Help with wood project

[Lessen]

Ok fellas, here's the background. My 5th wedding anniversary is Friday, May 1st. If anybody follows the traditional anniversary gift themes, you may know that the 5th anniversary is the "wood anniversary". I was out yesterday shopping for a gift when I saw this art piece at Crate & Barrel. It's right up her ally as far as design is concerned but it's made of metal which doesn't do it for me for the situation. The color is right but I wish it was made of wood rather than metal. I realized very quickly that this would be pretty easily to replicate myself so I took a couple mental notes and headed to Lowes. I picked up about a good handful of 1/4" square poplar rod (36" lengths) and some stain to match our armoire. My only concern that has me thrown is how to attach the pieces together for a clean look. It's kind of difficult to see the manner of the construction from the picture but I can tell you from seeing the piece in person that the individual pieces are put together first then simply welded together. The pieces are only 1/4" square so I would imagine screws are unecessary. I don't expect to utilize glass enclosures so there won't be a lot of weight on the piece other than a dozen or so tealights. I think I'm just going to construct small squares just big enough for the tealights to fit inside of and mount them to the piece. The piece will mount away from the wall just as the original does... about 3"

So what's the best way for me to put this together? Nails? Screws? Hot glue?

http://www.crateandbarrel.com/family.aspx?c=1340&f=8964

 

[MotoGod]

Notch both pieces out 50% of the their depth and glue/dowel em together. That's probably your best bet. You could always use rabbits/dados as well. Screws might be rough since they might show all over the place unless you use short screws from the back all over.

 

[Lessen]

That would look real nice but I don't think I have the time to do that much.. I might have to take another vacation day anyways... so maybe.. I'll look into that. Would you think 1/16 dowel would be the best size for this application?

 

[Rolex]

Take a day off. I agree with Motogod. Drill, glue, dowel.

 

[Lessen]

Where can I find dowels that small? Craft store? Hardware store?

What's the best way to make that notch?

I'm not a woodworker by any means so I'm limited with tools. I do have a Craftsman tablesaw that hasn't been turned on in 10 years.

*edit*

just so we're on the same page... This is what we're talkin' about right?

 

[Rolex]

Without the proper equipment, that joint would be time consuming, yet it would be the strongest. A shaper is what you'd really need to do that. It CAN be done on the table saw, but notching all those ends in a vertical position would be dangerous for someone who's not used to it.
I just wouldn't recommend doing all those on the table saw without having total experience with the machine.
Your easier (and safer) option would be to dowel the end butt joints, like the stiles on kitchen cabinets. Dowels and carpenter's glue would be rock solid overnight.

Lowe's or Home Depot has a good selection of gluing dowels. They will have notches cut along them to let excess glue seep past them, rather than causing a compression in the drilled out opening like a smooth dowel would. They also have tapered ends to permit an easier fit in snug holes.
Doweling butt joints would also allow you to go with longer glue dowels. Since you don't have the machine to make them dead on accurate, you can drill the holes slightly larger to allow for some adjustment. When the glue is dry, it's permanently set in place.

 

[Lessen]

It CAN be done on the table saw, but notching all those ends in a vertical position would be dangerous for someone who's not used to it.

Right, right... but why would I notch them with the pieces vertical? Wouldn't I just lay it down perpendicular to the blade?

 

[Rolex]

The RED line would be a vertical cut.
The GREEN line would be at a 90 degree angle to the blade.
BOTH these cuts, being done multiple times, would require you to build a jig to accurately line them up and control them.

At NO time do you travel parallel with the fence. BLUE line.
Now, look at all the overlays and joints that will have to be sanded flush. If you don't have a bench mounted belt sander for all the ends, you'll be there for days, just trying to sand the end grain flush.

You should also pre-stain all the parts before you glue, since any excess glue that bleeds out onto the wood will act as a sealer, preventing the stain from penetrating evenly. You will probably do another coat of stain after the assembly.

For a beautiful finish, without spraying lacquer, ask about Tung oil while you're at Home Depot.

 

[MotoGod]

You could always use a circular saw and just make a bunch of cuts...then use a chisel to finish the "notch" It's not going to be quick though it you want to build that big sucker. hehe

 

[Rolex]

Circular saws are for rough cuts or building decks. This is a furniture grade project, and if he had any plans for using his fingers in the future, he wouldn't take that advise.

 

[Lessen]

The RED line would be a vertical cut.
The GREEN line would be at a 90 degree angle to the blade.
BOTH these cuts, being done multiple times, would require you to build a jig to accurately line them up and control them.

Ok, I understand that.. if the pieces were of enough size to require coming at it from two angles. However, these pieces are only 1/4" wide. Couldn't I pick up the proper type of blades and get that with two passes laying down? Also, I would consistantly get the same depth due to the height of the blade never changing as I go from piece to piece.

I don't even know if this thing still works. The blade that's on it now is rusted all to hell. The machine sat outside for a couple years before I got a garage. I'm not even confident it would be safe to be honest. Maybe this isn't a very good idea. I want it to be nice and I think that joint with the dowel will look REALLY nice when it's all stained up and mounted.

 

[Candyman]

If you're leaving the stock square, half-lap joints with dowels will make the corners nice and firm. Ideally, you'd do it with a table saw and stacked dado head. But if I had to pick a really good second plan it would be a router with a straight cutting bit. That's an excellent fill-in for the table saw.
Make all the boxes first. Then, lay them out and mark where they will intersect. Then take half off one box and the other half off the other box so they interlock (that's what a half lap joint is). Then you can glue/dowel them together. Now, one cool thing to remember is that if you dowel the joints like this, the dowels will probably show when you stain it. But that's a pretty cool effect if that's what you want.

 

[NCNitro]

This is actually a very easy cut IF your table saw has a large enough arbor to mount a stackable dado blade to it. Determine the width of the dado, set the blades and chippers accordingly to make that cut, adjust your rip fence, and viola. Then drill a hole through each end, glue and dowel them together, sand and finish, it really would not be very hard at all.

Damn it, Jeff beat me to it, lol.

 

[Candyman]

Nah, just good minds thinking alike.

 

[Lessen]

But if I had to pick a really good second plan it would be a router with a straight cutting bit.

Hmmm... I do have a Dremel router attachment which I've never used yet. That may do the trick.

 

[Racer 1966]

I think the Dremel should work fine for material that small.

Nothing like waiting until the last minute start the project

 

[Lessen]

I think the Dremel should work fine for material that small.

Nothing like waiting until the last minute start the project

Yeah, I think it'll work out ok. I'll use a piece of the same material as a new guide since the stock piece has a big notch where the bit is. Then it's just sit and forget it really. Cut 'em to size and run them through. The only thing I won't do as suggested above is how to attach the squares together. I'm not going to groove those intersections because I like the depth that the original piece has. I'll just drill through and use a dowel at those spots. I got one polygon cut right now and I figure I'm gonna overlap the corners by 1/2".

Well, I didn't exactly plan to do this, it just sort of happend. If the piece at Crate and Barrel was wood I'd just as soon spend the $150, but it's not. Besides, the project in mind is already changing such that it's more specific to the house and her taste which makes it waaaay more special anyways. I just hope I can finish it in time. I'll probably take the stock to work and cut lengths on break. Then I just have to find time to run them through the router. I need to figure out her work schedule this week. It's gonna be stupid close and I'm already stressed as hell trying to figure out how to make it happen.

 

[NCNitro]

So it's you 5th huh, I just celebrated my 14th on April 23rd. I could have got less time for armed robbery

 

[Rolex]

1/4"? That's the total thickness? I thought it was about a 1 X 2.
How about buying the unit that's metal, and adding your own wooden shelving strips to it? That should cover it, and save you a LOT of time.

 

[Lessen]

It's 1/4" x 1/4" Ralph. Itty bitty man. That's why I didn't understand why you would cut it from both directions because I could almost cut the entire width of the dato with two passes of a single blade. I can see you're angle from your misunderstanding though.

This should work out pretty well with the Dremel router. The straight bit is 1/4" diameter so I just need to make one pass through each end of the cut pieces. The stock isn't exactly perfection of 1/4" square but they all seem to be 1/4" on three sides and justly slightly shy on the forth. No big deal though. I just need to dato the correct side so I can get as clean of a fit as possible without having to mess around with adjustments or extra passes.