Frank Pellow
Member
- Joined
- Jan 16, 2007
- Messages
- 2,743
As soon as I saw the October 2007 issue of Wood magazine at the store, I knew what three of my grandchildren would be receiving as a Christmas gift. The magazine contains plans for a large double shelf modeled upon a biplane. The biplane shelf itself is both good looking and quite functional but, what makes it even better, is that the recipient gets to help put it together.
Following are extracts from my weekly journal describing the building and assembly of these gifts.
2007, Dec 16:
This week I started on the biplane shelves that I am making Brooke, Leah, and Ethan for Christmas. Each set of shelves looks like a biplane with a motor, propeller, and wheels. They are quite long -almost 4 feet and substantial. The thing that I find really appealing about them is that each is made as a kit which the child receiving the gift then participates in assembling. Most of the parts are made out of MDF which I am not really very happy working with. The only good thing about MDF is that a ?? thick piece is really ? inch thick. I got the plans from a magazine where some of the parts had full size patterns but the patterns for the large wings had to be transferred. In the photo below, I first transferred the pattern to the plywood with squares drawn on it, them to the MDF:
[attachthumb=#1]
The straight line parts of the wing were cut using a guided circular saw:
[attachthumb=#2]
The curved portions were cut using a jig saw.
Wheels were cut out of MDF using a hole-saw device on the drill press:
[attachthumb=#3]
Putting together the nose of the plane called for some non-ninety degree clamping:
[attachthumb=#4]
2007, Dec 23:
Work continued on the airplane shelf kits. A mixture of 7 parts yellow glue and 3 parts water was used to size all the MDF parts:
[attachthumb=#5]
Here all the parts for both Brooke's and Leah's shelves are drying after having been painted:
[attachthumb=#6]
And here they are being wrapped for presentation in a homemade cardboard box:
[attachthumb=#7]
Margaret and I took these to Carleton Place on a whirlwind one-night-stay trip late in the week. Unfortunately, we will not be there on Christmas day to see them opened.
On the other hand, we will be able to see Ethan open his here in Toronto:
[attachthumb=#8]
2007, Dec 25:
Here is Ethan opening the package with all the plane shelf parts:
[attachthumb=#9]
He was keen to build it right away, but that will have to wait until next week.
2008, Jan 6:
Ethan and I put together his shelves this week. He did a great job, drilling with assistance, gluing and clamping with assistance, and driving screws unassisted. The way we hung the shelf in his room, it looks like it is crashing through the wall. Here are two photos:
[attachthumb=#10] [attachthumb=#11]
2008, Jan 27:
This week, we finally got to visit Kristel and family in Carleton Place. I worked with both Leah and Brooke (not at the same time) to put together the airplane shelves that I gave them for Christmas. Here are both girls driving screws with a conventional Red Robertson screwdriver:
[attachthumb=#12] [attachthumb=#13]
They did the majority of the screw-driving and also did some drilling with a battery powered drill, some hammering, some gluing, and some clamping.
aside: I just noticed that the drill in the above picture is a Craftsman. :-[ We were not using that drill. The kids all used my Festool TDK 12 drill. 8)
Below is a photo of me with Leah and her finished and installed shelves:
[attachthumb=#14]
Post Script:
By the way, Ethan is 5 years old , Brooke is 6, and Leah is 7.
Following are extracts from my weekly journal describing the building and assembly of these gifts.
2007, Dec 16:
This week I started on the biplane shelves that I am making Brooke, Leah, and Ethan for Christmas. Each set of shelves looks like a biplane with a motor, propeller, and wheels. They are quite long -almost 4 feet and substantial. The thing that I find really appealing about them is that each is made as a kit which the child receiving the gift then participates in assembling. Most of the parts are made out of MDF which I am not really very happy working with. The only good thing about MDF is that a ?? thick piece is really ? inch thick. I got the plans from a magazine where some of the parts had full size patterns but the patterns for the large wings had to be transferred. In the photo below, I first transferred the pattern to the plywood with squares drawn on it, them to the MDF:
[attachthumb=#1]
The straight line parts of the wing were cut using a guided circular saw:
[attachthumb=#2]
The curved portions were cut using a jig saw.
Wheels were cut out of MDF using a hole-saw device on the drill press:
[attachthumb=#3]
Putting together the nose of the plane called for some non-ninety degree clamping:
[attachthumb=#4]
2007, Dec 23:
Work continued on the airplane shelf kits. A mixture of 7 parts yellow glue and 3 parts water was used to size all the MDF parts:
[attachthumb=#5]
Here all the parts for both Brooke's and Leah's shelves are drying after having been painted:
[attachthumb=#6]
And here they are being wrapped for presentation in a homemade cardboard box:
[attachthumb=#7]
Margaret and I took these to Carleton Place on a whirlwind one-night-stay trip late in the week. Unfortunately, we will not be there on Christmas day to see them opened.
On the other hand, we will be able to see Ethan open his here in Toronto:
[attachthumb=#8]
2007, Dec 25:
Here is Ethan opening the package with all the plane shelf parts:
[attachthumb=#9]
He was keen to build it right away, but that will have to wait until next week.
2008, Jan 6:
Ethan and I put together his shelves this week. He did a great job, drilling with assistance, gluing and clamping with assistance, and driving screws unassisted. The way we hung the shelf in his room, it looks like it is crashing through the wall. Here are two photos:
[attachthumb=#10] [attachthumb=#11]
2008, Jan 27:
This week, we finally got to visit Kristel and family in Carleton Place. I worked with both Leah and Brooke (not at the same time) to put together the airplane shelves that I gave them for Christmas. Here are both girls driving screws with a conventional Red Robertson screwdriver:
[attachthumb=#12] [attachthumb=#13]
They did the majority of the screw-driving and also did some drilling with a battery powered drill, some hammering, some gluing, and some clamping.
aside: I just noticed that the drill in the above picture is a Craftsman. :-[ We were not using that drill. The kids all used my Festool TDK 12 drill. 8)
Below is a photo of me with Leah and her finished and installed shelves:
[attachthumb=#14]
Post Script:
By the way, Ethan is 5 years old , Brooke is 6, and Leah is 7.
