[meteorite-list] A box to put my meteorites in...Part two

From: Rob Wesel <Nakhladog_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Thu Apr 22 10:29:59 2004
Message-ID: <004401c38342$d0594f60$037cd50c_at_GOLIATH>

Build it myself. I needed tools, I did own a few wrenches, however.

Table saw, a must. Also a miter saw, sander, air compressor and finish
nailer. Wood, screws, glue, nails, wires, glass, paint and Band-Aids.

After assembling all the tools and reading how to use them, I made the first
cut, a 7 foot by 4 foot piece of MDF that would serve as the back. More cuts
came and things assembled rather smoothly. An eight inch off here, a
sixteenth there, not much to worry about over the span of 7 feet.

7 feet is a very long span to install shelves so I divided the case into 4
compartments, each roughly 20 inches with adjustable shelving.

Soon the skeleton was constructed, ready to paint. Exterior was not an
issue, black was decided long ago. The interior was a different story. I
finally decided on a shade of yellow to add contrast for both light and dark
colored meteorites. I have an eye for detail and the paint was the second
worst part of the whole project. In the end, the exterior is exactly 10
coats deep and the interior 5, taking into account texturing the whole
thing. Let me take a minute to praise the virtues of texture paint. This was
my best friend, a simple spray-paint application that hides every surface
flaw! Not to mention that when painted satin black it exactly matches the
texture of a standard riker mount box. I played with color, texture and
finish a lot, hence 15 coats of paint in all.

Next stop was the doors. I spent hours looking for the straightest wood to
build door frames, took the best of the lot. Sadly, there was still too much
bowing to the wood to make a frame that satisfied my eye for detail. I was
this far in and was disappointed but ultimately decided to have them
professionally done. The frames needed to be thin, maximum glass, and no
cabinet builder could make them less than 2 inches thick all the way around.
I decided on a frame shop. Paint was the second worst part of the project,
frames were the worst. Four frames were made, three were crooked, seems they
had the same issues. A poster frame chinches up and straightened out when
you clamp in the backing, no backing on mine, only glass and that would not
be enough. The guy at the frame shop was excellent to work with, he sent the
three back and made a special note emphasizing straight wood. They came back
straight. I was ready to go. Time to get a visual of the case with what
would be the doors after a trip to the glass shop. Oops, they took my
measurements as interior, not exterior, so now my 37 inch doors had a 37
inch opening and a 39 inch overall which would be fine but remember that
eight inch off here, a sixteenth there, not much to worry about over the
span of 7 feet, well worry about it now. I needed a little buffer to hide
the off square and off angle areas. I went back to frame shop, again they
order four new doors, and all four were crooked. A month had gone by in the
process. They guy refunded my money and politely bailed, suggesting a
competitor that had their wood in stock so errors could be quickly resolved
and the wood could be hand selected. I went to this place and 24 hours later
they had perfectly straight, correctly sized frames. He did work hard on it
and I gave him a nice size Canyon Diablo for excellent customer service.

The glass and door installation went well.

Form had been achieved, now function.

The case has a false top. Within the false top, only 4 inches deep I
installed an intake fan in one end compartment and output in the other end.
The real top has holes to allow the air to move through. All the
compartments have air vents running through them so the air gets completely
circulated. I sided with aesthetic on the vents so the airstream is linear
versus a S-curve which would be more conducive to airflow dynamics. As the
air passes through the top it goes through an electronic heater and
dehumidifier. Four halogen lights were wired in on a remote control. The
airflow and dehumidification are always on but the lights are at my command.

Taking no risks, each compartment has its own VCI emitter as well.

The case was built airtight, everywhere wood touches wood, it has been
glued, then nailed, then caulked.

So there you have it. Airtight, dehumidified, heated, corrosion inhibited,
air circulated, halogen lit, remote controlled, UV protected, wall mounted,
thin and big. A HEPA filter was installed for style points and later removed
as it cut airflow too much. A RH of 31% is maintained.

Time spent, 2 months 1 week. Time planned, 2 years. Time wanted on frames, 1
month. Total cost $959.46 and I keep the tools. Looking this bad-ass,
perfect materialization of my vision built by my own hands, priceless.

One mixed blessing...it's full.

One reality check, the Trading Spaces guy could have done it in two days.

Have a look:
http://makeashorterlink.com/?Q52422106

--
Rob Wesel
------------------
We are the music makers...and we are the dreamers of the dreams.
Willy Wonka, 1971

Received on Thu 25 Sep 2003 04:55:47 AM PDT