Grandma's Magazine Rack

My Grandma sent me a letter a few months back asking if I could make her a magazine rack for her magazines and crossword puzzles. She drew me a rough picture with dimensions that would make it the right size for her chair. I forgot to take final pictures before I gave it to her, but this is what I have.

It is made of white oak. The legs are laminated and tapered. This was my first time hand chopping mortises and I learned a lot from it. I added a top (which wasn’t in her design) and she loved it. The most difficult part was figuring out where to place the hinges for the lids (they open outward) so that they wouldnt be an eyesore, but would still be functional. To do this, I again hand cut mortises on the outside top of each leg. The result is a smooth open, a hidden hinge, and a bonus lid stop (they hit the legs when fully opened). The rack also has a removable divider in the middle.

This was a first for many things: Designing and building from scratch, hand chopped mortises, resawing on the bandsaw and tapering legs.

Needless to say, she loves it and sent me pictures. All my grandad got was a pen.

-- If you ain't a Gator, you must be Gator bait.