Creating a Unique bookstand

The Keough bookstands are custom made by the talented woodworkers at Live Edge Design, manufacturers of unique and beautiful furniture in British Columbia, Canada. While such skill, individual attention and solid natural materials are costly, the bookstands are themselves works of functional art which will endure for many lifetimes.

Each bookstand starts as a single plank of mahogany, 11 feet by 14" wide by 2" thick, totalling over 22 board feet of fine grained wood. The apparent simplicity of the design belies the complexity of the wood work. Indeed 45 jigs are used to individually cut, router and drill the 17 shaped pieces of wood required for each bookstand. Other components are a hidden stainless steel pin, three visible brass pins, and three leather inserts.

The back rest is 1/2" frosted acrylic moulded into a cradle shape by Harwood Custom Composites. Aside from the occasional order for the Keoughs’ bookstands, Harwood specializes in manufacturing windows for a variety of aircraft including those of the iconic bush plane, the Twin Otter.

Only a few bookstands are made at a time, each being individually hand crafted. The workmanship is impeccable.