Building Your Own Carving Stand - Issue #46

[Shannon]

Hi gang,

We've received a few questions about the carving stand that ran in the last issue. We really did our best to fully explain the construction and provide illustrations that would help you complete the project. We do understand it is a bit more "woodworking" than what we normally present in the magazine, and therefore might present some unique challenges.

I've asked the author, Jim Farley, if he would be willing to help troubleshoot here on the message board, and he generously agreed. While I doubt he'll be checking the board on a daily basis, please feel free to post questions here. Jim will check periodically, and other members may be able to help you as well.

[Shannon]

Oh - and in the materials and tools - under table support - it reads 11 3/8 - it should be 1 3/8. I apologize for the error.

[jimfarley65]

Hello Guys and Gals,

Don't worry too much about the woodworking, its actually more glue and screws than proper woodworking but goes together pretty quick! If you have any questions, post and I will try to reply as quick as I can.

Thanks

Jim

[Martin Lauzon]

Hello and thank you for this forum,

On some pictures of the carving stand we can see something not present in the plan. On the table, at each end, there seem to be two pieces of wood (opposite grain of the table). I think it may not be essentiel but I would like to know if it would increase the strenght of the table or if it was simply a decorative piece?

[Shannon]

I'm sure Jim will respond to this as well - but it was a decision we made here at the office to leave that portion off. We were trying to keep the project as simple as possible - and the stand will be quite sturdy without the trim.

[CraigK]

Rather than pose a question about the carvers stand, I would prefer that the author (or other) verify the measurements given to be sure every thing adds up.. If there are significant corrrections I would certainly apprerciate the revised version.

[jimfarley65]

Hello Martin,

The table has "bread board ends" to keep it flat. Not a structural component, more for looks on such a small piece of wood. Any flat piece of wood will do.

Even if you use if for removing large amounts of wood from a sculpture, the table will not split as you have screwed the table to the supports underneath on each side of the hole. If you own a router, putting the "edges on" takes another 15 minutes and looks good.

I will review the measurements again this evening to see if there are any differences. I work in metrics so if you are looking at the inches - you are actually seeing numbers that have been converted. The actual measurements you use are not that important, you can make the stand larger or smaller depending upon your carving projects. I use it for blocks up to 18 inches.

The only measurements that should be the same - are the spacers between the posts and the two center pieces of the table support. If these 4 pieces are all the same thickness, the whole assemble slides up and down easily with little or no wobble in the table platform.

Cheers

Jim

[Martin Lauzon]

A big thank you to Shannon and Jim, from me and my students, these informations and precisions will help me a lot. We are big fans of the magazine and hope to see many other high quality projets like this carving stand.
Martin

[jimfarley65]

Hello Martin,
looks like the 1 3/8 is correct. Probably a typo. I checked the metric numbers for the rest and they are correct. If your in doubt, convert. 1 in. = 25.4 mm Cheers
Jim

[BobD]

My rule of thumb for metric conversions is that 5/16"=8mm

A bit of trivia: 8mm and 5/16" wrenches are the only wrenches interchangeable between the Imperial and metric systems.

Bob