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Monsieur Roubo, Meet Mr. Iphone

author-gravatar Squeazle Apr 24, 2018

A few years ago, I adapted Roubo's bookstand as phone and tablet stands. Since then I've probably made a dozen or so as gifts for friends and family, all by hand. After one or two suitably un-subtle hints from the wife that she never got one for her night stand, I decided to make one for her upcoming birthday. The difference between this and the others was that I recently got a hobby-level CNC macine, so I decided to see how much I could automate. But fear not, traditional woodworking elitists! There's enough "real" woodworking hand work for you too. Enjoy, and let me now what you think!

Photo of Monsieur Roubo, Meet Mr. Iphone

Let's start with the finished product, my beach chair,...uh, phone stand.

Photo of Monsieur Roubo, Meet Mr. Iphone

Laid flat

Photo of Monsieur Roubo, Meet Mr. Iphone

This is the blank I started with. The pieces to the left and right were scraps from a previous project, joined with a Paduak strip down the middle. Cherry, Mahogany, Basswood, and Paduak.

Photo of Monsieur Roubo, Meet Mr. Iphone

I scored the lines in between the hinge knuckles on both sides with the CNC first. 

Photo of Monsieur Roubo, Meet Mr. Iphone

Then drilled the smallest hole I could manage through the ends of those score marks.

Photo of Monsieur Roubo, Meet Mr. Iphone

A scrollsaw was used to carefully cut between each knuckle.

Photo of Monsieur Roubo, Meet Mr. Iphone

Cutting the hinge starts with good layout. I score each of the lines that will be cut so my chisel tip will rest precisely where I want it.

Photo of Monsieur Roubo, Meet Mr. Iphone

All layed out and ready to go.

Photo of Monsieur Roubo, Meet Mr. Iphone

When I first started making these, I made this jig to guide my chisels as I paired hinges. It's been an incredible help and allows me to make the hinge almost perfect.

Photo of Monsieur Roubo, Meet Mr. Iphone

A close up shot of the workpiece in the jig. 

Photo of Monsieur Roubo, Meet Mr. Iphone

And the hinge is done. The rest of the big stuff is all the machine. Once the CNC is done with its portion of the show, a careful resaw down the middle will allow it to open and close.

Photo of Monsieur Roubo, Meet Mr. Iphone

How it looks right out of the box.

Photo of Monsieur Roubo, Meet Mr. Iphone

Lets get started on resawing and cleanup!

Photo of Monsieur Roubo, Meet Mr. Iphone

Since this is essentially the last step, I didn't want to take my chances at the bandsaw. Big mistakes can happen a lot quicker on a  fast machine. Instead I opted for a ryoba with a fresh, sharp blade. 

Photo of Monsieur Roubo, Meet Mr. Iphone

Viola, it stands! Just some sanding in the nooks and crannies and she's almost done!

Photo of Monsieur Roubo, Meet Mr. Iphone
Photo of Monsieur Roubo, Meet Mr. Iphone

More glamour shots. This is right after applying Watco Danish oil and wiping the excess off. In a few days I'll apply some Renaissance Paste Wax to give it a little more sheen and luster. 

Photo of Monsieur Roubo, Meet Mr. Iphone

In action. Don't ask me how I took this photo...

3 comments

I scrolled back and forth about 6 times until I finally figured out how the heck this works....this is incredible! Thanks for the tutorial, I'd love to try this sometime (sans CNC).

Do it! They're a lot of fun. I made several without the cnc and the only really difference is time and creative work holding to clean up the inside faces and any decorative cuts after you've resawn it open. Here's a great link to Roy Underhill's take on it that might give you a better idea of how it's done. 

https://youtu.be/WZnqn77u8lk

@Steve_S  said:

I scrolled back and forth about 6 times until I finally figured out how the heck this works....this is incredible! Thanks for the tutorial, I'd love to try this sometime (sans CNC).

Love it! Great job on all the finer details, too!

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