Elegant Jewelry Displays for a Craft Show or Home

These simple jewelry displays are just that. A very simple project!

They can be made from most materials like metal, plastic, plywood, mdf, or any type of hardwood like I did here. I used 5/4 soft maple but you can achieve a very similar look by using 1/2" plywood.

I made these for a jewelry maker to display her jewelry during craft shows. Because of this, it was important to make them light weight and be able to pack flat.

I'm making a few different sizes (small, medium, and large) to accommodate different length necklaces.

Tools I used in this project:

• Jointer - https://amzn.to/2HfSGOu
• Sawstop table saw - https://amzn.to/2qw6bPQ
• Random orbital sander - https://amzn.to/2Huv1Yn
• Planer - https://amzn.to/2IQKdhP
• Japanese handsaw - https://amzn.to/2IPiGxo
• Drill - https://amzn.to/2GRTJod
• Bandsaw - https://amzn.to/2HsJ28J
• Belt/disc sander - https://amzn.to/2HhcQHT
• Parallel clamps - https://amzn.to/2qx8T7J
• F style clamps - https://amzn.to/2GUQcG5

Also here's a link to the video that's posted above. It will open it in a new tab and you can follow along on how I made this project.

This step is not applicable if you're using lumber that is already milled and ready to go. I recommend using 1/2" plywood with a nice finish and you can skip up to step 4.

Jointing

Like most projects with rough lumber, I start off on the jointer. I had to remove the guard because I want to keep these boards as wide as possible. This makes it a little dangerous but I feel confident doing it this way. Never do something like this if you are unsure or unfamiliar with the tool.

The section that wasn't cut by the jointer will be cleaned up at the planer. Since were at the jointer let's also surface and square one edge. We do this by referencing the newly flattened face on the jointer fence.

Planing

Moving on the the planner we need to use a sled. I'm using a piece of mdf with a strip of wood glued to the front. The face we just jointed rests on the sled and the section that wasn't cut hangs off the side. This results in the top face being planed parallel to the flat face. When the top face is flattened, we can remove the sled, flip the piece over, and plane down the step left by the jointer.

With three faces flat and square, we can clean up the final edge on the table saw.

My goal was to make these jewelry displays 1/2" thick and my material is clearly much thicker than that (5/4 thick) and we can get two pieces out of the same board. So we need to resaw it. I do that at the table saw with my fence set to just over 1/2". It's important to take shallow passes and slowly increase the blade height. The pieces I used were too thick for my table saw cut all the way through even when taking passes from both sides of the board. I finished off the cut with a handsaw.

After cutting half of the way through with a handsaw, I flip the piece over to cut from the other side. Since I'm holding this board upright with clamps, I put some wedges into the kerf cut so the clamps don't pinch and jam the saw blade.

The precious step left us with an uneven cut. Let's go back to the planer to smooth it all out and get our boards to our desired 1/2" thickness.

As mentioned in the introduction, I'm making multiple sizes of these display stands. Naturally some have to be cut down and others have to be glued up so we can get the different widths we're looking for.

After the glue dries we can start cutting out our shapes.

The compass I have is just big enough to draw the radius on the two smaller displays but isn't big enough for the larger. To draw its radius, I use a piece of wood cut to the appropriate length and I drive a screw in one end to act as a pivot point. This a great tip to keep in your back pocket when you have to draw a large radius.

Now that we drew our lines and know where to cut, let's not cut there. Yes, you read that correctly! We're going to cut the wood just outside of where we drew the line. Then we can sand to the line to get a nice, smooth curve.

Now we have our basic shapes cut out but we still need somewhere to hang our jewelry from. That's where these notches come into play. I drew some reference lines and used my bandsaw to cut them out. Then I wrapped sandpaper around a piece of plywood and sanded the notches smooth.

Next we can drill our holes that will accept the feet and hold these displays at a slight angle tilting back. The angle of this tilt depends on where the holes are drilled so be sure you do some tests before committing to the final location. For the feet I used a 3/8" dowel cut down to size.

After drilling we can sand our displays and we're all done.

When I gave these to the jewelry designer, she decided to paint them and that just because it better fits look of her business.

You're all done! Now you can display your jewelry!

This can be used at craft fairs if you sell jewelry or even in your own home to organize your necklaces.

If you like this instructable, be sure to pass it along to your friends.

You can also find me on Youtube and follow along in the video above.

Instagram to see what I'm currently working on

Facebook and Twitter for behind the scenes shots

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