Thursday, January 14, 2016

Make a Simple Tea Light Candle Stand





These tea light stands are simple to make and don't cost a lot of money. I picked up some maple and oak at the green box store for about $10 and a pack of 16 tea lights at the dollar store for, well, a dollar. I wanted something a little different from the tea light stands I'd seen, so I went with this
podium style pyramid. I decided on just using a thin piece between the bottom and the top to create a floating effect. I wish I had used a smaller piece, I think that would have enhanced the floating effect.

For the bottom I ripped some 3/4 inch thick maple to 5/8 inch wide and some 3/4 inch oak to 3/4 inch wide.

I cut them to lengths to make 3 bottoms with some excess, about 20 inches.

I applied an even glue coat to the maple strips and clamped them together. I used some scraps covered with packing tape as cauls on top and bottom the keep the surfaces aligned.


I measured and cut about 8 inches of the maple and oak to make 3 tops and ripped them down to a thickness of 1/2 inch and glued them up in the same manner.



I cut the bottoms to 6 inches and the tops to 2 inches.

I marked the center of the candle holes, used double sided tape to attach them to a board to help hold them, and drilled 1 1/2 inch holes at 1/8 inch deep.



I used a chamfer bit on the router table to chamfer all the edges of the top and bottom.



I ripped some scrap oak to 1/8 inch thick and used the miter box to cut them to 1 3/4 inch long.

I did some final hand sanding.

I glued the thin strip to the top.


After that dried, I marked the position for the top with some painters tape, glued the top to the bottom, and used a block to help align.


Finally, I applied several coats of spray lacquer.



Free plans are available in Sketch Up and PDF formats.


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