34 ■ POPULAR WOODWORKING
Candle Stand
make the circle, and pace around
the circle six times.
The large end of the post layout is
identical but using a larger 2^3 / 4 " cir-
cle. Be sure to use the same corner
of the post blank to make the starter
line on the lower end as you used on
the top. This will assure the facets,
or the two hexagons, are aligned
between the two ends.
Clamp the blank to the bench
and use a jack plane with a heavily
cambered iron to hog off most of the
waste on one facet of the post. Once
you’re close to the layout lines, fi nish
with a jointer plane. A long straight-
edge is handy to make sure the facet
is straight over the length of the
blank. With the fi rst facet complete,
fl ip the blank over and do the facet
opposite the one you just completed.
Continue on around the post in this
manor until all six are fi nished.
I know you’re probably thinking
that is a lot of wood to plane away,
but it’s only 30-40 minutes of work
to complete the post with just hand-
planes. Using a hatchet or drawknife
to rough out the post close to size
2 Pace out the hexagon on the large end. Use a straightedge to connect the
divider points around the circle.
3 Almost done, planing the fi nal side of the hexagon shape to size.
2
3
would be perfectly acceptable then
fi nish with planes.
Curvy Legs
Using the illustration, lay out the leg
blanks. Be sure to align the pattern
with the grain of the wood so that
the grain is straightest through the
curve just above the foot. This is
4
5
4 Set a cutting gauge to 1" and
gauge around the end of the legs to
lay out the shoulders.
5 To lay out the width of the tenon,
a double-tooth mortise gauge set
to the width (^1 / 2 " in this case) of the
chisel you’ll be using works well.
You’ll also need to mark about^3 / 16 "
from the top and bottom of the ten-
on to create a small shoulder.
6 Cutting a V-groove on the waste
side of the cutting gauge mark
makes for a clean and straight start
for the shoulder saw-kerf.
7 Saw the two long cheeks fi rst,
then the shoulders.
8 Last, cut the tenon to length.