My wife recently passed away. I used my time off to build her a giant bookshelf • Hacker News Board

Re: My wife recently passed away. I used my time off to build her a giant bookshelf

#241

Post by wegs » Fri, Oct 02, 2020, 4:48 PM UTC

anjc wrote: post #237

wegs wrote: post #233

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The desk in my son's room cost $1000. It's customized to his interests/hobbies. If it didn't have all the bells and whistles, it would have been <$50 (a few 2x4s and a spare chunk of wood I used for the top).

You're comparing apples and oranges, if you're building a desk out of some 2x4s and a spare chunk of wood, and comparing that to $1000 products. Undoubtedly the manufactured products are lighter, more robust, and made from better materials. That isn't to say that these desks are more suitable. One could build a desk from even better materials than the $1000 desk; maple, walnut, mahogany, stainless steel, brass, whate…

Nah. The costs are for specialization. Anytime you buy a specialized product, you're going to pay an arm and a leg. If you want to get a proper lab workbench (for just about any scientific/engineering discipline; that's not a generic thing), a proper studio desk, or what-not, you're going to pay an arm and a leg. That's not buying you a mahogany desk, so much as something well-suited to an esoteric task.

Compared to commercial, what he's got is:

1. Lighter (2x4s are light)

2. More robust (2x4s are tough)

3. Looks better (An off-the-shelf product would look better in a showroom, but this one fits his room exactly, and fits his equipment exactly; that makes a much bigger difference).

I'll mention: That's true for most of the crude furniture I make. I have fine woodworking, and I have not-so-fine woodworking. The fine woodworking pieces tend to be generic (e.g. a bookcase). The not-so-fine-ones tend to be special-purpose. Right now, I have custom stuff built up for remote work, for example, with cameras/cables/etc. properly routed.

Re: My wife recently passed away. I used my time off to build her a giant bookshelf

#242

Post by anjc » Fri, Oct 02, 2020, 8:22 PM UTC

wegs wrote: post #241

anjc wrote: post #237

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You're comparing apples and oranges, if you're building a desk out of some 2x4s and a spare chunk of wood, and comparing that to $1000 products. Undoubtedly the manufactured products are lighter, more robust, and made from better materials. That isn't to say that these desks are more suitable. One could build a desk from even better materials than the $1000 desk; maple, walnut, mahogany, stainless steel, brass, whate…

Nah. The costs are for specialization. Anytime you buy a specialized product, you're going to pay an arm and a leg. If you want to get a proper lab workbench (for just about any scientific/engineering discipline; that's not a generic thing), a proper studio desk, or what-not, you're going to pay an arm and a leg. That's not buying you a mahogany desk, so much as something well-suited to an esoteric task. Compared to…

Perhaps it's a regional thing then, in my country 2x4's aren't exactly cheap if you're buying enough to build an e.g. woodworking bench, and you need a planer even if they're pre-planed.

I'm currently planning a studio desk right now, funny enough. I could buy one for maybe €500, but just the heavy duty shelf sliders I need will be €70 for a pair. A pre-bought one will also have a light aluminium frame, whereas mine is going to weigh a ton with steel tubing.

Like you say though, if I make one it will fit the space perfectly etc. All in all it's worth it for me even if I personally don't save money

Re: My wife recently passed away. I used my time off to build her a giant bookshelf

#243

Post by randycupertino » Fri, Oct 02, 2020, 9:39 PM UTC

etothet wrote: post #216

eindiran wrote: post #200

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are probably other reasons people use them, but a few reasons why planter boxes can be the right choice: (1) If you live in an area with very poor soil conditions, it may take years and lots of hard work to get your soil usable for the things you want to plant. Or you can grab planting soil that meets your requirements upfront and dump it into some planter boxes. (2) They look nice, and some people are going fo…

I'll add to this: 4) Not having to actually dig to plant. The work involved in buying soil and dumping in a planter box usually pales in comparison to digging a hole a couple-to-few feet deep, wide, and long.

Thanks! This makes sense. Appreciate both replies. :)

Re: My wife recently passed away. I used my time off to build her a giant bookshelf

#244

Post by wegs » Sat, Oct 03, 2020, 3:53 PM UTC

anjc wrote: post #242

wegs wrote: post #241

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Nah. The costs are for specialization. Anytime you buy a specialized product, you're going to pay an arm and a leg. If you want to get a proper lab workbench (for just about any scientific/engineering discipline; that's not a generic thing), a proper studio desk, or what-not, you're going to pay an arm and a leg. That's not buying you a mahogany desk, so much as something well-suited to an esoteric task. Compared to…

Perhaps it's a regional thing then, in my country 2x4's aren't exactly cheap if you're buying enough to build an e.g. woodworking bench, and you need a planer even if they're pre-planed. I'm currently planning a studio desk right now, funny enough. I could buy one for maybe €500, but just the heavy duty shelf sliders I need will be €70 for a pair. A pre-bought one will also have a light aluminium frame, whereas mine…

Funny that. I bought heavy-duty shelf sliders for $15 for a pair:

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Everbilt-18-in-Full-Extension-Si...

They're rated for loads up to 100lbs, and they're plenty tough enough to hold up a full-sized MIDI controller. They're stiff enough too.

If you're worried, though, you can double them up (two on each side). Now, you're at $30. Typically, when you double up, the load-baring capacity more than doubles.

I have a planer, but I didn't use it at all in this project.

Might be regional. US has a ton of land and resources, so maybe wood is cheaper here. You're pricing in Euros, and Europe is a bit more densely populated.

Re: My wife recently passed away. I used my time off to build her a giant bookshelf

#245

Post by Breza » Sun, Oct 04, 2020, 9:50 PM UTC

fatnoah wrote: post #112

larrywright wrote: post #102

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It really is sad that most schools have discontinued these programs. I have a cousin who makes knives. When I visited his shop in Ohio last year, he commented that a lot of the workbenches and tools that he had in his shop were bought at auctions from schools getting rid of their shop programs. It’s a shame.

My high school was the regional hub for vocational training, so we had an entire wing devoted to these things. There was even a small restaurant and I remember one of the capstone projects for the year was actually building a house. Fortunately it has continued to be well-funded. Unfortunately, an honors-level academic load meant there was no time in the schedule to take many of these classes.

You touch on one of my frustrations with high school. In most schools, tracking means that you either take APs or you take classes that teach hands on skills. As if someone with a BA will never need to know how her car works.

Re: My wife recently passed away. I used my time off to build her a giant bookshelf

#246

Post by ragebol » Thu, Oct 08, 2020, 1:23 PM UTC

Loughla wrote: post #53

ragebol wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Just get started, really. Start small, make the same thing twice: one for learning, another with the lessons for the first. I will not claim to be a good woodworker, I recently made https://preview.redd.it/oyg8onja3ll51.jpg?width=4608&format=... which I'm quite happy with. Some rough edges. I do not consider myself particularly handy, but just get started. And watch a bunch YouTube videos for tips. Tools used: cordle…

>I think the hardest part of this is imagining how to put everything together, do the accurate measurements or design things in a way that you can tolerate less accuracy. Woodworking is a lesson and exercise in planning and preparation, more than anything else. The actual skills used are fairly basic hand-eye coordination. But the planning. Oh the planning. You absolutely have to see the steps laid out to completion,…

The Dutch saying is 'good tools are half the work' and there is another saying 'A good plan is half the work', so with a good plan and good tools, you're already done...