Learning tower all done.

[Steve Wurster]

In the recent past I posted a couple questions related to a learning tower I was building for my 3 year old. One was on rail joinery, and another was about a crack in the end of a piece. Thanks to everyone who answered my questions.

Well I finally got around to finishing this thing just about a week ago. Always takes a while for my projects as my shop time is quite limited and my skill set still needs some work. Anyway, here is a picture of the completed project. It's mostly all solid maple, except for the panels on the side which are 3/4" BB ply, and the platform which is 1/2" BB ply. The dowels that support the platform are 1" oak dowels picked up from the BORG. The sides are simple mortise and tenon, with the tenons pinned with cherry dowels. The rails on the front and back are just screwed into the sides. The finish is super simple: just a couple coats of a wipe-on poly.

My son loves it. My wife does cooking projects with him, like making meatballs, etc. And as he gets taller we can just lower the platform to the other setting. The only issue with it is due to the placement of the dowels. Because of where they're located it is possible to push down by the edge and have the platform tilt up and then slam back down. I didn't event think about that happening when I was making it. The easy fix for that was to make small L-style brackets on the bottom of the platform that trap the dowels. Worked great.

Thanks again for all the help.

Steve

226650 226654

[frank shic]

that's an interesting design! how did you cut the slots on the rails? table saw? i don't see that form of joinery often.

[Steve Wurster]

Yup, they were cut on the table saw with a dado setup. One of the posts I had made here was about how I should join those stiles to the "legs". I went with one of the suggested options as it was an easy assembly. I originally just roughed out those notches with the dado and attempted to clean them up using either a chisel or a flush-cut bit and router jig. Neither option was going that well, so I ganged up all 4 legs and made precise cuts on the table saw. This method was way quicker and easier.

[frank shic]

very original. did you build the kitchen cabinets too?

[Steve Wurster]

No, those are the cabinets that came with the house when we bought it. I hadn't even started woodworking at that time. My wife doesn't even like them that much; she prefers cherry over maple. At some point we'll redo our kitchen, but I don't expect to be doing the work: I'm too slow!

[Van Huskey]

After you added the picture I now understand the use! Very cool.

[Bill White]

Nothin' wrong with goin' slowly. Biggest issue I had to face was being in a hurry. I still tell myself to SLOW DOWN STUPID. I find that I make fewer mistakes now. Listen. I din't say that I dont make 'em..............Just don't tell anyone (please).
Bill

[Ashwini Kaul]

Very cool indeed!
Your little guy seems to love it!
I need to make one for my 2 yr old... care to share some rough dimensions?

[Steve Wurster]

Very cool indeed!
Your little guy seems to love it!
I need to make one for my 2 yr old... care to share some rough dimensions?

Sure.

All of the rails and stiles are 3/4" thick by 3" wide maple. The whole tower is 38" tall by 18" square. On the sides the middle rail is placed at the center point.

On the front and back the top of the top rail is down 1.5" from the top. The bottom of the top "step" is 15.5" up from the bottom, while the bottom of the middle step is half way between that and the bottom step at 7.75". The bottom step is flush with the bottom.

I drilled the holes for the dowels 1" down and 1" in from the edge of the panel. The lower holes are down 8.25". The panels are held in with tongue and groove, so the tongue does not count as the edge of the panel.

Let me know if you need any more detail.

[Terry Beadle]

There are at least two forms of excellence in this project.

1. Engineering and material selection.
2. It furthers your abilities as parents to communicate and imbue good learning experiences for your child.

What could be better?

Too Cool by Far !

[Sam Murdoch]

Very nicely done. Great wood working - beautiful child :).

[Steve Wurster]

Thanks for the accolades!

[J.R. Rutter]

That worked out nicely!