Woodworker's Journal 2009-33-1, страница 31

"Nothing can completely prevent an unsupported top

like this one from curling a bit over time."

Single-shoulder tenons set these legs apart from other typical Shaker pedestal stands.

Woodworker's Journal February 2009 31

curly maple in one long session at the lathe, transformed itself into the buckled shape of a potato chip after one day in our heated home.

I took a more cautious approach to making the second top. First, I planed the 5/4 blank flat, removing perhaps a 1/4" of thickness, and placed it under the couch in our heated living room for a week. Next, I mounted it on my lathe and removed another 1/4" of thickness and gave it a second week under the couch. Then I reduced it to its final thickness, leaving it fatter than the the first top. The combination of approaches — reducing the thickness in stages so I could turn away any deformation that occurred, and leaving a greater final thickness — resulted in a more stable top. But I know that nothing can completely prevent an unsupported top like this one from curling a bit over time.

A slow lathe speed is very important when turning an object with a diameter as large as the top of this candlestand. That's because the rim speed — the speed at which the work passes the tool — is determined not only by the lathe's rpm, but also by the diameter of the object mounted in the lathe. For example,

candlestand top, and before you remove the work from the lathe, use a pencil on your tool-rest to create a couple of concentric circles on the bottom of the candlestand top. These circles should be just a bit larger than the diameter of your faceplate. Then, after removing the faceplate from the upper side of the candlestand top, use these concentric circles to align the faceplate on the bottom of the candlestand top. When you're mounting the faceplate on the bottom side, it must center on the same axis of rotation you established with the faceplate on the upper side.

I actually made two tops for this candlestand. The first one, which I turned from a blank of kiln-dried 5/4

I began work on these bevels by free-handing penciled guidelines to indicate the limits of the bevels. I created the bevels with a spoke-shave, a rasp and sandpaper. I roughed in the one-shouldered tenons with a backsaw, hand-planing each to final thickness one shaving at a time.

Many years ago, when I first began to build tripod tables, I undercut the shoulders on the leg tenons in order to get a tight fit of shoulder against the round base of the pedestal. Otherwise, there will be a wide gap between the shoulder and that round base — which curves away from the shoulder. However, several years ago, I began to cut a narrow bevel on the base underneath the shoulder instead. This bevel allows the shoulder to fit snugly against the base.

Tips for Preparing the Top

I turned the top while it was mounted on a faceplate. First, after mounting the faceplate to what would eventually be the upper side of the top, I cleaned up the bottom surface of the top, turned the filet under the lip on the top's edge, and then shaped — by scraping — the bottom half of the lip itself. I then removed the top from the lathe, took off the faceplate, and remounted it on the bottom side of the top to complete the lip turning and to dish out the excavation. This last process removed the material containing the screw holes made by the first mounting on the faceplate.

Note: After you've done your shaping on the bottom surface of the