Monday 3 August 2009

Shocking Shaker (pegboard) Organisational Skills


Shop Organisation
My old pine bed has been taking up space in my flat ever since i decided to save it in order 'to make something with the material'. I finally settled on putting it to use in order to get the place organised. So i started with a small part to organise some tools. The holes were already in the wall, so it was a matter of sizing and aligning the holes to the wall. It was particularly exciting, because i got much use out of my Ryoba saw. Ryoba It's basically a Japanese 2-in-1 saw. There is no spine, so the depth of cut is not limited, and they are very flexible and can be used for flush-cutting. They work on the pull and make fantastically fine cuts. Anyway, the idea for that little project was obviously inspired by Chris Schwarz's workshop (i am sure this is a common practise--though i didn't put mine over a window--but my exposure was through Schwarz). Shaker Pegboard  

I still had many pieces left, and decided to do a modern version of a Shaker Pegboard, pictured at right. Instead of wooden dowels, i used some pegs from Ikea. CIMG0962 Now my fashionable drug bag has a place of its very own! Actually, i could probably fill that thing up with all the drug bags my father has given to me over the years...

If you look at the photo of the Shaker pegboard, you may notice that there is a chair hanging from the rail (you'll have to ask the people at Fine Woodworking about the clock). Anyway, the Shaker practicality has been an inspiration to people dwelling in small spaces, and featured in Apartment Therapy last month--they came up with some pretty cool design ideas. I live alone and having 8 folding chairs gets in my way when i weekly indulge in my stereotypical Dutch practise of scrubbing the floor. 

CIMG0975So, taking a leaf out of the Shakers' book, i decided that the best way to get the chairs out of my way was to hang them up. To the left is a shot of four chairs hanging by the front door. There is an additional rack that holds two, elsewhere. 

 Not being sure of the stability CIMG0986
of the metal brackets under the weight of the chairs, nor of the length of the brackets to prevent the chairs from slipping off, i required a fairly simple solution from the hardware store--these mini brackets with cute little nuts and bolts. Now i don't have to worry about a chair slipping and clunking someone in the head!

One final thing--and perhaps an appeal to anyone out there who can explain this mystery to me: Whenever drilling into a wall, i am always super-cautious to avoid electrical paths. ShockingSo, you can imagine my shock (pardon the expression) when after placing all my dibbels to anchor the screws, and upon completion of mounting the board to the wall, i received a tingling sensation from touching one of the metal brackets! First i thought i had a weird nerve thing going on so i touched it again (brilliant, i know), and, being assured it was not my imagination as indicated by both the intense pain in my left arm and my tester, i decided to remove the screw attached to that bracket. As it became unscrewed, it stopped conducting electricity, but i felt more comfortable taking it out. I still don't get what happened, though. Maybe the screw went deeper than the dibbel and hit the electric supply?


 

 

3 comments:

  1. S.S.O.S.! No longer the old-fashioned Save Our Souls but an updated Naomi version!!
    Of course the organisational part appeals to me...but turn the chairs the other way around so that you don't see the ugly sticker side. And could you hang more than 4 chairs from it?
    Good work!

    ReplyDelete
  2. That would refer to the acronym of the post title, as you explained to me by phone...the chairs are too puffy to hang the other way--i would only get one on the bracket. It prob keeps them cleaner this way...

    ReplyDelete
  3. Get instant access to 16,000 woodworking plans.

    Teds Woodworking has more than 16,000 woodworking plans with STEP-BY-STEP instructions, sketches and blueprints to make each project very easy...

    ReplyDelete