Hollow Forms and Shelves:
After spending hours, days or even weeks creating works you’re so proud of, it’s often difficult to find a way of drawing attention to each form’s individual integrity, as Andrew Potocnik finds out…
After spending hours, days or even weeks creating works you’re so proud of, it’s often difficult to find a way of drawing attention to each form’s individual integrity, as Andrew Potocnik finds out…
I’d made a series of small hollow forms from timber that had been felled by one of those ‘once in a hundred year storms’, which seem to happen all too regularly these days as our climate continues to change. Turning these forms was great fun, providing an opportunity to explore small-scale hollow turning of many shapes in a relatively short period of time. These forms looked great grouped together on a flat surface; however, with nearly a dozen of them, I wanted to create a display surface where each individual form could be highlighted, so here’s a solution to my particular display quandary. Initially, I needed to isolate which forms I really wanted to display. As you can imagine not every piece you create is worthy of display, so it’s important to identify pieces that complement each other and blend without simply being repetitions of the same form.
Things you will need
• Electric planer
• Hand plane
• Quick action clamps
• PPE: latex gloves, facemask, respirator/dust mask
The shelves
1. Machine a number of slats down to about 5mm thickness and 60mm wide before cutting them down to the required lengths, using sacrificial backing material to reduce the possibility of tear-out caused by the radial arm saw. The timber I used had been air-dried for a couple of years, cut into smaller flitches, allowed to sit, cut into boards and allowed time to dry even further and settle before final machining. Hand-sand all material to 320 grit; however, you should leave all pieces at a longer length than needed so ‘snipe’ at the ends can be removed
2. Make a drawing of the proposed structure in full-size, with sketches of the forms included. This will show you how the size and spacing would look, followed by a mock of the shelves made of MDF
3. Place the mock over the drawing to see whether it looks OK in a 3D form. Things look different in real life compared to how they appear in 2D drawings
4. Then, set up the mock and forms to fit into the shelves to see how everything looks. One of the verticals is propped up so the shelves sit horizontally. Lengths of all vertical and horizontal components can now be finalised before cutting the final material
5. Tape the timber together, cut the joints on the bandsaw and file to a snug fit. To prevent tear-out place a sacrificial piece of MDF underneath the pieces while cutting
6. On my shelves the fit was so snug that I needed a clamp and extra blocks of wood to fit all the components together. Better a little tight than a little loose, I think! A single clamp provides localised pressure, ensuring every joint closes completely, as flush as possible, before running a small amount of cyanoacrylate into the back and front of each joint
7. Once the glue has dried, sand the front and back of the shelves on a sanding board. Sand the ends using a sanding block and finally ‘ease’ all of the edges with 320 grit abrasive. Apply a polyurethane finish to complete the shelves. An appropriate method of hanging them still needs to be resolved. There are many types of hooks and brackets available on the market and there is the option of making your own, but I wanted to retain the clean lines of this structure. You could place a small bracket in a spot where one of the hollow forms would hide it; however, you can simply drill a 2mm hole in the back of a shelf, which will slip onto a 2mm nail protruding from a display stand – which I needed for the exhibition.
The completed hollow forms on their purpose-made shelves
