Do you want to do your sculptures or artwork justice? Give them their own spotlight by building this DIY pillar.

Design

The look for this pillar is clean and simplistic. It has to blend in the background and not draw attention. If anything, it should draw your attention to the art on top. For color, I went with flat white. The dimensions are 200 by 200 mm with a height of about 860 mm. To prevent it from becoming top heavy I gave it some weight by laminating MDF and making the core solid.

Build

I started by cutting all of the required pieces to length and width. The bulk of the pieces formed the core that I could glue-up right after the pieces are cut. Next, I could tilt the blade on my saw and cut the miters for the sides and the top. The idea is that the pillar looks like one solid piece but the top is removable. This is to allow for a metal stand to be integrated into the pillar that holds a sculpture upright. When the sculpture is exchanged for something else the lid can be changed for one without a hole for the metal stand. When gluing everything together I had to be very careful to keep everything in the right place. A good tip is to use some painters tape as clamps to help you while you are positioning everything.

To make sure the glue held up the sides I added a few finishing nails in every panel. I’m rather safe than sorry ;-). The lid could then receive a hole for the metal base. Once everything went together it was time for a few layers of primer and finally paint. When putting the pillar into place I recommend adding some felt under it. This will give a slight floating effect to it which I think looks really nice plus it protects your floor.

Result

My client was really happy with the result and so am I. The miters came out really nice, it looks like one piece just as I was hoping for. This is my first project working with MDF and I have to say the softwood is really nice for a project like these. Something that needs to have a really smooth finish and shouldn’t cost a fortune. The downside is that it damages really quickly. On installation, the pillar slipped out of my hands and that didn’t do the corner it landed on any favors. All in all an easy project for any art lover!

Download & Links

If you want to build something similar I’ve linked my 3D model below as a download.

SketchUp 3D-model
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Hope this post has inspired you to make something!
And don’t forget to follow your excitement ?

Rico Lemmert

I love to make things, inspire people and help others. The Cornerfield Shop combines everything I love in one place.

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