Let your dessert stand up and stand out
I love cake. Whether angel’s food, devil’s food, coffee, carrot, or cheese, cut me a slice. And no matter the occasion, if cake is involved, it usually means something special is going on. So whether your cake is store-bought, homemade, or from a box, it ought to be the center of attention. I designed this stand to elevate any cake to its rightful place.
The thick, turned base makes a stable platform for the 11” diameter cake plate up top. Connecting the two is an inside-out turned spindle. The hollow form’s openings lighten the feel of the piece while the unusual, two-step turning technique creates four curved interior surfaces whose centers are mysteriously outside the vessel. A groove turned into the cake plate’s surface secures the glass cloche. Any straight-grained hardwood will work for the piece. I chose padauk for its bright color and strength. After carefully turning and sanding the pieces, I applied a food-safe finish to keep the stand looking good for many occasions to come.
Layered and decorated
The plate and base are turned from straight-grained hardwood. Blind holes bored into their centers receive tenons turned on the ends of the spindle, while a recess cut into the cake plate’s top face helps locate the protective glass cloche.
The spindle is turned in two steps. First, four squared blanks are taped together and turned to create what becomes the spindle’s inside. Then, those spindle segments get reversed and glued back together before turning the outside to shape. Turning the spindle round refines the tear-drop shape of the windows and gives the four pillars a lens-shaped cross-section.
Turn the spindle
Prepare four pieces, 1-1/2 × 1-1/2 × 7-1/2”. Arrange them with their nicest grain facing out, and mark one end as shown. Rotate each block 180 degrees, and adhere the four blanks together with full-length strips of double-faced tape. Start by taping two pairs of blanks together, working on a flat surface to help keep their faces aligned. Then tape the pairs together, pressing each tape joint in a bench vise for a few seconds before proceeding.
Mount the blank between centers and wrap the first inch of each end with strapping tape. Then turn the inside profile, leaving the first inch of each end square. Sand and apply finish to the turned section only, leaving the still-square areas unfinished.
With the interior turned, pry apart the tape joints and re-orient the blanks. Glue them back together, keeping their ends flush and applying glue only to the flat faces of each joint. After the glue dries, remount the blank between centers and turn a 1/2” long, 1”-diameter tenon on each end. Profile the rest of the spindle before sanding and finishing. Be sure to leave the tenons unfinished for good glue adhesion.
Mark for reassembly. Draw a square across the joints with an L around one corner – this shape can only be reassembled one way. Use a white pencil to clearly mark dark woods.
Taping. Install the blank between centers, avoiding the tape joints when you seat the spur center. Then tightly wrap the first inch of each end with reinforced strapping tape. The filament in the tape provides added insurance the blank won’t fly apart.
Turning the inside. Turn the interior of the spindle, making light cuts with sharp tools. I like carbide scrapers for this task as they’re less likely to catch, which could cause the blank to come apart.
Re-assemble. After turning the inside, re-assemble and glue the blank. Recreate the shape you initially drew on the ends and you’ll know you’ve got your pieces oriented correctly.
Turn the base and plate
Mill stock for both the plate and base. Mark the centers then cut them to a rough circle at the bandsaw, leaving them slightly oversized. Using double-faced tape, attach the base to a mounting block screwed to a faceplate. With the tailstock providing additional support, turn the piece to shape as shown. After drilling a hole in the base’s top surface to receive the spindle’s tenon, pop the base off the mounting block. Repeat the process to shape and drill the plate, this time boring the hole into its underside. With both pieces shaped and drilled, bore a 1"-dia. hole 1/2" deep into the mounting block and add a length of 1"-dia. dowel that protrudes 1/2". Remount the plate, centering it on the dowel and cut a groove for the cloche. After sanding, remove the plate and reverse-mount the base the same way so you can turn a recess across the underside of the base to help it sit flat.
Beading made easy. The shape of both the base and plate feature several sizes of beads. Easy Wood Tools’ beading cutters make forming perfect beads as simple as turning a tenon.
Drill for tenons. After shaping the pieces, mount a Jacob’s chuck in the tail stock and bore a 1⁄2"-deep blind hole with 1"-dia. Forstner bit into the top of the base (shown) and the bottom of the plate.
Reverse turn. Add a short length of dowel to help keep the pieces centered when you reverse them to turn the opposite side. Small pieces of double-faced tape should hold the pieces, but a drop or two of CA glue near the edge of the mounting block provides additional security.
Groove for cloche. Create a shallow groove in the plate’s surface to receive the domed cloche cutting with a round or detail scraper. Tape a waste block to the top surface of the plate so you can employ a live center in the tailstock without marring the plate’s surface.
Photos: Ken Burton and Derek Richmond | Illustrations: Peter Sucheski
