GCB tries foam core joinery

[Grumpy Cave Bear]

I'm in desperate need of organizing my work area. While cleaning, I found a small stack of foam core sheets. So, I formed a plan to get rid of some foam core sheets, open up some storage, and organize my painting area, all at the same time.

 

Here's the project, presented wordlessly:

 

 

Darn. I've run out of storage space already. I think I'll have to make a second one at least, what with more paint coming in from mail order and Reaper Kickstarters.

 

Dimensions are 15" wide by 13" deep by 12-1/2" tall with a capacity of 126 bottles.

 

Total material used for this project: just under 3 standard-sized sheets of foam board.

 

It would have been 2-1/2 sheets, but on Tuesday the backboard went missing, and I accused the boys of taking it and playing with it and not returning it; on Wednesday I discovered the piece back where it was before after I had cut a replacement, and I accused the boys of returning it secretly to cover their earlier misdemeanor; and on Thursday my wife asked if I had noticed that I had got the foam core piece back, since she had borrowed it as a backdrop for taking eBay sale photos. I formally apologized to the boys for even suspecting them.

[BLZeebub]

It's perfect!  Huzzah for storage!

[Grumpy Cave Bear]

It's perfect!  Huzzah for storage!

And custom made for the space!

 

It went together surprisingly well. I did some rough drawings on grid paper, but quickly tossed them and eyeballed everything after the first test fitting. I was nearly defeated by trigonometry when cutting the side rails. (Don't assume the sheet is already perfectly square!)

[pcktlnt]

That's awesome!

Edited July 3, 2016 by pcktlnt

[Grumpy Cave Bear]

That's awesome!

Thanks!

 

Oh, and I have a question for anyone out there who knows... The red bags in the photos above are a pair I found on the curb of a busy street, presumably dropped from a truck. They're made of heavy canvas, feel like they're filled with tiny pebbles or metal pellets (not iron), and weigh almost exactly 5 pounds each. They work great as an extra pair of hands for holding items in place as the glue dries.

 

Does anyone have an idea what they are actually used for? Not for a game of "X-Treme Cornhole", I hope...

[Glitterwolf]

Great job!

[Bruunwald]

I gave this three thumbs up. (Don't ask how.)

[TGP]

Oh, and I have a question for anyone out there who knows... The red bags in the photos above are a pair I found on the curb of a busy street, presumably dropped from a truck. They're made of heavy canvas, feel like they're filled with tiny pebbles or metal pellets (not iron), and weigh almost exactly 5 pounds each. They work great as an extra pair of hands for holding items in place as the glue dries.

 

Does anyone have an idea what they are actually used for? Not for a game of "X-Treme Cornhole", I hope...

I did some physical therapy a few years ago. They had some gear like that. Ankle weights and the like.

 

I think they might be some kind of exercise gear. Or:

 

 

...Scuba Gear. Note the 5 pounder is red.

Edited July 3, 2016 by TGP

[Grumpy Cave Bear]

...Scuba Gear. Note the 5 pounder is red.

Ah! Diving weights! That would make sense, and explain the accurate weight. I had been doing online searches in another direction, assuming they were used in by road construction or to keep signs from blowing over, and missed these in my search entirely.

 

It's also good to know that these are probably full of lead shot. This is the more inert, elemental form of lead, so I'm not worried about lead poisoning, but I will be more aware when handling them. (I definitely won't be putting them in my mouth!)

[Chaoswolf]

Very cool project!

[Werra]

Brilliant, GCB!

 

I have been wanting to organise my paints for a while, but buying racks was expensive, and I thought building something was too complicated... But I had access to some foam core, so I thought I would go ahead and shamelessly copy your idea 

 

This is my first ever attempt at building with foam core, and overall I am happy how it turned out... capacity is about 266 Reaper bottles.

 

I used A2 sized sheets, so it is rather... large... and I embedded the cuts into the outside sheets rather than doubling them up. That got tricky, as I had to assemble the whole lot in one go before the glue started drying... 

 

Good fun though.

 

Werra

[Grumpy Cave Bear]

Brilliant, GCB!

 

I have been wanting to organise my paints for a while, but buying racks was expensive, and I thought building something was too complicated... But I had access to some foam core, so I thought I would go ahead and shamelessly copy your idea 

 

This is my first ever attempt at building with foam core, and overall I am happy how it turned out... capacity is about 266 Reaper bottles.

 

...

 

I used A2 sized sheets, so it is rather... large... and I embedded the cuts into the outside sheets rather than doubling them up. That got tricky, as I had to assemble the whole lot in one go before the glue started drying... 

 

Good fun though.

 

Werra

Excellent work! This is exactly why I post my projects... so people can shamelessly copy, and hopefully improve on my projects.

 

Foam core is really cost-effective for projects like these. My total cost of materials would be under $7.50, with some left over. It's cheap enough to try, and throw the results away and start over if you don't like it.

 

I doubled up on the side sheets because I didn't know how strong the foam core was and worried it wouldn't support the weight. I shouldn't have worried. I used step framing and temporarily held glued pieces together with sewing pins (strategically placed), so I wouldn't have to try the all in one go approach.

 

I'd have loved to make a paint rack that size, but had to tailor it to the space available. I even toyed with the idea of making a double decker paint rack, but wisdom prevailed. I'll probably convert shelves on the other side to a foam core paint rack next. I'm also considering a custom mini display rack to hang under the sloped ceiling of the bear cave.

[Chaoswolf]

Whoa, that's a pretty cool paint rack you made, Werra!

 

Good job on the shameless copying!

[Werra]

One thing I don't lack is space. The work bench in my office is about 5 foot deep by 18 foot long... Computer at one end, painting station next, followed by more computing gear and rubbish... 

 

The rack above sits comfortably between where I paint and the wall. I have to stand up to reach some of the paints though.

 

If I ever get it cleaned up I'll post a picture :)

[Grumpy Cave Bear]

Hey, I'm back again with another foamcore joinery project. I've got a whole bunch of paints just in as part of a mail order. Now I need some place to put them,so I'm making another paint rack. I'm going to be up at least part of the night trying to put this together, so I thought I'd try recording my progress as I go along.

 

 

Here are the paints that need a new home and the space that I'm gonna put them in. The space is 21-7/8 inches wide by 12-5/8 inches deep. With the thickness of the back row, that is just enough depth for 9 rows of 21 bottles.

 

There are 1-1/8th inch circles in every corner, which stick up from the shelf and have to be accounted for. If I make the paint rack a little shorter to accommodate the circles, that gives me 20-1/4 inches to work with. That would give me enough space for 19 bottles across every row.

 

The foam core board I'm using is 20" x 30". I don't wish to struggle through the extra joinery to cut corners out of the paint rack and customize this project even more than I have to, so I'm going to make the rack 20 inches wide.

 

 

Here's the first set of cuts. As you can see I'm cutting out the support steps for the shelves. This is probably the slowest and most tedious part lots of little cuts. Each row will be 1-3/8" wide and 1-1/8" above the row before them. After adding in the vertical barrier on each wrote that should give 1-1/8" depth for the 1-inch bottles fit in. I'll make the rows 19-1/2 inches wide, so there's enough room to fit 19 bottles, with a little bit of play, but not be tempted to try and squeeze a 20th bottle in.

 

Now to cut the rest of the steps. I'll check in when I'm done with that!

Edited July 24, 2016 by Grumpy Cave Bear