Rods

[Sgian Dubh]

I came across the article in question whilst moving house over the last couple of weeks, which of course is an opportunity to clear out old tat. I’d forgotten I had a copy. Anyway, I scanned it and saved it at low resolution so hopefully you can read it okay. Slainte.

[paulchapman]

Excellent stuff, Richard. Thanks for taking the trouble to post that.

Cheers

Paul

[wizer]

Thanks Richard. I have a paper copy of this, but good to have it saved on the PC 'just in case'. It's an excellent article. One I'm, surprised has never been regurgitated by the wood mags.

[engineerone]

nice one richard, just goes to show what a positive impact on ones life moving is

thanks for taking the trouble to first write it, and now publish it.

paul

[Telos]

Thanks very much Richard. I've been looking forward to reading this. My F&C collection started a few issues later and I often wonder what gems I've missed out on.

[mrgrimsdale]

"the benefit is that once it is all ‘set in stone’ on the rods it is a fixed reference that pretty much eliminates all further measuring errors"
In a nut shell!
Excellent article, esp as it relates to a real project with all the other issues involved.

What's not obvious about making up and using a rod is that it takes no time at all - all the little decisions and calculations involved you are going to have to make anyway, but you put them all on the rod instead of as a series of operations or a collection of notes etc. In the process many dimensions work themselves out so you save on calculating and errors.
Also - it's applicable to just about every project, in one way or another.

cheers
Jacob

[simuk]

Yep thanks Richard ;D ;D thats quality.

You said that your article was last published in 2004, in that case its well over due & needs to be published again!.
Just this article alone would have made me take a subscription to the magazine.


Simon

[Sgian Dubh]

Aug 15, 2008 20:54:49 GMT simuk said:

Yep thanks Richard ;D ;D thats quality.

You said that your article was last published in 2004, in that case its well over due & needs to be published again!.
Just this article alone would have made me take a subscription to the magazine.


Simon

Nice of you all to be so complimentary. I appreciate the kind words. The truth is that all the techniques discussed in that article are pretty standard methods of work.

I guess I'm just an old fart that went through a training system to become a furniture maker ... and some of the good bits stuck! Hell, sometimes I wish I'd gone through a training system to do something easier and much better paid, and parasitic to boot, eg, lawyer, accountant, 'consultant', computer geek, commentator, journalist, or some other noncy job that excludes actually doing any hard physical work, ha, ha. Slainte.

[dangerousdave]

I wish I had room in my shop to store rods for each project. I'm lucky to find the space for 1 MFC sheet that gets re-used over and over

Don't know about fixing pencil lines on MFC, but the best stuff for removing them is cheapo Tesco own brand furniture polish

[dangerousdave]

Aug 16, 2008 11:03:37 GMT dangerousdave said:

I wish I had room in my shop to store rods for each project. I'm lucky to find the space for 1 MFC sheet that gets re-used over and over

Should have explained; over here we refer to sheets with full size drawing of components on it as a rod. Although I would be hard pressed to find storage space for measuring sticks as well, such is the miniscule space I work in ;D

[mrgrimsdale]

Aug 16, 2008 11:13:38 GMT dangerousdave said:

Aug 16, 2008 11:03:37 GMT dangerousdave said:

I wish I had room in my shop to store rods for each project. I'm lucky to find the space for 1 MFC sheet that gets re-used over and over

Should have explained; over here we refer to sheets with full size drawing of components on it as a rod.

Same here

Although I would be hard pressed to find storage space for measuring sticks as well, such is the miniscule space I work in ;D

Wossa measuring stick?

I don't keep rods unless it's for a definite repeat. I see them as working tools for the job in hand - job over; no longer needed. I'd keep design drawings however.

cheers
Jacob

[Scrit]

It all depends on the job, really. I've certainly kept rods in the past where I was sure the job would repeat in future (e.g. batches of coffee tables). I wouldn't keep one for a one-off door, window or kitchen

Scrit

[mrgrimsdale]

Just noticed that rods have caught on over there www.ukworkshop.co.uk/forums/viewtopic.php?t=26092
Nice to see them getting up to speed!
Somebody is asking about doing them by CAD and printing out full size.
Depends on the project but usually the rod is a developmental thing, where you sort out design and details in the process, and edit and amend as circumstances demand e.g. if you find your timber stock to be undersized, or a certain piece of hardware unavailable. It's an on-going working tool, like a map - to which you add notes or alterations as necessary as you cross the landscape.
So CAD might be OK for a first draft, but you'd expect to have to amend it many times which could mean re-printing. So pencil better!

cheers
Jacob

[cadas]

I use cad for staircases now. Once designed on CAD, the strings are then printed at 1:1 onto a roller plotter, this is then sprayglued onto the timber. The printout also includes the 'jig lines' for placing the router jig.

I also print out newel post faces and winder treads. It means that without CNC I can machine everything up far quicker and only do a quick 'check' assemble before the client comes to collect.

[mrgrimsdale]

Horses for courses. If you know exactly what you are doing i.e. all problems resolved, then CAD printout makes sense, if you have the facility.

cheers
Jacob

[jfc]

If you know what you are doing you dont need anything , you just mark up and get on with it . If i made a rod or anything other than a quick scribble on a fag packet for every window , door or wardrobe i made i would be skint . Having said that fag packets cost a fortune these days !
If it's out of the normal then yes a rod and a detailed drawing are a must but for easy stuff its all a waste of time for me .