Plant Stand in Oak and Beech



Mostly just a decorative item but can also protect a surface from ring stains and moisture.

I used off cuts of Red Oak left over from a tripod lamp and Beech left over from a chopping board cut to size on my bandsaw.

I used a cardboard template to size and then mark out the outlines and motice positions.

I used a marking gauge to mark out the mortices reading for cutting.

Drilling out the majority of the material saves time when cutting the four mortices.

Starting to cut the tennons into the Beech cross memebers.

Finishing the mortices with a 6mm chisel, a scrap block placed under the leg prevent splitting of the otherside of the mortices.

I removed the majority of the material from the tennons in the bandsaw ready to be finished to size by hand.

All the parts ready for trial fitting and final finishing.

Trial fitting of all the parts to ensure that I had snug fits for all the joints.

Marking and cutting the centre cross

All joints are now cut and I can start finishing the parts ready for the final fit.

I profiled the first leg in the bandsaw and finished by eye with the plane.

The other three legs were match marked, and cut to a rough shape.

The first leg was used as a template to plane the final profile of the other three legs, again a scrap block in the vice ensures correct alignment.

I had sanded each part to the desired finish and used two clamps to force each pair of legs home in turn. The friction fit of each joint was sufficient to hold it in place even without wedges but I used a small spot of wood glue on each joint to secure it.

Comparing the template to the finished profile. Partway through the build I decided I wanted the cross memebers that the pot sits on to be a little higher, as you can see compared to the template.

and finally the finished stand, I used a sander to trim the legs and ensure the stand sits flat without rocking.