RON BAILEY

Pedestal Project

        

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6 inch Jointer - planes a flat edge on boards prior to joining them
edge-to-edge, to produce wider boards. Ensure the fence is 90 degrees to the planer bed by using a square. A small piece of wood is used to keep the planer guard back temporarily while using the square, then removed for the planing operation.

12 inch Thickness Planer - used to create boards that are of an even
thickness throughout their length and flat on both surfaces.

Sugar Pine boards rough cut using Craftsman bandsaw, and are ready for planing.

Quick check to see how first boards fit after edge planing.

Trial fitting of four boards after edge and face planing.

Once the boards receive their final planing and I decide which boards will go where, I will drill probably three 1/4" holes on the edge of the boards, primarily for proper alignment of the boards while clamping. There is sufficient strength using just glue but the 1/4" dowel pins hold the boards in exact position while clamping. This is the jig I will use for drilling of the board edges and is called "Task Pro Center". On top of the jig is the brad point drill bit and a 1/4" expandable wood dowel pin with grooves.

Boards are glued and positioned for clamping. Look closely and you will see the dowel pins, used to keep the boards aligned during clamping.

All boards have been glued and now require to be cut to final size for each side of the pedestal.

Here I have started to glue and screw two panels together. The screws were sunk below the surface and holes will be filled with wood filler. I have used my work bench and clamps to hold one board in place and blue box to hold the second board. Holes for screws were pre-drilled for the top board. Framing square used to check boards were at 90 degrees. The boards were cut using a circular saw, and my jointer-planer was used to plane the boards to exact width.

Have just added the small triangular pieces in the corners. The white base I have the carving sitting on, will be screwed down to these four pieces so the carving and dust cover will stay in place.

Here you can see that I have located and drilled the corner holes for the screws which will hold the white top in place. I am using a palm sander and block sander for final matching of the white top to the pedestal. You can see the 1/8" steel square rod projecting from the white top. This is used to securely hold the carving in it's correct position. There is a square tubing in the carving base which accomodates the steel rod.

This photo shows the pedestal painted and the white trim is being fitted. I am using masking tape to hold the trim in place before nailing. While in the process of attaching the trim with 1" finishing nails, I found it necessary to remove a few pieces to be trimmed on the compound mitre saw, since they were slightly long by about 1/32-1/16". So it is wise not to drive the nails in too far until all pieces fit well.

My new compound mitre saw used to cut the trim. The laser feature I found quite useful.

This is the filler used for the nail holes and for the corner mitre joints to really make them look great. The filler is white and similar in appearance to latex caulk. Wait to dry and sand very lightly with swiss sandpaper, followed by a light coat of white latex paint to cover the filler. In the picture is a sample of the moulding I used, Alexandria Moulding, 5/8" x 13/4", # is 05689. Prepainted and made from MDF.

This is a view down inside the pedestal, showing a large chunk of walnut. This will add additional stability to the pedestal, although due to the weight of the pedestal itself, I don't think the walnut was really required. The rope will be handy if I need to remove the walnut so the pedestal can be moved easier. Notice the two eye hooks.

The pedestal is now completed. To save time and effort, a product like MDF sheeting could be used, however I decided to use large pieces of Sugar Pine which I had no immediate need for, cut to rough size and planed.