Hey all… this was a really challenging project for me—mostly due to time constraints.
During our vacation to San Diego a couple of weeks ago I got a call from my group superintendant, a retiring Chief Master Sergeant. He asked if I could make a shadow box for him… by his ceremony… which was only 8 days after we returned from Vacation! I wasn’t 100% sure but told him I’d give it a go and that I hoped he liked lacquer finishes!
To make things sporty, he sent me a picture of a stripes shaped shadow box a friend of his got—and said he really wanted something like that.
To make things even more sporty he asked if I could include a light.
Saturday—drove back from vacation. I stopped with the wife and kids by the woodworker’s source on the way home with our bags etc still loaded. The guy at the lumberyard section had a giggle as I moved suitcases aside so that the boards would fit in. After we got home and unpacked I did a quick paper design and then began doing the CNC designing on the computer. Because I was tired, nothing went well and the evening’s programming was a complete bust.
Sunday—woke up and re-thought the computer design to my satisfaction. I then milled up the boards for the front of the shadowbox. Because of the width I had to do the carve in two sides and then glue them together. I got the left side carved and then started carving the right side. Just as the carve was finishing the machine had a roller error and carved in the wrong spot—ruining the glued up wood and a couple of hours of work (and a perfectly matched front) The problem, it seems, was that the sandpaper belt on my CNC machine rolled under and caused a tracking problem. I spent an hour or so fixing the problem—hoping that I would be able to do the other side the next night.
Monday—I returned to work after my 2-week vacation. The sergeant in charge of the Chief’s retirement told me that she needed the box complete by Friday so that she could load it. I told her I’d do my best but that there were no promises. After work I went out to the shop to re-do the right side of the front and to my dismay found that the left side that I’d carved had cupped—badly. It seems that when I carved one face of the board it released tension and allowed the board to cup. Crap… I did the glue up for the right side and then made relief cuts into the back of the board, hoping this would fix things. Luckily for me it did. I completed (whew) the right side of the carve (and made relief cuts in the back) and then glued the two sides together, clamping them down on the TS. I also created cauls to both hold the face flat and allow for wood movement. I used pocket screws and created loose sideways holes to allow for expansion and contraction but still keep things flat.
Tuesday—After work I dimensioned the wood for the box portion and then used my Incra router table fence to make box joints which I planned to round the edges over on.
Wednesday—We had plans after work and I got nothing done…
Thursday—I cut and put in the back and got everything together. I also put in the light switch, plug, and soldered the wiring for the LED lights. They run on a 12v DC plug and the all the parts, including transformer, lights, and switch, cost about $15. I then cut the foam backer and covered it with blue velvet. There was still sanding and finishing to do, but that could wait until the weekend. The foam and velvet comes out so that I can remove it for finishing.
Friday—took it in to work and placed the items. After work I did some touchups and then sanded and put a coat of cherry gel stain on, hoping that the low humidity would dry it quickly.
Saturday—I woke up at 0500 as that was the only time that the wind was scheduled to be calm enough for spraying. I put 5 coats of lacquer—it tries so quickly here in the sub-10% humidity that you only have to wait about 10 minutes between coats and they still white-powder with sanding. The piece looked good, but when I went to put the glass back in…DISASTER… I discovered that the ($30 conservation quality) piece of glass that I put in was very scratched. I’m sure I did this leaving it laying around the shop while I assembled it. I drove into town, bought a new piece, and put it in. I then cut and put on the top portion of the french cleat which will hold the box onto the wall. I cut the back rabbets deep enough that I was able to put a 18 inch long ½ inch french cleat on the back and the box will lay flat to the wall when it is put on.
Sunday—with everything (including the silicone glass adhesive) cured I put the flag in (if you have ever done this you know how hard this is to do neatly) and took pics. Since the pics I have straightened a couple of medals out (the ones that do not look straight in the pics) and I will deliver the box for the Chief’s retirement ceremony tomorrow.
Whew…
Thanks for looking,
Lawrence
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