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Kelsey Press Restoration: Making a base

For those of you who follow me, you know that I have been out of commission recently due to an elbow injury. As a result, I have had to find ways of being useful without hurting myself. This weekend, I made a base for my press! I am not in a position to just screw my little Kelsey into a table, since my “studio” is my second bedroom and I have to move things around a lot. A wooden base to stabilize the press and give it a good footprint was just what the doctor ordered.

So Doug and I headed to a wonderful store, The Rebuilding Center! This great store sells reclaimed building and remodeling materials salvaged from tear-downs around the city. We got all the wood I would need for $5 (a reclaimed high quality plywood cabinet door, and 16 feet of aged cedar 2×2’s)! For a few bucks in screws and glue, I was ready.

Since I don’t own any woodworking tools, we headed to Doug’s workplace shop. Doug did all the cutting (as I can’t touch the tools at his work) and I did all the assembly.

Here’s a picture of the base setting up:

We cut the plywood down to the size I wanted, then cut the 2×2’s at angles to fit. Then I glued and screwed everything together!

The next step is to sand, stain, and polyurethane the whole thing. Then I can attach the press and, voila. As soon as I finish, I will post more pictures!

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