[IC] Wood palm rest - Prototype on page 2 - Update on pg 4 - Teaser pg 5

[The_Beast]

Is there an interest in wooden palm rest?


I plan on building a solid maple desk this weekend and I know I'll have some scrap maple from ordering extra.... they shouldn't be that hard to make or finish. I'll probably make one for myself even though I'll never use it. If there was enough interest I could order some custom wood and do small production runs but for now maple.


Here's the new thread after the long "break" we had
http://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=33017.0

[jdcarpe]

I am interested. What do you estimate as far as price goes?

I would prefer a TKL-sized rest, or a HHKB/Poker/Pure-sized rest.

[boost]

In for a tkl

[The_Beast]

What do you think is a reasonable price? I see the leather EK are $70, so maybe $50-$60 depending size, design.... Does it sound high, low, or just right?

[merijn]

I do would love some darker colored wood. And will it be rounded or squareish? And I am looking for a full sized one.

[jdcarpe]

$50 is probably your sweet spot. If you could sell them for less than that, get ready for mass production.

[Cynez]

Would definitely be interested in one!

[The_Beast]

I still need to talk to some people, but I think I can make it happen. I'm excited about this

BTW what profile do you like best? Just did some quick AutoCAD drawing while on a break

[jdcarpe]

I like the third design, but maybe that's because the wrist rest I use for my Pure is it's original plastic case!

(I also use that case for a cover)

[merijn]

Yea, I also like the 3rd one What about the different kinds of wood? :3

[The_Beast]

Like I said I still need to talk to some people, but I'm pretty sure he'll be down with it. He might ever let me use his shop every weekend so multiple productions runs could be made. I'm doing this mostly for fun (I like wood, no homo), once it becomes work.....


What kind of wood did you have in mind? Darker woods would be walnut and maybe cherry (without going exotic), both are pretty expensive compared to maple. Plus maple is my favorite wood, it looks excellent with or without finish, it's hard but still easy to work with. But I'll keep it in mind when asking him. I'll also think of custom orders, I already have a really cool design in mind

[merijn]

Either one, cherry or walnut would look nice. Looking at http://www.segmentedturning.com/woodcosts.htm (I don't know where else to look for wood prices) makes me think that walnut isn't really that much more expensive.

[The_Beast]

The guy I know has maple on hand ready to go, and sells it to me for very little, much much less than that site says. But again, I'll look into it more, maybe my guy knows a guy who can get walnut cheap.



That or I order walnut and charge a bit more, my guess would be under $5 more.

[merijn]

Under $5 more is barely more

[The_Beast]

Then stop cryin'

[The_Beast]

Here's the plan since there seems to be an interest. I'm going to make a prototype this weekend, take pictures, post them here and make sure it's ok if I can use his workshop to make these. If there is enough interest, I'll take orders and make them next weekend.


Again, all rough plans/time frame and mostly depends on this guy letting me use his shop.

[merijn]

That sounds awesome

[Cynez]

Sweet, definitely like the sound of it.  Would like to compare my aluminum wrist rest to a wood one

[balanar]

Definitely interested!

[Roguemaster8]

For around $50, color me interested.

Post pics of the prototype as soon as you can!

[The_Beast]

Well I got a good start on my desk and then spent a little time on the prototype and by that I mean it's done. It's still "naked" with no finish or stain but I quite like natural wood. Any ways here are the pictures.


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Description of the pictures:
1) Width on a Costar/Filco/Rosewill board, it's exactly flush with the sides.
2) Height without feet.
3) Profile of the rest.
4) Do not expect perfection, there may be some tooling marks. I tried very hard to sand them out, but none the less the rest IS smooth as a babies bottom. I will however try my best to cut around any major tooling marks.
5) Showing colors of the maple. This particular board has very dark heartwood.
6) More coloration.
7) Minor imperfections such as small knots.
 More coloration.
9) The lighter sapwood of the maple.
10) Height on a Costar/Filco/Rosewill with the vinyl feet. The keyboard slides more than the rest does.
11) 2 per side.
12) I may put another pair of feet in the middle.
13) Height with feet on a WASD board.
14) Width isn't exactly flush with the WASD board, it seems to have a larger bezel. It is however not very noticeable, I would guess it's under 1/8" short from being totally flush.

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All pictures below are to show grain only, some of the wood pictured may be stained darker than what I may be able to get them as.

I MAY have access to exotic woods like:
Purple Heartwood
Walnut
Zebra wood
Birdeye maple
Tiger/Curly Maple
Cherry
However, expect higher prices and I may only have limited or no access to some.


Species that I could more easily get a hold of: Prices may vary, but to as much as the woods listed above
Maple
Elm
White Ash
Red Oak
However, I'd only be willing to do if demand is high enough. It's a lot of work and time to pull a board for a drying rack, dry it in the work shop, plane it, joint it, rip..... if it's only to make one rest. I see myself making a lot of maple rest, with limited runs of these species.

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Options:
Feet: vinyl or felt or none (4 feet or 6 feet)
Finish: natural/none or stain
Size: Fullsized or TKL or custom lengths are possible

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Things I'm not quite sure of:
Shipping rates: Haven't really looked into this at all other than looking for boxes. I've also never shipping internationally, how hard is it?
Packaging: I currently can't find flat rate boxed to ship them in. Would wrapping in bubble warp and packing paper suffice?
Order times: I am a weekend warrior, weekdays don't really work since I have a day job and this shop is 30 miles always from my home. I will try to make a small stock of popular species. Also, since I'm going to school 4+ hours away, I would not be able to make them any other time than summers or during winter break.
TKL width: Since I don't have one, could someone provide me with a measurement of a TKL board?
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[merijn]

The height with feet looks just perfect! And I still would want the walnut flavor. :3

I don't know if I can answer any of your questions, but I try.

The packaging of bubble wrap could work, and I say that because I order a lot from the other side of the world with everything stuffed in a bubble envelope, and it has never happened that the things inside were broken, cracked or anything like that. So I think personally that this won't be much of a problem.

And don't worry about the order times; if you make a good product people willing to wait. A lot.

Do you have any idea what you're going to charge for the wristrests?

[cleeoo]

Another issue that you might need to consider for international shipping is what the rules are for each country (would be much easier for each person who orders internationally to check themselves) on importing wood products. I think with treated/lacquered wood, you might have less of a problem, but not really sure.

The prototype looks good though!

[boost]

Nice. Where do I Sign up at

[The_Beast]

The height with feet looks just perfect! And I still would want the walnut flavor. :3

I don't know if I can answer any of your questions, but I try.

The packaging of bubble wrap could work, and I say that because I order a lot from the other side of the world with everything stuffed in a bubble envelope, and it has never happened that the things inside were broken, cracked or anything like that. So I think personally that this won't be much of a problem.

And don't worry about the order times; if you make a good product people willing to wait. A lot.

Do you have any idea what you're going to charge for the wristrests?

The only thing I'm worried about with the bubble wrap is dents from dropping. But then again, it really isn't that heavy so maybe it wouldn't get a dent. Ship in bubble wrap at buyers risk?

I would try to stick around the $50 mark for the "Species that I could more easily get a hold of" and more on the "I MAY have access to exotic woods like". Prices may vary greatly for those, Birdseye maple looks amazing but it's 2x to 3x more expensive than just maple

Another issue that you might need to consider for international shipping is what the rules are for each country (would be much easier for each person who orders internationally to check themselves) on importing wood products. I think with treated/lacquered wood, you might have less of a problem, but not really sure.

The prototype looks good though!

I looked into that slightly when I was looking at international shipping rates, which are ridiculous. I'll be using my googlefu to find out more.


Another question for you guys, how do you do international shipping on the cheap. I got quotes from DHL and UPS and they were both around $80 for the cheapest shipping. Figure my package (contain your laughs please) would be less than or around 1Lbs and have a dimension near 18l x 4"w x 1"h (not product dimensions, those are dimensions of the product when packed)

[cleeoo]

I'm not so sure about shipping internationally as I've never done it. I do know that EK charge 50+ dollars for shipping keyboards to Australia. I think it's just a general thing. International shipping is very expensive for bulky items...

[hamza_tm]

Great idea! DO THIS

[jdcarpe]

International shipping is just a pain no matter what. The cheapest option would be first class mail, but there is no tracking option. Only insurance is available. Express Mail (EMS) is the best option, but can get expensive depending on weight and size of the package.

[The_Beast]

Wow, it's quite a bit cheaper. A large box was $60 and a bubble wrapped thingy was $37. That's a huge difference from the $80 UPS and DHL wanted.


I'm still looking into shipping wood products

[el2k]

Very interested in a TKL for my Filco. I am in the Uk however but I would be happy with bubble wrap cheapest shipping, It's only a block of wood (a very beautiful one), how badly damaged could it get...?

Liam

[GeorgeStorm]

I'd also be tempted, although it would have to be Poker sized

And Liam, wood can get dented soooo easily, and ofcourse on a product like this, unless it was dented on the underside, it would both affect the look and the usage.

[The_Beast]

I'd also be tempted, although it would have to be Poker sized

And Liam, wood can get dented soooo easily, and ofcourse on a product like this, unless it was dented on the underside, it would both affect the look and the usage.

I could make one practically any sized, 8' to 2"


I still can't get a for sure list of where/if I can ship wood products too. And since my wood isn't kiln dried I might run into import laws that deal with importation of invasive species. Could I just throw it in the oven for a bit, lol?

[REVENGE]

Looks great, sign me up! Can you practically do any size? I might want a Poker sized one.

[The_Beast]

Looks great, sign me up! Can you practically do any size? I might want a Poker sized one.

I just need a dimension of the Pokers case. I also need a confirmed size for a TKL board, I don't have one but 14" seems to be what all the web-sites say.

[nthn]

I'd be in for one! Maybe you could offer natural ones? I'd like to try my hand at my own stain I made at the lab last week.

[jdcarpe]

Poker/Pure is 11.5". 293mm. I can confirm that Filco TKL is 14".

[The_Beast]

I'd be in for one! Maybe you could offer natural ones? I'd like to try my hand at my own stain I made at the lab last week.

TBH I'd rather send it in a natural/no finish. I've always like unfinished wood more, but some other people might not. It will be an option for sure

Poker/Pure is 11.5". 293mm. I can confirm that Filco TKL is 14".

Thanks a ton

[cix]

put me down for a pos IC on this baby, nice, I applaud your work.

[imersa]

Interested indeed. Not sure what wood I would choose yet but like the idea too.

[danielucf]

Interested in a birds eye maple for a pure or Leopold FC700R if the price is right.

[The_Beast]

put me down for a pos IC on this baby, nice, I applaud your work.

Interested indeed. Not sure what wood I would choose yet but like the idea too.

Thank. As for wood, try to keep it in the "woods I have easy access to" if you'd like to soon. But if you want one of the exotic woods, try to find others who want the same species. I'd also expect a small wait due to me having to pick lumber up from the yard and have it normalize in moisture content before working with it.

Interested in a birds eye maple for a pure or Leopold FC700R if the price is right.

If I can get my hands on some, I'd love to work with it. However don't expect the base price, but I'm sure you can understand with such an amazing species of wood.



As for an update, I'm just thinking about logistics. I think what I'm going to do is make ~3 full sized, ~3 TKL and ~3 poker sized rest out of maple (show in the prototype) this/next weekend. I'll post pictures of the rest, you reply with the one you want, consider that rest reserved. So if imersa wants #1 of the poker rest but so does jdcarpe whoever post first gets/reserves it. I like this idea because you get to pick the rest instead of me just sending a random one. Does this sound fair or a bad idea?

After that I will open the floor to mini group buys of species. So if REVENGE, hamza_tm and el2k want purple heartwood wrist rest, I would do my best to source the wood and make the rest. I've said before, I really don't want to make just one of this species and just one of another species. It would be nice if I could do custom order when you order them but I live 10 miles away from a source of exotic lumber and then 40 miles the opposite direction to the shop where I would make them. What do you think of this?


I'm going tomorrow or Wednesday to pick up some wood for my desk. I'll ask them about what species they have, how hard is international shipping/rules/regulations associated with it, and if I can buy small quantities of exotic woods. Tell me what you think, I love feedback

[jdcarpe]

Sounds fair to me. I'm ready to see the finished product!

[cix]

I think its a great idea, it gives flexibility to those who want to order one of the more rare species of wood and let them coordinate in tis thread.  Its sort of disclaimer given like you said, the logistics of the whole matter.  It's great to have options.

Sent from my SPH-D700 using Tapatalk 2

[REVENGE]

Sounds great, I'm fine with maple or whichever material you choose. What is the height of the tallest edge going to be?

[MMB]

Pretty slick looking. Do you plan on putting finish on them? Like varnish and stuff?

[zinger]

I'm pretty sure the only choice is cherry wood!

[The_Beast]

I'm pretty sure the only choice is cherry wood!

Once I open the thread, find some others and I'll try my best to source the wood

Pretty slick looking. Do you plan on putting finish on them? Like varnish and stuff?

I'll be buying some kind of finish tonight and testing it out on my prototype. There are so many wood finishes and they all have there own pros and cons it's really hard to pick. I'll post pictures when I have results. I think for this first batch it will be a natural/no finish, with the option for me to hold on and put finish on it later (if I even offer finishing at all).

Sounds great, I'm fine with maple or whichever material you choose. What is the height of the tallest edge going to be?

I'll check when I get home but it's very very close to flush with the top of a Filco/Rosewill board.

I think its a great idea, it gives flexibility to those who want to order one of the more rare species of wood and let them coordinate in tis thread.  Its sort of disclaimer given like you said, the logistics of the whole matter.  It's great to have options.

Thanks

Sounds fair to me. I'm ready to see the finished product!

Me too

[balanar]

I am looking forward to a cherry one as well! As for international delivery,perhaps you could look into USPS rates?

[The_Beast]

I went to pick up the purple heartwood for my desk today and found out a lot of good things. Here's the list:

1) All the woods I listed under "I MAY have access to exotic woods like....." this shop has and even more species I didn't even think about.
 - One caveat is that I don't think they will let me buy one or two rest sized planks at a time, I'd have to at lease buy a small board. This is where the mini-group buys for a certain species would come it. However a caveat to that caveat is
2) This shop does have scrap wood bins, however the woods species there are random.
3) I picked up a satin oil/urethane finish tonight. The guy who sold it to me (been a wood worker for 60+ years) that this would be the best finish for my application. I picked satin because it's not dull but it isn't high maintenance like a high gloss finish would be. I may make some high gloss rest but not at this time. I'm already testing this finish on the prototype and the results are looking good. It will be dry by the time I post this so see pictures below
4) All wood sold there is kiln dried, which means I feel much more comfortable shipping that internationally.
 - However, the wood the prototype is made of is air dried for 2 years, I will not be shipping that wood internationally. Sorry but I don't feel like risking it.
5) Best news of all is I picked up some of the "scrap" wood already. I've got a couple pieces of cherry, one large walnut board, some high grade maple which is all light sapwood (no dark hearwood like the prototype), I think I even have some hickory.
6) The wood worked I talked to tonight said bubble wrap would be good enough for what I'm shipping.
 - I have looked at international rates, first class seems to be the cheapest. I will still however shop around for cheaper shipping.
 - I'm also looking to see if I could send these in document tubes.

Picture time: (1-4 are woods I feel comfortable shipping internationally)
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1) All white maple
2) Cherry
3) Mixed hardwoods
4) Dat' walnut
5) Small piece has 3 coats of satin finish, the one behind it is naked with no finish
6) Close up of the satin
7) Nother close up of satin
Close up of naked/unfinished wood


Some of the wood shown above will not be large enough to have the same profile as the prototype, I'll still try to make these into wrist rest but of a different profile. I'm thinking something similar to shape of the acrylic MileStone wrist rest. I'm also thinking of making wrist rest for your mouse, it would look identical to the small rest shown in picture #5 (the small one with the satin finish, it has felt feet on it so it does slide). That's all for now, feedback is welcome

[jdcarpe]

Looking really good! I still like that heartwood maple the best. I can't decide if I like finished or unfinished better. I was thinking maybe a hand-rubbed oil finish (linseed?). Feel free to experiment! You can probably even sell your prototypes, as well as whatever you decide on for a "production" run.

This is the very kind of thing we need more of around here. Creative people making useful and beautiful "objets d'art" for the community to enjoy.

[Cynez]

I'm definitely sold on getting one of these from you.  Thinking either Birdseye or Cherry at the moment

[The_Beast]

Looking really good! I still like that heartwood maple the best. I can't decide if I like finished or unfinished better. I was thinking maybe a hand-rubbed oil finish (linseed?). Feel free to experiment! You can probably even sell your prototypes, as well as whatever you decide on for a "production" run.

This is the very kind of thing we need more of around here. Creative people making useful and beautiful "objets d'art" for the community to enjoy.

Straight/pure oil finishes are nice, but offer very little protection to scruffs, scratches.... The satin finish shown above is a oil/varnish mix. The oil brings out the grain pattern and the varnish protects it. I like this varnish because it has the most pro and least cons to using it verse a lacquer or shellac finish (shellac/lacquer look nice but can be hard to apply without a paint sprayer similar to what's used to paint cars [lacquer] or won't full harden for months [shellac]). Varnish on the other hand protects from wear, moisture, and heat within days or even hours of final application.

If you want to try a pure oil finish, go ahead and post pictures when done. They are very easy to apply, a rag, sand paper or steel wool and time is all that is needed. Only an idiot could mess then up, it's as simple as "simply wipe on with a rag, allow some time to penetrate, then wipe off the excess". If you get linseed, get boiled linseed or it will take forever to dry. Also consider Tung oil since it's a bit more durable than linseed and requires less upkeep (keep in mind that pure oil finishes have to be reapplied every so often). The only downside to tung is it dries slower than boiled linseed and requires multiple coats with sanding between coats. However, if you don't have to oil it every year (like linseed might), it would be worth it.

Here is maple with linseed:
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Here is Alder with tung:
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I'll look up some more info when I get home, an impromptu lesson on wood finishing is hard to type on a single lunch break

I'm definitely sold on getting one of these from you.  Thinking either Birdseye or Cherry at the moment

Great, what size do you need? I might be able to make one with the "scraps" I already have. However I only have cherry "scraps", I have no birdeye ATM

[inlikeflynn]

These look great man!

How far out from your keyboard do they extend? The prototype looks almost 3/4th of a keyboard extra now on the front of things?

[The_Beast]

The dimensions of the rest are: 17.3" long (changes based on fullsized, TKL or Poker length), 3.5" wide, ~.6" tall without feet. With the feet, it's very very close to be flush with the top front lip of the bezel of a Costar/Filco/Rosewill keyboard

[Cindori]

I'm interested if you can make it like prototype #3 drawing on first page.
Anything else (like MileStone) is just... moving the discomfort of an edge from the wrist to the forearm...

[The_Beast]

I'm interested if you can make it like prototype #3 drawing on first page.
Anything else (like MileStone) is just... moving the discomfort of an edge from the wrist to the forearm...

Check out page 2, I built a prototype using the 3rd profile on the first page

[Cindori]

Would you be able to make it for KBT Race? I think it's similar to Poker in height just a bit wider.

[The_Beast]

Would you be able to make it for KBT Race? I think it's similar to Poker in height just a bit wider.

Give me a length and I'll cut it to that size

[royalsego]

i'll take 1? how much?

[REVENGE]

Hey Beast, let us know when you're ready to take orders, we'll PM you.

[The_Beast]

i'll take 1? how much?

~$50 + shipping and paypay

Hey Beast, let us know when you're ready to take orders, we'll PM you.

I'll be making some Saturday or Sunday and a new thread should soon follow. Should I put it in the GB section or the classified?

[REVENGE]

I'll be making some Saturday or Sunday and a new thread should soon follow. Should I put it in the GB section or the classified?

I think GB would be more appropriate since this is a new, custom tailored product being produced and sold in batches, while classifieds is mostly used or 2nd hand individual sales.

[The_Beast]

Great, I'm writing up the thread right now in notepad so I can start selling as soon as I get some made

[REVENGE]

Great, I'm writing up the thread right now in notepad so I can start selling as soon as I get some made

Looking forward to it!

[The_Beast]

The_Beast day:
8am: wake up, get ready, eat cereal
8:30am: get to shop, work on desk
11:00am: finish working on desk desk, work on rests
1:30pm: finish rest, start sanding with palm sander
4:00pm: Go home
4:40pm: Get home, leave to do some light shopping
6:45: Finally eat pizza, continue hand sanding
11:00pm: finish hand sanding, finally sit down

Anyways, hurrrs a teaser picture:
[ Attachment Invalid Or Does Not Exist ] 53801[/ATTACH]

I'll have to push back the for sale thread, I could tomorrow but I'd like this to go smoothly. Prices may be a tad higher, it took a bit more time and sanding than I originally thought (10 rest, ~6-7 hours of sanding), however I an MUCH more pleased with the end results, and I'm sure you guys will be too. F5 the GB section Monday or Tuesday

[REVENGE]

Now that we're back, I believe it's time for me to shutup and for you to take my money!

[inlikeflynn]

Now that we're back, I believe it's time for me to shutup and for you to take my money!

wait until you see the work he has done since GH was down....you'll be throwing money at him then

[The_Beast]

Now that we're back, I believe it's time for me to shutup and for you to take my money!

wait until you see the work he has done since GH was down....you'll be throwing money at him then

I'll try to have it up again tonight





(that's what he said)

[Cynez]

You still doing these Beast?  Haven't had a chance to get back on GH since it went down.  I'll PM if I don't hear back from ya here.

[Harlequin]

damn.. i just made like $5 wood palm rest by myself with crappy unknown timber lol.

[The_Beast]

You still doing these Beast?  Haven't had a chance to get back on GH since it went down.  I'll PM if I don't hear back from ya here.

I've got a decent stock and I'm doing some custom orders
http://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=33017.0

damn.. i just made like $5 wood palm rest by myself with crappy unknown timber lol.

Whatever works for you bro

[Cynez]

You still doing these Beast?  Haven't had a chance to get back on GH since it went down.  I'll PM if I don't hear back from ya here.

I've got a decent stock and I'm doing some custom orders
http://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=33017.0

I'll have to look at the classified when I'm not at work so I can see the pics.  Was looking for one in Purple heartword and/or tiger wood previously, for a TKL and/or HHKB.  But yea, will PM you later when not at work