Thought I might prototype the joint. This took me about 10 minutes over at MIT. John, Jinhee and I were expecting Phil to take this on, he’d told us such. But after 3 weeks of waiting I decided to do it myself.

Functional, I’m not totally happy with the lateral strength, but it works, is fast, and didn’t cost much.

But I haven’t been happy with the bolt/ bushing/ washer combination joint John and I cobbled together. This type of joint is actually pretty tough, and this just wasn’t going to hold up long term. So thought I love the cost ($2/ joint) we really need something a bit better. Problem is the proper joint from McMaster Carr would cost something like $12/ joint.

But today when I was up at Rockland, a woodworking shop in Somerville, I asked about this issue and they produced this magic little joint for $5/ joint. It’s great, just what we needed. It’s meant for gliders and swings, but it could have been built specifically for us it’s so perfect.

Lesson: ask people questions. Actually, I’d already talked to 3 people in the shop, but sometimes you need to find the older guy to get the best help.