I wanted to try out some ideas on how I could efficiently make multiple spiral Christmas trees. My plan was to build a bunch of “mini” trees.
I started with some scrap cedar boards and some dowels that I bought at Menards. I ripped the boards into slats on the table saw.
Once the slats were cut then I taped them together in bundles of 6 slats and drilled holes. The thought was by taping them together along with a template board that I would get consistent holes in the exact spot required. While the idea may have been good, in practice it wasn’t perfect. In some cases, slats split or the holes ended up slightly off center. Pretty good, but not perfect.
Next I built a jig that held the slats in place. The picture shows clamps but I eventually just screwed down the edge boards. Then I used my circular saw to cut the sides. Compared to cutting each slat multiple time, this worked very well.
The next step was to thread the slats onto the dowels. I found if I sanded then waxed the dowels it went much better.
The last step was to build a base. I used some scrap wood and made them so that one leg could swivel so that the entire tree could be stored flat.
I ran out of brad nails so I had to suspended final assembly.
11/18 – Finally able to get back at to the trees. All of the bases have been completed and I cut out some small stars to glue to the tops. I am leaving them as raw wood.
