Romance Writers & Readers discussion
Fun & Random
>
A nifty gadget - let's make it niftier!
date
newest »
newest »
Showing this to my hubby. Could be awesome.
Looks pretty cool, I'm not a bath person though, because I get bored when I just sit and don't do anything, actually I usually prefer to be doing at least two things at one time so just reading in the bath would make me edgy, but I am positive that you'll manage to improve it, I like both your ideas already!
I thought the exact same thing about the knee when I saw it. Most tubs are a standard size but what about one's that aren't? This makes the securing it more challenging. I personally don't have a tub in my house but I have a two person hot tub on my back porch. But there are so many different sizes and configurations there that custom would be the only option. Maybe some kind of hook screwed into the wall on that side with an eye on the board. I can't see the floor so I'm just guessing...but a floor eye and something like a bungie attaching to another eye on the underside of the board. But that requires drilling into your wall and floor so I'm not sure if the person will use it enough to justify that. Just an idea.
If you make it work we should all invest and you could market them...I'm sure they'd sell...lol!
Nifty indeed but the phone bit would terrify me!
I loooooove baths! That is my favorite place to read. However, I have never read with my phone or ipad ever in the bath. I can just see an accident happening and I would cry forever if it ever did. I am a lover of paperbacks in general, so I always read a paperback while taking a bath. So, if it were for me, I would want something that can hold an actual book in the middle.What is pictured above would never work in my bathtub. It's too circular for what's pictured. I've actually seen this before...I think at Bed, Bath, and Beyond...maybe. If you google it, you'll see lots of different ways to make one.
When I did a quick search, I liked the ones where you slide the wine glass into a slot, so the bottom of the glass is secure. The one above looks like it could wobble some.
I've always loved this idea, but my bathtub is too large for any of these. Show us the finished product when you're done. I'd love to see it!
Update: After some research and discussion with a couple of fellow carpenters, I found out there are in fact sturdy suction cups which would hold the board securely to the bath. Between that and some vertical pieces on the outside edge of the tub (to prevent sliding), it should stay. My lovely and talented fiancee also suggested an easel-style clamp for the Kindle. I'll be building two of these over the next couple of weeks (both for fellow romance authors, whose husbands were kind enough to get me their bathtub dimensions in secret). Will snap some pictures so y'all can see the process!
We are still allowed to post pictures, right? I remember reading that we're not allowed to link anything. Do embedded pictures count on the "no" list?
Okay, so I finished it! Here's my version...
The gray knobs are for suction cups, which hold the thing down. The slot to the right is for the wine-glass, the person I made it for decided the wineglass I gave her was too small and the big one didn't sit right in the slot...she's choosing to be unsafe, lol.
Anyhow, already have ideas on how to improve the design. Any thoughts here?
Definitely nifty. How much are they going to cost?
Kathy wrote: "Definitely nifty. How much are they going to cost?"I'm not sure yet. The first two took quite a bit of labor, but that was mostly me figuring out just how the heck to solve the problem of "kindle/candles/wine falling into bathtub". There were a few failed half-designs involved.
If I had to guess, I'd say $150-200. I'd try to get the price down lower with design improvements of course. :)
I'm a carpenter, so building what's pictured wouldn't be hard. However, my do-it-better instincts are already buzzing with ways this nifty idea could be improved.
My first beef; it would be way too easy for an errant knee to knock the contents of the board into the bath...and in my view, drowning's an awful fate for both good wine and an e-reader. So far all I can think of is suction cups to hold the thing in place, but the pragmatist in me says that's not sturdy enough.
Second beef; sure, cutting a slot in the board for an e-reader is a great notion, but not all readers are sized the same. two small blocks spaced to hold a variety of readers at a specific angle would be more functional.
It's a great basic idea though. Anyone else have any suggestions? I do plan on building these for the women in my life. ;)