My Second Cycle

My first one was a used Raleigh classic cycle. My father bought it for me when I was in 7th standard, after wanting one for quite a long time.
When it came home, it looked so ugly, that one would think if the previous owner was using it in some quarry or something. 

Ever since I got charge of it, it was kept like a gem. No Hero, Hercules of that time could match the butter smooth ride quality of the Raleigh. 
But when I moved out for job, the cycle was left in the store room
and without any one to take care of, it started rusting. Years later when my parents were shifting home, it was sold off to someone.

Few weeks back, when my son started cycling without the help of stabilizer wheels, I decided to take him to a nearby playground.
Watching him enjoying his shiny little ride, I too thought if I could have one for me. The thought grew on me for next couple of weeks.

Did the usual thing what a regular software engineer would do before any pucrchase - google. Read about biking in some internet forums and before long, I was in RR cycles bangalore.

The shop had a number of imported brands like Schwinn, Bianchi, Cannondale and so on. I was planning for a less than 10K bike, but after seeing the bikes, I lost control of the budget ceiling. Among the display models, I liked a blue Bianchi and a Schwinn sporterra. 

The urge to buy grew stronger. Read about schwinn and Bianchi. When I read that Bianchi is the oldest cycle making making company still in existence, I got hooked. Now that I have almost decided for a purchase, I wanted to buy a Bianchi more than anything else, just because it has a history to it.
 

Next day was a public holiday. Went straight to the showroom and decided on the same blue Bianchi. It was a Spillo ES Rubino, with rigid forks. Though it made a significant dent on my credit card, felt so happy.

Straight out of the showroom, did a 10 Km ride before bringing it home. Though I was riding after a good 20 years, I felt no sweat, no muscle cramps. Eagerly waiting for weekends to get on the saddle.

P.S: What's a blog without pictures ? Here they are.

So fa So good

My all new handmade sofa is finally a reality !.

I had a cane sofa that served us well through the last 8 years. Years had taken its toll on it and offlate, it used to look so bad that guests started pausing for a moment to think when they had to take seat!.

Heeding to the ever increasing demand from my better half for a new sofa that looks civilized enough, I thought of making one. Though a crazy idea at first, as time went past, it looked feasible. Several designs were considered and thrown out. That's when my friend pointed me to this : http://ana-white.com/2010/11/build-your-own-storage-sofa.html

Though I borrowed the concept of the storage sofa, I wanted to stick to plyboard and did not want to use timber as she used in her designs. So I redesigned the backrest and the joins to the rest of the structure. Added hand rests. It turned out to be good and we got oodles of space underneath the seat for storage.

Some Photos of the finished product

 

And here is the design. It's no CAD file – all done using paper and pencil.

Overall Architecture

Design took a lot of effort. Eeach piece to be cut was drawn on paper with its accurate dimension and each piece was mapped to a particular board. So, while cutting, I could just see the mapping and cut the board without going through the design again and again.

Detailed Design

Notice how the numberings and the letters A,B,C,D in the design shown above are mapped to rubberboard and plyboards. 

All required pieces are mapped on to the wood as shown below:

Now the design for each piece of wood

Overall Design at the bottom of the diagram - with hand rests

Hand rest design

Structure Under Construction

My little helper learns to fix screws.

Wooden structure ready and is being measured for upholstery works

Foam cutting and stitching in progress

Tools Used

1. Circular Saw/ cutter
2. Electric Drill
3. Wise (for keeping the wood fixed while cutting)
4. Measuring Scale
5. Measuring Tape
6. Right Square
7. Planer (Manual)
8. Hammer
9. Screw Driver
10. Spirit Level
11. Carpenter's wax

 

Materials & Cost for the Structure

Wood & Other items:-

3/4” Plyboard 6x4 – 1 Nos

1/2” Plyboard 6x4 – 1 Nos

3/4” Rubberboard 8x4 – 1 Nos

3/4” Blockboard 6x4 – 2 Nos

Screws – Lost count of it

Lid Handle – 1 Nos

Hinges – 3 Nos

Paint – 1/2 Ltr (for interiors)

Materials Cost Breakup

Wood, Screws – Rs. 9300

Transport & Handling – Rs. 250

Screws, Hinges & Handle – Rs. 210

Paint – Rs. 257

Total Cost for the structure – INR 10,017

Upholstery

When I started off, I had some idea on how to do the upholstery all by myself, without any need for stitching. However, by the time the wooden structure was over, I got a feeling that it may be worthwhile to get professional help in doing this part. And it paid off. Any imperfections of doing a DIY job on this final piece of work would have been very glaring. 

Upholstery Cost Breakup (As given by the contractor)

Seat – 4” - Density 40 – Rs 2200
Back rest – 4” Density 32 – 1700

2” Density 32 - 700

1” Density 32 – 360

1/2” foam 2sheets - 360
Adhesive solution 1 Ltr - 180
Cushion cloth - 4Mtr – 280
Cloth Cover – 9 Mtr (@Rs 450) – 4050
Labour – 3500
Total Cost 13,300

Total cost : INR 23,317. Not bad for the quality of materials used and for the  storage space it will provide.  More than the cost, the feeling of having built it all alone is priceless.

Revelation: Do you know that those good looking sofas in furniture showrooms are mostly made of packing wood (relate to the tomato boxes) ? Not to mention they cost a bomb. 

Mistakes & Lessons

1. The overall height of the sofa could have been lesser by a few inches. 

2. Blockboard could have been used instead of rubberboard which would have reduced the weight of the structure. 

Next Project: Computer cum study table. Should be simpler than this !