We decided to make a frame for them from our stash of wood. The nice morado, used in the last projects, seemed ideal--it's dark, has a nice grain, and looks great with clear stain. The pieces cut easily and we used the table saw to cut away the "non-frame" bits. We needed a deep inch+ frame so opted to make it only 1/8" wide.
So far so good. Until we tried putting the whole thing together. Our Elmer's wood glue is strong but there wasn't much surface area at the corners. Would it be strong enough? And were the sides thick enough to make notches for the little clips that would hold the back in place but allow us to take it on and off as we collected more coins?
The short answer to both questions was "probably not." To reinforce the corner we had the inspiration to cut pieces of sheet metal to add strength.
Unfortunately they were too flimsy to add any real reinforcement. The narrowest version we could find at Home Depot was much wider than 1/8".
We had played this option out, so we went back to the drawing board and started again with a nice piece of cherry from HD.
We would have a display area of about a foot square, so we needed four side pieces a little longer than that.
Again we used the table saw to carve out the part where the glass, etc. would nestle. This time we left 1/4", which would give more surface area for glue and let us use the corner braces above.
The added thickness also gave us enough depth to carve out notches for the clips on the back. It needed about 3/8" cut into an arc for the clip to swivel in/out.
We had just the tool for the job--the little dremel marked with tape to tell us how deep to cut.
We marked the midpoint of each side and then the roughly 3/16" height of the cut, which we set another 3/16" from the edge.
Everything worked like a charm--depth, height, and arc.
Because the power miter saw, as good as it is, doesn't make perfect 45-degree cuts it can be tricky to find the right configuration to hold the pieces square and make the corners flush. Fortunately, we have lots of options.
With everything set we installed all the parts (glass, foam, back) to see how the clips worked. You be the judge.
So we had a functioning frame!
Three coats of our favorite clear stain and we have a finished, functioning frame!
And a new home for this guy and his friends. The gentleman here has a particular resonance for us. We'll let you guess at his identity.
Happy woodworking.
No comments:
Post a Comment