Knife Display Case - WIP

[DoogMeister]

Ever try a French cleat for hanging something heavy?

Love the sword idea.

[Brokenolmarine]

Years ago... But it had slipped my mind.  Thirty surgeries.  The last five major ones averaged five hours. All that time under messed with my memory.  I find I had forgotten a LOT of the small tricks and techniques, and have trouble with short term memory as well. 

 I'll look at that as a viable option.  Thank you very much.

[Brokenolmarine]

I wasted two work days sitting in the living room with my cell waiting for a call from the Wheel Chair service folks to schedule a visit for the scissor lift chair I use in the shop when I work at the Drill Press or the Band saw.  The batteries won't hold a charge for more than a day.  Used to hold the charge for a week or so.  The VA called in the service contract and said they would call to schedule.  My cell doesn't work in the (metal) workshop.  They never called.    I was NOT happy.

Got out in the shop and got to work on the retention frame for the Plexi.  I basically repeated the process I used to make the top for the case, so NO pics, but basically, set up the table saw, ripped two addition seven foot pieces of black cherry.  This time however, they were quarter inch rather than three quarter inch.  I took them over to the sander and cleaned them up and sanded away any saw burn marks.  Then, an additional step, I used a small hand plane to cut a small forty five degree angle on ONE side corner of the strip then back to the sander to round over that corner.  That will be the top edge on the glass side.  I don't like to use the router if I can avoid it. 

Hooked up the Miter saw and vacuum and cut the pieces to length.  Now we have the retention frame for the glass.  Fits great.  IN the pic below, it seems to bow slightly, but that's because they are just laying on the case, once I pin them, they will fit exactly.

Time to apply some stain to the top.  Prior to that, I sanded the corners and removed those small defects in the fit, and sanded the plugs one last time to insure they were perfectly flush.  Once we were good, I used Watco Golden Oak Oil to apply that finish, and I am very happy.  The contrast should make the Display Case Pop....

 

We are getting so close now.  I can't wait to hang this thing and fill it.  Watch this space... 

[Brokenolmarine]

We have glass, next up, hinges and lights.

[Gezzer]

Watching every day 

[Brokenolmarine]

Okay, settle in, I've been busy.  If you need a refill on your coffee, I'll wait.  

First off, I sanded off the wax, and stained the sides of the display case darker, to compliment the black cherry of the top.  It looks better.  I'll wax the top and the side when I get it all put together.  

It took about a half hour just to tape off the open top to insure there was no accidental contamination of the interior.  I wasn't taking any chances. LOL.

[Brokenolmarine]

Next up, I aligned the hinge on the underside of the top with the glass installed and carefully drilled the holes.  I marked the depth on the drill bit with Blue Painters tape, (As you have seen, I use a lot of that in the shop,) and predrilled the holes so the screws didn't shear off.  Before screwing them in, each one was screwed into a wax block to lube the screw and then backed out.

The torque on the drill was set to drive the screw in enough to pull the hinge tight against the wood, then STOP.  I wanted to avoid shearing off the head of the screw OR cracking or splitting the wood.  Shearing the heads off the screws is much more common if you go with a brass hinge and screws.  When I do go with brass, I take the extra step of running a steel screw into each hole to pre-tap the hole, then install the brass screws.  

[Brokenolmarine]

Before installing that hinged top, I wanted to install the lights.  This meant running the wires from inside the case, to the back.  I knew I was going to drill thru the quarter round and had been going over this process for the last week.  I had decided that a brad point bit would work best, the directions for the lighting said, 3/8 bit.  I decided to test the plan on the scrap quarter round.  I drilled a 3/8 hole, then cut a half dozen 3/8 plugs from the quarter round to match.  To allow the passage of the wire I cut a notch to one side of the plug.

This worked well when I tested it on the scrap.  Now, how would I trim the plug flush with the wire running through it after installation?  There would be a good chance of cutting the wire with that razor sharp chisel.  That would be bad.   Then it came to me, I'd use the scrap with the test hole as a JIG and trim all the plugs flush in that, then pop them back out.

With the JIG secure in the vise and my sharp chisel in hand, I hand manipulated the chisel and shaved the four plugs flush, slowly and carefully.  I had cut the notches so that I had two plugs with notches to the right and two with notches to the left.  I planned ahead.  If I made a mistake or blew a plug out, I had another three feet of extra quarter round.  This process, including pre-staining, took about an hour.

[Brokenolmarine]

With the plugs ready, I could mount the lights.   I very carefully drilled the four holes on the marks made by test placing the lights on the penciled marks during layout.  I drilled the holes and vacuumed away the sawdust after each cut.  No chance for it to squirrel away and damage the leather later.

The plugs worked out just as I had planned and the lights look good in their place.  A closer look at a plug installed.  No one else will look this close.

We are looking good, now we need to screw the hinge to the case, install a latch on the edge of the case top, and install the french cleats.  Once the wiring is secured we are pretty much done.  I may, MAY, put trim around the edge to hide the cleats.

 

So close to the end now, I can taste it.  Oh, wait, that's sawdust.

[JDFred]

Looks awesome. I can’t wait to see it with knives in it and the lights on!