SawDustB Posted December 10, 2018 Report Share Posted December 10, 2018 I'm putting together a quick project for my daughter for Christmas. Being 5, she always has a new drawing that she wants to hang up from school or around home. We decided to give her a dedicated spot in her room for it. My part in this is I'm setting up what is essentially a clipboard mounted to her wall. There will be a board, mounted using keyhole slots, that has two clipboard clips that are spaced across the width. If she has a smaller drawing, then she can put it up with one clip, or a poster can span across them both. I'm making this from some purple heart I have left over from picture frames for her room. The basic design is supposed to mimic bubbles. There's a decent video by parillaworks on youtube for a cutting board that captures some of what I was thinking, but I have no CNC (and not a lot of time) so I had to simplify. Here's where we are after gluing in all of the circles: The circles are canary wood, maple, and I think oak (it was pallet wood). The smaller circles are a mix of poplar dowel (the 1" ones) and cherry, maple, and walnut dowel in the 1/2" size. Next up is flushing them all up. I expect to spend some quality time with a flush cut saw for this. If you're curious, here's the clipboard hardware I bought: 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chestnut Posted December 10, 2018 Report Share Posted December 10, 2018 Do you have a bandsaw? Put it on edge and get them all in 1 pass. Cool project i like it. Purpleheart is perfect. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SawDustB Posted December 10, 2018 Author Report Share Posted December 10, 2018 Just now, Chestnut said: Do you have a bandsaw? Put it on edge and get them all in 1 pass. Cool project i like it. Purpleheart is perfect. If only... No band saw here. It's either the flush cut saw, setting up some kind of jig with my router, using planes, or a dicey cut with the table saw. Purple heart is pretty much perfect for this, especially where it's going in a 5 year old girl's room. She would be happiest if most things were either purple or painted by her. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
..Kev Posted December 10, 2018 Report Share Posted December 10, 2018 A quick router sled would make quick work of it.. Cool project! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chestnut Posted December 10, 2018 Report Share Posted December 10, 2018 Flush cut and hand planes it is. You have that nice bench for good work holding right there in the background. A router jig would do it but i'd be willing to bed you'd be most of the way done by the time you finished making the jig for a small project like this. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SawDustB Posted December 10, 2018 Author Report Share Posted December 10, 2018 26 minutes ago, ..Kev said: A quick router sled would make quick work of it.. Cool project! I'm sure it would, although it won't be too bad by hand. 5 minutes ago, Chestnut said: Flush cut and hand planes it is. You have that nice bench for good work holding right there in the background. A router jig would do it but i'd be willing to bed you'd be most of the way done by the time you finished making the jig for a small project like this. Yeah, I can't exactly complain about doing hand work when I post a picture of it sitting on my wagon vise. I don't need it done for another week, so I've got time to do it by hand. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wdwerker Posted December 10, 2018 Report Share Posted December 10, 2018 Got a friend with a drum sander ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SawDustB Posted December 10, 2018 Author Report Share Posted December 10, 2018 58 minutes ago, wdwerker said: Got a friend with a drum sander ? No, I'm the one with the most tools among my friends. That's OK. It's no more material to remove than jointing the purple heart was in the first place. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coop Posted December 11, 2018 Report Share Posted December 11, 2018 If your daughter is like my grandkids were, you’d better make several of these. Mine (twins) would finger paint or do a drawing and I would tape one to one cabinet door and the others to the other door. The next time they came over and brought two more to hang, I took the first ones down and put the new ones up. They weren’t happy about taking the first ones down. Finally it was decided that my wife would help each one to make a scrap book to house the older ones and they were happy. Thank goodness as I don’t have that many cabinet doors in my shop. Cool idea on the bubbles. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SawDustB Posted December 11, 2018 Author Report Share Posted December 11, 2018 58 minutes ago, K Cooper said: If your daughter is like my grandkids were, you’d better make several of these. Mine (twins) would finger paint or do a drawing and I would tape one to one cabinet door and the others to the other door. The next time they came over and brought two more to hang, I took the first ones down and put the new ones up. They weren’t happy about taking the first ones down. Finally it was decided that my wife would help each one to make a scrap book to house the older ones and they were happy. Thank goodness as I don’t have that many cabinet doors in my shop. Cool idea on the bubbles. Well, I'll admit that part of the strategy here is to make her decide what stays up... Otherwise our house would be wall papered in her old drawings. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post SawDustB Posted December 12, 2018 Author Popular Post Report Share Posted December 12, 2018 So I lasted about 5 minutes with the flush cut saw. It really couldn't deal with the wider circles, since they're almost 1 3/4" wide. I set up a tall fence and feather board on the table saw and ran it through vertically, about 3/4" at a time, raising the blade after each pass. I stayed a heavy 1/32" from the surface. It worked well, although I had a bit of burning. Once they were trimmed I used my number 6 plane to get them close, then my smoother to get them flush. Unfortunately I didn't realize that I had the piece in the wrong direction to be with the grain, so once I got through the protruding parts it tore out on the purple heart. I went from 80 up to 220 (and 320 on the end grain). I routed a simple 22.5 degree chamfer on the edge, and hand sanded everything. Once it turns purple again I'll spray a couple of coats of lacquer on it. I need to get into my daughter's room with it to decide placement so I can route keyhole slots on the back. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wdwerker Posted December 12, 2018 Report Share Posted December 12, 2018 An osselating tool like the Fein Multimaster would have made pretty quick work of that task too. Looks like a really nice project. Definitely a one of a kind ! Sign it and date it for her to remember for years to come. Purpleheart is attractive for the unique color but sunlight and oxidation will turn it a darker muddy brownish purple over time. Sealed well and kept out of the sun will lengthen the time to change but eventually a thorough sanding is the only way to get the bright color back. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SawDustB Posted December 12, 2018 Author Report Share Posted December 12, 2018 Thanks Steve. I'm actually fine with the purple heart color change. I like it better after it ages to the purple-reddish brown. For now, vibrant works best with my daughter's current tastes. It's frustrating at this part of a project with purple heart, though, where I'm stuck waiting for it to turn purple again after sanding. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wdwerker Posted December 12, 2018 Report Share Posted December 12, 2018 If you have a halogen floodlight like those ones on tripod bases for jobsites it will hurry the process. Remove the glass in front of the bulb because it usually is a UV filter. Keep the kids & pets out of the area and don't look directly at the bulb . A few hours exposure makes a visible difference. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SawDustB Posted December 16, 2018 Author Report Share Posted December 16, 2018 A few coats of lacquer later, and I think it's looking pretty good. Just the details with the clips and mounting hardware, and it'll be done. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chestnut Posted December 17, 2018 Report Share Posted December 17, 2018 Wow yeah that's purple.... i like it. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coop Posted December 17, 2018 Report Share Posted December 17, 2018 Pretty cool! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post SawDustB Posted December 24, 2018 Author Popular Post Report Share Posted December 24, 2018 I mounted the hardware, and routed key hole slots in the back for hanging. I'm waiting for my lacquer touch up to dry, then it's getting wrapped. I'll post a picture of it mounted and in use after Christmas. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coop Posted December 24, 2018 Report Share Posted December 24, 2018 Too cool! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gee-dub Posted December 24, 2018 Report Share Posted December 24, 2018 Fun stuff. Sure to be a hit. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post SawDustB Posted December 26, 2018 Author Popular Post Report Share Posted December 26, 2018 I think she was a little confused when opening it, but now that it's on the wall she's excited about it. It's already being used. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.