Shaker Round Stand--Patterns

[Joe Arcimboldo]

I'm looking to build a Shaker round stand like the one found in Christian Becksvoort's article in FWW #110. (You can see it here.) The one he builds there is patterned off the original that was either from New Lebanon or Hancock, and is now in the Met.
I really want to get as close to the original as I can. I've seen pictures of it in books, none of the pictures I've seen show the leg in perfect profile, so I'm not sure if it would help to trace it and blow it up on a copier or what.

My questions are these:
Is there a good way to make a template/pattern from photographs? (blow up on a copier, scanner, or overhead projector)

Does anyone know of a good drawing that would give me the dimensions?

Hopefully this question isn't totally gauche; I know back in the day people guarded their patterns with their lives.

thanks for any help you can give....

[Brian Loucks]

Joe,
Check out Shop Drawings of Shaker Furniture and Woodenware by Ejner Handberg, vol 3.
Amazon has it in seperate volumes or all 3 in one hardcover book for about $25. Very good measured drawings of
alot of Shaker designs.
Brian

[Joe Arcimboldo]

Thanks for the suggestion, Brian. I just ordered it and will be interested to see if its in there.

[Dave Richards]

Is there anything wrong with the pattern shown in the link you provided?

[Joe Arcimboldo]

Is there anything wrong with the pattern shown in the link you provided?

Dave, sorry to take so long getting to your question. Its been a busy week...

The initial impetus to my question is that I don't think that the legs look the same on the tables I linked to.
I might be crazy here, but it looks like the leg on Becksvoort's table is different than the original. I really love Becksvoort's work, but on this one, I think his reproduction differs a little. My wife is no woodworker, but even she noticed the differences right off when I put the two photographs side by side.
Of course, the perspective of the photographs might not tell the whole truth either. I dunno.

Anybody else care to chip in here? Do you think the reproduction looks like the original?
Look closely at the sweep of the bottom line of the leg. On Becksvoort's, that arc seems to move in a more perpendicular direction.
Furthermore, the thickness of the legs does not vary in the same way. Look halfway up the leg and notice the difference in that thickness. On the original, its thicker than Becksvoort's at that point.

As Walter Sobchak said, "Am I wrong here, dude?"

[Dave Richards]

Can you post a picture or a link to a picture of the stand you're thinking of? A search turned up a number of "shaker round stands" but in most cases they either look to me exactly like Becksvoort's or the legs are entirely different.

[Joe Arcimboldo]

This is the only photo of the original I could find online.
http://books.google.com/books?id=SvN...%20art&f=false

[Dave Richards]

The pattern in the article looks pretty close to me. Maybe the curve on the inside could be tweaked a little bit. Easy enough to do, though. I'd start by drawing out the pattern for Becksvoort's version and nudge the curve a bit. You could do it full size on hardboard or do it in Sketchup without much trouble.

[Joe Arcimboldo]

Oh, yeah, I've cut my pieces long ago. I decided to forgo the projector or the copier blow-up and just work it out by eye.
I made a full size sketch last week the day after I posted this. I used some plastic curves and did the rest freehand.
I then cut out that paper version, traced it on mdf, roughed it on the band-saw, then shaped it with rasps and sandpaper.
I didn't like that one so I did it again and I liked that one better.
As right or wrong as I got it on paper, making a good pattern still requires a lot of eye. It as to be right on the material.

Soon, I'll put my money where my mouth is and post some pictures. We'll see if I can get something I'm more satisfied with than what master Becksvoort did.

The pattern in the article looks pretty close to me. Maybe the curve on the inside could be tweaked a little bit. Easy enough to do, though. I'd start by drawing out the pattern for Becksvoort's version and nudge the curve a bit. You could do it full size on hardboard or do it in Sketchup without much trouble.