kicked out of the building and held online after that. Sadly no student had a chance to finish their own toolbox design. 

The handle was turned on my lathe. End tenons join into round mortises drilled into the sides.  Plywood ends.  The sides join into the ends with pseudo dovetails cut using my CNC. The divider is walnut.  The text was V-carved into it using my CNC. A 1/4" thick plywood bottom is trapped in slots cut near the bottom edge of the sides and ends.  The slots in the angled sides are also cut at an angle. 

Pseudo Dovetails

One advantage of using the lathe to cut the handle was that the center grip was tested as it was being turned to make sure it was a comfortable grip. 

The divider helps separate box contents for organization or just keeping the oily tools away from the dusty tools. 

Comments and question always appreciated!

4D
 

A Simple Landscape Model Stand

A Quartet of Stands Conspiring.

This stand design was a request from a Professor of Landscape Architecture at Kansas State University.  A rough sketch was provided of what was needed:

No specifications provided other than to hold up landscape models done by students for display and examination. I'd previously spent time sketching/iterating lightweight easel designs for artwork display. This A-frame design was just waiting for release from the storage rooms of my creative mind.  It is another example of my pursuit for simplicity in design.  The only challenging part was cutting and joining the feet to the legs. 

I made a quick prototype and showed it to him a few days after his request.  Then this note showed up in my college mail slot:

Note from Lorn Clements

Often I'd see them in use during class critiques. Other times holding student made site models in the building hallways and exhibit nooks. These are a small bit of my legacy. 

We had a drawer full of assorted hinges salvaged from past remodels and rejected prototypes. Among those were several 3" wide door hinges. Those fit nicely legs on pine 1x4s (usually 3.5" wide) initially.  We didn't have any in our supply room so instead I ripped 3.5" wide strips from some 18mm Baltic Birch plywood for both legs and the model shelf.  Each shelf is 1/2 the length of a leg.  Legs for 8 can be cut from one 60" x 60" sheet of Baltic Birch plywood. Another half sheet would be enough for the shelves and feet. 

I wanted the mass of the models to be centered above the base.  A little drafting deduced the lean angle and spread of the legs.  Feet were cut from a single 14 degree angled bandsaw slice diagonally through a small rectangle of the same plywood. Bottom edges of the feet sit flat on the floor. They were joined to the legs with a wide floating tenon. I was commissioned to make 15 for the college.  Enough for a single class of students to use during critiques. 

A Duet of Stands Cooperating.

The landscape models made from layers of chipboard could be quite heavy. To support them reliably the model shelf is attached with 3/8" diameter steel pins between the shelf and legs. Holes for the pins were drilled centered and perpendicular with a self-centering drill jig. As far as I know no stand has failed since they were put in use. Two stands used together hold up a very large site model in the photo above. 

I can tell by the hinges used and the unnecessary chains that these two copies were made by a student helper (cheap labor).  The four in the first image have stout door hinges between the legs. With the shelf in place the geometry is locked. 

The legs can fold together once the shelf is removed. The shelf can then be slid onto one leg to remain attached when the stands are stored.  Several stands can be stored in minimal floor space. 

Oak Version

Flush Strap Hinge

3 Heights. Chamfered Edges

For Flat Work or 3D Site Models 

The oak version shown above I made mainly to show off some design refinement and added versatility.  The legs taper. A narrow strap hinge is used rather than a door hinge. There are 3 height options available rather than one. The stance changes as the height changes so the bottom of the feet are rounded over to always have a tangent intersection with the floor.

The Fit Poster shown in the last photo is a survivor from the early '80s. It was for a folding lounge chair I designed and entered into a national design competition. Link: My Folding Lounge Chair

A simple, lighter version could be made with 1 x 3 (.75" x 2.5") boards as shown in this rendering from my CNC software:

Feet half lapped across the legs. 

Another version, made from 2" wide strips of Philippian mahogany you can find near this post of an alternative connection between the legs and the feet of the design:  Here

Comments and questions are welcomed and encouraged.

4D