Beki's Beer Caddy Revisited

[Bob Jr]

Since retirement, I have been building projects with a group of home schooled students. I have always enjoyed the enthusiasm of having a dozed children in my back yard pounding nails!
Because we are doing this on Zoom now, I need to find projects that use a minimal number of tools. These projects also need to be built by students with various skill levels. The obvious place to start is with Beki's Christmas Beer Caddy...without the beer... these are for children to use.
By combining the joinery techniques of the caddy with the design of a desk organizer, I developed this project.
Parts can be reversed, or assembled upside down. They will still fit.

After everything is delivered, we'll assemble these on Zoom.
Thank you to Vectric and Beki. This is fun!
Bob

Here's what happened:

[gkas]

Nice idea. Looks good. I really like the "Parts can be reversed, or assembled upside down. They will still fit.". Great thinking.

[Bob Jr]

Thanks, a few years working with enthusiastic young students has taught me that assembly lesson...
And, if they put things together in the wrong order, it is easy to dis-assemble, then re-assemble.

[mtylerfl]

That’s a cool project, Bob! It DOES look fun to make!

[Holzarbeiter]

What a clever idea, Bob. And kudos to you for your involvement in teaching youngsters about woodworking.
I know they will love this new project.
Not sure Id want that many kids pounding nails in my yard though....youre a better& braver man than me...LOL

[Todd Bailey]

What a super idea!!!!

Thanks for sharing!

[Bob Jr]

I showed this Desk Organizer at the last Zoom meeting of our CNC Group:
Since there was interest in having copies of the file shared, I am posting it here.
This idea will continue to evolve as I use it with our students. I would be real curious to see your versions too.
I hope you have some fun with this.
Bob

[gkas]

Tnx... I'll give it a try. It's a perfect project for my grandsons.

[Bob Jr]

Be sure to report back. I'd like to see how it turns out. Just be sure to adjust the file as needed for the thickness of your material.

[jssussex@gmail.com]

Bob,
I have a bigger table so doubled the the layout to make 2 per cutout. I'm also thinking of stack in the material and sing 1/4 or 3/8 material and a compression bit. As I look at the drawing you have 2 boxes that were on the drawing but not cut.

What were their purpose?

I've also attached my expanded 2 unit version as a dxf for you to see.

[Bob Jr]

Excellent question!
In order to secure the panel properly, I wanted to place two clamps near the center. The two rectangles mark the exact places where those two clamps needed to be placed without being hit by the bit. (This is also why I use wooden clamps.) So the marks are only for layout, not for machining.
Thanks for the modified drawing. Although my machine can handle a 2' X 3' panel, clamping would have been a bigger challenge.
I'm really curious to see how your compression bit works out for this. Are you going to modify for lead-ins so that the bit can be down to the correct depth before machining the parts?
Bob

[RebeccaJ]

Hey Bob,

Thanks for sharing this, I love that you have been able to find a workaround to get your kids learning over zoom with minimal tools too. Great Project, I'm sure the kids love it too!

Thanks Bob!