Make an Acrylic Bookstand
Introduction: Make an Acrylic Bookstand
I often refer to books while I work or cook, and I needed something to keep a book:
1: out of the way
2: open to the correct page
3: held at a useful viewing angle.
A book stand in other words.
There are a lot of commercially made book stands available, but they all look more utilitarian than I want while also being more flimsy than I would like. So I decided to make my own. I saw a nice design made out of wood, but I don't have any on hand. What I do have plenty of is plastic.
I opted to go with acrylic, which is often referred to by the brand name "plexiglass", thanks to the xerox effect. Acrylic plastic is a useful and versatile material, with applications throughout the home, workshop, and the outside world. In addition to its great clarity, it is strong, lightweight, and beautiful when given proper care. It's also really easy to work, requiring no special blades or router bits - wood working tools do the job well.
My guide will use the tools I have available to me, but this could also be done (relatively) easily with hand tools as well, with some minor changes to the design.
Remember to always be cautious with powertools, especially if the material is new to you. Plastic is easy to work but it can behave in unexpected ways when you aren't used to it - don't be careless! Eye protection and masks are especially important!
Supplies
1/4 inch thick acrylic plastic, at minimum two pieces - 1 @ 14 1/8 inch x 15 1/16 inch, and 1 @ approx 6x6 inch. Additional scraps for making templates are handy but optional.
Plastic welding solvent and a squeeze bottle syringe to apply it with. I used weld-on 4, but any solvent for acrylic will work fine.
A table saw with a 72 tooth fine woodcutting blade. The teeth on the blade should be straight. Also, a bandsaw or jigsaw.
A fine permanent marker.
A router with a flush trim bit. An edge router is also useful.
A drum sander and a palm sander with 320 grit paper.
A scraping tool - I use a ceramic scraper but in a pinch, the back of a pair of scissors will do the trick.
A buffing wheel and rouges. I use red and white rouge.
Thin double sided tape. Not the foam backed kind and not the plastic kind - what i used resembles extra sticky masking tape more than anything.
Pen, paper, etc.
Step 1: Design and Plan.
Before buying materials consider the size that works best for you, as well as style details you might prefer. 47
I decided I wanted a stand that could securely hold a full size cookbook or text book open, so something about nine inches tall and fifteen or sixteen wide. I also decided I wanted to bend it, because I like the look of bent acrylic. I also decided I wanted it to be pretty - an object worth admiring in its own right, which shouldn't disappear into the background when viewed alone.
With that in mind, I chose to use a scrap of greenedge plastic, sometimes called "acrylic glass" in a terrible misnomer. It is a very lovely material and this piece was in the recycle bin before I retrieved it. I also decided to make the top wavy and rounded, instead of straight, so it looked both lighter and less utilitarian.
My final dimensions were 14 1/8 15 1/16. This includes an extra sixteenth on each dimension which would be routed off on the edge router for a neat machined edge, and an extra vertical sixteenth to align the template i planned to make. The legs would be a simple curved shape i would also make out of greenedge.
Step 2: Make Your Templates
Templates aren't strictly necessary but I was aiming for symmetry on this stand so I went about it in a methodical fashion. I drew the rough idea on a scrap of paper, and placed a 7 1/2" x 4 scrap of clear plastic over it. Then I traced the design with a marker.
I made a rough cut on the bandsaw, and then refined the shape on the drum sander till I was satisfied with its "elegance". After that, I taped it to a second scrap, cut to 15 x 4". I used the half piece as a router template. Then I removed it, flipped it to the other side, and routed it again. A quick touch to the sander evened out the point in the middle where the two sides came together, and my template was finished.
The leg template was simpler - I drew a shape on a square, cut it and sanded it. Done. I could move on the the actual workpiece. 787