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October 2023
October 2023
I've had a couple simple woodworking projects on my backlog for a while. With a newly-setup workshop space and some time on my hands, I decided to tackle both projects.
In the interest of, well, making something interesting, I decided to experiment with a couple new techniques for both projects, elevating them from a "Woodworking 101" level to something slightly more complex. More below....
A Picture Frame
A Picture Frame
I've had one of my projects, the 3D printed Catan set, hanging up as wall art for the last few years.
I've always known that the project needs a picture frame to really tie it together and give a complete appearance. However, that project has always been somewhere in the backlog, and it's taken me until now to unearth it and finally finish the project.
Read on for the exciting conclusion!
First, the twist: rather than just settle for a basic picture frame, I decided that this display piece needed a fancy frame. For that fancy frame, I wanted to include a spline in each corner. In addition to being an attractive focal element for the frame, the splines will strengthen each 45-degree joint, resulting in a more robust piece that (in theory) gets taken off the wall and played on regularly.
So naturally, I had to whip up a spline jig for the table saw. The purpose of the jig is to hold a workpiece vertically, at a 45-degree angle to the table. The jig and workpiece then slide along the rip fence, cutting a neat groove into the bottom corner of the workpiece. The design I used is pictured above - see usage below, later in the build.
First, of course, I had to make a rectangle from 4 pieces of wood.
The process is fairly straightforward: cut the pieces to length (I used the miter gauge pictured here), cut a 45-degree angle at each end, and cut a groove in the interior edge of each piece using the fence. The groove provides relief space for the board to sit in, so that it is elevated away from the wall. If you've seen a picture frame before, you know what I'm talking about.
Finally, I used tape to clamp the pieces together during glue-up, making sure that the frame remained square.
Next, it was time to cut a groove in the frame for each spline. Not much to say here, I guess. Look at the pictures!
Then comes the spline themselves. The important things here are to get a tight fit, and to make sure the grain direction is correct. The spline grain should run across the glue joint in the frame; this is the best way for the spline to add strength.
For a good fit, I used the table saw to creep up on the correct thickness for the spline, testing on the frame in between cuts.
After gluing in the splines, I cut them down flush to the frame. For the final touch, I cut a rakish bevel all around the frame, transitioning the appearance from "blocky" to "refined". For cutting the bevel, I used the same vertical cutting jig shown above.
Finally, it was time to wipe on a bit of finish (Danish Oil), and mount everything into the frame.
I'm super happy with how this came out. As I had hoped, the frame has finally given the piece a "finished" appearance, and I can say that this will be hanging proudly on the wall for years to come.
Desk Riser
Desk Riser
The second project on this docket involves my computer desk. At the moment, it has a strong "cluttered" appearance. My computer monitor sits on an amalgam of books, and cables scatter everywhere.
I wanted to clean this up with a simple riser, elevating some of the important things on my desk, while providing space for the rest.
The initial design is about as basic as it gets. After taking some measurements of my monitor and desk, I drew up a simple board shelf, supported at either end by a 3D-printed bracket.
After taking stock of my wood choices in the garage and selecting a nice-looking piece of plywood, I finalized the slot dimensions in my bracket and printed one out for testing.
The brackets have a couple nice features (insets at the bottom for felt pads, and a hidden hole for a screw to lock in the shelf), but the real thing I wanted to experiment with on this project was an edge banding on the shelf.
In order to hide the somewhat unappealing edge of the plywood, there are some techniques for covering the cut edge with more attractive wood, which I decided to experiment with here.
I have actually experimented with edge banding before, but I wanted to try a new technique here. The technique involves cutting a V-shaped groove in the plywood, and gluing in a matching wedge-shaped piece to the groove.
The wedge is oriented 90 degrees to the main piece, with the overall effect being that the attractive "top" surface of the plywood is shown all around the piece, hiding the plywood interior layers.
You can see the results of this technique on my test workpiece here.
For my first time using the technique, I thought it came together really cleanly. I had to do some chiseling before the glue-up, to make sure the pieces came together correctly.
But, there were hardly any gaps in the display edges between wedge and main piece, and I was ready to dive in and apply this to my actual workpiece.
However, it was at this point that I made a disappointing discovery. The plywood I had selected for the riser shelf was actually pretty badly warped. Meaning, it would be pretty much impossible to cut a consistent V-groove along the length of the shelf, making this edge banding technique impossible.
I spent days trying to come up with clever solutions to this.
Rather than cut the groove on the table saw, I could get a V-groove bit for my router, and use a router fence to run the workpiece along. However, I didn't know if this would work, and honestly, I'm a bit scared of the router. I want to learn the tool better before trying something like that.
I also tried to think of ways I could attach a sacrificial or temporary piece of wood to the workpiece, to flatten it out while cutting the groove. However, this sounded like a bit of a nightmare, and I didn't have any great pieces of wood laying around to accomplish this.
Ultimately, I decided to just use a simpler edge banding technique. I cut a flat strip from another piece of wood, and glued it to the front of the plywood. That's it; straightforward and simple.
After the glue dried, I used a flush-trim router to trim the oversized trim down to the thickness of the plywood.
Next, another adjustment: in order to flatten the final shelf, I decided to attach a "stiffener" piece to the underside.
Originally, I thought to do this with a simple glue joint, but I decided to sink in some hidden screws to help keep the two pieces together, as the natural tension from the bend of the plywood would be putting the glue joint under constant tension, and I wanted to avoid having to fix the joint sometime in the future.
Finally, it was time for some final experimentation: wood stain. I know a lot of professional woodworkers scoff at the use of woodstain, preferring a more natural look. But, it's something I've never used before, and I wanted to play around with the possibilities.
After a couple applications of stain, the shelf was quite dark. My technique ended up a bit splotchy, and I considered sanding it down a bit to bring back some of the contrast in the wood, and because I was curious what it might look like.
Ultimately, though, I decided to leave more experimentation for another day -- I was ready to get this into use!
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