Plinth making

All good puppety automaton heads deserve to be put on a pedestal
I made this from some oak board offcuts and some conveniently chucked away 1/2" 7-ply plywood board. Looking good!

From the other angle

Contemplative...

Dejected...

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Build

This shot shows the chaotic nature of small scale cabinet making. I was largely using power tools, but if you look closely, you can play Where's Wally to spot the tiny trimming plane, some cabinet maker's scrapers and a few other hand tools.

It started with a frame. These are oak plank offcuts, mitred using the circular saw

Testing out box height with some old ply offcuts - too low.

The final box is much taller. As it was built from 1/2" ply it is very strong.

These strips are lathes cut off a plank with the circular saw. They are for making decorative moulding strips

For mouldings, a router in the vice works well. The main factor is not routing the fingers.

This is an edge-following cutter with a rolling bearing wheel

Getting there.  I've added a plank lid.

Routers, saws, planers and sanders make a lot of sawdust...

Clamping mouldings while gluing...

Step-back shot...

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Inspiration

Before I made this, I spent an enjoyable hour or so in the V&A looking at pedestals. Lots of pedestals...

For busts...

Nice curves on the base there...

For sculptures....

Fancy for religious figures and plaques...

For columns...

Another bust...

Plain and minimal...

Tall and simple...

Massive, octagonal and matching in material...

Elaborate and luxury...

Very ornate (rococco?)...

Simple and undistracting...

Ditto...

Architectural...

Just silly now...

More ornate ones...