Introduction
Patriotism is back in style! Just look around, everywhere you go, you
see the flag or its colors of red, white, and blue being proudly displayed.
INSTRUCTIONS
Make the dentil molding
Square up a piece of poplar to 5/8” x 1-1/2” x 24”.
This stock is wider and longer than necessary but it will be cut to the
final dimensions after the molding has been manufactured. The details
of the molding are made using a series of cuts 1/4” wide, 3/16”
deep, spaced 1/2” apart.
Equal spacing is extremely important. To get this critical detail correct,
proceed as follows: make the initial cut, measure over 1/2” and
make a second cut. Then without moving the stock, make a pencil mark on
a piece of masking tape (applied earlier to the throat plate of the table
saw, see Fig. 1) exactly where the first cut was located. Continue in
this manner, making the series of cuts needed to complete the molding.
The bottom edge of the molding has a cove detail. This is made on a router
table using a 1/2” cove bit. Set up the router table so approximately
1/4” of stock remains on the bottom edge of the wood.
Rip the dentil molding to the correct width of 1-1/8” by removing
any excess material from the top edge of the molding on the table saw.
Joint the edge when finished. The miter joints on the ends of the dentil
molding must be cut next. What I usually do is find the center of the
stock and measure halfway in both directions. In this case it would be
4-1/2” since the final inside dimension will be 9”. Use a
miter square to layout the miters from the back of the stock, adjusting
their position to get a full block on the ends. Depending on how accurately
your molding was cut, this dimension may be a little more or a little
less than the required 9”. Cut the miters on both ends of the long
piece on the chop saw.
Once the miters have been cut on both ends of the long piece, you can
cut the corresponding joints on the short pieces. Do not cut the short
pieces to the final length however, they will be trimmed later after the
case is completed.
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Size
the case pieces
Start by roughing out the stock for the two vertical and horizontal members
(my article on dimensioning lumber in the March 2000 Millennium Issue
of Creative Woodworks & Crafts is a great resource of information
regarding this process). My dimensions for these pieces at this point
in the construction process were 3/4” x 2-3/4” x 10”
and 3/4” x 2-3/4” x 8-1/2”. Keep in mind, however, that
your dimensions could differ depending on how accurate your dentil molding
was cut.
Make
the rabbet joints
The box is assembled using rabbet joints cut on the ends of the vertical
members. While this joint can be made using the dado head blade, I chose
to make the joint using two separate passes on the table saw.
The joints are first laid out on one end of one of the vertical parts
as shown in Fig. 2. Position the stock so it is flat
on the table saw and raise the blade so it just touches the layout line
on the end of the stock. Adjust the fence so the cut will be to the right
of the line. In this case it is permissible to use the fence to guide
the cut because you are not cutting all the way through the stock. Make
the required cut on all four ends of the vertical members, using a push
stick to guide the cut. If you have some extra stock, cut one more piece
to use as a test piece for the next operation.
Stand the previously marked piece of stock vertically on the table of
the saw next to the blade and raise the blade so it just touches the top
of the previous cut. Be careful when setting up this cut because you don’t
want to cut too deep. Rotating the blade by hand with the saw
unplugged will help you set it properly. Adjust the fence to
remove the scrap. When doing so you MUST position the scrap stock to the
left of the blade where it can fall off and not be trapped between the
blade and the fence, which would result in a kickback (see Fig.
3). The rule is: “The part you wish to keep always goes
between the blade and the fence.” Test the cut on the piece of scrap
that you saved earlier. Once you are satisfied with the set up, cut all
the remaining pieces.
Cut the horizontal members to length as dictated by the length of your
dentil molding. I cut mine to 8-1/4”.
A rabbet joint is used to recess the back into the clock case and this
joint must be cut next. I simply used two side-by-side passes of the saw
blade to make the required 3/16” joint. The depth should be the
same as the rabbets on the ends of the stock.
Trim the width of the two horizontal members to correspond to these rabbets.
This allows you to attach the back directly to the box.
Assemble the box using glue and No. 18 x 1” brads as shown in Fig.
4. Be sure that the resulting assembly is square to prevent problems
later on.
Make
the clock front
Dimension the piece to fit your box. My face was 5/8” x 9-1/8”
x 10”. I like to make the stock 1/8” wider than necessary
and then trim it down with a flush trimming bit in my router after it
has been fastened to the box assembly.
A 5-3/4”-Dia. hole must be cut into the front piece to frame the
actual clock face. A scroll saw could be used to cut this hole but I used
a more accurate circle cutter on my drill press instead (see Fig.
5). Note that the hole is not cut dead center in the front piece,
it is actually just slightly above the center of the stock. Layout the
centerlines as indicated in the plans.
After the hole is cut with the circle cutter, sand the edges with an oscillating
spindle sander to remove any torn grain. Be careful not to over sand and
either make the hole out-of-round and/or make it larger than required.
Attach the front piece to the box with glue and No. 18 x 1-1/4”
brads. Do not put any brads on the edges, just put them in the top and
bottom. Clamp the edges with wooden hand screws until glue dries (see
Fig. 6). With a router and flush trimming bit, remove any excess stock
that may be overhanging on the edge of the box. I like to sand each portion
of the assembly prior to moving on to the next step because I think that
it is easier and more efficient to do so. After trimming the edges of
the clock face flush with my router, I sanded the completed box assembly
with 120 grit paper.
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