BONSAI STANDS - 3
Played with the coved frame for between the top of the arpon and the bottom of the top as well as testing a wide chamfer on the bottom edge of the table top. Chamfering the table top's lower edge adds more lift to the look of the piece - so I'm going with them.
With the base of the three worked out and all the parts done it was time to fine tune the fit and alignment before actually glueing things together. The critical area is the top of the aprons to the top of the legs alignment since the coved frame would go on top of them. That alignment had to be close to perfect. Adjusting things is where loose tenon mortise and tenon joints come in handy. You can pull a loose tenon and sand it to get the alignment you want. This allows for some very fine tuning.
Once again it was Take Everything Apart, carefully keeping things organized in order to keep track of what goes where - and how. Because these stands will live outside in the elements I decided to go with epoxy rather than TiteBond III. Chose 30 Minute Epoxy to give me plenty of time to get glue on everything, fit parts together and have some time for tweeking things before tightening the clamps. This was not going to be a 5 Minute Race To Set Up Time. Been there, done that and use the T-shirt to wipe up stuff.
TIP #1
Delis and Chinese Take Out places often have special tooth picks - for sandwiches or samples.
Like their more delicate, and regular, cousins, they're flat - sort of point on one end and a nice sized flat end with rounder over corners. And they're two or three times thicker than their cousins. These things are great for mixing and applying small quantities of epoxy or just getting regular glue into mortises, dovetails etc.TIP #2
Office supply places like Office Depot carry big rubber bands. These things are great for holding things together temporarily. They were used to hold the coved frame for these bonsai stands together during glue up. Very handy things to have around the shop. $8 - $10 will get you a bag of a variety of sizes. Cheapest clamps you'll every buy!TIP #3
If you want corners that are suppose to be squared to be square during glue up make yourself some MDF "Square Up" corner blocks with 1 1/2" to 2" holes for clamping. Cut off the "inside" corner to keep it away from glue and for when the parts are offset - like stretcher or apron to legs on a table.
