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Cake Stands - What are the correct proportions? top vs base vs height?

Perry Higgins said:
What are the correct proportions for a wedding cake stand?
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Got one here that I turned from Black Cherry, one piece, it is just over 11" wide and the foot is 6", stand is 4 3/4" high.

Just a flat top so it can accommodate a wider cake, and the foot size is large to keep it steady with a heavy and larger cake on it.Cake stand.jpgBlack Cherry with brown streak.jpgCake stand bottom.jpg.
 
Leo Van Der Loo said:
Got one here that I turned from Black Cherry, one piece, it is just over 11" wide and the foot is 6", stand is 4 3/4" high.

Just a flat top so it can accommodate a wider cake, and the foot size is large to keep it steady with a heavy and larger cake on it.View attachment 44241View attachment 44242View attachment 44244.
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It's beautiful, did you twice turn it? This one is about ready to finish, it is 18" x 8.5" and 5" tall, black walnut, wife does cakes...more for single layer cakes
IMG_1538.jpg
 
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I want to clarify my picture and measurements. That is a rough turned piece and the measurements are what it dried to. By no means should those measurements be taken as any cake stand standard. Mine is probably a little wide at the top for the base size....will research before second turning.
 
Marvin Jones said:
I know you have your curing methods down pat but I was amazed that you didn't have to hollow the stem. I did hollow the one in my picture trying to keep the thicknesses the same or close.
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I think that it would be advantageous to leave the stem solid to add mass so that it would be less likely to tip when the cake is being cut. I agree that it would be best to cut the diameter down so that the cake won't be dwarfed by the stand.
 
Was worried the 4" stem would stress the top or base, wanted to keep somewhat same thickness throughout nor did I want to wait an extra two years for the stem wood to cure...only one of these I've done. Thanks.
 
Well, if the stem was hollowed out and nicely embellished (as in like the rings cut into the foot in Leo's example) you could make the inner ring a "plug" and then fill back in the stem to give it more mass, without concern of drying/cracking, perhaps?
 
Thinking of a movable fill that is heavier than walnut, trapped between two glued-in walnut plugs, have to research...

The plugs will be in the top and bottom, the whole thing is heartwood black walnut, to even see the plugs one will have to look really hard if I do my installation and finish right...
 
Regarding comments about mass in the base, not sure how much mass in the base close to the centerline will help. The distance from the center of mass to the outside edge of the base is probably the most critical stability factor (mass matters, but you can only get so much in the small center area).
 
Hmm, plugs always show. Maybe some of the colored epoxy, and make a design in the center.... That, or a stave construction. Haven't made one of these, and I don't make cakes. I would eat the whole thing..... Just as bad as a pack of cookies for me....

robo hippy
 
The thing about a cake stand, there usually a cake on it, if not the cake, the cake platter. The wife usually does the cake and the party so she sets up the cake and when cleaning up removes the stand. I can clean up the hollow stem and leave it, after cutting it down won't need extra weight, I'm thinking...

She is talking about 11 to 12 inch cakes, so if I cut the top down to 12 1/2, and leave the base close to 8", it should be fairly stable. I like the shape of the base and as Leo did, mirror the top to the base as far as thickness and shape, should work pretty well.

Of course, I could just cut the base off and make an 18 inch platter but when I mentioned that to her I got this sort of stink eye...

Reed, her cakes, cookies and cooking in general is why I look like a telephone pole with a burl...
 
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Marvin you would turn away that extra thickness that you have on your stand, that would increase the stability of the stand as the weight is all left much more in the center of the stand, I took your picture and stuck a curve on it to show how much you could turn away, does not need to be a curve, but turning a lot of that outer edge wood/weight away would make it look less bulky and heavy, just my thought on this.

Going overboard here, a wide recess turned in the bottom of the foot could have a heavy (any) metal disk/ring glued or screwed in it, not something I would do, but ................

Cake stand.jpg
 
I absolutely agree, if fact your stand's base and top have the same curve, simple and beautiful. It's just pleasing to the eye. So I thought to take the same curve and thickness that is on the base of mine and cut that into the top, just make the curve longer, just about what you have drawn. I am taking about five inches out of the diameter, she does not need it, she said...

I'll post a picture of it when I finish it...
 
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