Putting every thing in its place saves a lot of time and some nasty sentences!
During my passionate involvement with wood as a material, I accumulated a whole series of notes, photos and sketches with clever ideas, practical tips and useful tricks. Some of them literally "came to me", for others I had to pay "tuition fees". It would be a shame if these experiences were forgotten! A website like this is probably a worthy container for storing such knowledge in a well-structured manner and presenting it to interested visitors in a pleasant way. Enjoy browsing!
In addition to knowledge and experience, model building has also accumulated a wide range of fittings, candle sockets, glass eyes, money box locks and similar rarities. The small parts shelf with its 55 drawers is a real help in keeping things tidy! I was also able to dispose of the yellowed cardboard box in which I once stored the colorful wooden patterns that now form the front panels of the individual drawers! - Even more order!
The procurement of fine wood posed almost insoluble problems for wood processing companies and even artists in the former GDR. Not to mention “would-be hobbyist woodworkers” like me! So I was extremely happy when a scientist friend of mine once told me: "Make something of it!" - presented an Asian wood sample collection, which may have originally served as reference material for research and/or teaching.
I looked at the beautiful colors and grains, read aloud the strange-sounding names written on the individual little boards. I played around with the pieces of wood by choosing the lightest and the heaviest, or by trying to sort the boards according to different criteria - e.g. color, sound, alphabet. At some point the approximately 60 small sample boards went back into their yellowed cardboard box: I didn't have the heart to tear the collection apart! It wasn't until much later that I had the idea of the small parts shelf: This way I could keep the sample collection and still live out my passion for crafting on the individual boards!
After sorting out a few boards that were cracked or too warped, I ended up with 55 usable pieces left. I arranged these in five rows of eleven. This allowed me to determine the external dimensions of my planned small parts shelf. The side walls of the drawers were easy to make using cutting boards made of solid red beech using the DIY tools available at the time. If you look at picture 3 carefully, you will still see the remains of a price stamp: EVP -.50. EVP was called retail price. A cutting board was enough for the frame of a box and only cost fifty (GDR) pfennigs! I found suitable scraps of plywood in my hobby cellar for the floors. The production and assembly of the small drawer knobs were also no problem thanks to the legendary “Multimax”. When it came to the body, I was obviously far ahead of the times: I commissioned this work from a carpentry shop! Today this is called “outsourcing”! As the invoice (Figure 3) shows, this was a cost-effective decision even back then! And: Immediately after the fall of the Wall, I won second place in a readers' competition for a DIY magazine with this small piece of furniture - a cordless drill!
Conclusion: “Empty shelves” were virtually synonymous with the socialist economy of shortages in the GDR. In this sense, too, the unique item described here was probably exotic, because it was, after all, filled to the brim with small drawers! What did I keep in the drawers? Of course - out of necessity - NOTHING!
The types of wood used:
ABIES PINDROW FIR
ACACIA ARABICA BABUL
ACACIA CATECHU KHAIR
ADINA CORDIFOLIA HALDU
ALBIZZA ODORATISSIMA BLACK SIRIS
ALBIZZIA LEBECK KOKKO
ALBIZZIA PROCERA WHITE SIRIS
AMOORA WALLICHII AMARI
ANOGEISSUS LATIFOLIA AXLE WOOD
BISCHOFIA JAVANICA
BOSWELLIA SERRATA SALAI
BUXUS SEPERVIRENS BOX WOOD
CALOPHYLLUM TOMENTOSUM POON
CEDRELA TOONA TOON
CEDRUS DEODARA DEODAR
CHISOCHETON SPP.
CHLOROXYLON SWIETENIA SATIN WOOD
CUPRESSUS TORULOSA
DALBERGIA LATIFOLIA ROSE WOOD
DALBNERGIA SISSOO SISSOO
DIOSPYROS MELANOXYLON EBONY
DIPTEROCARPUS SP. GURJAN
DUABANGA SONNERATIOIDES LAMPATI
EUGENIA JAMBOLANA JAMAN
GARDENIA LATIFOLIA GARDENIA
GMELINA ARBOREA GAMARI
HERITIERA MINOR SUNDRI
HOLOPTELEA INTEGRIFOLIA KANJU
HYMENODICTYON EXCELSIUM KUTHAN
LAGERSTROEMIA FLOS-REGINAE JARUL
LAGERSTROEMIA LANCEOLATA BENTEAK
LANNEA GRANDIS JHINGAN
MANGIFERA INDICA MANGO
MESUA FERREA MESUA
MICHELIA CHAMPACA CHAMP
MORUS ALBA MULBERRY
OUGEINIA DALBERGIOIDES SANDAN
PALAQUIUM ELLIPTICUM PALI
PHOEBE GOALPARENSIS BONSUM
PICEA SMITHIANA SPRUCE
PINUS ROXBURGHII CHIR
PINUS WALLICHIANA BLUE PINE
POPULUS CILIATA
PTEROCARPUS DALBERGIOIDES PADAUK
PTEROCARPUS MARSUPIUM BIJASAL
PTEROCYMBIUM TINETORIUM PAPITA
PTERYGOTA ALATA NARIKEL
SALMALIA MALABARICA SEMUL
SHOREA ROBUSTA SAL
TECTONA GRANDIS TEAK
TERMINALIA TOMENTOSA LAUREL
TREWIA NUDIFLORA GUTEL
VATERIA INDICA VELLAPINEY
XYLIA XYLOCARPA IRUL