AndrewDouglasBird
Well-known member
So I'm building a shadow box for a project that I will leave unexplained so it can be a surprise.
I don't have a table saw, so I had to come up with a way to make multiple steps in a piece of wood to hold the glass and the back. I decided to go with 3 pieces of 1/4" MDF layered in such a way to give me the steps I need. I don't really have any pics of this as I didn't think to take any until everything was glued up. Here is the design though:
I started by cutting all the strips I would need with my 18v cordless circular saw; four 3/4" wide strips for the front, four 2-3/4" strips and four 3" strips for the sides. I then glued the wider strips together to get the profile I wanted. To my chagrin, the strips ended up not very straight at all and a lot of sanding with the belt sander was needed.
By the time I was done sanding, the small step for the back was almost completely gone. To fix it, I ended up taking multiple passes with the circular saw to recreate the step. It actually worked very well.
I then glued the 3/4" wide strips to the edge of these pieces to give me my final profile. Some scrap boards and some heavy objects, along with some tape, held everything in place while the glue dried.
I purposely overhung the strips towards the outside so they could be sanded back flush with the flat of the lager strips. The opposite side was sanded smooth before gluing.
Now that I had 4 strips in the profile I wanted, I mitered one end of each with the chop saw, measured and marked the long edge length and cut the second miter. I rough cut to within an 1/8", then shaved off the last bit to make sure I got them perfect.
Then I glued them up. One strap was all that was needed.
After a little sanding to remove excess glue, it was time for a test fit.
And that's where I'm at right now. Need to buy a piece of 1/8" tempered hardboard for the back and have a piece of glass cut for the front. Then primer, final sanding and paint.
More to come later!
I don't have a table saw, so I had to come up with a way to make multiple steps in a piece of wood to hold the glass and the back. I decided to go with 3 pieces of 1/4" MDF layered in such a way to give me the steps I need. I don't really have any pics of this as I didn't think to take any until everything was glued up. Here is the design though:
I started by cutting all the strips I would need with my 18v cordless circular saw; four 3/4" wide strips for the front, four 2-3/4" strips and four 3" strips for the sides. I then glued the wider strips together to get the profile I wanted. To my chagrin, the strips ended up not very straight at all and a lot of sanding with the belt sander was needed.
By the time I was done sanding, the small step for the back was almost completely gone. To fix it, I ended up taking multiple passes with the circular saw to recreate the step. It actually worked very well.
I then glued the 3/4" wide strips to the edge of these pieces to give me my final profile. Some scrap boards and some heavy objects, along with some tape, held everything in place while the glue dried.
I purposely overhung the strips towards the outside so they could be sanded back flush with the flat of the lager strips. The opposite side was sanded smooth before gluing.
Now that I had 4 strips in the profile I wanted, I mitered one end of each with the chop saw, measured and marked the long edge length and cut the second miter. I rough cut to within an 1/8", then shaved off the last bit to make sure I got them perfect.
Then I glued them up. One strap was all that was needed.
After a little sanding to remove excess glue, it was time for a test fit.
And that's where I'm at right now. Need to buy a piece of 1/8" tempered hardboard for the back and have a piece of glass cut for the front. Then primer, final sanding and paint.
More to come later!