I decided I need a better place to store my bike, as it currently sits in a lounge perched against a desk in a very awkward place.
While I can design this thing conceptually, I need some advice on the timber joints that I can use to make this thing strong and sturdy, while also being able to support the weight of the bike and be a free standing piece.
I have modelled this up in sketchup, see below:
[IMG]https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/39718518/BikeBookCase.jpg[/IMG]
The corners dont have to be chamfered, I need some advice on how to best to build this. There is a local timber merchant near me who is able to cut to size and do some woodwork/machine edges to these pieces, so I hope I will be able to draw up some individual part plans for the pieces and get them to manufacture it, leaving me to do final assembly. I would like this to have the ability to be disassembled, so connections that can be reversed will be very helpful!
If you can, I'll suggest having some plate on the back side of the shelf, it'll make it way more rigid than it is, [I]or[/I] a diagonal support beam of some sort.
[QUOTE=Ldesu;43562390]If you can, I'll suggest having some plate on the back side of the shelf, it'll make it way more rigid than it is, [I]or[/I] a diagonal support beam of some sort.[/QUOTE]
Im planning on making the base thicker, will make it more sturdy.
My parents have a steel wire machine I could use to produce tensioned cables at the rear, that could keep it even more sturdy.
If the bike is going to be supported by the case itself, I'd add some weight to the bottom of the unit primarily. The top of the bookcase is going to want to fall towards us (in drawing), once the bike is on there. As a unit a bike is more large, than it is technically heavy. If your book-case was about 3' deep, you shouldn't have an issue, if you have - say a 29" wheel or smaller, and your design will be fine, but at the base of the seat, your looking at more like 3 1/2' or more I'd say, so this bookcase is going to take up a lot of room. Have you considered suspending the bike on a wall hanger, and building a shelf like your drawing that just frames it and can be moved? That would be a lot easier.
[QUOTE=Serj22;43562506]If the bike is going to be supported by the case itself, I'd add some weight to the bottom of the unit primarily. The top of the bookcase is going to want to fall towards us (in drawing), once the bike is on there. As a unit a bike is more large, than it is technically heavy. If your book-case was about 3' deep, you shouldn't have an issue, if you have - say a 29" wheel or smaller, and your design will be fine, but at the base of the seat, your looking at more like 3 1/2' or more I'd say, so this bookcase is going to take up a lot of room. Have you considered suspending the bike on a wall hanger, and building a shelf like your drawing that just frames it and can be moved? That would be a lot easier.[/QUOTE]
Need it to be freestanding as I am in rented accommodation, I can make modifications to the house I am in but it is less hassle to just keep everything freestanding.
They're typically quite ugly, but if you have to you can always fall back on angle brackets. I made a cantilever bookshelf where each shelf was only supported by a single (decent looking) bracket in the center and it's quite sturdy. Aside from that I haven't got much experience with wood.
Are you trying to make this thing purely functional, or functional and with some trace of style?
[editline]23rd January 2014[/editline]
Looking at your design, this is what I came up with. Couldn't decide how the bike itself would be mounted, but here is everything else.
Assembled, with dimensions
[t]http://i.imgur.com/cI5Urmp.png[/t]
Exploded view
[t]http://i.imgur.com/azsbeVY.png[/t]
Sorry for the shitty image quality and hella bump, but I walked into one of the galleries at school and saw this:
[thumb]http://i.imgur.com/qIjdljR.jpg?1[/thumb]
I thought perhaps you might get a kick out of it.
Was actually thinking of rotating it sideways to try and reduce the depth, that looks like some pretty good inspiration, I think I will be revising the design!
Reviving thread as am heading to fabrication with revised design (due to above input which actually made it more practical).
I need advice on MDF thickness (designed it with 16mm thickness at the moment), and on the best way to bring this thing together as far as fastening goes, will screwing this together be enough?
[IMG]https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/39718518/BikeBookCaseV2.jpg[/IMG]
It might be worth either making the base thicker, or extending the side further than the bottom and adding some weight underneath to keep the center of gravity low.
Screws tend to have a little lee-way perpendicular to the direction they're going, so try to screw it in such a way that each two pieces that are joined have two screws at 90 degrees to each other, or get some brackets to use.
I actually like a few small tastefully placed brackets, so if you see some you like I recommend it. Just the exterior corners should suffice.
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