My lovely wife Dana has taken up weaving and now spinning. Both activities require having a bunch of small tools and supplies near at hand. Dana came up with the idea of a collapsible work bag/work table that could sit next to her when she was working and then be closed up for storage. She asked me to make it for her and using some measurements from things that she was already improvising to do this I made a measured drawing to figure out the design.
I had some nice 1/2” cabinet grade maple plywood scraps from the cabinet project so I was able to create a chipboard template for the legs and trace them onto the scrap. I had a nice length of 1” dowel that was long enough to make the handles and pivots. I had also just bought a set of Forstner bits and had a 1” one already.
I cut out the legs on the band saw and they came out perfectly. I cleaned up the notches for the stretcher and drilled the through holes and partial holes for the handles and pivots. I clamped my belt sander in the vice and used it to do the rough sanding and knock off the edges, I’m still learning finesse with power sanders but it is getting better. I did the finish sanding with my palm sander and applied a nice wax finish to all of the wood. I assembled the frame with small screws and wood glue. I’m thinking I need a brad nailer because even the smallest screws are a risk for splitting thin material like this especially into the end grain.
Dana made a cool bag out of the top of a pair of recycled jeans from the collection of fabric she keeps for projects. She also made a canvas platform to provide a removable table top for holding tools handy. I created a simple hook on the band saw that rotates on the handle and keeps the bag closed when it is stored.
All in all I think it came out pretty well.
