The head and foot portions were traced from my pattern, then bandsawed out. Both have a mortise that connects them to tenons in the side uprights. Click images to enlarge

Quilt Rack

Simple but elegant

Text, photos and design by Tom Hintz

   I had confined the majority of my woodworking to pine and other cheap woods in light of my propensity for error. Now, I felt ready to venture into more pricey materials with the expectation that if necessary, I could save the project should my skills fall behind the project at some point.

   The wife mentioned she could use a quilt stand. I had seen Norm Abram make many similar projects from cherry and what I knew of its properties seemed to fit such a project.

   I actually sat down with graph paper this time and designed the head and feet of the stand. Cutting out the drawing gave me a pattern, which I could trace onto the cherry.

   I cut the necessary lengths of stock for the head and foot pieces, then moved to the mortising machine to cut the needed mortises before shaping the stock.

   I band-sawed the head and foot pieces then sweetened them up with the drum sander in the drill press. A trip around them with a ¼-inch round-over bit, then drilling ¾-inch holes for the cherry dowels finished that step of the project.

   Uprights were cut and sized to fit the mating surfaces on the head and foot parts. I cut mortises for the stretchers next. Tenons were then cut to fit. After test fitting the pieces I glued and clamped the sides. When dry, I finished all edges with the ¼-inch round-over bit.

   With all the parts finish machined and sanded, I glued everything up and clamped them together. No metal fasteners were used anywhere in the project.

   The wife took over and rubbed in some cherry stain to darken the wood a bit. The red oak stretchers took enough color to perfectly match the cherry used for all other parts. After a few coats of clear polyurethane the piece was done.

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