Medieval-like Music Stand

[kirkpoore1]

The typical metal fold-up music stand doesn't exactly add to the ambiance of a medieval themed event. Because of this, a friend of mine developed a design for a music stand inspired by pictures of medieval lecterns. I updated his design by changing the shape, making a multi-piece post for easier carrying and height adjustment, and adding a new foot design for more stability. This is the result:

When you take it apart, the feet and post parts all fit inside the top, and the handle makes it easy to carry. As a result, musicians like these a lot.

I started working on a new batch earlier this week to sell at an event next month. These are actually pretty simple. The only glued parts are the shelves which hold up the sheet music and sections on the feet. The rest is nailed together, with the post being assembled with threaded inserts, t-nuts, and hanger bolts.

First pieces done were the sides, with beveled trefoil decorations


Each foot has two added blocks glued on.


The feet overlap and interleave, so are drilled to different levels.


A single bolt goes through all three feet to engage the t-nut.


Working on the back, with the hand hole and shelf.



Current Status:




Next up is to turn the post parts and add the threaded inserts and hanger bolts.

More later. After turning I'll start on the finish before assembly.

Kirk

 

[Phil]

That really looks good.
Nice idea

 

[AndyP]

I do like a trefoil, so effective yet so easy to make. Great design and execution and only the second ever music stand I can ever remember seeing on a woodworking forum.

 

[Malc2098]

Nice.

 

[Mike G]

That's rather nice, and somewhat unusual. My only comment would be on the utility of back-to-back stands. Musicians don't tend to stand facing each other.

 

[thetyreman]

I like it but if it had an adjustable height it'd be even better, most music stands have this.

 

[AJB Temple]

Very nice wood work. I wonder if the lip is practical? The bane of musicians' lives is page turning quickly without interrupting the flow.

Point about height adjustment is important. Sometimes I play violin (learner - I don't play all that well) and Sarah my teacher is about a foot shorter than me. Music set at her height if we are standing, is unreadable for me.

 

[Cabinetman]

Very good design the way it comes apart, I do like a clever bit of moving parts woodwork. And as you say musicians like it as they can carry it to venues, even on the bus I suppose, and so much better than those bits of bent metal.
I nearly didn’t post this pic on this but I thought the musicians might like it.





Strong magnets hold the knurled pins in place, comes apart but you would have problems on the bus lol, and after what Adrian said I realise that the music step is all wrong except maybe in a gale.

 

[kirkpoore1]

I like it but if it had an adjustable height it'd be even better, most music stands have this.

Well, in a sense it is height adjustable—two post sections for sitting, three for standing, and zero if you set it on a table. iI’s heavy enough that a sliding adjustment might be too flimsy.

As far as playing back-to-back, it’s unusual but not rare, especially when playing with a small group.

The shelf has a lip on it to help control the paper when outside and it’s breezy. Some people will put a rubber band around the door to hold the sheet in place or the book open. We rarely have medieval music which is long enough to need more than two pages anyway.

Kirk

 

[AJB Temple]

Ian, that is really nice. I might copy that. Looks like the uop down adjustment is in two grooves - I bet that works beautifully.

To put a user's perspective, you probably need some tilt adjustment on the music stand, as well as making the lip fold down (or omitted and use pins instead). You generally don't have music upright - but rather leaning away from you if you are standing up, as you want it in direct site line but not in the way of the instrument. This accounts for the fact too that different players will require different positions. For instance a violinist has the violin held in place under the chin (and with a rest on the back usually so you have to cock your head) and point the instrument to one side, whereas wind players will need a different position.

The other thing that most designs lack, is somewhere to put loose sheets. If you are working in a quartet for instance, you may often have umpteen loose scores floating about. Some music stands have a rear holder for these. Mainly I play piano, which obviously has a music desk with a lot more room.

The metal fold up stands are very fiddly, but they fold up small and can squeeze into a violin case pocket, and they are adjustable in most directions. They also injure your fingers!

 

[kirkpoore1]

Ian, I forgot to say that I really liked the style of your music stand. Not every stand needs to travel--some work well by staying in place and looking great.

More progress today: Posts turned, and hanger bolts and threaded inserts added.



Not quite as far as I wanted to go today, since I'd hoped to have everything with a first coat of linseed oil.

Adrian, on mine you can cram the loose sheets inside while the stand is up. The do get curled up though, which isn't great later, unfortunately.

Kirk

 

[Cabinetman]

Thank you! Just wondered if you do bolts into wood the same as me, pick a drill just slightly smaller than the core size of the bolt then lock two nuts onto the threaded bar and screw it in, don’t suppose there’s another way but curios.
It’s not something many people seem to do but I’ve never had one fail and I’ve put great pressure on some of them.
Ian

 

[kirkpoore1]

Thank you! Just wondered if you do bolts into wood the same as me, pick a drill just slightly smaller than the core size of the bolt then lock two nuts onto the threaded bar and screw it in, don’t suppose there’s another way but curios.
It’s not something many people seem to do but I’ve never had one fail and I’ve put great pressure on some of them.
Ian

Ian:

Yes, I use the double-nut method to get them in. It almost always works.

The threaded inserts are more of a problem. This particular set is knurled and I've epoxied them in place. I'm hoping they'll hold The more typical brass inserts with the external knife threads are very hard to keep straight as you insert them.

Kirk

 

[kirkpoore1]

Linseed oil coat in place, probably another coat on Wednesday and then start assembling on Thursday.

Kirk

 

[kirkpoore1]

And here they are, done except for a final coat of finish. All nails are cut nails from Lee Valley. The glued in threaded inserts seem to be holding ok, and were a lot easier to install than the ones I used before.


Two of three holes in each batten are elongated to allow the wood to move.



Because the sides are triangles, nailing the backs in place requires them to be temporarily screwed down to keep them from moving. All holes are, of course, pre-drilled.


The hinges are nailed on with cardboard spacers between the top and door. All these nails get clinched.


And done. The white oak grain is much more dramatic than I was expecting (I usually use red oak to match the posts, but I'm out of it).

Kirk

 

[Malc2098]

Nice.

 

[Windows]

Ditto.

 

[Cabinetman]

Hi Kirk, they are super, good the way they break down for carrying, will you be able to sell them all do you think? I find it striking how much people will pay for some things here, whilst at the same time a lot of the stuff is really cheap but that’s probably Chinese rubbish. Friends tell me that the things I can produce would sell for many times what I could expect to get for them in the uk. Rates of pay and values seem out of kilter and a bit strange really.
Ian

 

[kirkpoore1]

Hi Kirk, they are super, good the way they break down for carrying, will you be able to sell them all do you think? I find it striking how much people will pay for some things here, whilst at the same time a lot of the stuff is really cheap but that’s probably Chinese rubbish. Friends tell me that the things I can produce would sell for many times what I could expect to get for them in the uk. Rates of pay and values seem out of kilter and a bit strange really.
Ian

Ian:

I think you have to know your market. I mostly sell to hardcore reenactors and folks with a medieval recreation hobby. They're willing to pay for something that doesn't look like a folding bag chair from Walmart. And musicians are even better--they know that you pay for quality instruments, and are willing to pay for quality furniture too. Two of these four stands are already spoken for at $250 each, and I have no doubt the others will sell soon too. And some people order them for special occasions--here's one I made four years ago that was given as a graduation present.


Kirk