Dale Carnegie once said ‘there are always three speeches for every one you actually gave. The one you practised, the one you gave, and the one you wish you gave’. If there’s one thing that I have learned over the years of giving presentations, is that they always sound better from behind a lectern.
I was recently commissioned to create a lectern that could be used by a company’s staff who ranged in height from 1.5m to over 1.8m, so rather than making it a fixed height with an accompanying stool for the shorter staff members, I wanted to make this easily adjustable.
Things you will need
Tablesaw/means of creating bevels
Router or router table
Jointer, smoothing and block planes
Bandsaw
Cutting list
Post Internal – 3 @ 75 x 75 x 660mm External (sleeve) – 105 x 16 x 660mm Veneer 4 @ 90 x 3 x 685mm Top section Back – 495 x 150mm Sides – 367 x 150mm Top – 546 x 394mm Bottom (shelf) – 495 x 337mm Base Bottom – 514 x 375mm Feet – 100 x 100mm Mouldings Top – 20 x 6 x 1880mm Shelf – 12 x 6 x 1676mm Base – 20 x 6 x 1778mm Other trim – 20 x 20 x 1220mm
Stand, outer sleeve and inner post
I wanted to have the richness of red oak (Quercus rubra) without the expense, so I opted to use red oak ply for the panels of the lectern and solid oak for the sleeve, post veneer and trim.
Making your own veneer
The outer ‘sleeve’ section
Cut four pieces of wood 16mm thick, and wide enough to allow a bevel on both sides, and an additional 2mm so that the inner core can move freely. By now you will know that I take most of my measurements directly from the item I am making, so take the inner post and lay it in the centre of one piece of the sleeve section. Mark the width of the inner post and add 2mm – this will allow the post to slide up and down inside the sleeve, without being too loose. Now add the amount for the two bevels. Adjust the table saw to 45°.
Top tip
When using power tools test the cuts, because mistakes happen so much faster with power tools. With two scraps of wood, rip the bevel on each and test to ensure they create a 90° joint when put together.
Lectern top
Cut two pieces of ply for the sides that are 337mm long and taper from 150mm to 95mm. I found this a comfortable angle to read at regardless of the height the top was positioned. You might want to experiment with different heights and angles.
Lectern top and shelf bottom
The base
The base is given the same treatment as the reading surface; moulding is applied to all four edges.
The feet
The mechanism
I toyed with many ideas for raising and lowering the lectern, but in the end, opted for the simplest. The inner post is attached through the sleeve to a threaded knob so that when tightened secures the post.
The slot
The placement of the slot is dependent on the range of heights you want to allow the lectern to be adjusted.
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