Function over form - a cautionary tale

[StevieB]

When wives want something made they generally drop the odd hint here and there, make the odd comment and are happy to wait at least a little while while you select suitable timber, prepare your tools and generally take 3 weeks to even begin. When a 3 year old wants something made they ask avery 5 minutes. Literally every 5 minutes. Perhaps I should start from the beginning. I have a 3 year old son who is train mad. We have Thomas the tank engine DVD's, Thomas toys, other train toys, he watches trains on you tube, wants to ride on steam trains wherever we go and so on. He has the dedication to a subject that only the profoundly autistic or a 3 year old can have. So we indulge him quietly, put you tube on for him when we want 5 minutes peace and generally hope it will blow its course and he will move onto something else. In the meantime we are constantly tripping over train toys since he has a box for his trains and generally tips them all out to find the one he wants.

So Friday afternoon my wife was looking at the internet with him when they come across something to appeal to both of them - a train shelf. Yup, a train shelf. Perfect to keep the trains off the floor, perfect to keep the 3 year old happy. As soon as I get in Friday from work - will you build me a train shelf Daddy? Then every 5 minutes until Sunday lunchtime when I finally relent. Now I have to admit to being worn down by this approach. I didn't have any suitable timber, I didn't really have the time, and I didn't really need the help of a 3 year old. I got it anyway and we started by looking through my scrap box.

Eventually we came across some 70mm x 18mm pine and some 90mm x 18mm pine and a bit of an old pine shelf which was about 20mm thick and variable width - covered in paint and a bit knocked but with a sand and a bit of careful selection it might just be enough. So I got my own back on the wife and sent the 3 year old to ask to do cake baking while I got stuck in. I have to admit to having no plan other than a small picture seen on the internet, and no clear idea of what I was doing. So first job was to rip the wood to uniform width, cut some grooves to stop the trains sliding off the shelf and do a test on a bit of scrap

OK, so far so good. Train fits but have so little wood I cannot afford to make a mistake. so I get stuck in and rout up the shelves. Not sure why, but I decide to test another train. They are random lengths so no good plotting spacings but that shouldnt be a problem. Bu**er me but they trains have different wheel gauges - Harvey here doesn't fit :roll:

Not much - about 3mm, but enough to make me have to reset the router and widen the grooves. Making it up as a I go along we move onto the sides of the unit. Bit dodgy routing slots in the middle of a thin wide board on a table so rather than take the router out I did them on the tablesaw. Now its about here I should point out that I rounded the front edge of the shelves and the sides with a block plane and random orbit sander. Thinking ahead (for the only time in this project) I did this before cutting the shelf housings in the sides to make the job easier. The point about this is that you then need to be careful as the sides thus have a front and a back edge. Its is a very silly idea to mark out for housings without taking this into account since you will end up with mismatch sides. The solution, should this ever happen to you, is to shorten the bottom spacer a bit and recut two housings - this only works if your shelves were originally equally spaced. Do not ask me how I know this, just take it on trust - please!

So eventually, by now not in the best frame of mind considering I hadn't wanted to start this in the first place, had consequently got it wrong, had loose housings because I measured from the 1 20mm shelf, not the 4 18mm shelves, nicked my finger with the block plane... I ended up with this (the sharp eyed among you may notice the lower shelf is a different spacing to the others....)

Now I am not proud of this, it is level and square but that is about the best you can say of it. It is also smooth to prevent splinters. Apart from that it is held together by screws and a dab of wood glue, it is ugly, it is not stained or painted, it has sloppy joints and is generally unappealing. But in use - it does exactly what the design brief demanded - it's a train shelf. Not pretty, but practical

And boy was he happy with it. Spent ages lining up the trains, arranging them in order of favourites, and so on. And do you know the best thing of all - now he wants another one for his carriages ](*,) :wink:

So the moral of this build is - it doesn't have to be pretty, not everything you do needs to be of exhibition quality. Something knocked together on a Sunday afternoon from scrap can be just as appreciated as the most lovingly designed and crafted piece of work. The trick is knowing this before and during the build so you get pleasure from making it too. If I had remembered this yesterday it might even have turned out to be enjoyable for me as well......

Steve.

 

[Paul Chapman]

Great story and great result, Steve =D>

Cheers :wink:

Paul

 

[CHJ]

Yes and that approach makes life far easier in 5 yrs time when it comes to recycling the timber or passing it on to someone else.

 

[jjc_uk]

I think the smiling face says it all Steve

great

Jim

 

[Blister]

Super project and a super smile , but what happens if he gets mort trains for Xmas

Its full already :shock:

 

[matt]

How I know this feeling! The problem is I have to convince my wife every now and again that not everything needs to be perfect... I had a garden gate incident recently. My wife wanted me to make something she'd seen on the internet but was not prepared to buy if I could make it for less, whereas I eventually convinced her that we could replace our really ugly and falling apart garden gate in a day if she would accept a cheaper shop bought one. We went for the latter and she is pleased as punch. I'd have still been putting off the former solution due to higher priorities if she'd not relented.

 

[BigShot]

That's one of the finest bits of woodwork I've seen. Yea ok so not the neatest, as you said, but look at the smile on his face and tell me it's not one of the best things you've ever made.

As for " If I had remembered this yesterday it might even have turned out to be enjoyable for me as well...... " - consider the shelves for the carriages a second chance at enjoying it.

Brilliant thread.

 

[BMac]

Exactly Bigshot!

I learned from my kids that function was everything to them - all they wanted was the 'thing' to do a particular job for them. Sometimes I did spend ages trying to make the item they wanted look aesthetically pleasing (to me) but those were my least successful 'Superdad' efforts because time passes very slowly for a child and I don't think mine understood why I went to all that bother to make something that did exactly the same job as the one built quickly from scrap.

That little guy up above is as pleased as punch and that's what it's all about.

Brendan

 

[laird]

Great job. It does what is wanted, you overcame it batlling back, and the end user is both happy and a return customer. Only problem I see is that the next one has to match, exactly, or it will drive you mad(der) eveytime you go into the room. Just as well you wrote the assembly instructions down. :-k

 

[StevieB]

Thank you gentlemen for the kind comments. Re-reading the piece makes it seem as if it was a bit of a grumpy exercise on my part. Twas not so much grumpy as not being happy with the finished item myself and therefore losing sight as to its intended function and indeed recipient. I am much more cheerful today(!) so its onwards and upwards

 

[BigShot]

Have you made the other shelf, Dad?
Have you?
Have you, Dad?
Can you?
Dad?
Dad, can you make the other shelf?
Don't forget to put it on the forum for all the other woodworkers and dreamers to see.
Don't forget, Dad.
Dad?
Have you started yet Dad?
Have you?
You've not forgotten to post pics have you?
Will it be ready soon, Dad?
Dad?
Dad, is it nearly ready yet?

 

[chill]

Have you made the other shelf, Dad?
Have you?
Have you, Dad?
Can you?
Dad?
Dad, can you make the other shelf?
Don't forget to put it on the forum for all the other woodworkers and dreamers to see.
Don't forget, Dad.
Dad?
Have you started yet Dad?
Have you?
You've not forgotten to post pics have you?
Will it be ready soon, Dad?
Dad?
Dad, is it nearly ready yet?


:lol:

 

[OPJ]

It may not be 'pretty' but, it works; it does it's job and your boy is very happy. You've also taken precautions to round over the edges so he cannot harm himself. You could always look at this as a MkI, with room to improve and change the design as his collection grows! :wink:

...Has he asked you to build him a proper train track yet, with hills tunnels, a station and everything else???

 

[DaveL]

Nice one, I love making things for children, they tell it just as it is and you got that perfect.

My dad made me a railway when I was 3, it was just an oval of track on a base board, after 2 days I had nagged him into making a platform, 2 more days I went for the tunnel. It took another week to get a siding.

 

[Night Train]

Sometimes the simplest things are the best if they do what is required.

And often what is required to make someone smile and be happy and your shelf has done exactly that so it is a great bit of work.

 

[paulm]

Your lad's smile says it all

Having just packed off our youngest daughter to start uni', don't lose the opportunity to indulge them when they're younger they don't stay that way for long !

Cheers, Paul