BRIDGE OF PIES

Just when you thought it was safe to go into the kitchen....

Apple & Blackberry sharky pie

With the tall shelf frames completed, it’s time to make the final bridging unit.  The reason we’ve left this frame until last is that the dimensions will be determined by the space that remains ie it’s made to fit snuggly across the centre.

 

Working out size of final unit

Our bridging unit (85 cm long x 55 cm high) will contain a single shelf suspended with supports to create a ‘hutch’ for the office workspace large enough to house a computer monitor. 

 

Snug fit - now to raise it

When working out the height of the bridging unit, it’s important to ensure you’ve left enough space underneath so you don’t bash your head every time you get up.  It also goes without saying that the gap should be taller than the height of a computer monitor.  It’s amazing how big screens are these days – almost the size of a small telly!

 

What if it falls on my head?

As this unit won’t sit on the desk top then a couple of angled brackets have been used to secure the top edge to the wall plus a couple of long alcove brackets fitted along the bottom edge to support the weight as I’ll be filling it full of books.

 

Alcove bracket to support back edge

Solid as a rock

Paranoid about adequate support, a pair of slim angled brackets have been added to the mix to hold the weight at the front of the bridging unit.

 

Angled bracket to support front edge

Finding black metal brackets appears to be quite tricky since neither Wickes nor B&Q stock these as standard in store.  Ebay to the rescue!  You can pretty much find any type of bracket in any colour or size on Ebay – it’s become my ‘go to’ place for fixings.

 

Why doesn't it fit?

Now in my last post I blathered on about shrinkflation and how things were getting smaller but here’s an interesting observation – wood expands when painted.  Duh!  Obvious to most except that in our excitement to build this last unit we’d forgotten this crucial fact making it very difficult to wedge the frame into the gap after I’d painted it.  Get that sander ready….

 

Units primed in situ

Two schools of thought here – you either paint everything in situ which is OK if you’re not planning on dismantling the unit for any reason or you slim down your measurements to account for paint expansion before you build anything.  I knew I should have painted the room first! 

It’s going to be fun customising the space under the bridging unit once everything’s finished.  My head is already brimming with thoughts of white boards, strip lights and other stuff but let’s not run before we can walk, there’s a whole lot of painting to be done first. 

Here’s how things are looking so far with our project:

Slowly starting to come together

Loads more to do

SHRINKFLATION & DIY

There’s been much media mention recently on the modern phenomenon otherwise known as ‘shrinkflation’ where the size of everyday items magically diminishes but the price remains the same or increases. 

 

Private Eye's Xmas Giftmart 

Profiteering retailers accused of adopting this tactic have justified their actions by claiming that it protects consumers from price rises – yeah, right!  More like protecting their shareholders from dwindling dividends and saving their profit margins.  Everyone knows that adverse price differentials are passed down to consumers faster than Sonic the Hedgehog.

Faster than your average hedgehog

Shrinkflation has been happening across supermarket products for some time now.  Marzipan packs having recently shrunk in the wash are a good example. 

 

How much?????

Previously marzipan was sold in packs of 500 grams.  Now pack sizes are 454 g which means that in order to have 1 kg of marzipan to cover an averagely sized cake, three packs not two have to be purchased.  Not only is this more costly to the consumer but wasteful too as you end up with quite a chunk left over because you’ve had to buy more than was actually needed.  

Guess what?  Going forward I won’t be bothering to cover my fruit cakes with marzipan, I’ll just rough royal ice them instead thus saving myself a ton of cash.  Have you seen the price of marzipan lately?  Around £3 for under half a kilo! 

It seems shrinkflation has now landed in the DIY world too so take care when buying lengths of pre-packed timber such as pineboard as you may end up with a costly timber bill.  Previously most timber lengths were based around multiples of the number 6 with most pieces measuring 900 mm, 1200 mm, 1800mm and 2400 mm making it easy to work out your requirements.

 

I remember the days when timber was longer

However, I’ve noticed that these dimensions are slowly being replaced by shorter lengths measuring 850 mm, 1150 mm, 1750 mm and 2350 mm.  As with the marzipan example, these new sizes result in more wood having to be purchased and greater wastage particularly if your project revolves around even numbered measurements.

TALL SHELF UNITS

When I first saw NJ’s home office advert, my initial thoughts were ‘too complicated’ to make but when you break down the image into its individual component parts, it suddenly just becomes a series of rectangular frames with shelves.

Begin by cutting all the pieces

 

Starting off the build by making the two tall narrow units for each end.  Used 2 boards 140 cm tall for the sides and 2 pieces 43.5 cm long for the top/bottom.  These dimensions should give us a unit that has an internal width of 40 cm, the perfect size for a piece of 400 mm pineboard door.  We had to shape the smaller pieces for the right-hand unit so that it could fit snuggly around the boxed pipes. 

 

Shaped pieces for the boxed pipes

Then used 2 boards 140 cm tall for the sides and 2 pieces 64 cm long for the top/bottom to make the next pair of units.  These are open shelf units with no doors. 

Pre-drill holes in the top and bottom sections then screw to the long side pieces using 5 mm counter-sunk woodscrews, long enough to give a secure join but narrow enough not to split the timber.  You want these as flush as possible so that nothing prevents the cabinets from tightly abutting together.

 

Countersink woodscrews 

With the first rectangular frame made, repeat, repeat, repeat.

 

First of the tall frames

Fits nicely against the wall

Cabinet shaped to fit around the boxed pipes

Second larger frame built

It’s taken a whole day of cutting, screwing and shivering in the cold to build 4 rectangular frames.  Hats off to the other half who overcame his carpentry confidence crisis to deliver the goods.  The frames look fabulous and thanks to careful planning, fit like a glove across the wall space.  Now all that’s left to make is the bridging unit.

Four tall frames finished and in position

OFFICE SHELF UNITS BEGUN

While panels are being painted, it’s time to turn thoughts to the upper half of the office wall unit which consists of 5 individual shelf units abutted together.

Base panels ready to paint

Symmetry is key to this design which features two identical tall units on each side and a shorter bridging unit in the centre.

 

This is what we're trying to build

Working out timber requirements for this part has not been easy in spite of having sketched out a rough plan with measurements but I’ve ordered loads of 30 cm wide pineboard to get us started. 

 

I've got a plan

As we lack professional timber cutting equipment, it’s a case of finding materials that fit rather than cutting wood exactly to size.  Pineboard planks 30 cm wide (half the depth of the desk top) are being used to construct the shelf units.  With a bit of luck this size of board means that only the width needs to be cut rather than any long sections.  Well, that’s what I’ve told the other half otherwise he’d be throwing a wobbly, bemoaning his lack of proper woodworking tools.  Excuses, excuses ….

 

Timber!

Cutting wood in sub zero temperatures on the front driveway is not for the feint hearted.  

Al fresco woodwork

It’s pretty tricky holding the end of a plank in thick woolly gloves but we are woodworking gladiators – fearless, athletic (who?) and looking ‘ripped’ in skin tight full length thermal base layers.  Gladiators are you ready?  Fist pump - yeah!

 

Gladiators are you ready?

Fast forward to lunchtime.  A stack of planks 140 cm in length have been cut to use as the tall vertical ends for each unit.  Now what I need is a bacon sandwich and a gallon of tea to get those little grey cells to work out what we’re doing next. 

Plank stack