Okay today’s mess-around project started when I tried making one of those kinetic wood sculptures, you know, the wavy dancing kind? Used regular pine first. Bad idea. Snapped like a twig second time I bumped it. Got frustrated. Real coffee-needing frustrated.

That’s when Joe down at the lumberyard mentioned larch timber. “Got some spring to it,” he says. Raised an eyebrow, but hey, desperate times. Grabbed some level larch strips – looked decent, felt tougher. Figured I’d beat physics by brute force.

The First Disaster (Expected)

Just whacked together a basic T-shape frame. Bolted one end down solid to my workbench like usual, slapped the larch strip flat across the top as the wiggly bit. Gave it a tap. Nothing. Gave it a whack. Barely budged. That ain’t dancing, that’s sulking. Plan dead on arrival.

Stared at it. Drank more coffee. Realized maybe wood needs to flex, not just resist. Needed some give somewhere else. Scavenged the garage like a raccoon:

• Those old rubber washers from the leaky faucet project (never throw anything out)
• A leftover chunk of dense foam packing
• Plastic grommets from a busted speaker

Getting Stupid (But Productively Stupid)

Ditched the rigid mount. Cut a notch halfway up the vertical support post. Not too deep. Jammed in a thick rubber washer, then crammed in two layers of that foam packing chunk. Messy. Forced the larch timber strip down into that notch so it was kinda sitting on rubber and foam. Used longer bolts and stacked the plastic grommets as spacers where it bolted down. Tightened it just enough to hold, hoping the rubber could squish a little.

Swapped the solid T-bar for a V-shape mount on the bench using scrap plywood. Mounted the base of the larch timber strip loosely in the V, letting it pivot a tiny bit. Used a bent nail as a crude pivot pin through those speaker grommets. Whole thing looked janky. Neighbor would’ve laughed.

The Tap Test (Hold My Coffee)

Took a deep breath. Tapped the free end of the larch strip. It wobbled! Kinda slow, lazy wobble. Whacked it harder. Instead of cracking or sitting still, that larch bent slightly… and the rubber washer scrunched… and the foam compressed… and the loose base pivoted just a hair… the whole dang thing swayed and bounced back. Like a slow, drunk dance. Did it a dozen times. Still holding. Physics actually worked this time!

Played with bolt tensions for hours. Too loose? Floppy mess. Too tight? Back to sulking. Found the sweet spot where the rubber absorbed the sudden hit, the larch flexed a bit with it, and the loose base let it sway without breaking. It ain’t graceful ballet, more like a tipsy shuffle. But hey, it dances! Level larch timber, meet shock absorbing hack-job. Works. Weirdly.