Jefferson's bookstand--a total geekgasm

I saw that too. I don’t remember if he showed how it swiveled or not. I wuold be the top just sets onto a dowel pin that is sticking up out of the base.

-- Debt is nothing more than the 21st Century's form of slavery.

Perhaps a sort of large wooden washer perhaps 1/2” thick oiled with mineral oil or another non-polymerizing oil would make a nice bearing between the base and the stand. Or, you could make the washer and put a thin piece of slippery plastic between it and the moving part. It wouldn’t quite fit the period of the piece but it wouldn’t show, either.

-- Until you spread your wings, you'll have no idea how far you can walk.

If yoiu look closely, you can see a little bit of what looks to be the dowel pin in the center of teh base. I would bet the support is at the top and the bottom end is stablizes. Go here http://www.monticellocatalog.org/110000.html you’ll see better what I mean.

-- Debt is nothing more than the 21st Century's form of slavery.

topamaxsurvivor has a good point…. I looked at the pic he linked. Dave R is also on a good track with the plastic piece…. I have utilized this with folding tables out of wood and it works great. I think that the dowel or some sort of metal turning/ball bearing hardware is used. But… i think you could do this also very simply “drilling” holes with a “halfround” sort of router bit and make holes in a cirular pattern (six holes maybe) and using a half round bit will leave the bottom of the hole semi-circular. You can buy steel balls or marbles (marbles from a toy store for childern are cheap) and put these in the holes. Then in the middle, drill a hole through both pieces, and in the top piece, screw in a metal thread piece, one that accecpts a machine screw that you can sink flush with the bottom of the bottom piece. Put you screw in and tighten it just enough so it turnes easily but does not “wobble”. a drop of thread locker or whit glue will work to keep the screw from loosening.

This type of system works really well… I have made a turning “sausage buffet” platter out of ash wood. The bottom was out of MDF. It still works well.

-- Nicholas, Journeyman Cabinetmaker, Partenkirchen, Germany

Glad to see someone else is trying to find dimensions for this project. I posted on this same subject last week. Roy’s show gave no dimesions, and only covered the book stand portions, with nothing on the base. I contacted PBS in North Carolina which was a waste of time. I e-mailed Roy and have had no reply in the last month. I finally e-mailed Monticello’s research library. They stated in their reply that they are looking and will get back to me if they find any plans for the bookstand. I’ll let you know if I hear anything.

He does give dimensions, just not complete ones. Each of the “faces” is 9×12. From that you get a 12×12 cube and that means the top support is probably 12×12. What isn’t 100% clear is if these are only for his version or also reflect those of the original.

You can see too in the video a little bit about the rotation mechanism. It looks like a single dowel through the middle with a large washer at the top. There was too much shadow to see if there was a large washer at the bottom below the stand but I’d imagine so. And it isn’t completely clear how those washers are fixed to the central support. My first guess would be something like a cotter pin (wooden of course).

The idea of making something like a needle bearing but with a blunt end like ball bearing or marble sounds good too.

Knowing the stands are 9×12 one could guess at the size of the moulding used to keep the book from sliding off. Looks like it might be around 10” to 10-1/2” long and maybe a little more than 1” wide and 3/4” to 5/8” thick. Depends on what you have around for moulding profiles as to what would look “right”.

-- Don't sweat the petty things and don't pet the sweaty things.

It wouldn’t surprise me if the top of the center dowel is rounded over like the end of a shovel handle and there is a corresponding depression for the turning part to set on it. They probably used an oiled leter for a bearing back in the 1700’s or maybe poured babbit. That shouldn’t be too hard to duplicate form the picture using any dimensions you want. I thought about making one, but I don’t know what I’d do with it ;-)) Too far behind on all me other projects anyway !! ;-(

-- Debt is nothing more than the 21st Century's form of slavery.

naomi weiss,
I would just turn a wooden bearing and wax it. I’ve got a sewing chest I built in my projects that shows the hidden compartment and I just turned a ring and waxed it. Turns beautifully and with quite a bit of weight on it as well. Have a look/see, I hope this helps.

Sincerely,
Ken McGinnis

-- woodbutcher north carolina

Topamax is right. It is a version of a Chippendale Birdcage Pivot. It was originally designed for a tilt top table that also would pivot. The bookstand uses the cage to support the shelves and the center dowel is the pivot point. I would go to my public library and see a couple of furniture books and make some reference copies for the shop.

-- Easy Peasy Lemon Squeezy-May all your dovetails fit tight and right the first time

Wow-everyone has been amazing with feedback. What i was hung up on (i feel silly saying this) is which part spins? I think (from the comments and thinking more) that the column is stationary and the stand swivels around it?

The reason i wanted to make it the old-fashioned way is because in Israel, believe it or not, it is impossible to purchase lazy susan bearings!!! We invented the CAT Scan, the Intel chip, Instant message, etc., but lazy susan bearings and bedbolts? We scratch out heads, puzzled. It’s frustrating, to say the least. I had tried finding flanges (same blank look), and i was on my own. This is not the most woodworker-friendly country. Sigh…Union Label, that’s also why the public library idea is out, as well; it’s a great idea, and if i were in cleveland, i would get out underhill’s book that probably has the plan, but the resources in America are incredible—especially the library system in cleveland…

Anyway, I got my hands on some ridiculous ball bearings (photo to come) for about the equivalent of $4. My mother kindly went to woodcraft and picked me up some LS ball bearings for $1.50! Incredible! My hardware arrives with a friend in a few days.

But meanwhile, i don’t have a plan! I mean, i have basic dimensions, but i suppose it’s time to suck it up and be a real woodworker and figure it out! ;-)

I think i can take out the central column because of the bearings…right? And that would perhaps enable the user to store books inside the cube as well…

BTW—is it rash to consider the breadboard ends a waste of time? I was thinking of using pine boards (that’s the only wood i can touch out here. Hard wood is EXPENSIVE, and i am a student, and a complete novice at woodworking, so for now, it’s my only material) and just bevelling the sides on my router table…

Woodbutcher—i haven’t had the pleasure of turning (yet) but i do look forward to it—i have a book called router magic and i think there’s a plan to make your router into a lathe (does that sound scary?).

Anyway, maybe i will post my progress to keep everyone up to date. I really appreciate everyone’s time and effort in reading and writing responses!

-- 'Humility is a duty in great ones, as well as in idiots'--Jeremy Taylor

wow, i totally forgot about jeffersons inventions. what a cool project to build. it’ll look sweet in my library.

anyway, with regard to your question, naomi, i’d bet that the column is stationary and the stand swivels around it. it would be much easier to maintain stability that way.

however, i wonder if the top and bottom are fixed together or if you can just slide the top off the column/dowel and separate them completely. there’s really no need TO keep them together, and that would only add more friction points. I’d say: rounded top of dowel in a squared-bottom round hole in the top would be smoothest operating.

Here are some weird bearings i managed to find at the hardware store:

Any idea what they’re for? I bought the one on the left…

This is a massive lazy susan i saw in a shop, and i peeked under, and saw that it’s an axle with 2 castors or wheels underneath…perhaps an alternative?

-- 'Humility is a duty in great ones, as well as in idiots'--Jeremy Taylor

I think it was suggested above, but consider something more like a needle bearing than a ball-bearing-in-a-race to support the spinning.

The center post would be fixed. At the top of the post is a metal wear plate with a small dimple (pointing down). In that dimple would ride the “needle”. The needle in this case could be an acor cap nut, the needle in a needle bearing isn’t always sharp.

To keep the assembly from wobbling, you will need to find a way of guiding the base in a circle. A collar on the shaft or guides might work.

Just some things to think about.

-- Don't sweat the petty things and don't pet the sweaty things.

naomi weiss,
Try this since you are into the bearing thing. Rout a concave circle using a core box bit 1/2 the depth of some copper tubing, whichever diameter you can find to use.Now bend the copper tubing into a circle and epoxy into this groove you routed. Drill a flat bottomed hole, using a forstner style bit 1/2 the depth of the base wood thickness, 3/8” in diameter in the center of the base. Insert an aluminum rod that is 3/8” diameter and flat on one end (this is the base end) and rounded or convex on the other end (this is the top plate side). Drill a convex hole in the center of the plate 1/2 the thickness of top plate. Liberally wax the copper tubing and place the top plate down on the aluminum centering pin and spin the top plate! Build the rest of your bookstand on this top plate.Knowing that you are limited in what you can access in materials, this should work fine since you can’t turn a bearing surface on the bottom plate. Hope this will help.

Sincerely,
Ken

-- woodbutcher north carolina

naomi weiss,

I am currently working on this same project and have completed the first assembly of the rotating frame. This frame is constructed of two 10.5” x 10.5” x 3/4” separated by four 9” x 2” x 3/4” pillars. The base will be 12” square x 3/4” with a 1 1/4” axle shaft through the center, 9.250” high. I will inset a glass marble in the top end of the shaft to be the bearing surface. I will install a piece of sheet brass in the top mateing hole that will bear against the marble.

I hope this will be of some asistance to you and others.

A snug fit around teh center dowel on the bottom of the rotating cube should suffice for anti-wobble.

-- Debt is nothing more than the 21st Century's form of slavery.

Thanks, Spanky. Some of the description left me with some questions [but that’s because i am a remedial woodworker! ;-)]
So, i made this pathetic sketchup drawing

So, Dave—it looks like i could use some Sketchup pointers! I watched some tutorials—on Sketchup for woodworkers—and they were great. I just have some basic questions—like automatically centring objects, etc. But is suppose for a crude rendering it kind of does the trick. It also reminds me how simple the project is (i tend to make simple things complex. could be a woman thing…). Anyway, thanks everyone for looking and commenting! Keep ‘em coming (please)!

-- 'Humility is a duty in great ones, as well as in idiots'--Jeremy Taylor

Wow, seeing the post with the SU drawing makes me embarrassed—there are so many nicely drawn sketches on this site! Ah, well, it will be a marker to gauge my progress ;-)

-- 'Humility is a duty in great ones, as well as in idiots'--Jeremy Taylor

Don’t be embarrassed, Naomi. I’ll help you get going. I’m just leaving for work. When I get there, I’ll drop you a PM.

-- Until you spread your wings, you'll have no idea how far you can walk.

Cheers, Dave! I am having such a silly basic problem—drawing a 10.5 square evenly within a 12 square! I am also realising that though the frame is smaller, there is another piece of wood on the top of the frame that gives the overhang, and it’s from there that the four easel boards are suspended. Perhaps it’s not so simple after all!

-- 'Humility is a duty in great ones, as well as in idiots'--Jeremy Taylor

im sure Dave will get to it, but i can help you right away with the first issue. Use the “Offset” tool. it’s on the large toolbar set, or the modification bar. Say you draw the 12” square first. You then click the Offset button, click the face of the square surface, then move the cursor to the right place (or input the exact offset distance – in this case 0.75”) to get a 10.5” square. It will work for any geometry.

If you havent discovered it yet, using the “instructor” helps you learn how to use the tools. Of course, discovering the tools themselves is a different matter.

I had only a few minutes so I banged out this rough thing. It’s missing a lot of details but it’s a start.

So, Naomi, start at the bottom and work up. There are a number of ways you can center your 10.5 inch inside the 12 inch square. You can use guidelines set in place with the yellow Tape Measure tool to identify the centers of the larger square. Drag the guidelines in from the edges until you get to the center of an adjacent edge. Repeat that in the other direction so you have a pair of guidelines that cross at 90° in the center. then drag out a guide line from each of those center lines 5.25 inches to one side. Their intersection will give you the starting corner for the 10.5 inch square. Just start drawing the square with the rectangle tool and type 10.5,10.5 and hit enter. Presto! 10.5 inch square centered on 12 inch square.

Before you add the smaller square, make sure you’ve made the first one 3D with Push/Pull and then made it a component. After you’ve drawn the smaller square, and given it thickness, make that one a component as well.

PM to follow.

-- Until you spread your wings, you'll have no idea how far you can walk.

Just saw your post Aaron. Offset would work unless you want to keep the parts separated. this would be a great way to put in a rabbet all around the edges but if it’s two different pieces of wood that you want to draw…

-- Until you spread your wings, you'll have no idea how far you can walk.

Dave-it’s amazing! Thanks! I decided not to run to the place to order the wood today (prob smart).
Aaron, thanks! I knew it was .75…i don’t know why i doubt my ability to do simple maths and then make it harder! Bah!
I was watching tutorials about the guidelines but i couldn’t seem to get them…
I have made components in the past, but how do you access them again? Do you have to save them as templates?

-- 'Humility is a duty in great ones, as well as in idiots'--Jeremy Taylor

By “access them” do you mean reuse them in other drawings? Or do you mean editing them?

If the former, you would save the components in a local file—you can add a folder under the Components folder in SketchUp for your components and then drag the components from the In Model library to the new location. This is all done inside the Components browser window.

you might find some useful stuff here.

-- Until you spread your wings, you'll have no idea how far you can walk.

dave: huh. you’re right! i only tried it with 2D surfaces and just assumed it would work in 3D. it obviously does not. well, lets see… (trying it out)... I got it to work by making a 12” square 3D box, using a sacrificial 12” surface drawn on top of the 12” 3D object, then offsetting to 10.5”, pulling that out, then deleting the 12” surface. hope that makes sense.

naomi: sorry, hope i didnt confuse you. it wasnt so simple as i let on. still, its not complicated.

Aaron, you’re right about it working on a surface of a 3D shape. You’re idea of using a sacrifical 12” square would definitely work. You could draw the 12” square, make it 3D (Push/Pull) and make it a component. Copy it up (or down as the case may be), make the copy unique, open it for editing, use Offset to get the 10.5” square on the surface and then use Push/Pull to push away the outside waste. It might not be the fastest but some folks might find that a more intuitive method.

-- Until you spread your wings, you'll have no idea how far you can walk.

I hope these pictures will be helpfull.

Spanky, that’s incredibly helpful! Thanks so much! Can’t wait to see the finished project!

-- 'Humility is a duty in great ones, as well as in idiots'--Jeremy Taylor

Hey, Spanky—Looks like you found some plans (or struck out on your own and developed some yourself). Either way, can you be persuaded to share? My son became interested in Jefferson and all the things he ‘invented’ after visiting Monticello. He took a fancy to the revolving book stand, and I think it would be a great project for us to do together. Will probably teach both of us a little about woodcraft and how well early Americans were able to design and build intricate pieces with rudimentary tools.

Anyway, if you or anyone else on the board can help, I’d be much obliged.

Regards,
Allan.

Allan, if you have watched the Woodwright vidiom you can get the diminsion info for the easel parts. The other diminsions are in my post above with pictures. I haven’t made any drawings. One thing to remember is it closes to a 12” cube.

good luck

I’m probably a day late and a dollar short on this, but go to the auto supply store and buy a bearing. The smallest they have will do. Or make your own by trapping marbles in a circular groove. This needs to rotate for full effect.

-- Tony

Tony, I found that the bookstand rotates very easily without bearings or marbel solutions. just wood to wood.

Naomi, I thought you might like to see my completed bookstand. If you have any questions let me know. I would also be interested in knowing how you are progressing on your project.!

http://i573.photobucket.com/albums/ss176/Cromera/P1020196.jpg

That looks good Spanky. Are you posting it with more pics on LJ?

-- Debt is nothing more than the 21st Century's form of slavery.

nice, spanky. yes, please post this as a project with many many pics (also post the link here!).