Plant Stands

June 2016
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Last year we had some fence repair done and they left a pile of 1x4 cutoffs, all around a foot long ... pressure-treated lumber that I figured I'd find a use for eventually so why toss it out, right? At the time, I made a couple of plant stands for Beth, the rest got tossed under my bench. Lately Beth's been bugging me for more stands so yesterday I decided to make a few (two batches, four 10 " and four 9").

The design is a locking arrangement that allows you to cut all identical pieces, slide three of them together and then split the last piece as a "key," which secures the whole thing with just one 2" drywall screw. Here's the recipe...

Start with 32 pieces of lumber...

Square one end, then cut the other end to length...

All nice and neat. You could work with this stuff, but1x4 fencing is not well-dressed ... these pieces are all slightly different widths and thicknesses.

Not much I could do about the thickness without a planer, but I did rip them to a consistent width.

Clamp half of them together, cut the little footsies...

Then waste out the part between the feet ... multiple passes with the saw (yeah, I do have a dado blade but I was too lazy to hunt for it)

Lay out the notches. A little extra width and extra depth are critical, the joints need to be sloppy if you're going to set them on uneven surfaces... if the fit is loose, the stands won't rock.

Cut the notches...

Put them together...

The last piece has to be in two sections to lock the others together. First drill pilot holes for the screws...

Then split it...

Then screw it back together...

Then repeat...

Finished product...

Photos: Samsung Galaxy Note 3.