I Build Viral Folding Furniture 

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Build challenge: Chris draws plans for a project for John to build, one sheet of instructions at a time, so John doesn't know what it's supposed to look like until the last sheet.

When it comes to projects with precise dimensions and tight tolerances, never convert the units. There will be conversion errors, there will be fractions that get rounded up/down and add up to compound errors which will lead to headaches

Anybody who thinks these viral TikTok videos of folding desks are done in a day by someone in their shed is deluding themselves. They have obviously spent countless hours designing and perfecting the end result before shooting the final video. I love John’s videos for their honesty and genuineness showing warts and all. 😊

I am a weaver... married to a woodworker/furniture maker. It is AMAZING how similar these fine crafts are! So much goes in to the planing and prep, tweaking, covering mistakes, etc, to ensure a beautiful, functional final product- literally hours and hours- and then once things come together, it seems to go so quickly. Bravo on the folding desk. I would use this in a second!

Im a machinist so we use decimal measurements instead of fractional but we just divide or multiply by 25.4 for millimeters or 2.54 for centimeters to get our imperial sizes in decimal form. Im also canadian and spent my whole life using metric measurement to then join a trade that uses mostly imperial. But 1 inch is 25.4 mm or 2.54 centimeters and although its very rare to see .254 metres. A program helps for when you do lots of them but thats the basic conversion. And then if you have a drill chart its easy to find your decimal size in imperial and just convert to fractional

As a German i find it so funny how you guys struggle and still stick to your imperial system. Everything gets easier in metric.

The best thing about your demonstrations is you show the struggles you go through. Too many other channels show a perfect build which you can’t follow. Thanks for the screw-ups 😊

I'll never understand the "I don't need a measurement system that makes sense, I'd rather use imperial" mentality. I grew up thinking that mathing physical items was something I'd never be good at. It wasn't until I got a 3d printer and started working in metric as an adult that I realized I'm not bad at math, American fractions are just unnecessarily confusing? Look, I don't know what all those lines on a ruler are in between the quarter inches, and now I'll never need to. Thanks metric!

The bit that made me chuckle the most, finishing the two triangles... "That took two hours". We've all been there! "I'll just quickly make this thing..." half a day later and we're still faffing. Great vid John & Co.

Best Malecki quote ever!! "I can't talk, I don't know what I'm doing!" 🤣

Just accept it the metric system is better for anything that requires precision. Imperial is fine for rough work or stud walling etc but for any kind of precise carpentry/joinery metric is far superior

I see you popped magnets for the door handle. It made me think you could pop magnets around the frame in all the edges that touch in both positions so when it gets close it gently snap pulls into a flat position, in both orientations. Just a thought.

38:58 minutes of examples, that the metric system is superior

It would be really interesting to see you do a project, just completely in the metric system. would be interesting to see where the challenges are, are they mostly internal because your just not used to it, or are there problems with getting wood only in imperial sizes or something or is imedialtly everything just plain better (unlikely). would love to see it!

Petition to get John to abandon "bald eagle per square PBR" and start using metric for his furniture from now on

As a sewer, sometimes it's easier just to use inches. Sometimes cm. It just depends on the pattern 😂 it takes time, but simply using the measurements straight, if you don't need to adjust, follow the pattern and it will be fine.

watching someone work on a project and hate every second of it and then love it at the end is truly the definition of art

The Asian guy achieved that precision on his living room floor because he used metric. 😂

Aaaand this is why metric measurements are standard while weird unit (imperial) are not 😂

Hey thats me, excellent execution John!

I love this channel! Near the end though, John says "I'll do som tidying up", these are things I'd kinda like to see. He runs into problems early on, and moves forward, where the rest of us just throw it in the trash, being able to see what he does to fix it in flight would be super cool. Love this channel!

30:55 love the candid reality of problem solving. It’s all part of the process of discovery. Great Video John!!!

My favorite projects you do are the ones like this. You know... the super complicated ones where everyone, including YOU, is seeming shocked to find out what you made and that it works almost as planned. I really enjoy every Sunday. Great stuff as always, Thanks for a great start to the day.

Some folding stuff is super cool. I have had a concept idea for a travel trailer/motor home this a fold out rooms ( you can google these concepts and products) as they add massive amount of square footage to a trailer where slide outs do not. The only thing is they offer no way for furniture in it. For example you can add a room about 8 feet wide by 7 feet deep and 7 feet tall in a standard size trailer with a ceiling height of 8 foot. When folded up it would only take up about 1 foot thick on the interior space and could offer a whole host of furniture option built in to the walls and stored in to the walls. If you account for the roof, floor, side walls and the front wall being 3 inches thick. Go a bit thicker for more storage spaces. You could pretty much get 2 layers of 3/4" plywood folding stuff out of it. Everything stored right in part of the wall and or folds out from the wall. The idea is there and while it might take you longer to set up you could very well have a 40 foot trailer that normally has around 300 square feet of area expand to nearly 900. This is the size of a small apartment. In theory you could have a 3 bedroom 1 bath and kitchen with dining room and living room in a trailer. The options are endless. Then if you were to put solar on the roof and then solar on the walls ( the walls become roof when you expand ) you could have a really nice solar array of nearly 15kwh.

Seeing that you have sn international audience is there any way you can include metric measurements in you videos PLEASE. I struggle to visualise what 5 16ths of an inch is.

I love how you uncover the perfectness of tiktok. The door opening looked alot smoother, but given the many pivot points, its quite janky to open, even when finished

Would love to see you compare the 10-in-1 type tools with the single use type tools and see if they are really worth it.

The secret to projects like the wall desk is that you don't measure or even plan for it to be a specific size. You build it and cut and drill each piece to fit as you go. Then you just show the final assembly like you had planned it all along.

To be fair. For that cabinet they give about half an inch between the doors, and the cut the video between pulling to start opening it and pushing to finish opening it so they cut the part where it goes all wobbly and weird

Most of the mistakes comes from not using the metric system

I love these videos, as not only is it just a cool project, but it shows that even professionals struggle to get things right every time. It is inspiring and goes to show you that the end product is cool, but the process of over coming an obstacle is the best thing you get from it. Great work!

I really appreciate that you show the struggles. Makes complex projects like this seem less scary.

Other RU-vidrs make complex builds look easy. John Malecki makes complex builds look EVEN HARDER.

Monday to Saturday, I think I am an ok woodworker; Sunday, I watch John and relearn that I am nothing. John, thank you for keeping my ego in check

Just want to say I appreciate you all for going through this. I'd have chucked it in the scraps bin and gone for lunch about halfway through. They look great at the end. Well done for superhuman persistence!

Challenge idea: do a whole project using only metric! 😈

Metric is logic AND works better...

Awesome build, I love it when people get out of their comfort zone. I would love to see you building a guitar!

The moment he said I know you’re on the toilet killed me. 😂😂😂 I had barely been on the toilet for a minute.

Very nice build. Super entertaining video. Not the most practical table, but great fun to watch you build it. I have an idea for a build (or carve...), but I am not sure, I can explain it; from 1 piece of wood cut 3 (or more) interlocking/interlacing/interlinking pieces (each piece do what chain links do). Once cut, you should be able to tilt the 3 (or more) pieces out into a double cone shape, with the two cone tips on top of each other. When closed, they lie next to each other in the length of the original piece of wood - much longer than wide, for instance 20 " to 30" long, but only 4" x 4' square. Flipped out into the double cone shape it should be able to function as legs for a small coffee table. I hope, that makes sense. It might have a name, but I don't know it.

I wish the Shop Shades could come with prescription lenses! Finding prescription safety glasses is a nightmare… then finding a pair that fits… horrible! The Shop Shades look like they’d fit great but I feel like I’m better off seeing what I’m doing then walking around blind lmao

You should totally invite followers to the shop and have them go head to head building something with one person from the team as help. Whoever wins can keep their piece they build and you John judge the work.

Nice having the sawstop but I still wouldn't have pulled that slice of wood out from the blade at 4:17 with it spinning.

The cabinet looks awesome, maybe a drawer handle might work better than a knob so you move both pivot points at the same time instead of dragging the bottom one along. problem would be getting to perfect length handle to matches the pivot points.

28:35 FWIW, you nailed his last name! Unless you speak polish, you wouldn’t know that his first name is pronounced “Mah-chey” (Mathew). Just discovered this channel, and I’ve been really enjoying it!

Just found your channel for couples of days now, and ive been binge watching ur videos both here and in ur second channel. Always love ur enthusiastic attitude in every video!!!

Your persistence and resolve are amazing John. Great job.

Man you bring me down to earth again. I love the fact that you show how difficult it is actually

So quit talking bad or down about yourself you do a fantastic job. Nobody else is sitting here doing it. You’re doing a great job so quit putting yourself down.

Measuring in none freedom units is way easier and you don't have all the annoying fractions. Maybe it would help with accuracy in the shop😅

and this is a perfect video to show why metric is better lol great vid tho

Great job and love seeing all the struggle and fine tuning! I just wanna point out that your version of the twisty door is done with waaay less leeway inbetween the top and bottom halves compared with the reference video. Bigger gap I think would have solved the turning problem easier since you have more space to play with

its amazing how people even come up with these concepts. whoever made this first was 100% an engineer lol

Very cool projects! I have to say, though, that one short board on the desk is driving me crazy 🤪

Do a shot every time John says 'send it'

Build Challenge: John works through an entire project with calm and patience.

I love that we see you progressively hate woodworking more and more throughout the video 😂 I mean I know you actually love it, but the frustration looks real!

I want that folding desk you just made. 😢 ❤ It's so beautiful! 😍

The triangle thingy looks cool but will get rekt anywhere near children or drunk people.

thank you for show the struggles you go through.

Love these types of vids John I just tried my first ever epoxy river table at the age of 15 and hoping to get my first sale on Etsy so thanks for there types of vids they rlly help

Always love a good John Malecki video!

2 things: I feel like making the door a solid rectangular piece and then cutting out the triangles would simplify the joinery. Also, this would make a badass kit that you could batch out on a CNC and sell online. As someone who only makes things out of 2x4s and garbage scrap wood, this was mind boggling to watch.

Watched this so long my legs went numb and the toilet paper didnt work, so i had to take a shower. By far the best dumping videos.

Love your videos, super cool projects! 😍Congrats to 1M! 🥳 Much love from Germany, and happy Easter! ❤

Why not print templates on an inkjet instead of trying to transfer such detailed measurements by hand?

You need a Ron Swanson Funko Pop for your shop!

Making it real. Watching you make those was enough for me. Not a bit tempted to try those.

Metric is superior in all ways

turns out old fashioned craftsmanship is a lot more hard work than pouring epoxy over everything. who knew?

Why didn't they just do it in metric, it's not that difficult. If the drawing says 152 mm then just find 15 on the measuring device and add two extra notches (out of the 10) shown between 15 and 16.

This was incredible to watch! I love that you try stuff you've never done before.

John Malecki, hats off to you for taking on this woodworking challenge! It's clear you put your heart and soul into every cut and joint. Despite the ups and downs, you've emerged victorious with a masterpiece that speaks volumes about your passion and perseverance. Keep on making magic in the workshop, John - you're an inspiration to us all! ✨🪚 #woodworking #craftsman

As a Canadian that needs to use metric and imperial, let me tell you Americans metric is simply better.

Yo table king you and the others across the pond are crazy. Surely it’s alot easier working in mm? (Metric)

😂 “the worry is I’m not straight “ “ HA!” 👌👌👌 shout out to the editor

If you can count to 10, you can use metric effectively

why did you not cnc it or laser cut it

Congrats on 1M! Waiting to see what you have planned. Keep it up!

Well I wasn't watching this on the toilet before, but now that you mention it... I should finish it on there. Thanks for the reminder.

Laser cutter is making smooth and clear acrylic edges and it is effort less and perfect corners!

You amaze me, John. "I don't know what I'm doing", well hell kid, you do a great job of faking it then! This was really enjoyable, and even though I still don't know how they work, they are really cool. Thanks for sharing.

John didn’t want to let that fact that the dude made the desk in his apartment go 😂

Cabinet, I couldn't stop yelling the other guy had a gap between the top and bottom. 😂

Thanks for making this video, i really enjoyed the longer one. Each of these projects could have been their own video, but I liked having 2 in one episode

I would love to see this with different shades of deep jewel hues.

Glad to see even pros have difficulties with things like this, loved the vid, end products were cool but obviously could be better which was a relief in some ways but also inspiring.

CONGRATULATIONS ON HITTING 1 MILLION🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉 ORANG JUICE MAN

Half the video was an ad lol. But the other half was good too.

John, those turned out sweet. Jump more into furniture building. You will love it. I’d love for you to tackle a beautiful coffee table with storage using tambour doors. I know you can make this and you will love building it

Absolutely Incredibly Amazing. Made my head hurt though lol

I can't even hammer a nail straight but I felt mighty smug when you said you were going to convert the measurement. (Only because whenever I convert a baking recipe I'm sweating and agonising for like 2-3 hours over if it's accurate or not, it's a living hell).

I think you're too hard on yourself. These are absolutely beautiful! I would definitely use these in my home! You guys did a phenomenal job!! 😊

Biscuit hinges might have worked for that little box

What about some magnets between the pieces of the weird door thing? Might add stability to the jank

Love it, Snack depot looks like it might be of the mini mart variety. You guys need a bigger Snacbinet, this one might need to go to your kid.

Really great to see all your failures and how you managed to pull through regardless, engineering your way to eventual success. I liked that video a lot ...

Thanks for keeping it real and not just showing all the polished work. Sometimes, you just have to adjust things to move forward. Great job and they both turned out good.

Not gonna lie i havent seen any better merch plugs than how you do them