For my mother's 75th birthday, I wanted to make her a memorable present from wood with my own two hands, and I couldn't come up with a decent idea in time for the occasion. Not only was I lacking inspiration, but the Arizona summer heat had set in, making the garage workshop conditions unbearable.
While shopping for nice off-the-shelf gifts, my brother and I went to the Hallmark store to pick up some party supplies. On a shelf in the back of the store, lo and behold, I stumbled upon just the right thing. A 1000 piece "Best of Connecticut" jigsaw puzzle. In an instant, the inspiration came to me to assemble the puzzle and mount it in a frame of my making, complete with hand carvings on the borders of the frame.
Well, Birthday Day came and I had to make a decision about whether to hold out on giving her the brand new in-the-box puzzle, or wrap it as one of her gifts. The rumor in my family is that my mom hates surprises, so I decided to "give" it to her with the explanation of my desire to hand-make it into something special, that I'd had no idea what to make, and that this was my inspiration and that that she'd get it back once it's finished. Well, if my mom hates surprises, you couldn't tell by this picture of her receiving her gift-in-the-raw. One more thing. What makes (or will make) this gift special is that my mom is a Kansas gal who hates Kansas and absolutely loves her Connecticut.
Into my luggage the puzzle goes for my return trip to Arizona. Then, I made pretty short work of assembly, which took about 3 days since (1) I'd never done a jigsaw puzzle of this size, and (2) I've lived in Arizona so long that I'd forgotten a lot of my Connecticut geography. Here it is going together. My! it takes up a lot of room!
And here it is, completed. It still takes up a good deal of space since it's 30" x 24".
If I'm going to put hand carvings on the frame, I need some practice. This "compass" certainly isn't the quality I'm looking for but I learned some lessons and it'll become another in my collection of refrigerator magnets.
At this stage, it's time to get the materials. Puzzle glue. A piece of 1/8" 32 x 26 hardboard to mount the puzzle on so the 30 x 26 will have a 1" border. Possibly flocking or felt to make that 1" border look nice. And two 8 foot 2 X 2s to construct the frame which will have mortise & tenon joinery. Tools: I think it's time to pull the trigger on that band saw I've wanting so I can cut some nice curves in the frame.
Saturday, September 1, 2007
Well it's been a couple of weeks since the last update. Since then I was able to get my frame stock purchased, rough cut, and glued up. I did some band saw shopping but didn't see anything I like. But I found a router table I did like and purchased it...it's being delivered some time this coming week. In the meantime, I got to work and routed the recess in the backer board so the puzzle will be inset into the plywood.
The router tipped a bit, so it's kind of ugly -- but that part will be covered up by the puzzle.
The border around the puzzle will be painted with this "stone" paint. I'm hoping the end result will turn out sharp.
I need the router table to joint my frame stock. In the meantime, I did a little practice with the jigsaw to make something similar to what will be the left & right frame pieces.
The end rounded portions on the actual frame members will be tighter. I may have to get a bandsaw to make them come out nice. I used an old jigsaw blade, but I've got a brand new set of Bosch jigsaw blades...maybe those will work better. And it certainly wouldn't hurt to upgrade my jigsaw...yeah, I think I'll do that before pulling the trigger on an expensive bandsaw. Well, until the router table comes in, there's not much else I can do -- so, till next time...
Saturday, September 8, 2007
My new router table arrived last Tuesday evening and I spent the night assembling the unit. Here it is prior to mounting the router.
Since it was my birthday, I also treated myself to a new Bosch jigsaw (still researching a bandsaw purchase) and a Delta 6" jointer.
Sunday, September 23, 2007
The new jigsaw was a major upgrade from the old Craftsman, the jointer made my stock square, and together with the router table, I was able to get the project to the dry fit assembly stage.
Now that it was this far along, it was time to commence with the carving. Since the puzzle is a map, I decided on carving a compass. The original carving (above) wasn't quite what I wanted, but I learned a bunch about what not to do. I created a series of concentric circles in Microsoft Paint, printed the results, and transferred the image to the stock using a clothes iron. Then I took my stencil and laid out the triangle-arrows. I used the dividers (with a sharp point) and my Exacto knife set to complete the carving. (I also did some more practice on scrap to try some things.)
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
Here's the result. I used a black Sharpie to color in the carved portions. It doesn't look very perfect, but I discovered that after staining, the sins are hidden.
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
Time for staining and, if I do say so myself, the results are superb.
I also got the frame border painted.
Time to get some advice on what finish to use. Then it's time for final assembly and shipping!
November 11, 2007
The puzzle is glued into the plywood backer. The frame members have gotten multiple coats of wipe-on polyurethane. Before the final coat, I sanded with .0000 steel wool. That finish is almost like glass. And the basic assembly looks like...drum roll...this!
What's left is to bore holes in the four mortise & tenon joints and drive brass screws in the from the back. The upper two screw heads will hold the wire to hang this, and the front of the screws will be flush-cut, filed, and sanded level with the wood, so they look like brass pins. Then a bit of sanding, a final coat of poly and it's shipping time.
November 12, 2007
Today I broke down and purchased this bench top drill press to bore the holes.
November 17, 2007
After drilling the holes it was time to install the brass screws and file/sand/polish them flush with the surface. On the first screw, I managed to mar the finish so I had to find another way. A combination of scrap wood, the jointer, and drill press came together to create this simple brass screw flushing jig. Rough, then fine filing, followed by sanding with 220, then 320 grit, followed by polishing with .0000 steel wool got them looking nice.
The upper two screws needed small holes drilled to string the picture hanger wire through. Another quick V-jig for the drill press, ample oil and I had my holes.
All that's left is to strip and refinish the marred frame member.
November 25, 2007
With the finishing applied in stages over the past week, it's time to put it all together
The carving....
.
The brass pin accents...
And finally, the completed project...
The picture hanger wire is installed on the back. All that's left to do is a few coats of wipe-on poly to embed the brass pins in the finish....and deliver this "masterpiece"! ;-)