Book stand

[Mike Davis]

My son asked for advice on how best to make this. We discussed it a bit and both decided that I should just build and ship. He needs ten by November.

I was confused about the wood I'm using. It is actually aspen.

Aspen is a good wood for furniture that captures a rustic look. It will take stain and paint well, and it sands nicely too. While it accepts most stains well, it can be beneficial to use a sealer. Aspen is a light wood, but still offers a good degree of durability.

It is a soft hardwood, similar weight as white pine.

 

[Mike Davis]

I had some aspen that I bought from Chris for a class I was going to teach that got canceled. It is close to 1 1/4 so all I had to do was rip it to 5/8.

I made a story stick with a cut so I can later place the blade in the cut to set my stop and make additional pieces to fit if needed.

Then lots of cross cutting.

Next installment will be joinery.

 

[JNCarr]

Looks very straightforward.

 

[Mike Davis]

Looks very straightforward.

Yeah, just simple stuff, someone in chat this morning asked to post progress pics.

 

[JGregJ]

Thanks for sharing the story stick - I'd heard of them, but this may be the first time I've seen one.

 

[pop-pop]

Making a story stick with saw kerfs is a superb technique.

 

[bob vaughan]

If I read that right, there are 120 mortise and tenon joints to be made. That's a lot of work.

 

[HITCH-]

Yeah, just simple stuff, someone in chat this morning asked to post progress pics.

Mike what is the chat that you are referring to?

 

[Mike Davis]

Mike what is the chat that you are referring to?

Sunday morning at 9am several of us use the chat here. Bottom right corner of your screen should be a small button that says chat rooms.

 

[Mike Davis]

If I read that right, there are 120 mortise and tenon joints to be made. That's a lot of work.

That about right, plus’s the 40 V cuts. And he was asking how to do it with his hand tools.

 

[Mike Davis]

That’s enough for today.

 

[tvrgeek]

Mike, I was going to suggest a little carving of the script, but I was thinking one and you are making quite a batch.

Greg, look into more about using story sticks, dividers, spacers etc. Unless you are doing CNC, relative measurements are easier and more precise than ruler measurements. Scale rulers are a pretty modern invention.

 

[Mike Davis]

All the tenons and open mortise cuts are done.

All the riser parts are done.

Shop is a mess and I’m too beat to do anything else.

 

[JNCarr]

Great progress on a lot of piecework.
Looks like your M/T's came out nice and tight.

 

[smallboat]

I had some alder that I bought from Chris for a class I was going to teach that got canceled. It is close to 1 1/4 so all I had to do was rip it to 5/8.

I made a story stick with a cut so I can later place the blade in the cut to set my stop and make additional pieces to fit if needed.
View attachment 213763

View attachment 213762
Then lots of cross cutting.
View attachment 213764
Next installment will be joinery.

I like story sticks, never thought to make one with a saw kerf. Handy. I’m stealing that idea. Thanks

 

[bob vaughan]

All the tenons and open mortise cuts are done.
All the riser parts are done.
Shop is a mess and I’m too beat to do anything else.

I know the feeling.
Great process photos.

 

[ssmith]

Wow, that's a lot of cutting. Is this why you were trying to fix your tenon jig? If so, it sure paid off.

 

[Mike Davis]

Wow, that's a lot of cutting. Is this why you were trying to fix your tenon jig? If so, it sure paid off.

110 pieces, 80 tenons, 40 open mortises, 40 angle cuts.
I did correct the jig, it was not broken, just out of alignment with two design flaws.

So, far two solid days of cutting.

Now 40 mortices in the center of the frames.

Then I can start to assemble, varnish, and attach hinges. The hinges will be surface mounted.

 

[ssmith]

This is quite a production effort, and I'm guessing it would have been far more difficult if you were unable to align the jig.

Thanks for walking us through this BTW; always nice to see final results but better to see exactly how you got them. Now I have to consider buying a tenoning jig.

 

[Mike Davis]

View attachment 213941
The next step in the book stand is drilling some mortise slots. I could measure each one, layout lines with mortise gage and a ruler. But not measuring is much faster and more accurate. I used a pair of dividers to find center of one board and found center of one tenon. Since they were all cut with stop blocks they are exactly the same.

I have several fence boards on the shelf so I chose one close to the size I wanted. Set one of the parts on it and clamped a stop block on one end. Then I clamped a block at the other end with the tenon added to the length.

View attachment 213942
I have a 1/4 inch end mill to drill the mortise holes. I set a temporary block left of the end stop block by the width of the mill. Then moved the end stop block to touch the temporary block.
View attachment 213943
This gave me the distance that the part needs to move for the mortise.
View attachment 213944
Drill out the waste and the tenon fits perfectly.

No tapes or rulers were used in setting up this fixture.