Thomas Jefferson revolving book stand LATCH
I recently built a replica of Thomas Jefferson’s revolving book stand.
When assembled the hanging book shelf is about an inch from vertical at the bottom (picture attached). The placement of the hinges causes this to happen. In order to bring the shelf vertical I installed a wooden two piece latch. It was a small tongue and groove arangement with the tongue 1/2 long mated to a 1/2 deep mortise. One piece glued to the shelf and the other guled to the book stand. I I depended on the friction between the two parts to keep the shelf vertical. This is not very consistant because of the fit between the two parts.
Does any one know how the original book stand overcame this problem? I would like to remain true to the original and I don’t want to use madnets or any modern latches.
Mike
Replies
I've been trying to solve the same problem. The photos of the original here, http://bringbackthehandtools.blogspot.com/2012/05/thomas-jefferson-bookstand.html , seem to show a "spring" latch of some sort that clips over the bottom of the shelves. The shelves have a worn spot in the middle from the latch that is visible in the first photo. Haven't been able to determine if it is a metal or wood latch though.
Jefferson Bookstand Panel Wonky
Consider:
The lever behind the panel may be getting in the way.
If the hinges are a bitter stiffer, there may be enough friction to keep the panel vertical.
The panels are not going to be perfectly vertical unless you use a latch or other mechanism.
I had used a cheap set of hinges at first and fooled around with a latch mechanism, but the stiffer hinges did the trick.
After building my bookstand, the panels in a down position don't display as nicely, so the perfectly vertical position is not relevant for me.
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