Friday, January 22, 2010

No. 22 Recycling Cabinet -Reader Idea Week

     Here we are at the start of week four. This week is Reader Idea Week. In short: I asked for ideas, you supplied them, now I'm going to sketch them.
     A little aside here regarding the format of this blog. I can whip out sketches in minutes but writing these posts is a serious time drain. I am no writer and though I fully believe that practice improves ability, I do not have the luxury of time to do it right now. Therefor, starting next week I am going to cut the writing portions of each days post to the bare bones. The closing day of each week will see an expanded post that deals with lessons, details, or what have you. This format change will not effect comments. Feel free to leave comments and I will answer any questions that are posted there.
     Today's idea came from Ken Weinert. Ken wrote: "Since I have something specific in mind, I'm interested in your take on it (if my idea gets chosen.) A recycling cabinet. Requirements: a place for newspapers, a place for cardboard, a place for miscellaneous stuff (cans, glass, etc.)".
     Speaking to Ken later he mentioned the idea of having a single piece that could be easily adapted to it's environment: garage or utility room, to kitchen. With that in mind, the details and construction methods can be easily changed to make this design suitable for almost any environment or decor.
     Three sliding panel doors conceal three plastic trash cans (without the lids, though the design could be changed to accommodate them). The cabinet top is split and hinged making disposal of cans etc. easy when in a hurry. The trash cans alone could hold the required materials, but I have also included lower drawers for the newspaper or any related supplies. The top two sketches were to establish the style and layout, while the mid sketches are to scale, to ensure that everything fits. The bottom sketch is a scale drawing of the side with the dotted line representing the trash cans, drawers, etc. as well as the top/lid operation.


So there you have the first reader idea. What do you think? Have I met the requirements? I would love to hear you thoughts.

NOTE: See what Ken had in mind when he submitted the idea (I like his better, much more functional and realistic). http://bit.ly/5p7oU6

3 comments:

Ken said...

I'd say you met the requirements. I posted my idea over at FD. It's a simpler cabinet with a different twist on the newspaper/cardboard storage part of it.

I like your split top and use of trash cans. I thought of using trash cans as well but went a different route. Either would work, probably depends on how often you make it to the recycling center (or how often it's picked up in front of the house.)

I went into a little more detail on the low end/high end construction idea, mainly to see what people thought of it.

Your idea also doesn't suffer from one thing I worry about in my design - how likely it is that it could tip over.

I'm glad my idea got picked as I really am glad to see another way it could be envisioned.

jamon schlimgen cabinetmaker said...

Thanks Ken. I hope it was of some help to you. After seeing your version I have to admit I think it is superior in many ways. Mine is a little unrealistic for most situations.

chris@flairwoodworks said...

No good. It's way too nice to use for it's intended use. But in full seriousness, the top two look nicely proportioned - the bottom ones look too tall. The right two look more utilitarian, probably due to the rectangularity. The difference between the pulls and knobs is quite drastic, though I can't quite put my finger on what effect the change has, specifically.