Introduction: The TUKI Stand: If One Can Do It, Then Toucan Do It!

By Behance
About: I'm an ambitious and passionate young industrial designer. I strive to be innovative and design meaningful products and experiences that excite the user.

The TUKI stand is a guitar stand inspired by the beak of the Toucan bird. It is portable and can fit inside a guitar cover easily. You can carry it with you whenever you want and can put your guitar on it instead of leaning it against a wall which might cause it to fall. It is made of scrap packaging wood (pine wood) which is easily available anywhere, but you can also make it in teak or any other hard wood. The design was inspired by the toucan bird to give the stand a character. The toucan bird's beak shaped design signifies a strong and rigid structure.

Dimension:

Height- 8.5 cm

Width- 3 cm

Length- 27 cm

Step 1: Materials and Tools

List of materials and tools used:

  • 30-40 mm Packaging wood (Pine wood)
  • Masking tape
  • Nail hammer
  • Mortise chisel
  • Sandpaper (100G to 1000G)
  • 8.5 mm Bolts (2)
  • Aluminium strip
  • Small 2-3 mm Phillips screw (2)
  • Mini cabinet butt hinge (1)
  • Small nails for the hinge (4)
  • Mansion wax polish white
  • Aerosol matte finish black spray paint

List of Machines used:

  • D 951 Felder Thicknesser
  • AD 41 Felder Planer
  • FB 510 Felder Bandsaw
  • Bosch Random Orbit Sander GEX 150 AC
  • Sensitive drilling machine

Step 2: Design Template

The template of the guitar stand design are provided in png, f3d, dxf and dwg format. You can download and format the designs accordingly.

Attachments

Step 3: Procuring the Wood

I used scrap pine wood to make this instructable but you can also use any hardwood that would compliment your guitar. Firstly take out a thick plank of wood and adjust it in a vice to take out all the nails or any other metal parts with a nail hammer so that the wood is ready to be put inside the thicknesser or a planer. Make sure to fill the nail holes with small slivers of pine wood or sawdust.

Step 4: Planing the Surface of the Wood

Now plane the surface of the wood plank on a planer and then put the plank in a thicknesser to get the desired thickness of the plank. You can also cut the plank according to the thickness you want. I planed the plank to 3 cm thickness.

Step 5: Using the Template

Next step is to cut the plank into 4 equal parts and place the template on two of them each. Then fix the pairs with masking tape so that the upper part and the lower part of the stand is cut properly. Now cut the pairs in a bandsaw according to the template to get the desired design of the guitar stand.

Step 6: Sanding the Extra Wood

Now remove the edges and extra wood on a sander and make sure the pairs are kept aligned with masking tape as the upper part and the lower part of the stand should have the same dimensions.

Step 7: Cut the Ends for Making the Locking Mechanism

Next step is to cut the ends of upper part planks from the outer side and lower part planks from the inner side along the line shown in the template so that the parts interlock with each other. Make sure the cut should be 1.5cm deep as the 4 parts are 3cm thick.You can try the locking mechanism on a spare wood piece just to be sure.

Step 8: Drill for the Bolts

Now drill 8mm holes for the bolts to go through the four pieces and 10mm hole 0.75mm deep using a chamfer drill. Make sure that the chamfered hole is deep enough to adjust the bolt head and the nut in it and not go through it. The bolt head will revolve in the chamfered hole so keep it smooth. You can change the drill hole thickness according to the bolts you have.

Step 9: Sanding the Pieces

Now adjust the wood pieces on a vice or any other firm area and sand it with a 100G sand paper. You can also use orbit sander to remove any rough edges or nail hole coverings. You have to keep sanding the pieces slowly from 100G to 1000G according to the finish you want. As pine wood is a soft wood, it can be easily sanded but if you are using teak or any other hard wood, sanding it will take time.

Step 10: Putting the Hinge and a Hook Lock

Now drill four holes on the upper two pieces for the hinge. Hammer the nails and make sure that the hinge is properly fixed and the two pieces are aligned. Then put two screws on the back of the upper pieces and attach a metal strip for a hook lock as shown above. Now try to fix the two nuts in the chamfered holes from the inside of the stand. Chamfer drill was used so the nuts go inside the wood and the product as a whole closes properly.

Step 11: Polishing the Wood

Next step is to polish the four pieces with Mansion wax polish that provides a matte finish. You can also use other wood polishes if you want a shiny finish for your guitar stand. Just take a little bit of the wax on a piece of cloth and rub the surface of all four pieces gently. Let it dry and you will get a smooth matte finish which will protect the wood. Rubbing it too much will cause the finish to turn shiny hence work according to your requirements.

Step 12: Spray Painting the Bolts

Last step is to spray paint the bolts with an aresole matte finish black spray paint. You can use any other spray paint according to the color or finish you want. Spray paint the bolts with at least three coats with 1-2 hours gap between each coat and after drying assemble all the pieces to make your own TUKI stand.

Step 13: TUKI Stand: If One Can Do It, Then Toucan Do It!

At last your own foldable guitar stand is ready and you can rest your guitar on it with no worries of damaging your guitar or it's falling. You can fold it and keep it in your bag and take it anywhere with you. Just like the strong beak of the toucan bird, this guitar stand is strong enough to hold your guitar firmly and safely.