Penguin isokon donkey

[Richard_C]

Following this closely in a look and learn way.

It occurs to me, in a thinking aloud moment, if you make up the boxes then clamp them properly spaced upside down to a single board - clamps along what will be the open edge - and assemble upside down, the top will be properly flat and aligned when all is done.

What are you making it from?

 

[Chris152]

Following this closely in a look and learn way.

It occurs to me, in a thinking aloud moment, if you make up the boxes then clamp them properly spaced upside down to a single board - clamps along what will be the open edge - and assemble upside down, the top will be properly flat and aligned when all is done.

What are you making it from?

That's a nice idea - then it's just a question of correcting errors in the lengths of the legs to get it standing flat?
I have either holm oak or beech for the frame, almost certain I'll go with the beech as it's easier, the oak's really hard. Apparently the ply boxes will be white (I'm not going to do the painting) so beech should look good against that.
My immediate response to the 'look and learn' comment is something self-deprecating but for me this is quite a challenge so I'm going to have to take my time in order to get it anything like right, we'll see. Apart from the bits of the frame I can't really visualise yet, the bits that worry me are the joins that need 100 degree and 80 degree angles sitting flush rather than 90 degrees.
I'll be working with a band saw and hand tools and attempting to avoid traditional joints because again, I'm likely to mess up.

 

[Richard_C]

I really am learning. Only 68 so a bit of time yet. Years of diy, car fixing, even installed my own kitchen and bathroom, 'ingenious' fixes but no practiced quality woodworking skills. Arrived in UK workshop for the woodturning forum. So - yes I am looking and learning.

Back your thoughts on leg length. If the boxes are clamped up in the right place, the A frame legs then drop in. The faces that sit against the back of the boxes will never be seen again once fixed, so if necessary could be fettled/adjusted/sanded whatever to make fine adjustments so they sit right and at the same height.

You might want to paint the inside face of the boxes before assembly, where the legs are going to be fitted, will be hard to get clean lines around the legs after the event. Getting a good paint finish on the cut ply edges of the shelves and box edges will be a challenge - but sounds like its not your problem.

 

[Jake]

There's some good pics of the Ernest Race mkII (one the best English modernist designers, I inherited a couple of his chairs from my grandmother) here

https://twentytwentyone.com/product/iso ... n-donkey-2