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Trivet Directions Enlarged 1

This document provides instructions for making an expandable wooden trivet. It details cutting four wooden rails and drilling holes in a specific pattern and location in each rail so that dowels can be inserted, allowing the trivet to expand and collapse for storage. Diagrams are included to illustrate the rail layout, drilling jig setup, and hole drilling process.

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133 views3 pages

Trivet Directions Enlarged 1

This document provides instructions for making an expandable wooden trivet. It details cutting four wooden rails and drilling holes in a specific pattern and location in each rail so that dowels can be inserted, allowing the trivet to expand and collapse for storage. Diagrams are included to illustrate the rail layout, drilling jig setup, and hole drilling process.

Uploaded by

api-522254901
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Directions for making an expandable trivet

by Dr. John Dekle

Forty years ago we were living on a shoestring so we purchased a wooden dining room set
unfinished. Having done all the work to finish it ourselves we had good reason to take special care
of the furniture. After raising a couple boys and having a constant flow of company the table and
chairs still look in excellent condition. Part of the care was to use trivets under hot dishes rather
than to set them directly on the table. A wide variety of trivets have been used over the years but
our favorite has been an expandable wooden trivet which is easy to adjust to the needed size and
collapses for storage.

Our church often have pot-luck dinners and we always need something to put under hot dishes
so as not to melt the plastic covering for the serving tables. The solution was to make several of
these trivets for their use. They can be made quite easily but care must be taken to get all the
holes to line up so the trivet can expand and compress easily.

Materials: 4 Rails 3/4" x 1" x 8"


8 dowels 3/8" x 7.5"
Finish of your choice

Step 1. Cut rails to size 3/4 x1 x 8 inches.


(See Diag 2) Diag 1 - Completed project

Step 2. Lay out rails as they will be in the


completed project. Label the side that goes
toward the jig. As they are setting in your
layout, the side that goes toward the jig will be
on the bottom and it will be the same for all four
rails. Mark the bottom in some way with tape or
chalk. The left and right side of each rail needs
to be marked. Identify the rails on the end (left
to right) A - D.

Diag 2 - Rails cut and identified


Step 3. Making the drilling jig. Use a 2x4 at least as long as your drill press table. (Mine is 21"
long.) Cut a shelf standard, the kind that use small clips (see photo Diag 3), the length of the 2x4.
With the 2x4 laying flat use a 1/4" plywood or something similar to but up to the 2x4. Put the
standard on this which will raise it up an equal distance and fasten it to the 2x4 edge. Each slot is
½” apart allowing you to evenly space your project in ½" increments using a small clip as a stop.
(See Diag 4) You may want to drill a hole in the top near center to hang the jig and label it for
future reference.

Diag 3 - Drilling jig Diag 4 - Clip for stop and marks for project

Step 4. Mount the drilling jig on the drill press and adjust so it is square and the drill bit is
centered as close as possible to the center of the rail (3/4" side). Position the jig so the end edge
of the rail if it were at the 8" mark is centered on the drill bit. (This will make the 7.5" hole exactly
½" from the edge and the rails will line up well when collapsed.) Mark the jig at 1.5", 3.5", 5.5"
and 7.5". Adjust the depth to drill to 3/8" deep. (See Diag 5)

Diag 5 - First rail ready to be drilled


Step 5. With the drilling jig in place drill 4 holes (3/8" diameter 3/8" deep) in rail A and D.
(Check a hole on a scrap piece of wood to determine if the bit size for the dowels is correct.)
Drill holes on the right side of rail A at 1.5", 3.5", 5.5", and 7.5". Next drill 4 holes at the same

Diag 6 - first hole drilled Diag 7 - 2 holes drilled


marks on the left side of rail D. (See Diag 6-8)

Step 6. With a different color pencil mark the jig


at ½", 2.5", 4.5" and 6.5". (see Diag 9) Drill the
3/8" holes 3/8" deep on the right side of rail B
using this pattern (½, 2.5, 4.5 & 6.5). Next drill
the left side of rail C following this same pattern.
(See Diag 10)
Diag 8 - ready to drill the fourth hole

Diag 9 - marking the jig Diag 10 - Drilling rail B and C

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