Scratch Build – In Progress Side Project: DIY headphone stand for £20

Foreword:

I've had a pair of headphones ( Sony MDR-XD200 ) for many years now, but never had anywhere to really put them on each desk, either due to lack of space or the fact that a half-decent looking / quality stand costs vastly more than the phones are worth. Recently however I embarked on a little spending spree and replaced ALL the furniture in my bedroom, carpet included. As such I now have a nice big ( 160cm ) desk and decided now was the right time to do something about my lack of headphone stand. Rather than buy one, I decided to build one, since that way I could get something that matched my dark Wenge-wood furniture ( not real Wenge obviously, I ain't that rich.. ). And so, the story goes like this... ( sorry for the huge pictures, there aren't too many ).

The Project:

Step one was to find some wood of a suitable dimension that didn't require cutting to size; I live in a top-floor flat so workshop or garage space is non-existent, and I have only basic hand tools to work with. As it happens there are numerous vendors on ebay whom sell kitchen worktop samples of various sizes and types of wood, so I did a little digging and turned up a shop selling ( real ) Wenge samples that measure 15cm x 20cm x 4cm for just £6 each. They actually sell a large range of different wood types so if you had a specific type of wood or shade of wood in mind, chances are you won't struggle to find something suitable for your needs. I grabbed a couple samples and waited...

At the same time I also ordered the following items in order to prep and finish the wood:-

Tack cloths x 3 ( for cleaning off dust and leaving the grain clear )
Cheese cloth ( for applying the oil )
250ml of Danish Oil ( this type of oil has additives for aiding drying time, so is fine for certain projects, but not others- purists prefer oils without drying aids that require much longer to dry and soak in )

Step two was to remove the sticky label from the wood and clean it with the tack cloth ready for oiling- one side already had a coat of oil to show the finish of a real work top; ideally I should have sanded the whole thing down before starting, but for my needs it wasn't really required ( read: couldn't be arsed ). Here is a comparison between an unfinished side and the side with one coat of oil:







You can definitely see how much darker the wood looks, the detail in the grain really stands out much better with just one coat; I would be applying 3 in total ( fine for indoors use, 5-7 coats is recommended for outdoors ).

Next I applied a coat of oil ( small amount poured onto the wood and rubbed in for a few minutes, then the excess is wiped off after a further 5-10 minutes ) to the 3 un-oiled sides on both pieces:









There was a bit of a shiny patch on one piece of wood, probably caused when I removed the sticky label, but this side was also the nicer one on that piece so I just worked with it. After the first coat I waited the minimum 5 hours and then applied another before going to bed, the wood was starting to darken up nicely ( this oil is clear rather than being a stain, so the affect you get from oiling is similar to wiping the wood down with a wet cloth, only it dries the same colour essentially ). Next day I applied the third and final coat.









Lovely. Step 3 was to measure the pieces up carefully and mark the locations for the 2 screws that will hold them together- I could have doweled and glued them instead, but screws work just fine and were what I had available:





Measure twice, mark 3 times



I still managed to get one hole slightly off center, even without the drill bit wondering ( I would kill for a bench-drill, might have to invest in a small one ). No biggy, you won't see the screws when it's finished so not to worry.



Countersunk- the screws I used are about 4 inches long, since the only others I had were only long enough to go through one piece of wood ( I collect random machine screws from broken appliances, but never wood screws- now I collect both types ).

This was a fairly straight forward project that only took a few days, and requires nothing more than a pencil and ruler besides the other 3 required items, no special tools required although the mentioned bench-drill would come in handy for drilling straight holes more easily, my poor old 12v Woolworths cordless drill is ready for the scrap heap and struggled to make it all the way through 40mm of dense Wenge, even with a fully charged ghetto rigged battery made up of r/c NIMH cells ( which replaced the crappy old NICADS ). £20 is all it cost in the end and the result looks rather nice, even if I do say so myself, very pleased with the outcome and adds a touch of class to any desk...

Final Photos:















( Ignore the naff looking tubi-grip on the headband, my only complaint with these headphones if the lack of padding, otherwise they sound great and only cost about £20. )

 

That looks great dude, love how the Danish oil has brought out the grain.

 

Danish oil... Apparently available in every country in the world, except for Denmark!

 

hahaha, i actually use that oil for our furnitures, damn woodthings xD