Next I moved onto the fabrication of the Tri-Pod Bases
The base will be made from this board of solid Sapele.
My original plan called for 1/16th Anigre veneers to be glued over a form. Then trace a pattern over the glued up lamentations and cut out the base in one solid lump.
This is the profile of the leg.
The initial cut yields a shallow domed waste piece.
The "waste" is used by gluing it to the top of the board.
The profile template is re-positioned over the glued up board to mark the final profile.
The final cuts on the band saw yield the tripod.
I glued up triangles where the three legs will meet and be joined with loose tenon joinery.
Next-The legs get dadoes cut for the matching joints.
All the joinery has been cut- The grooves will be filled with loose tenons for the joint.
Each loose tenon is cut to size.
Cleats are screwed to each leg so there will be something for clamps to bare pressure against.
A two-part epoxy will be used to glue the assembly together.
The cleats screwed to the legs allow clamps to pull the structure together.
Somewhere under there is a three legged base!
After the glue sets-(at least 24 hours) I start the process of refining the profile and surface of the structure- lots of hand filing and sanding,
Still some sanding and filing to go but they are taking shape.
A great deal of time was spent coming up with the final base design. -This design is simple looking in shape but requires careful planning in the execution of the fabrication process.
I went so far as to make the form and begin the lamination process but it didn't take too long for me to question whether this technique would yield a piece that was solid and strong so I abandoned this plan and pursued a modified solid wood design that I had used in a couple of earlier stands instead.
After all this effort I was still not sure of the long term strength of these pieces-especially at the narrow transition point from the arch to the foot. So I made further modifications-I added a round plywood layer under each foot- Then cut dado grooves from the under side and epoxied plywood splines into the grooves to provide cross-grain strength.
I added longer splines under each arch. I cut grooves with a router and hand chisels then epoxied plywood splines for an "I-Beam" type of reinforcement.
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