Honestly, I saw some fancy kinetic art piece online made with super expensive walnut or something. Beautiful, sure, but man, my wallet screamed. So I got this idea: what if I could make something wiggly and fun using cheap Hevea timber? That’s rubberwood, basically scraps from old rubber trees, way cheaper. Found a decent sized plank at the local lumber yard. Looked sturdy enough. Famous last words.

Starting Out Way Too Optimistic

Grabbed my trusty handsaw. Measured out roughly equal sections, maybe 10 inches long each? Yeah, I eyeballed it. Precision schmecision. Cut six pieces thinking I’d make a little dancing chain. Sanded the rough edges best I could with some medium grit paper, got dust everywhere. Typical.

Now, the joints. Needed it to move, right? Dug out some small brass hinges I had leftover from a cabinet repair. Seemed perfect. Marked the spots on two sections where they should connect.

• Drilled pilot holes – used a bit slightly smaller than the screws. Felt smart.
• Screwed in the hinges… and instantly saw the problem. The Hevea was way softer than I thought.

The screws just sunk in, chewing up the wood. Held okay for half a second, then the hinge flopped loose. Tried tightening… stripped the hole entirely. Sunk a bigger screw in, same result, just a bigger mess. Hevea timber sucks for holding tiny screws. Felt like a fool. Whole plan busted.

Getting Real and Getting Scrappy

Stared at the pile of Hevea sections feeling pretty dumb. Almost gave up. Then rummaged through my junk drawer – you know the one, full of “might need this someday” crap. Found some thick fishing line and a bunch of those mini metal screw eyes (like little loops with threads). Ding! Lightbulb moment.

• Screwed the mini eyes deep into the top and bottom of each Hevea section. Needed deep pilot holes here too, slowly, carefully. Used a dab of wood glue inside the pilot hole before screwing the eye in for extra grip.
• Threaded the fishing line through the eyes, connecting the sections vertically. Gave it a tiny bit of slack between pieces.
• Bashed together a simple stand using leftover plywood scraps and two uprights screwed into a base. More Hevea would’ve been floppy, needed something rigid.

Hung the chain from the top bar of the stand with two more screw eyes and fishing line. Gave the bottom piece a flick… and HEY! The whole chain started wobbling back and forth! It wasn’t graceful ballet, more like a wobbly drunk after a long night, but it was DANCING! Removable too! Could take it off the stand just by untying the knots.

The Ugly Beautiful Result

Is it elegant? Nah. Looks kinda janky with the fishing line visible. The dancing motion is chaotic and loose. But man, there’s something incredibly satisfying about seeing that cheap Hevea timber wiggle around.

• Pros: Dirt cheap, truly removable, uses scraps/recycled materials.
• Cons: Wobbly hinges were a nightmare, fishing line limits complexity, motion isn’t precise.

Learned heaps. Hevea’s softness is a huge factor – adapt or fail. Fancy hardware isn’t always needed; fishing line and screw eyes saved the day. Sometimes the ugly hacks work best!