The problem was the tangle of wire by my Wife's computer. The are three modem related bits of equipment, all requiring their own transformer/adaptor. As well there is the charging station for our phones, and Eva's computer.
For a while all this related spaghetti has been corralled into a shoe box, more or less. This sort of mess makes it difficult to vacuum with out un-plugging something and messing up the internet or phones. The other issue is the wasted floor space in our small entry area. Since we have been making a serious effort on our annul spring cleaning (once a decade) this tangle has become a priority.
I will show you the solution to this mess.
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| isn't that just so much better!! |
I added a narrow shelf to the small bookcase and cut some holes through the back, creating a special shelf for the three modem related gadgets. The famous lizard now has its own place of honour up off the floor and out of the way. Best of all, that box on the lower shelf contains the surge protected power bar into which all the other gear is plugged.
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| all five things plugged in, yet hidden. |
Since I have a basement work shop with lots of tools and too many bits of wood I was able to make the box to fit exactly on the bottom shelf, exactly, not just close because that was what was available at the store. Also we have a nice little wooden box on our wooden bookcase, not a plastic thing, all the way from China. The shelf is cut to size and stained from materials at hand.
Making the box was interesting. I set out to make a box with mitred corners like the last one but ended up with wood of two different thicknesses so opted for dados on the corners. Cutting the dados could have been done on the table saw, or the router table. I have dado blades for my saw and lots of different router bits. However I opted for the quickest and easiest way to cut four small dados. I used my sliding mitres saw. I have done this many times when I needed just a few small dados cut. I raise the blade and put a spacer against the fence to enable to raised blade to cut fully across the board. Making the set up time short makes up for the multiple passes needed to clear the dado completely.
This box is the last of the wood from the dresser. I made the entire box with glue and my lead gravity clamps. This project took a couple of evenings because I wasn't in a hurry. I cut the box out and glued it together and used the drying time to work on the long chair rail and a couple of other small things. Having several things on the go at once doesn't bother me, much. I have found that different projects move me around the shop, which is good for my back. If I stay in one position too long, carving, or painting or whatever my back complains loudly.
Once the glue set on the sides I glued on an over sized top and bottom. When that glue dried completely I used hand saws to cut the top and bottom to size which I then planed and sanded before finishing. I have been listening to audio books and podcasts lately and working with hand tools is quieter and more relaxing while I listen.
If you are like me, part of the reason you work in wood is for the "Zen" sort of relaxation that it can bring. One of my meditation projects is tool handles.
I buy all my files/rasps un-handled and most of my chisels that way as well. While glue or vanish was drying I made a handle for this small file. It began as a piece of 3/4 inch hardwood dowel into which I drilled a small through hole. I then widen the hole so the shoulders of the file would seat firmly into the wood. While things dried I listened to music or a books and shaped the handle with my wicked sharp shop knife. ( I have the carbon steel version that cost $6.50 Cdn in Sweden). I get as much satisfaction for hand shaping a handle for one of my tools as basic as it seems as I do making many of my projects. I also love whittling with a really good knife, even if all I am doing is make small sticks, smaller.
Carrying on woodworking.
cheers, ianw
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