A great weekend project to help build your woodturning skills

Here’s a relatively simple project that doubles in function and beauty. Build it this weekend and you’ll soon have additional “closet space” – PLUS – a classic, traditionally-designed “piece of furniture” that blends well with practically any decorating scheme.

All you’ll need are one 4″ x 4″ x 8′ and one 2″ x 4″ x 6′ pieces of lumber plus eight dowel pins and two double-ended dowel screws. That’s it! We used redwood for its natural rich color and ease of turning….but any soft, easily-turned hardwood will work equally well.

First, decide on your design. Ours is pretty traditional and you should have little difficulty duplicating it by following the drawing. You could try a straight tapered pencil-post design with a Shaker flair…or a more contemporary design. The choice is yours.

Start the building process by cutting your 4″ x 4″ stock to length, being sure to allow an extra 1/2″ on each end. Separately turn and finish sand (while on the lathe), each of the three main spindle parts (A, B, and C).

Next, resaw some 4″ x 4″ scrap into1-1/8″ square pieces 12″ long for the six coat pegs (E). These can be most efficiently turned end-to-end, two at a time, from a single length of stock.

TIP: For added efficiency and a dead-on match, use Shopsmith’s Lathe Duplicator.

Now, lay out the legs (D) on your 2″ x 4″ stock.. Start by cutting the angle for the leg tops. Drill the 3/8″ dowel peg holes using the MARK V’s Horizontal Boring Mode. Be sure to set up some stops so all (8) holes are drilled in the exact same relative position.

[Use your Bandsaw to cut out your four legs. At this point, you can either round-over all leg edges using your Belt Sander or an inflatable, Contour Sanding Drum …or you can create more intricately shaped edges using a Router set-up, or a Shaper and the cutter profiles of your choice.