Project: Shaker Style Candle Stand (Updated)

[Jim Becker]

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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[Matt Meiser]

I really like the original, and the new one looks like it will be even more stunning. One of these has always been on my project list, but I've never gotten to it.

[Jim Becker]

I broke out the MicroFence setup to cut the circle with a router and since I couldn't find the attachment for my Dewalt DW618, I opted to use the old PC 7129 that I did have the attachment for. This setup does a great job and leaves a reasonably nice edge for finishing later.

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And here is said top...I'm really happy with the figure. It's nice working with one board for the whole project (other than the turned spindle) as everything matches in grain and color. I wiped a little mineral spirits on this to get a look at what is lurking in that wood.

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Next, I began the refining of the legs which were rough cut at the bandsaw. All three legs were stacked using some double-stick tape so they will end up "identical". The first step was at the table saw truing up the edge that will engage the spindle and the bottoms of the legs that will sit on the floor.

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Next, the stacked legs were taken to the OSS to smooth the edges and bring all the contours even over all three legs.

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And a little hand work paring with a sharp chisel finishes off the legs.

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[Jim Becker]

So here is today's work...a table top, three legs and (not show) the under table support that engages the spindle.

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The next steps will involve turning the spindle to spec from a yet-unbought billet of tiger maple, cutting the sliding dovetails in the spindle and fitting the "male" dovetails on the legs, finishing the edges of the table top, and final assembly. That will have to wait...my work will keep me out of the shop until sometime next weekend and I may not have the opportunity to source the spindle billet before then.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Jim..........Thanks for posting! It gives me some idea on how to continue with a similar project. I personally like the the shaker style spindle. SWMBO likes something a little more ornate, unfortunately. Thus my project will be a whole lot less like the original shaker table.

[Keel McDonald]

Very nice Jim! The step-by-step tutorial helps many of us, not to mentions it makes for good reading. Please continue to post progress and pics of your stand.

[David Duke]

Nice work Jim, while your original is very nice I can't wait to see the tiger maple.

[Alan Tolchinsky]

Very nice Jim. I couldn't think of anything better to do on my birthday than ww'ing. It looks like you had a fun b-day to me. Thanks for the great tutorial.

[Martin Shupe]

Nice tutorial, Jim.

May I ask about the notches at the top of the legs? Is that your idea, or CHB's?

Can't wait to see the rest of the story, as I have this project on my list of "things started, but not finished".

Are you going to keep it light or stain it to pop the curl?

[Corey Hallagan]

Great looking project and great photo story you are putting together. Going to be a looker when done. Jim, is there a circle cutting jig made by dewalt to fit the DW 618?

Corey

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Martin....I'm betting that notch is to hide the dovetail in the spindle.

[Von Bickley]

Jim,

I think this is the perfect style of table for the woodworker. You get flat work and round work on the same project.
Thanks for the pictures...

[Jim Becker]

May I ask about the notches at the top of the legs? Is that your idea, or CHB's?

CHB's design. They allow you to fair the legs into the spindle cleanly since the dovetail is cut with a router...you have to make the male dovetail "short" unless you want to chop out the round dovetail mortis and make it square. No point in that...it's buried in the piece...unless you just want to do the work.

Are you going to keep it light or stain it to pop the curl?

Undecided. I have a little scrap to experiment with. This will be new for me.

Jim, is there a circle cutting jig made by dewalt to fit the DW 618?

I don't know if they have one or not and the so-called "high speed" Internet in this hotel is, um...glacial...so I hope you'll pardon me for not searching it out. That said, it's REALLY easy to make a circle cutting trammel for a router and pretty much every router book has one or more of them to choose from. It can just be a piece of 1/4" hardboard/plywood screwed to the router base and a small hole for a short screw or nail to act as the center pivot point appropriately placed at a distance from the cutter edge/center.

[Corey Hallagan]

Thanks Jim, very true and I forgot, my Pat Warner base has can be used to make circles but not that large. Again, can't wait to see that grain come alive!

Corey

[Jim Becker]

Sunday I actually got the opportunity to work in the shop and chose to turn the spindle for this candle stand project...finally. Thanks to Andy London, I had some very nice figured maple stock to work with. Next step will be to form the dovetails on the three legs and mill the dovetails in the spindle...the latter operation is done on the lathe using the indexing in the headstock and a router on a jig that fits to the ways.

Billet mounted and ready to turn...I skimmed it on the jointer to be sure I had the figure mounted the way I felt it would best serve the project.

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Billet turned round and ready to form into the shapely curves

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And here we have the spindle fully turned and ready for the sliding dovetails. It will be reversed on the lathe for that as I wanted the heavier portion of the project closest to the headstock while turning it to shape. I wiped a little mineral spirits on to show the figure...which is pretty darn close to what is on the top and legs. Thanks again, Andy!

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