Roubo iPad Stand #2

Since I built the last Roubo stand for my wife, my Mom expressed interest in one. Well, my parents came out to visit a while ago, and to give my Dad an experience in hand-tools only (he’s strictly a power-tool guy), we did a father-son project by each building a stand out of Blue Mahoe. I have to say, the blue-to-white transition of the wood is beautiful.

So we cut, and when the time came to crack it open along the hinges, you could hear the wood splitting… not good. After an hour of messing with it, we managed to get my Dad’s open, but noticed that 3 to 4 of the 7 hinges were split. Initially I had assumed it was because my Dad had not taken as much care with it as he should’ve in its construction. Then, with as much care as possible, I tried cracking mine open. The entire thing split down the middle of ALL the hinges. What a waste. Mine was a bust, and my Dad’s was limping on 3 hinges (which it would creak and bend slightly when you would try to open and close it).

Needless to say, my Dad didn’t take it home since it was damaged, and it sat on my workbench for a few months. A few people saw it when they were over and offered to buy it from me. I told them it was kinda broken and if they wanted it, then that was fine; they just had to take care when opening and closing it.

To not give them a completely crap product, I went ahead and shaped it, sanded it down and applied a clear finish on it. Granted, the hinges are still cracked (some of them), but I was extremely surprised at 1) how easy it became to open and close, and 2) how much more rigid the joint/wood was, after all the finish was applied! Rather than sell it to someone, I think I’ll send it back home to my Old Man for my Mom.

So, the lesson: Blue Mahoe is really hard wood (sanding the thing down was nuts!), but it must have a long grain because it splits really easily.

I have one more board sized for a Roubo Stand… I wonder if I can get it done without splitting it!