Pedestal Stand - Beveled Miters - Options?

[giradman]

Hi All - I've been away again for a while but now asked to do some projects for my local Unitarian Fellowship:  1) New pedestal  for a chalice (old one particle board w/ veneer peeling/chipping); and 2) Possible replacement of a 40+ y/o lectern that is falling apart - but the first job is the pedestal (shown in first pic below - far left w/ chalice).

I submitted a handful of pics to the building committee - they liked the middle ones in the 2nd pic - I'll do in oak to match the 'new' chairs in the background - SO, just received a red oak bundle from Wall Lumber and am thinking a 3-part project: 1) Make the 10" square pedestal; 2) Do the base; and 3) Come up w/ a slightly different design for the top which will be about 12" square.

As stated, the pedestal will be about 10" square and 36" tall - how to bring those 4 oak boards together - I have a table saw and could do long 45º bevels but 'glue-up' would be a mess w/o splines/biscuits/or other aligners? I was opting for rabbets on 2 boards and then would round off the edges w/ a router (done that in the past and looks fine).  OR, I have this Rockler bit (last 2 pics below) which seems ideal, but have never used before - my router table is the Lee Vly one (metal top) w/ a 2 HP P-C router - the bit is 1/2" shank - I'm seeing a LOT of wood to be removed and the need for incremental cuts and hold-downs, plus 8 sides would need to be cut!

Thus, asking for advice about the best and most accurate way to make this pedestal from solid oak (of course I could go to particle board w/ butt-dowel joints and then do oak veneer?) - how can I bring these 4 boards together safely, easily, and quickly - would appreciate any comments and advice - thanks in advance - Dave

.

[GlenS]

That router bit would be a great option. It's tongue & grooved so there is a lot of glue surface area there. Plus it registers itself which makes it easier to clamp solidly. Wood has to be milled to near perfection but I think it would work nicely.

[Cooler]

You can get a perfectly satisfactory result by cutting the 12" boards from 3/4" plywood.  Then simply miter the edges on the table saw. 

Tape all the edges together with packing tape.  Apply glue and fold it up.  Tape the final edges together.  Check for square and allow to dry.

This is surprisingly strong as every other ply in the plywood will be face grain to face grain.

I would add a square panel top and bottom either with dadoes or on mounted cleat.

If the miters do not close perfectly rub them with the shaft of a round screwdriver to close them.

It makes a very clean appearance.  It is quick and easy.  I've found it to be remarkably strong, but not much strength is required.  The top and bottom panels will assure squareness and will add to the strength. 

Add a plinth or and a top and you are good to go.  

I first cut the boards to length and width and the cut the 45 degree cuts on the table saw.

I make a sacrificial fence and relieve it to just under 3/4" and the off cuts rattle around a bit but there is never any kickback.

[giradman]

You can get a perfectly satisfactory result by cutting the 12" boards from 3/4" plywood.  Then simply miter the edges on the table saw. 

Tape all the edges together with packing tape.  Apply glue and fold it up.  Tape the final edges together.  Check for square and allow to dry.

This is surprisingly strong as every other ply in the plywood will be face grain to face grain.

I would add a square panel top and bottom either with dadoes or on mounted cleat.

If the miters do not close perfectly rub them with the shaft of a round screwdriver to close them.

It makes a very clean appearance.  It is quick and easy.  I've found it to be remarkably strong, but not much strength is required.  The top and bottom panels will assure squareness and will add to the strength. 

Add a plinth or and a top and you are good to go.  

I first cut the boards to length and width and the cut the 45 degree cuts on the table saw.

I make a sacrificial fence and relieve it to just under 3/4" and the off cuts rattle around a bit but there is never any kickback.

Thanks Guys - I like the look of that bit but just afraid of the amount of wood being 'hogged off' - assume that I could make multiple incremental cuts - the wood is oak - or possibly do a 'partial' 45º bevel w/ the table saw - hoping for someone to 'chime in' who has used that bit - from the comments at the Rockler website, spot-on accuracy is needed.

I've used the 'tape method' on small boxes w/ bevels and worked fine - but these will be about 3 foot length, 10" width boards - like the idea of putting 'squares' inside which would really help to get the 90º angles right.  Dave

[Cooler]

Thanks Guys - I like the look of that bit but just afraid of the amount of wood being 'hogged off' - assume that I could make multiple incremental cuts - the wood is oak - or possibly do a 'partial' 45º bevel w/ the table saw - hoping for someone to 'chime in' who has used that bit - from the comments at the Rockler website, spot-on accuracy is needed.

I've used the 'tape method' on small boxes w/ bevels and worked fine - but these will be about 3 foot length, 10" width boards - like the idea of putting 'squares' inside which would really help to get the 90º angles right.  Dave

I built a coffee table using that technique (which I learned from Fine Woodworking magazine).  It has been in use for nearly 20 years.  It has a lift off top for storage and casters on the bottom for moving.  Made from 3/4" red oak ply it is as sturdy as the day it was built.  

The sacrificial fence is a must.  As is the fairly wide (about 3/16") relief cut just under 3/4" height.  That allows the blade to bury into the fence slightly and leaves enough room so that the off-cut does not kick back.

I would cut four 12" wide pieces to length and then cut the miters afterwards.  I ran a few lengths of filament tape across my table to make the miter a bit on the tight side.  It raised the side of the board by a few thousandths and that made a perfect miter.  

But even an imperfect miter can be addressed as I described earlier with a round shaft pressing the edges together.  But a few sample cuts will allow you to fine tune the miters.  It looks a lot better than butted joints and is easier than any of the router bit options.

[giradman]

I built a coffee table using that technique (which I learned from Fine Woodworking magazine).  It has been in use for nearly 20 years.  It has a lift off top for storage and casters on the bottom for moving.  Made from 3/4" red oak ply it is as sturdy as the day it was built.  

The sacrificial fence is a must.  As is the fairly wide (about 3/16") relief cut just under 3/4" height.  That allows the blade to bury into the fence slightly and leaves enough room so that the off-cut does not kick back.

I would cut four 12" wide pieces to length and then cut the miters afterwards.  I ran a few lengths of filament tape across my table to make the miter a bit on the tight side.  It raised the side of the board by a few thousandths and that made a perfect miter.  

But even an imperfect miter can be addressed as I described earlier with a round shaft pressing the edges together.  But a few sample cuts will allow you to fine tune the miters.  It looks a lot better than butted joints and is easier than any of the router bit options.

Hi Cooler - thanks again for your response above - I have the Steel City saw shown below (except mine has a cast iron top) - the blade tilt is to the left as in the second pic - I know that I could put the fence on the other side and thus have a number of options, but do not completely understand the use of a sacrificial fence; plus, I lose a lot of fence support once one bevel is cut - sorry about my confusion but I've only done several bevel cuts on this saw over the years.  Thanks for any additional information - I've been subscribed to Fine Woodworking for years but usually just tear out the articles of interest - will look in my pile?  Dave
.

[DaveR1]

Hog off most of the waste with the table or bandsaw.

[BrentDH]

If you were willing to tolerate a small chamfer on the corners you could just do deep rabbets on both edges of two opposing sides (maybe like 5/8" deep on a 3/4" board) and then chamfer that 1/8" corner.  The chamfer will hide the fact that you are actually looking at the edge of one of the boards and will completely mask the joint.  Hopefully that makes sense without a picture.

I do not know haw fancy you were thinking on the lecterns but here is a thread with a picture of two fairly basic ones I built a while back.
https://forums.woodnet.net/showthread.php?tid=7329195

[Hank Knight]

Dave,

FWIW, I use the lock miter joint a lot, both in plywood and solid wood. The self-aligning feature is a joy when it comes to the glue-up. I used to hog off the majority of the material so the router bit didn't have to work so hard. The last few times I've made the joint, I just ran the stock through the router table without preliminary hogging off of material. It worked fine, but I had to take it a little slower than I ordinarily would. Many find the set-up for the lock miter bit troublesome. It is tedious, but not impossible, and once you get it set, cutting the joint is a breeze. It helps with set-up if you have a good supply of test boards that are exactly the same thickness as the stock you're going to use for the pedestal. Make test cuts, adjusting there height and depth of cut until you get it right. You might want to save a sample joint once you get it dialed in. The sample will come in handy if you want to set the bit up again later for another project.

Hank

[giradman]

Dave,

FWIW, I use the lock miter joint a lot, both in plywood and solid wood. The self-aligning feature is a joy when it comes to the glue-up. I used to hog off the majority of the material so the router bit didn't have to work so hard. The last few times I've made the joint, I just ran the stock through the router table without preliminary hogging off of material. It worked fine, but I had to take it a little slower than I ordinarily would. Many find the set-up for the lock miter bit troublesome. It is tedious, but not impossible, and once you get it set, cutting the joint is a breeze. It helps with set-up if you have a good supply of test boards that are exactly the same thickness as the stock you're going to use for the pedestal. Make test cuts, adjusting there height and depth of cut until you get it right. You might want to save a sample joint once you get it dialed in. The sample will come in handy if you want to set the bit up again later for another project.

Hank

Thanks Hank for the comments above - I decided to switch to red oak plywood (will use my solid oak bundle on several other projects) and had a local lumber year cut up a 4'x8' 3/4" inch sheet into 4 2'x4' pieces, so plenty for the project and test pieces - will decide tomorrow what approach to take, saw table beveling is simple but the interlocking miter w/ the tongue-groove is attractive - guess that either 'done well' would work.  Dave