BONSAI STANDS - 4
I couldn't glue up the tallest stand until I had a top on the smallest stand. That's because I want to have a "bridge/ shelf" that will be supported on one end by another high stretcher on the side (or sides) of the tall stand and by the top of the smaller stand on the other.
With the short and medium stands done I needed to find some redwood for their tops. Back to rummaging through the old fence boards behind the shop. Here are two that I found - after scrubbing / brushing off the dust and dirt they'd accumulated over 30+ years. They're each a tad over 11 inches wide and the surfaces are textured - the softer "spring wood" worn down some by years of exposure to the elements, such as we have in Northern California (I can hear the Michiganders (?) and Minnesotans saying - "Elements!? You don't have REAL weather - at all. WE have WEATHER!)
As you may be able to see in the picture above - I had some cracks and checks to stabilize. Fortunately I had plenty of CN super glue type glue - a necessity if you do turning. A couple of framing squares stuck together to create a "window" the size I needed the tops to be, a little sliding it around and I found what I liked. Some cross cutting, a little ripping and it was off to the router table to chamfer the bottom edges in order to visually thin down the thickness of the top - and add a little more "lift" to the look of these stands.
TIP:
When routing a profile on a board, start with the end grain and work clockwise if you're going with a hand held router, or do the end grain first if you're using a router table and fence. Also a good idea to cut the profile in stages rather than trying to hog everything off in one pass. I made the last passes at 1/64th of an inch and the last pass at about 1/128th of an inch. You get a nice finished surface doing it this way
Here's what I've now got - with the tops just sitting on the cove "lip" The tops are a little cupped at the moment but I'll glue them onto some baltic birch to flatten them a provide a little more stability to them. GORILLA GLUE TO THE RESCUE!
NOTE TO SELF - Next time, skip the bead in the outside corner of the legs and go with a half inch or 3/4 inch round over instead.
