Folding Book Stand

Prototype Creation

Production Sequencing

 

Design

Phase 1: Wood Selection and Surface Prep

Phase 2: Milling

Phase 3: Sanding, Finish Application

Phase 4: Assembly and Rivets

Phase 5:Finishings and Final Product

 

Design

 

This folding book stand design is from Christopher Schwarz in the June 2018 Popular Woodworking...info available online here.

 

A video of the folding and unfolding available on Vimeo...
My Sketchups...center piece

Phase 1: Wood Selection and Surface Prep

Step 1-1 Cut List

Wood selection for the prototype is cypress...I have worked with it recently and had plenty of cut-off material laying around, plus it easy to work with, for the most part approaching 4 square.

Later assemblies will vary widely as to type of wood.

To make these bookstands two at a time...the blanks must be minimum 3/4 up to 4/4 thick...with
8.5 total inches of width (could do 2 x 4.25)
and with at least 16 inches of length,

Step 1-2

After wood selection, some of the stock is surfaced, resawn at a fat 1/4 inch and this thinner piece is then thickness planed to 3/16 inches.

Step 1-3

Secure core material...need 3/8 finished material.

Here a larger resawn board stock is thickness planed down to 3/8 inches.

 

Step 1-3 Later Alternative

Some 1/2" maple was thickness planed to ~3/8 inches board stock, then chopped and ripped to make the core rails and stiles.

see cut list...

Phase 2: Milling

Step 2-1a

Rip all stock...follow the cut list instructions for the 3/8" stock.

See PDF for more detail...

Step 2-1b

Rip all stock...follow the cut list instructions for the 3/16" stock.

See PDF for more detail...

Step 2-2

chop the stock...
1 inch, 4 7/8 inch, 5.25-inch, 7.5 inch

in total, ~90% of these chops are at 7.5 inches

 

Step 2-3

verify all sizes and handplane as necessary

 

Step 2-4

Assemble the center piece, glue up, verify sizing, plane as necessary

 

Counterbore

Schwarz recommend a flat-bottom counterbore bit No 630-100 from Timberline...and I purchased one because I intend to make numerous iterations of this bookstand...tried it out...very clean.

This has a 1/8" shaft with a 3/8" counterbore.

 

Schwarz also recommended #12 3/4 inch copper rivets from Hanson Rivet and Supply...I got a lb. of them
Secured a Tandy #12 rivet/burr setter...this is a great tool, nice and heavy, and it works very well with leather, for example...but for this project the shaft is too big for proper depth set on the burr and doming depth on the rivet.
Ordered an leather craft assortment set off eBay...non branded...
Continued working on rivet skills...found out that this worked better for me...the thin material I selected was 1/4 inch maple laying around.  
   
   
This PDF has in depth rivet location information along with detailed milling instructions for all joints and for all material pieces...change this to new ALT pdf...  

Rivet map and joint milling instructions

This PDF has in depth rivet location information along with detailed milling instructions for all joints and for all material pieces.

 

Wide jig for counterbores...

To ease the production of this stand and the many more that I plan to build, I follow CS instructions and made a jig for counterboring the central assembly.

I used thin pieces of stock and squared up an edge and pinned it with 23 gauge......carefully spaced out the two sides at 2 5/8 inches.

Secured the jig at the drill press...will be able to make a counterbored hole and then slide the stock to the other side of the jig and drill the other one...and they should be exactly 7/8 inches apart.

Narrow jig for counterbores

I made a narrower jig with carefully spaced out sides at 7/8 inches.

This jig will be used with all of the 7/8 wide x 3/16 thick rails and stiles to make a 3/8 counterbored hole in the appropriate ends of rails and stiles...and also be able to locate the centered 1/8 post hole on the other end, as needed.

 

Step 2-4

Each center assembly gets two counterbores on the back side at the top (joints A1 and A2) and two counterbores on the show side at the bottom (joints A3 and A4).

Each counterbore = 3/32" deep, set the 1/8" center shaft to stop short of going all the way through, then drill through and oversize the 1/8" hole with a 9/64 bit.

 

 

Step 2-5

The bottom edge of the center assembly got a 7/16 roundover...this piece is 3/8 thick and I rounded the piece at the Rigid oscillator.

 

Step 2-6

The 3/16 inch thick top rails get a counterbore on the front show side at joints A1 and A2...they get a counterbore on the rear side at joints A5 and A6.

These counterbores are done with the narrow jig.

Step 2-7a

The ends that received counterbores typically also got roundovers...the 7/16 inch roundovers were marked out with a template...

Step 2-7b

...with the thinner material I opted to chop off the waste...

Step 2-7c

...and then hand sand to the line.

Step 2-8a

Before sanding and assembly can happen...all six rivet joints must be dry fit...all the rounded edges will have to cooperate with each other.

This image shows the front show view...along the top all four joints (A1, A2, A5, A6) show burrs and domed rivets...at the bottom of the center assembly the flat rivet heads show.

Step 2-8b

This image shows the dry fit frame from the rear...along the top, all four joints (A1, A2, A5, A6) show the flat rivet heads...at the bottom of the center assembly burrs and domed rivet show .

Step 2-9

sand

 
   
Sanding and Finish Application
   
Assembly and Rivets
   
Ran a CTD rivet through a 1/2 inch blank...
 
...set a rivet washer on the shaft...
 
...none of the rivet/burr setters really worked right...kept trying a variety of tools and finally found that a x inch nut driver worked well...it fit over the shaft, onto the burr, and fit inside the counterbore...
...and beat down the burr...it was a pretty good set.
Snipped off the extra shaft and domed the remainder with the rounded convex surface of the setter.
 
   
   

 

Final Product

   
   
   

 

 

 

 

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