Bent wood photo display stand. Trendy bendy!

Keeping it Simple

My favorite kinds of projects are simple ones. Not necessarily easy-to-make projects, but ones that embrace the aesthetic of simplicity. This project intentionally defies complexity: it’s a bent board with a slot in the edge.

I have made a few bent-lamination projects before. My most successful attempt was a quilt hanger last year. This time I wanted to simplify the process more by eliminating the need to plane any wood and just ripping thin strips of wood on my table saw. It doesn’t really matter how thick they are, mine varied as I moved the fence over for each cut. The thinner you slice the boards, they easier they will bend, but it may require laminating more pieces together to build up the completed thickness of the piece.

For my two photo stands, I used five strips of wood each. I cut the middle strip “shorter” than the others to create the slot into which photos would sit. This is a great way to use some of that scrap wood you’ve been saving. If you are ambitious, I have a sneaking suspicion that these would sell fast at craft shows or maybe even Etsy. Plus it would have a pretty decent profit margin.

What to Call it

As I mentioned in the video, I couldn’t figure out what I would call this project so I enlisted help from my followers over on Keek. Nearly 100 people offered ideas. One of my favorites was from cbeer69 who suggested merely calling it “Dave”. I love the simplicity of that! Unfortunately, very few people are likely to find my video on YouTube by searching for Dave.