Fr. Thomas Bailey’s Book Stand

Viewer Project - By Fr. Thomas Bailey from Conception, MO
Added on October 27, 2013

It had been 6 months since I last set foot in my woodshop because of work. I decided it was way too long and that no matter what, I was going to spend a Saturday in the shop. I wanted a project that I was able to start and finish in one day, and so I decided on a simple book stand. (I entered at 9:00 am and after the last coat of varnish it was 10:30 pm.)

I enjoy the look of blended/complementary woods and wanted to add that element to the piece. After dimensioning the stand’s top (9.5″x13″x1″), I used a straight bit on the router to take out a 2.5″ strip on the edge at a little less than 3/8″. I flattened it out and took it down to 3/8″ with a jack plane. I clamped it all up for several hours and worked on the base, which is made out of 3/8″ thick doussie that was cut at a 15 degree angle. I also built a spline jig, glued up a small piece of doussie, katalox, and maple and shaped it into the book rest, and created a one-off template for the rounded corners. The rounded corners received a katalox spline. The base legs were joined to the top with a simple stop dado joint. The finish was a shellac sealant layer and three layers of brushing varnish with a light sanding between coats.

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