Penguin Donkey

[robgul]

Penguin Donkeys and Eames Chairs possibly

I stumbled across that a few minutes ago - just need to have a crash course in SketchUp to to see whether it makes sense. Having had a donkey I have a pretty good recollection of how it looked, and I have the dimensions - it probably just the angles that I need to know and be able to cut everything. If I can find an "end-on" drawing I may be able to take the angle from that.

 

[TheUnicorn]

this site makes reference to plans, but no obvious links, signing up as a member might give more options Penguin Donkey • sketchUcation • 1

 

[TheUnicorn]

https://spectacularpenguin.blogspot.com/2020/02/penguin-donkey-mark-2.html
has a large collection of images, including some side on, seems like the A frame legs are the hardest part of the build, after that it is just a couple of wonky topped bookcases screwed on, and a (freestanding?) board, with cut outs for the legs placed in between

 

[TheUnicorn]

 

[robgul]

Thanks - I've screen-grabbed that and made a large print - the angles are, I think 15 degrees so i may be able to scale up and work out the component sizes.

.. but I'm still looking for plans!

 

[J-G]

Thanks - I've screen-grabbed that and made a large print - the angles are, I think 15 degrees so i may be able to scale up and work out the component sizes.

.. but I'm still looking for plans!

I would suggest drawing your own but I see Barry Bucknell is your hero

 

[robgul]

I would suggest drawing your own but I see Barry Bucknell is your hero

- the thing I remember most about Barry Bucknell was his sawing ..... the timber had obviously been sawn part-way through off camera and the fuzzy black and white picture didn't show the cut very clearly - his saw went through the cuts like a knife through butter. I must see if he's on YouTube

I've got a large sheet of paper and am scaling the measurements of the ends of the boxes - hopefully that will enable to take measurements off it to make a cut-list. I have the 12mm ply but will probably make a prototype/proof of concept box in MDF first.

 

[HOJ]

Have you seen this thread.

Penguin Isokon Donkey wip

 

[robgul]

Thanks!!! - That's just what I need - have to admit I seldom look at Projects otherwise I would have seen it.

I acquired* some lengths of beech today that will be pretty good for the legs - I intend to make the boxes with 12mm top grade birch play and leave exposed edges rather than paint it all. Having looked through the build-thread I'm going to try and mark out all the parts to cut rather than building the boxes and then cutting off the tops.

*A double bed and a single bed had been fly-tipped on a country lane - saw them when I was out on my bike so went back in the car with the cordless circular saw and liberated all the "real" timber - the classy chipboard and smoked glass headboards were ignored! I also got a stack of beech-faced plywood laths which will be useful for something.

 

[HOJ]

Is this of use, you may have to tweak it as its only a draft.

 

[robgul]

Is this of use, you may have to tweak it as its only a draft.

Thanks! That's brilliant and a great start - I'm going to make one from MDF to start with to see if it works rather than risk the birch ply cost. I assume that the marked dimensions are as the original item?

Progress may be slow as I'm backed with "orders" for stuff made from pallet timber that people want as Christmas presents! - I'll report back in due course.

 

[Illy]

With the end on diagram and the dimensions also quoted you can use sketchup to scale up to size and then read the various angles and other dimensions directly from sketchup. I did it for a designer chair design I wanted to copy. Step one is to import the picture into sketchup, I then traced over the components with the straight line tool on a new layer. If you tell sketchup the actual measurement of one dimension it will scale the whole thing up. You can then hide the photo layer, just leaving a fully dimensioned plan.

I'm not an expert with sketchup and there was a bit of trial and error (and consulting the internet) but the end result worked a treat - the chair looked exactly as it should. This sketchup technique is a method well worth learning on a wet and windy day when you don't fancy the garage !

 

[robgul]

With the end on diagram and the dimensions also quoted you can use sketchup to scale up to size and then read the various angles and other dimensions directly from sketchup. I did it for a designer chair design I wanted to copy. Step one is to import the picture into sketchup, I then traced over the components with the straight line tool on a new layer. If you tell sketchup the actual measurement of one dimension it will scale the whole thing up. You can then hide the photo layer, just leaving a fully dimensioned plan.

I'm not an expert with sketchup and there was a bit of trial and error (and consulting the internet) but the end result worked a treat - the chair looked exactly as it should. This sketchup technique is a method well worth learning on a wet and windy day when you don't fancy the garage !

I think I'll need a lot of wet and windy days as my SketchUp knowledge is below zilch! - I shall persevere