Making a Bean Counter Step-By-Step

[woodeye]

The last new project of the year is my version of a Bean Counter, which is modeled after the Pipe Valet that hedgeapple has. I opted to use 6/4 Cherry because I know from experience that it handles being shaped with a router fairly well without splintering and so forth. I initially wanted to use some African Mahogany lumber that I have in stock already, it is 10" width, but it can be cantankerous to work with at times, so I'll try it later on. The Cherry lumber arrives planed to 1-5/16" thickness and the extra thickness will allow a thicker bottom on the recessed areas. The Bowl & Tray router bit that I use has a 5/8" depth of cut. The cherry boards are 5" wide, so I'll glue two pieces 5" x 15-1/2" together side by side, making the wood piece 10" x 15-1/2". The pieces are clamped and glued, then after 24 hours I ran the resulting wood piece through the planer and planed it down to 1-1/8" thickness. Allowing for the 5/8" router bit depth, the bottom of the recessed areas will be 1/2" thick.

With that done, the top and bottom is sanded smooth and it is ready to have the template set on it that will be used to guide the router bit that cuts the recesses, the bearing on the router bit will rest against the template and will keep the router bit from going astray. Making the template was the most time consuming part of the process, but the template can be used over and over for the same size bean counter.

The Cherry board, 1-5/16" x 5" x 47"

Gluing the two cherry pieces side by side

The two cherry pieces glued and clamped

After planing the cherry piece, I used it to draw the outline of the template that I will make out of 1/2" Baltic Birch plywood

After drawing the template, I used a 2" Forstner wood bit to drill out all of the inside corners of the template

All inside corners are drilled and ready to cut out the inside parts of the template

A jigsaw is used to make the cuts slightly inside of the lines

Narrow slot done, next is the wide recess

Jigsaw cuts complete, template is roughed out

A spindle sander is used, to smooth the cuts on the inside of the template, sanding right up the line that was marked on the template

Use of the spindle sander is complete, lines are smooth and ready for use as a guide for the router bit

Placed the bean counter blank back on the previously marked area on the template, then nailed strips of wood to the template so the bean counter blank will not move during the use of the router

Turned everything over and here is what it looks like before using the router

Touched up a few spots of the blank with the belt sand and random orbital sander

Replaced the original router base (that is in my hand) with a 1/8" x 12" x 12" polycarbonate sheet. I had to mark and drill the polycarbonate sheet to fit my router. This will keep the bit from gouging the wood on the wide recess

I couldn't find my 1-1/4" Forstner bit, so I drilled out the narrow recess with a 3/4" Forstner bit. I set the depth guage to drill out about 1/2 of the waste wood

Ready to use the template and router to cut the narrow recess

The narrow recess is cut

Now I'll use the 2" Forstner bit to drill out about half of the waste wood on the wide recessed area

This is how it looks after using the router, it will need some sanding

Here is how it looked after I got tired of sanding

Bath time. Let it soak in mineral oil for 45 minutes, it was fully saturated

With cutting board feet installed and a wax conditioning job done, it's time to count some beans

[macmex]

Beautiful! I had never even heard of a bean counter before this.

[hmoosek]

I’ve been missing in action. I was sick for about three weeks. I turned sick sometimes around the 18th of November. I sneezed, coughed, sneezed some more. I felt like a wore out dishrag. Bacterial Sinusitis is the name they gave it. Today is the first day that I haven’t coughed and the first day Ive felt half human.

woodeye You did an excellent job! That there is just slick as all get out!

[chrysanthemum]

hmoosek , I’m so glad you’re feeling half human again. I’ve had some doozies of cases of bacterial sinusitis in my time. They are no fun at all.

woodeye , thanks for this thread. I’ve read it a couple of times, and I think I’m beginning to get the hang of understanding things like a Forstner drill bit and a router. I certainly have a better idea of how much work was involved in that beautiful bean counter you made.

I have the great privilege of being the blessed recipient of the bean counter, and I put it to use this very evening and took a few pictures to go along with this thread.  I didn’t have very many dry beans, but I had a handful of Woods Mountain Crazy Beans that I’m saving for seed.  I put the unshelled pods in the trough.  My batch was so small that they all fit there.  This wouldn’t work for a large harvest, of course, but I envision the trough being a useful place for doing things like rolling an okra pod to crack it or something like that or just being a staging area.



My ten-year-old daughter was exciting to help me shell.  We made quick work of the beans we had just letting them fall on one side and putting the shells on the other.  Again, with a larger number, I’d have a separate place to put the spent shells.  It just wasn’t necessary this evening.


My daughter wanted to be the one to put the beans in the jar.  She and I both counted out 48 saved seeds.


Thank you, woodeye, for your hard work and giving spirit.  I look forward to decades of bean, luffa, and other seed shelling on this.  I’ve been putting off getting my tiny basil seeds out of their dried flowers (they’ve been inside for a while now).  I may have to work on that just to see how it goes with this new tool.

[woodeye]

You are welcome, chrysanthemum. I'm happy to see the bean counter in action, it appears to be working as it should be. That's great that your daughter wanted to help you with the task, and shelling out 48 beans for planting in the future has the potential of becoming a LOT of beans to shell next year. Thank You for the action pictures. Cool...

Thank You for your comments, macmex & hmoosek. I just bet that you all will be using a bean counter to help with the shelling process next year. Sorry to hear that you were sick for so long, moose. Please get well soon...

[rdback]

Another great project Mr. Teddy!

Beautiful and functional - what's not to like?

Thanks for showing us how it's done!

[heavyhitterokra]

Woodeye,

That was beautiful!

That method is sort of how I count out okra pods, in an attempt to guesstimate how many dried pods it takes to make a pound of seeds. I'll count out 10 pods and put them in a bowl or something, then, I'll shell those 10 pods and place a single pebble in a separate cup when I'm done, then I grab 10 more pods. When my scale gets to one pound, I check to see how many pebbles I have in my cup. It averages out to roughly 75 pods per pound of seeds.

[hedgeapple]

Love my new bean counter! Thank you so much, woodeye!

[heavyhitterokra]

Woodeye,

Your craftsmanship exceeds my abilities by far, and your boundless generosity never ceases to amaze me! This has been a very uplifting thread to read over and over again. Thanks for all that you do.  I sure do wish we lived closer, I've got some 2"x 9"x 9' cherry I sure would like see go to a good home.  I always figured I'd make a fireplace mantle from it someday, similar to what I've seen on such old  favorites as Little House on the Prairie, but I never did get a home with a fireplace to hang a mantle piece on.

Ron

[macmex]

We got our bean counter in the mail, Friday. I have used it several times now. It will be a resident by my rocking chair (close to the wood stove and my ham radio station) where I generally shell acorns. So far I have only used it on acorns, but it works fabulously for that. I will use it soon to finish my Penny Rile Cowpea seed processing. I got a hand crank sheller for shelling beans and it arrived assembled wrong. With my weakness in spatial things I haven't managed to get it to work, but I'll use the bean counter and the old fashioned hand shelling method.

Jerreth took this photo of me Friday evening.

[woodeye]

hedgeapple, You are welcome, I know you will have okra & bean seeds to process later this year, I hope the bean counter helps with those...

heavyhitterokra, I appreciate your comments immensely. There are more bean counters still in the shop being worked on. As with other projects, I've learned some things that help in making them. I found out that I do not have to use a plunge router to make one, so I am using the biggest router I own to make them and it is much easier...

macmex, Great photo! Thank you for posting that. It's good to know that the bean counter is helping you process your acorns...

[hmoosek]

macmex Great photo George! You look relaxed.