HSC major project - Hall Stand

[antho94]

Hey everyone,
As the title suggests i am about to begin my major project in industrial timber for my hsc,
i have designed a very unique and contemporary hall stand but im stuck with a few things.

Firstly the timber choice, i want this peice to be very rich in colour so im tossing up between jarrah and red gum,
both unfortunatly are very hard timbers but have the colour i desire,
the problem is of the supports i would not be able to bend them to the desired shape,
so i am thinking of getting a timber like european beech for the legs steam bending it to shape then covering it in the veneer that matches the shelves. what do you'se all think of this?

Secondly joining the supports to the shelves and also the supports together where they cross over,
because the supports are curved i need suggestions on suitable ways of joining these as i have no idea,
i have done some research and the most obvious one that stands out to myself is a lap joint or something very similiar,
now joining the shelves to the supports i want to avoid something like screws and glue and use something that uses and shows a bit of skill like the rest of the project.

Any help or suggestions will be much appreciated.

Thanks Antho

[AlexS]

I like the design. Not sure how how red gum bends, but you could do it by laminating jarrah. If done properly (tint your epoxy glue) it won't be visible. If you steam bend, you'll need to apply a lot of force, and it's difficult to apply it to the double curve.

[tea lady]

Laminating jarrah would be the go. What about blackwood? Easier to work.:shrug: Not deep red brown though! :think:

Interesting design! :cool: :think: What about another little shelf that the curves would also go through down nearer to the cross over! Would create a natural strength. And a kind of pleasing knotted together feel. :shrug: and three shelves three curves.:cool:

[oddfellow]

The other members suggestion of laminating the timber would be your best bet. You could use Jarrah or Redgum but you will probably need to cut it in to veneers no thicker than 8mm. To get the curve you desire you could soak the veneers in water then place them in the jig while wet and allow them to dry in place. When they are taken out of the jig they should hold some of their shape and make it easier to get the desired bend when you are ready to glue all the veneers together and put them back in the jig. Make sure you number them because each veneer will be slightly different from the next.

To join the supports to the shelves you could consider making your own dowel in a contrasting wood and driving it through both the support and the shelf so it is a visible feature. Obviously they would have to be a very tight fit, so I would encourage you to do a couple of practice joins before you attempt the real thing, just to get your technique and desired finish right. Once the dowels have been driven into place they can be planed and sanded flush with the shelf finish. It can look good and is an impressive display of your ability.
If you do it right you may even be able to make it a knock down piece that can come apart and be put back together using only dry joinery.
Hope this helps or gives you something to think about.
Cheers

[antho94]

Thanyou all for your ideas and suggestions,
I will be looking at everything use have said in the double period of industrial timber i have later on,
Also oldfello you sound like you have alot of experience and knowledge when it comes to working with timber and the ideas you have given me sound great and in such detail as well .
Iv read other hsc posts and some have not been very willing to help or have not been very positive.
So thankyou for taking the time to help me out.

[spencer411]

I'd give steam bending the jarrah a go. I did a bending course with David haig and we bent jarrah well and fairly easily. Just make sure it's nice straight grained timber and air dried rather than kiln. It's worth a shot.

Also it was suggested to put another shelf in for a little more strength. I second that. It's a beautiful design but I really think structurally it won't be rigid enough as is. Unless you put cleats on the wall beneath the table tops, for support.

But as I said its a great design and can't wait to see the outcome.

[antho94]

Well thats good to know cause some research iv done on jarrah say even though u can bend it it can snap like a carrot so finding out that is really handy,
And ill see what i can do with the other shelf idea i want to keep it simple but have questioned the strength myself,
Ill put another shelf in and upload it this afternoon,
cheers mate

[antho94]

righto so i have put the 3rd shelf in,
not shore if this is what you'se ment but let me know

[AlexS]

To me the new design looks slightly better. It's going to need some careful work to join the supports & tables, but it's do-able. For the outside ones you could use bridle joints. To do the middle one, I'd use similar joints, but you'd have to cut them with the lower table split in two, and glue it as you assembled the whole table. Your jointing and gluing will need to be spot on.
As I said, not easy, but do-able.

[antho94]

yea i know im going to have my work cut out for me but its kind of what i wanted,
i wanted something to show my skills while not being to easy or to hard so do-able is good,
the bridle joints i think will be perfect and after looking them up i can see how i will do it, also another joint i can add to my research.
thankyou

[tea lady]

The third shelf could be a little smaller! :shrug: Or maybe the three of them in decending sizes! :think: Looks good I reckon! :cool:

With laminating the timber just make sure the grain is really straight! You could maybe have a layer of quilted veneer on the outside, but the inside layers need to be really straight grained. If the grain does go slightly diagonal make sure you layer them in alternate diagonals other wise the laminated strip will twist! I got some really twisty teapot handles. :doh:

[spencer411]

IMO I think the third doesn't look too good. I understood where u were going with the original design. Very clean lines. Where as the third is way to cluttered. I was thinking about it and rather than a third shelf for strength, maybe you could use some form of tensio cabling to make it more rigid. I've got another idea but I can't really explain it so I'd have to draw it but I'm on my iPhone at the moment so makes things hard. Basically it'd be to extend both table tops inward so they over lap, chuck some vertical supports in and u could have a little drawer in it.

If its cool with u could I draw over your original sketch so u can understand my dribblings??

I really think you should stick to the original sketch though

[antho94]

mate its completely fine with me go for it.
im up for anything all ideas, concepts, suggestions no mattter how small are all helpful,
i love this subject and working with wood and so far if not to help with my hsc then this thread has given me more knowledge into things i can do and you never know when you might need to use it.
so if you have an idea that you would like to share that you think would improve this project then feel free to.
and thankyou seeing as though its comming up to the deadline to have the final design picked and completed its handy to know what others think in advance, not only do i want to be able to look at it and enjoy the fact i made it and i love the look of it but i also want others to.

[spencer411]

sorry for the crappy drawing (ms paint) but it was the quickest, easiest way to get my idea across... i think this would give it a little more strength aswell as some drawer space.. just an idea..

[corbs]

I think I have seen something very similar at the Bungendore Woodworks a few years ago. I can't remember the design or maker but I remember the wood being amazing. It looked like fire rippling throught the top. Best of luck with the piece, it has a lot of potential:2tsup:

[antho94]

Yea i can see what you mean mate, ill design it up and see how it looks.
And thanks corbs, i think i stumbled past what your talking bout while i was looking for ideas.

[antho94]

http://i1057.photobucket.com/albums/t391/78hztonner/DSC00135.jpg

hey everyone sorry i never kept youse up to date been so busy and this site is blocked at school so could never keep youse updated as the progress began but here she is all done and finished handed in yesterday so much relief to finally have it done anyways hope youse like it :)

[antho94]

219359

[AlexS]

Great result, should get some good marks out of that!. Any chance of a few more Pics please.
What timber did you go with in the end? Laminated or steam bent? Enquiring minds need to know.:D

[antho94]

once i can locate the computer cord for my phone ill post a whole heap but atm iv seemed to of misplaced it :/
in the end i chose jarrah mate, and i did both after creating a fence for the bandsaw i ran the timber lengths through at 2-3mm put the thinner ones in the middle and thicker ones on the outside for sanding, i soaked the thicker ones to make them easier to bend put them in the mould let them dry which put part of the bend in them then glued them and stuck them back in the mould worked perfectly.

[corbs]

Love the finished piece, good luck with the folio and look forward to seeing more pics:2tsup:

[rwbuild]

Sensational.:2tsup:

[antho94]

there we go some pictures as promised of moulds and things, dont think i used enough clamps what you think? :wink: haha as you can see in the picture of the join i ran metal rod through the middle, i have no idea where the rest of the pictures have gone i had heaps :? but yea tell ya such a relief to have it all done shame i cant find out what i get for it till after the hsc and its a combined mark which sucks just wanna know what mark i get for the table itself would be nice but oh well. anyways i hope youse like and if theres anything else youd like to know from the build just ask away :)

[corbs]

The more I see of this piece the more I like it. Have you got any pics of how the top is joined to the legs?

[antho94]

unfortunately mate i do not was in to much of a rush to get it all on and lined up i never thought of takin pics sorry but its attached with metal rod only about 2cm long like doweling it, theres 2 in the top of the back support one towards the front of the skinner double curve and then 2 in the top of the middle support, the lower shelf though rather then run hirzontally along the shelf i drilled into the 20mm width of the support and then into the side of the shelf as i removed part of it to slide it on the support so it runs horizontally towards the front of the shelf sorry theres no pics though it was hard making shore the holes were perfectly line up as i couldnt put the curve onto the drill press or the doweling machine tricky business :/

[kieran1lad]

Yo I'm just wondering how long did it take you to complete your job? Like how many hours? And did you have to put in any after school hours to get it finished?

Just wondering cause I also just submitted my major which took around 200 after school hours. At school up to 12:30am the night before

That looks amazing. You might have a chance to get into INTECH

[antho94]

i have no idea of the hours mate that it took me, but yes i spent time after school and our teacher even opened up for week almost every holidays it also took most of my free periods, took a hell of alot longer then i had planned and i only got the finish on it the day before it was due.

and cheers mate

[kieran1lad]

definitely the hardest major out of all subjects

[artme]

An excellent piece young sire!!:2tsup::2tsup::2tsup::2tsup: