Drawing circles...

Steve started working on the cupcake stand for Jeff and Celia's wedding today. He bought a sheet of 1/2" birch-veneer plywood and cut circles for each tier. The largest is 28" in diameter, the smallest is 8".

He made a great big compass to draw the circles but that wasn't working so well. I remembered that I had a flexible plastic knitting ruler that could work better.

Steve put some small holes down the center of the ruler. He anchored the ruler in place with a finish nail at the 1" mark. He put the pencil in a small hole to draw the size circle he wanted. This is a really easy way to draw great big circles.

Steve cut the circles with a band saw. He then cut 4" and 6" lengths of pvc pipe to separate the tiers. He drilled a hole in the center of each wood circle. A threaded pipe run through the center with a washer and nut at each end will cinch the whole thing together. Steve is going to rout indentations for the washer and nut.

This should be a very flexible serving piece. I'm going to paint the wood pieces white this week. The edges of each tier and the pvc pipe can be decorated with pretty paper or ribbon to suit any occasion. Our niece, Rachel, is also going to use it at her wedding - and in her catering business. I'll post finished pictures in a few days.