Woodworking a custom stand for location

[lurtsman]

I know some vendors on here do this routinely. I'm doing my first one, and it's a very simple job by comparison. I love working with wood though.

I've come across two concerns:

1. How do you prevent children from getting slivers?

I'm planning to sand a great deal, and then use several layers of clear coat.

2. How do you prevent teenagers from writing profanities on your wooden stand with a sharpie?

[Hillbilly]

Honestly, I've never been concerned with either.

I sand mine pretty good and I paint them with 2 coats of paint. They would pretty much have to try to get a splinter. I use a 6" board so there is not much wood on top.  They would have to bend down and rub it.

As for the profanities, nothing you do is gonna prevent that.  Just throw a Sharpie  or paint pen in the vehicle in case you have to scribble it out and repaint or something.

[dperry]

Most of the ones I've made have been with particle board.  I made one out of solid wood, but I've never had a problem.  I router the edges with a round over bit then do a lot of sanding.  I either stain them and put on 2 coats of polyurethane, or paint it with enamel paint.  And like Hillbilly says, you can't do anything about the graffiti artists out there, and I like his idea of just covering up the marks with one of your own.  At a later time you can swap it out for a new rack and then refurbish your old one later.

My racks are very short; they are on average 15" tall because I like to bring the machines down to the level of the little kids.  The artists would need to get down very low to try to mark them up.

And by the way, it is required that you post pictures of your creations when you are done.

[Profits]

There is a solution to the Sharpie problem you mentioned;  Buy all the Sharpies within a 10 mile radius of your stand. Problem solved!  . As long as you control the local Sharpie market, you can control the destiny of your stand.

[Quarter Master]

Sounds like you have the splinter thing taken care of with sanding and clear coats. As far as the marking thing goes, paint it all black-the marks won't show up.That's about as best as you can do.

[lurtsman]

I was concerned they might be able to pull it off the counter it will rest on, so I went with a 12 inch board. It's 11.something after the cut. I got really pretty wood, otherwise I would've planned to paint it from the start. I oiled the wood (yeah it sounds wrong), and had to post pone the clear primer and clear coats because of the humidity.

PS. I'll consider putting up pics. It's nothing fancy like the wood working we see on here from time to time. It was a good learning experience though.

[NinnJinn]

Congrats on your 2,000th post!

Please post pics.  And like others have said, just carry items to remove the graffiti.  You might want to test your cleaners on a scrap piece to make sure it won't ruin your clear coat.

[dperry]

Sounds like you have the splinter thing taken care of with sanding and clear coats. As far as the marking thing goes, paint it all black-the marks won't show up.That's about as best as you can do.

That works for black markers, but the really enterprising artist usually has some type of silver or colored marker too.  You just can't win.

[andrewm451]

I am in the process of making stands.  As long as you finish everything well and break the corners (sand them to round them over a little) you should not have to worry about splinters.  If you have a stain and or clear coat you may need to do the occasional touch up in case of graffiti.  I find though the nicer something looks the less likely it is to get vandalized.  I am planning on just repainting any that get over vandalized and probably leaving the black version in that location. 

The good thing about wooden stands is that they are cheap from a materials stand point.  They take time, but i have been making mine with hand tools, and not power hand tools either.  When you have to smooth rough lumber by hand it is very relaxing and a decent workout!  Plus i manage to multi-task woodworking with drinking beer.  Two birds with one stone!

[dperry]

The good thing about wooden stands is that they are cheap from a materials stand point.  They take time, but i have been making mine with hand tools, and not power hand tools either.  When you have to smooth rough lumber by hand it is very relaxing and a decent workout!  Plus i manage to multi-task woodworking with drinking beer.  Two birds with one stone!

Yeah.  What you said! 

But I use power tools.  I use a table saw, router, and power sander.  Check my profile page and you can see some examples of my home made wooden stands. 

I usually have a beer or two when I'm working on my stuff in the garage too.  However, in this Houston climate, I usually have to wear some mosquito spray to keep the buggers at bay.