Quilt Rack
Quilt RackWoodsmith
This quilt rack is styled along simple colonial lines so it won't compete for attention with the quilt that will be displayed on it. The rack consists of two upright sides which are spanned by four stretchers mortised into the uprights.

The Uprights
We started this project by edge gluing 13/16"-thick cherry stock together to form the uprights (A), see Fig. 1 in QRACK01.GIF.

Laminate Sides. To create the 9" wide by 32" high uprights, we cut three pieces of stock (for each upright) to a rough length of 33" and rip them to a rough width of 3-1/4", see Fig. 1 in QRACK01.GIF. Then glue and clamp them together. When the glue is dry, plane both uprights flat.

Trim to Final Size. Then we trimmed the uprights to their final length (32"), and ripped equal amounts off both edges to get each upright to its final width (9").

Rout Mortises
Before cutting the profile on the edges of the uprights, we marked the position of the four 3/8"-wide by 1/2"-deep mortises on each side piece, see Fig. 1 in QRACK01.GIF. Then we used a router and a guide fence to rout the mortises.

Position Fence. To position the fence, first drill 1/2"-deep pilot holes to mark the ends of each ortise. (We used a 3/8" Forstner bit for these holes.) en to position the guide fence, mount a 3/8" straight bit in the router and place the straight bit in one of the pilot holes. Trace around the edge of the router base with a pencil to mark its outside arc, see Fig. 2 in QRACK02.GIF. Repeat the process with the router positioned in the second pilot hole. Next, clamp the guide fence to the workpiece so the edge of the fence just touches the two circles, see Fig. 3 in QRACK03.GIF.

Rout Mortises. With the router set to cut about 1/4" deep, we made the first pass for the mortise by starting in one of the pilot holes an ending at the other. The second pass is made at the full 1/2" depth.
Use this same procedure to rout the four mortises on both uprights. Then we went on to cut out the profile.

Cut Out Profile
To save time, and to make sure that the profile is cut exactly he same on all four edges, we made a template. Transfer the dimensions shown in Fig. 1 in QRACK04.GIF to a piece of heavy poster board.
Then carefully cut out the template with an X-acto knife, tape it down, and mark the profile on one half of the upright. Flip the pattern over and repeat the process on the other half of the upright.

Cut Out Profile. Use a sabre saw (or band saw) to remove the waste. (We made the cuts just a little "wide" of the pencil marks so we could sand the profile to the exact size later.)

Cut Out Handle. To make the handles in the tops of the uprights, first drill two 1/2" holes--one in each corner of the handle, see Fig. 1 in QRACK04.GIF. Drill the holes right on the marked line
and then cut out the remaining shape of the handle with a sabre saw. Again, cut a little wide of the line to allow for sanding later.

Sand Edges. To sand the curved edges at the top and bottom of the upright, we used a 1" sanding drum mounted in a drill press. Then to sand the straight edges of the "waste" section, we mounted a fence to the drill press and used it as a guide to move the upright evenly across the drum, see Fig. 4. On the bottom curve of the waste section, we switched to a sanding block to smooth out the profile. And finally, to sand the handle opening, we used a 1/2" sanding drum on the drill press.

Round Over Edges. To complete the uprights, we rounded over the outside edges (only) with a 1/4" round-over bit with pilot bearing. (The inside edges are left square.)However, the edges on both sides of the handle opening are rounded over to make the rack more comfortable to pick up.

Stretchers. To join the two uprights and support the quilt, four stretchers are mounted in the mortises. All four start out at a rough length of 29". The two middle stretchers (B) are ripped to a final width
of 3". The bottom stretcher (D) is ripped to a final width of 4-1/2".

Top Stretcher. As for the top stretcher (C), it's made by laminating two pieces of 13/16"-thick by 1-1/2"-wide stock together. Then this laminated piece is ripped to final dimensions of 1" x 1". (Shop Note: Depending on availability, and the kind of wood you're using, a 1" dowel could be substituted for the top
rail.)

Trim to Final Length. After all the stretchers are ripped to their final width, trim them to a final length of 27-3/8".

Cut Tenons. Next, 1/2"-long tenons are cut on the ends of each rail to fit the mortises in the uprights. We used the table saw to cut the tenons, gradually raising the blade to cut away equal amounts of waste on both faces of the stretchers to produce a 3/8" thick tenon centered on the thickness of the stock, see Fig. 5 in QRACK05.GIF.
As the tenons are cut, check to see that they fit the width of the mortises. (Snug but not too tight.) Then complete them by cutting shoulders on the top and bottom edges to fit the length of the mortise, see Fig. 6 in QRACK06.GIF. Finally, round over the edges of the tenon with a file to fit the routed mortise.

Bottom Stretcher. After the tenons are cut, we cut the bottom stretcher to the final shape shown in Fig. 7 in QRACK07.GIF. This is just a matter of drawing a 2-1/2" radius at the center of the stretcher, and a 1" radius near the ends, Then it can be cut and sanded to shape.

Round Over Shoulders. Finally, round over all four edges of each stretcher using a 1/4" rounding over bit on the router table.

Carving.

Although the carving on this quilt rack is certainly not a requirement, it does add a nice touch--and it's a lot easier to do than we thought it would be. The carving method we used is called incised line carving--one of the best techniques for someone just starting out.

Tools Needed. We used four basic tools to carve the vine and leaf design: a 60 degree 3mm V-parting tool (a 2mm would work just as well); a 5mm #3 gouge; a 5mm (or 6mm) skew-cut chisel; and a 1mm
veiner.

Tracing Pattern. To duplicate the design on the uprights and bottom rail, transfer the designs shown in Fig. 8 in QRACK08.GIF and 9 in QRACK09.GIF to a piece of paper. Tape one edge of the pattern in position and slide a piece of carbon paper between the pattern and the wood (carbon down). Then use a sharp pencil to trace the pattern on the wood.

Carving Tips. The carving techniques we used for this vine and leaf design are easier to master than we expected.

Branches. Start by cutting (incising) a center line for the branches using the point of the skew chisel, see Fig. 10 in QRACK10.GIF. Then, using the incised line as a guide, use the V-parting tool (see Fig. 11 in QRACK11.GIF) to carve out a V-shaped groove for the branches. (The #3 gouge can be used to smooth out any rough areas on either side.) The V-grooves for the branches are about 3/32" wide on the surface of the wood and 1/8" deep.

Leaves. To make the leaves, again begin by incising the center line and then use the 5mm #3 gouge to carve out the shape on either side of the leaf's center line. We found it best to start carving well inside the marked pattern lines with the first gouging cuts. Then gradually work out from the center (wider and
deeper) to form the leaf, see Fig. 12 in QRACK12.GIF. The leaves are about 3/16" wide on the surface and about 1/8" deep.

Seeds. The seeds are carved by holding the 1mm veiner straight up and down and rotating it in a continual circular motion (almost like drilling until the 1/8" depth is achieved, see Fig. 13 in QRACK13.GIF.

Assembly. When the carving was complete, we lightly sanded the surface to remove any traces of oil left from our hands and any smudges from the carbon paper. Then we glued the stretchers into the uprights.

Finish. To finish this quilt rack , we applied two coats of Sutherland Welles Tung Oil Sealer. When the second sealer coat was dry, we finish sanded the rack with 220-grit sandpaper and applied three
coats of medium luster polymerized tung oil.

Overall Dimensions: 28"W x 9"D x 32"H

Materials List


AUpright(2) 13/16" x 9" - 32"
BMiddle Stretchers(2) 13/16" x 3" - 27-3/8"
CTop Stretcher(1) 1" x 1" - 27-3/8"
DBottom stretcher(1) 13/16" x 4-1/2" - 27-3/8


List of Illustrations:

QRACK01.GIF
QRACK02.GIF
QRACK03.GIF
QRACK04.GIF
QRACK05.GIF
QRACK06.GIF
QRACK07.GIF
QRACK08.GIF
QRACK09.GIF
QRACK10.GIF
QRACK11.GIF
QRACK12.GIF
QRACK13.GIF

Provided by Woodsmith Magazine
(c) 1996, August Home Publishing Co.
All Rights reserved.
Reprinted with permission, HouseNet, Inc.

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