Church Altar and tabernacle stand – day 26

I finished the last bit of assembly today. I needed to attach the top plates for the raised panels. I used the drill bit from my Kreg pocket hole jig to drill a series of counterbored holes in the top plates.

Drilling a counterbore

A thin coat of glue

After spreading a thin coat of glue to the top of the walls, I located the top plats and fastened them with pocket hole screws.

Screwing down the top plate

Planing the top flush

I planed down any high spots that would prevent the top from sitting flat, then drilled a series of mounting holes for the top, around the inside perimeter of the top plates.

Top mounting holes drilled

First panel stained

With the top plates attached, I now have a convenient way to hold up my panels, allowing me to stain both sides at the same time. I decided not to push stain down into the carved patterns on the front panels. Hopefully this will give a subtle contrast to highlight the carvings.

Front panel stained

Using a brush for the tight spots

The columns have a lot of tight corners, so I used a foam urethane brush to apply the stain in the tight places, then rubbed it out with a rag to spread the stain evenly.

Panels and columns stained

Base stained

Tabernacle top

I am not worrying about staining the bottoms of the bases, but I did flip over the two tops and apply a coat of stain. I gently brushed stain over the high spots on the fish trim, hoping to highlight those carvings as well. We will see how it looks when the Urethane goes on tomorrow.

Altar top