Make It Little!!

I found Tessie wandering around in the bedroom this morning. She was trying to get acclimated to the new arrangement.

I noticed that she was putting post it notes on various pieces of furniture. Puzzled, I got down on my hands and knees and read one of them....It said, "I want one of these."

Looking around, I counted seven such notes.....

It seems that rearranging furniture is not a good idea. Tessie notices things that she didn't pay any attention to before.

One such item was a magazine rack from the 1930s. That one had a #1 on it, so I assumed that she wanted that one first. OK. Simple enough. I have been wanting to do this one for some time now. It is unusual in that, it is one sided. There is a front and a back to it. No pockets on either side of the handle like most magazine racks that were made later.

If you want to reproduce a piece of real furniture, measurements are a must. With quad rule pad in hand, I started sketching the piece and taking notes.

Here's what I came up with. Six pieces of wood and a symmetrical turned spindle. I had one that was about the right size, so I was all set.

Using 1/16" bass, I marked and cut all of the pieces with an Exacto knife. I find that more accurate than my scroll saw for doing tiny cuts. It only took a piece of wood about 1 1/2" wide and 5" long. In the first photo you can see the layout. Not at all complicated. The bottom and the interior pieces have to be the same width. The sides and the bottom have to have the same measurement where they join. The spindle has to be a bit longer because it goes through the 1/16" sides through a drilled hole.


Here you can see the pieces cut out and the fancy shapes roughed out with the Exacto knife.

After that, I sanded the edges with a quarter piece of an emery board. I cut the emery boards at a diagonal across the middle and then each half is cut lengthwise. They work much better for getting in tight spaces when cut this way.

Next, I stained all of the pieces with Min Wax Early American. I also stained part of the pattern.....I never said that I was neat!

I used my gluing jig to assemble everything. the back piece sits on top of the bottom piece. Then with the spindle glued in place, the side pieces glue to the sides of the back and bottom. The bottom sits about 1/8" above the ground.


It is nice to have a piece of wood that is smaller than the width and about 1/4" high to put inside when placing the middle divider and the front. That makes them stay in a straight line.

When you get it done, it should look somewhat like the one that Tessie is balancing on in the photo. She has already taken possession of the little one. I have to fight her for it now. I need to put the final fancy work and finish on it, before she can use it.

The center front has a black oval with a basket of flowers on it and some gold pin striping around the edges. Unfortunately the original design is all but lost on the oval. I will just have to wing it from here....If I can get it away from her, long enough to paint it.

Wish me luck! See you tomorrow.