A few years ago I made a nice Shaker style candle stand out of cherry...we enjoy having it in our home as it's just the right size for so many uses. Accordingly, I decided to use a nice tiger maple board I acquired awhile back to start another one...same design; different look. Here's my first one in case you've not seen it before:
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Speaking of the design, it's one by Chris Becksvoort that was originally published in Fine Woodworking. I work from the same article as published in Taunton's In the Shaker Style on page 54. (ISBN 1-56158-396-0) I like the simplicity of this design as well as the fact that it provides a good opportunity to combine flat work with turning. I also like some of the subtlties that Becksvoort put into this piece, such as the slight taper of the legs from 3/4" at the "root" down to 1/2" at the tips. This brings them into wonderful proportion to the 1/2" thick top. Unlike Becksvoort, I wouldn't never do that tape on the jointer...I prefer a belt sander for this...'much less of a "raise the hair on the back of the neck" operation!
At any rate, I got started on this project today by milling the lumber for the top and legs at the jointer/planer. I also cut out the legs at the bandsaw as shown here.
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The top was glued up and allowed to set for a few hours while I and the family enjoyed a nice birthday dinner and desert.
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The top was leveled in the drum sander and then worked over with the ROS up through 180 grit.
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And this is the result...a very nice blank to form the top from as continued in the next post.
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