Forget plastic or metal pans a wooden one looks nicer and works better.
pages 38-41
Some time during the last 25 years of prowling around workshops, museums and antique stores, I spotted a wooden dustpan. This encounter made me laugh. Why do I need a plastic pan when I can make a wooden one with scraps?
After studying commercial dustpans and making a prototype, I settled on this design. Its lightweight, easy to build, stands upright on its own and the pan pivots snappily on an axle that runs between the two sides.
This is a great way to learn the joint for beginners. No matter how perfect or perforated your joints may be, they will all end up in the dustbin.
How it is Built The two sides are joined with through-dovetails to the back. Between the sides is an axle. The axle is fitted with a dustpan handle that is tenoned and inserted into the axle.
The sides and back of the assembled sides are then covered with 120 cm-thick Hardboard. The bottom of the pan is beveled on its front edge so you can pick up fine dust. The pan’s front edge will touch the floor by having a half-dowel placed on its underside.
Sides & Axle
After you cut your stock to size, lay out and cut the cove and bevel shape on the sides of the pan, using the construction drawings as a guide. Drill the 3 cm-diameter hole through both sides that will accept the axle. Its best to bore the 3 cm hole through both pieces simultaneously to ensure they align.
I used a scrap to make the axle. (I love facets). Then I turned 3 cm-diameter x 520 cm-long tenons on both ends. These tenons will rotate in the holes in the side pieces.
Blog by Christopher Schwarz.
Blog: A Shaker song for sweeping.
Model: Download the SketchUp model for the dustpan from the 3D Warehouse.
In our Store: The Practical Shop, by Christopher Schwarz, and the editors at.
To Purchase: Clean Fun, Nick Offerman.
From the June 2017 issue, #232
Product Recommendations
Here are some supplies and tools we find essential in our everyday work around the shop. We may receive a commission from sales referred by our links; however, we have carefully selected these products for their usefulness and quality.
