Comments on: Bookcases http://asymptotia.com/2008/01/27/bookcases/ Tue, 07 Oct 2008 16:53:34 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.5.1 By: Clifford http://asymptotia.com/2008/01/27/bookcases/#comment-106791 Clifford Tue, 29 Jan 2008 00:13:10 +0000 http://asymptotia.com/2008/01/27/bookcases/#comment-106791 Well, you know your budget, and choose to put your money where you want it, and I know my budget, and chose accordingly. Best, -cvj Well, you know your budget, and choose to put your money where you want it, and I know my budget, and chose accordingly.

Best,

-cvj

]]> By: Carl Brannen http://asymptotia.com/2008/01/27/bookcases/#comment-106784 Carl Brannen Mon, 28 Jan 2008 23:09:21 +0000 http://asymptotia.com/2008/01/27/bookcases/#comment-106784 Yeah, I should talk (physics is a very inexpensive hobby, except for the conferences). But in general, I think of hobbies as costing a certain amount of dollars per hour. This probably comes from when I used to own pinball machines. If you set them up too difficult people do not play because they get too little enjoyment per dollar. If you set them up too easy, they get warn out while collecting too little money to pay for a new one. The magic formula works out (at that time) to be to set them to self adjust so that they return a certain $ per hour of play time. Back then I think it was $12 per hour, which one can translate as the average cost to the user playing pinball. So I see all entertainment like this. If a $24 book will entertain me for 2 hours, that's $12 per hour. A physics book lasts longer, and they typically cost more. If I'm going to spend 10 hours working on a book shelf, I will budget 10 x $12 = $120 for material, which will pay for around 30 board feet of walnut. Hmmmm. Not very much. Yeah, I should talk (physics is a very inexpensive hobby, except for the conferences). But in general, I think of hobbies as costing a certain amount of dollars per hour.

This probably comes from when I used to own pinball machines. If you set them up too difficult people do not play because they get too little enjoyment per dollar. If you set them up too easy, they get warn out while collecting too little money to pay for a new one.

The magic formula works out (at that time) to be to set them to self adjust so that they return a certain $ per hour of play time. Back then I think it was $12 per hour, which one can translate as the average cost to the user playing pinball.

So I see all entertainment like this. If a $24 book will entertain me for 2 hours, that’s $12 per hour. A physics book lasts longer, and they typically cost more. If I’m going to spend 10 hours working on a book shelf, I will budget 10 x $12 = $120 for material, which will pay for around 30 board feet of walnut. Hmmmm. Not very much.

]]> By: Clifford http://asymptotia.com/2008/01/27/bookcases/#comment-106726 Clifford Mon, 28 Jan 2008 07:36:08 +0000 http://asymptotia.com/2008/01/27/bookcases/#comment-106726 "at home, as compared to a business which has to keep expenses down" Wait, you don't worry about expenses at home? Impressive... ;-) -cvj “at home, as compared to a business which has to keep expenses down”

Wait, you don’t worry about expenses at home? Impressive… ;-)
-cvj

]]> By: Clifford http://asymptotia.com/2008/01/27/bookcases/#comment-106725 Clifford Mon, 28 Jan 2008 07:32:34 +0000 http://asymptotia.com/2008/01/27/bookcases/#comment-106725 Carl... Thanks, but stained pine worked fine. I have other projects in mind that will call for more fancy wood and I know where to get it. The diagonal members are not the only means of stopping shear on each unit. In each case, one shelf is fixed, adding an additional shear restraint. If an earthquake comes that shakes them down, I think I'll have a lot more to worry about than some books and wood on the ground. Cheers, -cvj Carl… Thanks, but stained pine worked fine. I have other projects in mind that will call for more fancy wood and I know where to get it.

The diagonal members are not the only means of stopping shear on each unit. In each case, one shelf is fixed, adding an additional shear restraint. If an earthquake comes that shakes them down, I think I’ll have a lot more to worry about than some books and wood on the ground.

Cheers,

-cvj

]]> By: Carl Brannen http://asymptotia.com/2008/01/27/bookcases/#comment-106723 Carl Brannen Mon, 28 Jan 2008 07:27:25 +0000 http://asymptotia.com/2008/01/27/bookcases/#comment-106723 From the photos, I doubt that the diagonal members are sufficiently sturdy for the job. Books are heavy and an earthquake gives a shock load. I hope that you have them well attached to the wall. I once had a 40 foot steel machine I was building spontaneously (okay, a couple of us were moving it around with breaker bars) lean over and it wasn't fun. Fortunately, the lean was stopped by a wall 6 feet away and nothing was even damaged, just slightly bent. The one thing about a plane is that it will certainly teach you how to sharpen a tool because they work very poorly when they are anything other than perfect, and they get dull rather quickly. If you look around, you should be able to buy a wood more interesting, easier to finish and more durable at a price not that much larger than that of pine. When you're working on something like this at home, as compared to a business which has to keep expenses down. Amateurs get labor for free, and don't have markup, and so can afford to splurge on material. With the dollar down, cool imported hardwoods (purpleheart, zebrawood, ebony (ouch), etc.) are getting kind of pricey again, but there are still some remarkable bargains on wood grown in the US. When I go abroad, I love to look at the wood that is used for things like flooring or even boxes because it is always exotic to me, and some of these are imported to the US cheaply because they are so common in their native land. I think that the best fairly cheap US wood is walnut, which once had a major use in gun stocks, but now is fairly cheap. Around any large city, there should be one or two places that will sell you exotic hardwood at a reasonable price. Around Seattle it's "Crosscut Hardwoods", in LA, I would probably try <a href="http://www.houseofhardwood.com/products.htm" rel="nofollow">House of Hardwood</a>. Take some time to stop by even if it's just to smell the exotic fragrances emanating from wood very far from home. From the photos, I doubt that the diagonal members are sufficiently sturdy for the job. Books are heavy and an earthquake gives a shock load. I hope that you have them well attached to the wall. I once had a 40 foot steel machine I was building spontaneously (okay, a couple of us were moving it around with breaker bars) lean over and it wasn’t fun. Fortunately, the lean was stopped by a wall 6 feet away and nothing was even damaged, just slightly bent.

The one thing about a plane is that it will certainly teach you how to sharpen a tool because they work very poorly when they are anything other than perfect, and they get dull rather quickly.

If you look around, you should be able to buy a wood more interesting, easier to finish and more durable at a price not that much larger than that of pine. When you’re working on something like this at home, as compared to a business which has to keep expenses down. Amateurs get labor for free, and don’t have markup, and so can afford to splurge on material.

With the dollar down, cool imported hardwoods (purpleheart, zebrawood, ebony (ouch), etc.) are getting kind of pricey again, but there are still some remarkable bargains on wood grown in the US. When I go abroad, I love to look at the wood that is used for things like flooring or even boxes because it is always exotic to me, and some of these are imported to the US cheaply because they are so common in their native land. I think that the best fairly cheap US wood is walnut, which once had a major use in gun stocks, but now is fairly cheap.

Around any large city, there should be one or two places that will sell you exotic hardwood at a reasonable price. Around Seattle it’s “Crosscut Hardwoods”, in LA, I would probably try House of Hardwood. Take some time to stop by even if it’s just to smell the exotic fragrances emanating from wood very far from home.

]]> By: Clifford http://asymptotia.com/2008/01/27/bookcases/#comment-106697 Clifford Mon, 28 Jan 2008 01:48:57 +0000 http://asymptotia.com/2008/01/27/bookcases/#comment-106697 Actually, I briefly considered an elaborate design where some freely swinging arms swing out and stop them falling over (no, really!), but then decided against it 'cos the arms looked kind of silly dangling there when not in use, and I could not be bothered to build and test a prototype... -cvj Actually, I briefly considered an elaborate design where some freely swinging arms swing out and stop them falling over (no, really!), but then decided against it ‘cos the arms looked kind of silly dangling there when not in use, and I could not be bothered to build and test a prototype…

-cvj

]]> By: Clifford http://asymptotia.com/2008/01/27/bookcases/#comment-106696 Clifford Mon, 28 Jan 2008 01:44:22 +0000 http://asymptotia.com/2008/01/27/bookcases/#comment-106696 Yes... there are little tabs that you cannot see that allow me to attach them to the walls... for what it's worth. Cheers! -cvj Yes… there are little tabs that you cannot see that allow me to attach them to the walls… for what it’s worth.

Cheers!

-cvj

]]> By: Michelle http://asymptotia.com/2008/01/27/bookcases/#comment-106694 Michelle Mon, 28 Jan 2008 01:26:03 +0000 http://asymptotia.com/2008/01/27/bookcases/#comment-106694 Hi Clifford, I do hope you are doing some earthquake-proofing on these? Hi Clifford, I do hope you are doing some earthquake-proofing on these?

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