Sing us a song, it's a piano stand.

 I needed a proper stand for my digital piano, so I'm building one. I've finally gained enough motivation to do more woodworking. I designed the whole thing in AutoCAD using dimensions from commercially available stands and real pianos. I've learned more about AutoCAD "Layout" features which helped make the plotting easier. The wood I'm using here is reclaimed ash ceiling panels from a house that had smoke damage. They don't have any 'flutes' or whatever you call them on the bottom, so there's very little waste beyond removing the tongue and groove.

I start with picking the lengths I need from the pile, seen on the right. I keep the plan printouts atop the appropriate length so I know which piece is for what.

 I then cross cut the pieces to length and ripped down one side. You can see the plans here next to there respective pieces.

I ripped the remaining side to achieve the proper width.

Two long glued lengths form the "footrest" cross beam. This created a satisfyingly strong and heavy piece of hardwood lumber that could easily knock a person unconscious. The faces were planed before glued together.

The rest of the pieces were planed to a consistent thickness.

 I had to biscuit join two pieces to achieve a width necessary for the pieces the piano will be mounted to. The next picture should clear up what it's for.

 The 6 sided piece above is the biscuit joined piece. The grain needs to be in this direction for maximum strength. This is only a mock up of the final design.

These are the two cross members. I did not intentionally choose these pieces for their grain appearance. They look brilliant. You can see some flame in the ash on the thinner piece on the right.

The cross members need a mortise to sit in, so I made this template out of 3/4" plywood.

After a number of slow and careful passes (ash is quite hard), I've cut them out. They will need a bit of filing at this point so the cross members fit.

This the beginning of the feet. I make a mortise with three glued layers. The vertical braces in the previous picture will sit as 'tenons' in these.

A quick test fit. The cross members are a little tight. The feet will be shaped on my bandsaw and tidied up with the spindle sander. The rest will be put together soon. 

I plan to finish this with a dark red stain and polycrylic semigloss to match the simulated wood grain on my digital piano (Yamaha P120).

More soon. Goodbye

-A