Popular Woodworking – August 2019

POPULARWOODWORKING.COM ■ 33

HISTORIC NORTH CAROLINA

CANDLE STAND

A tapered (not turned) post sets this stand

apart from contemporaries. By Will Myers

I have a thing for candle

stands. These small tables are

quick to make, don’t require a lot

of material to build, and are useful

furniture to own. They make for

excellent bedside tables, end

tables and work well as a stand-

alone piece, too.

I ran across a photo of this

candle stand while searching

for something else—isn’t

that when you fi nd the good

stuff ?—on the online database

of Museum of Early Southern

Decorative Arts (MESDA) in

Winston-Salem, North Carolina.

Most candle stands have a turned

post. Other historic forms I’ve

seen that weren’t turned weren’t

very attractive and tend to be on the

crude side. This one, with its tapered

hexagonal post and shapely legs had

a unique appearance and I was taken

with the table immediately. Best of

all, no lathe is necessary to make one.

The original table listed in the

MESDA catalog was privately

owned. After contacting MESDA,

they kindly helped me get in touch

with the owner who let me measure

and document the original table.

The table, described below, is an

exact copy of the original.

Tapered Hexagon Post

The original table was made from

walnut, that’s what I’m using here,

but any relatively hard species will

work just fi ne.

The hexagonal post for this table

gives the impression of a diffi cult

piece of furniture to make, but it’s

quite simple to lay out and shape.

Start by milling out the post blank

straight and square. Once that’s

done, cut it to fi nal length being

sure the ends are square as well.

Find the center of the blank on

both ends by using a straightedge

across the corners. Use an awl to

make a mark where the lines cross.

Decide which end you want to be

the top, and using a pair of dividers

make a 2" circle.

Use a straightedge and make a

line from the center mark to one

corner of the blank. Using the point

where the line crosses the circle as

a starting point, use the dividers,

same setting as you just used to

1 The original candle stand from

Randolph County NC. Dating from

around 1800.

1