Scenic Practicum
Fall 2023
Final Project:
Vinyl Holder
BRAINSTORMING
Before I knew what to do for my final project, I knew I wanted to continue improving my woodworking skills. I found myself enjoying working with wood at the beginning of the semester. I wanted to create a cabinet made out of wood that would house my record player, speaker, and vinyl. Currently, my vinyl and my record player are without a home. Moreover, I wanted the vinyl holder to be interesting to look at. I knew I wanted to challenge myself to create something that had an eye-catching pattern.
I started researching my way from a small carrier for only my vinyl to large cabinets. I realized that I did not have room for a massive cabinet. My favorite inspiration photo that I found was the large cabinet in the second slide on the bottom center. The herringbone pattern on the top caught my eye and seemed like a fun challenge to replicate. Moreover, I liked the combination of stain colors on that piece.
Before settling on doing the herringbone pattern, I toyed with the idea of doing a wood inlay design. However, it did not inspire me as much as the herringbone pattern. Even though I did not have a concrete idea fleshed out, I knew that I wanted to incorporate staining and the herringbone pattern.
Drafting & DesigN
After doing my research, I started sketching my ideas to help myself visualize. This step was critical for narrowing down all of my ideas to one. I took measurements of my vinyl, record player, and speaker to ensure that my design could be useful as a vinyl holder. While drawing, I realized I wanted to have a separate shelf for my speaker and only have the top of the cabinet be for the record player. Seeing all of my ideas on the paper made the drafting process so much easier.
For the herringbone side, I decided to go with the staining route rather than getting different kinds of wood. It kept my options open to all different kinds of stains and colors.
The one aspect of my design I did not have a plan for at this stage was for the legs. I knew I did not want the legs to be square; however, I wanted time to look at all the options I had for tapering. While I was building, I decided to have the legs taper slightly at the bottom.
Building
From the final product, there were a couple of changes made from the initial drawing. First off, I decided that I did not want a cabinet door anymore. While I building, I realized I liked the look of it open rather than having a door on the bottom shelf. Another change that I made was that I made the sides 1 1/2 inches taller than the design said. I wanted to use as much of the herringbone that I made as possible. Other than those changes, everything else stayed the same as the drawing I drafted above.
What I found to be the most difficult part of this project was cutting the borders down to the right thickness. It took me a few tries until I got the technique down. Also, I had trouble narrowing down my stain colors since I was having a hard time visualizing which colors would look good together. Once I did some tests of some stains, this tremendously helped me
To see more of the building process, hover your mouse over the photos below.
Final Product
Overall, I am pleased with how my final project turned out. Throughout this class, and especially this project, I learned a lot about woodworking construction. I found that I enjoy crafting and would love to do more in the future. I am excited to bring my vinyl holder home and start using it!
