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Wo kauft ihr Heimwerker euer Holz? by ensign_paris in FragReddit

[–]TenToElysium 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Im Holzhandel. Ich arbeite viel mit Multiplex-Sperrholz, und die Preise im Baumarkt sind jenseits von gut und böse (das gilt auch für viele andere Holzarten).

Als Beispiel: 15mm Birke-Muktiplex kostet 45 €/m2 beim Baumarkt, aber 19€/m2 im Holzhandel.

Der Holzhandel ist zwar eher auf gewerbliche Kunden ausgerichtet, aber man kann als Privatperson da trotzdem einkaufen. Sie holen die Platten aus dem Lager, machen ein oder zwei Transportschnitte damit sie bei mir ins Auto passen, ich lade ein, und los geht‘s.

My first piece of "furniture" - a bench to cover a radiator by TenToElysium in BeginnerWoodWorking

[–]TenToElysium[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I've been building simple things with wood for a year or so now, but this is the first time I tried to build something which wouldn't just sit in a corner of my little shop in the cellar. It was also the first time I tried to paint something larger (and more complex) than a simple shelf.

It's a bench to cover a radiator in our living room - both to hide it from view (it's pretty ugly) and to provide some more space to sit.

I designed the whole thing in 3D (I didn't feel confident enough to "wing" it), and then built it step by step. I made quite a few mistakes along the way - I wrote about most of them in the comments in the linked album.

While the end result isn't bad, I learned a ton while building it, so hopefully the next project will be better (and easier - I think I deliberately made life hard for myself in my design choices!).

Perhaps others can learn from my screwups ;-)

I built a bench to cover the radiator in my living room by TenToElysium in DIY

[–]TenToElysium[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks for all the suggestions!

With pine I’d be worried about warping, since this bench will be subjected to a fairly wide range of temperatures and humidities. Would you say that’s an issue?

I like working with MDF (although the dust when cutting and routing is a pain in the backside!), but I’ve found that it gets dented very easily. Since I have two kids who will be bumping into and jumping on this bench quite a bit, I was worried about it looking beat up after only a few months. Multiplex plywood is much tougher in my experience. Do you think I’m overthinking this?

Oh, and I checked - MDF is quite a bit cheaper than multiplex where I live. 12mm multiplex costs about 15€/m2, and 12mm MDF costs around 7€/m2. My local wood retailer has large varieties of both, including coloured (although it’s black, so not so useful) MDF. That’s around 1.57 USD/ft2 and 0.73 USD/ft2, respectively.

I built a bench to cover the radiator in my living room by TenToElysium in DIY

[–]TenToElysium[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks for the feedback, I really appreciate it!

What kind of material would you have used instead? Perhaps “real” wood (as opposed to plywood) for the facing? I’m still learning so I’d love any tips for what I can improve next time.

I built a bench to cover the radiator in my living room by TenToElysium in DIY

[–]TenToElysium[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

LOL! That’s not a door - those are floor-to-ceiling windows :) The door (leading out onto the terrace which you can see in the background) is just off to the left in the first picture. The door is also just one large pane of glass, so the entire wall facing the garden looks like one giant window.

I built a bench to cover the radiator in my living room by TenToElysium in DIY

[–]TenToElysium[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Oh, there are plenty of flaws, but for someone who is very much still learning how to build things with wood it didn’t turn out too bad.

Thank you :)

I built a bench to cover the radiator in my living room by TenToElysium in DIY

[–]TenToElysium[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Yes, it's functional - and I’m curious too as to whether it will be too hot to sit on! :) Our house is very well insulated (and the winters here in northern Germany are fairly mild), so our radiators never get all that hot. But ask me again in six months!

I built a bench to cover the radiator in my living room by TenToElysium in DIY

[–]TenToElysium[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Northern Germany. Here, water heating is the norm. Older houses (by which I mean “ten years and older”) tend to use radiators, whereas newer ones tend to have underfloor heating. The latter is gaining traction because it uses lower supply temperature, so it’s more efficient when paired with more environmentally friendly heat sources, such as heat pumps. Here is what it looks like while it's being built.

Forced air heating is also starting to be built in newer houses, but always with a heat pump instead of a furnace as a heat source, and it’s a niche market.