Framing Glass for Military ShadowBox

[Joseph Smith]

I got nominated for making a shadowbox for a cooworker who is retiring. I am an amatuer/weekend WW, but that's the best in my office at the moment. Since the front will be lidded and have a glass pane so everyone can ooooh and ahhh over the years at his medals, ribbons, an etc... I am in the process of figuring out an easy way to accomplish this. This is what i was going to do. Getting the glass cut to my needed dimensions is easy. lot of people around here for that. I was wondering if I used my "raised panel" stile and rail bits if that would suffice for this task, since they would provide the same interior groove I would use for a raised panel. Then I would slip in the glass pane in the grooves and attached my last wood piece to hold the glass in (rectangular). Hope I didn't confuse anyone.

Joey in chesapeake

[J T]

Fri, Jun 11, 2004, 12:06am (EDT+4) [e-mail] (Joseph=A0Smith) says: I got nominated for making a shadowbox for a cooworker who is retiring. Since the front will be lidded and have a glass pane so everyone can ooooh and ahhh over the years at his medals, ribbons, an etc...

Hmm, makes me wonder if he knows he's getting it. If not, betcha gotta explain what it's for. Unless you've already got the medals, etc., in it.

On a personal note, if I ever got something like that, I don't know if I'd ever put any medals in it. I'd probably use it for something else. I'm proud of what I got, and what I got them for, but that was in another life.

On the other hand, a small wooden box, with a lid, would be kinda nice. Stick it away, and every once in awhile pull it out, and just look inside for a bit, then stick it away again. I figure nobody else will really care anyway. Maybe include a small notebook, telling what each is, when I got it, and what for, so the kids will know later. Yeah, I might just make one of those for myself.

JOAT You know it's gonna be a bad day, when you turn on the news and they're showing escape routes out of the city.

[Joseph Smith]

He knows and I got the medals for it on hand but not mounted in the box yet. A shadowbox is pretty standard around here. Most retirement ceremonies include the presentation of one to the sevicemember (if he/she wants one). This one I designed a little differently for him. The glass lid will be hinged and latched so he'll be able to get to his medals if he does the VFW thing and needs to get dressed up.

Hmm, makes me wonder if he knows he's getting it. If not, betcha gotta explain what it's for. Unless you've already got the medals, etc., in it.

On a personal note, if I ever got something like that, I don't know if I'd ever put any medals in it. I'd probably use it for something else. I'm proud of what I got, and what I got them for, but that was in another life.

On the other hand, a small wooden box, with a lid, would be kinda nice. Stick it away, and every once in awhile pull it out, and just look inside for a bit, then stick it away again. I figure nobody else will really care anyway. Maybe include a small notebook, telling what each is, when I got it, and what for, so the kids will know later. Yeah, I might just make one of those for myself.

JOAT You know it's gonna be a bad day, when you turn on the news and they're showing escape routes out of the city.

[rj]

Hmm, makes me wonder if he knows he's getting it. If not, betcha gotta explain what it's for. Unless you've already got the medals, etc., in it.

On a personal note, if I ever got something like that, I don't know if I'd ever put any medals in it. I'd probably use it for something else. I'm proud of what I got, and what I got them for, but that was in another life.

On the other hand, a small wooden box, with a lid, would be kinda nice. Stick it away, and every once in awhile pull it out, and just look inside for a bit, then stick it away again. I figure nobody else will really care anyway. Maybe include a small notebook, telling what each is, when I got it, and what for, so the kids will know later. Yeah, I might just make one of those for myself.

JOAT You know it's gonna be a bad day, when you turn on the news and they're showing escape routes out of the city.

[George]

If the contents of the shadowbox has important keepsakes (like ribbons or papers) that could be harmed by UV rays in normal sunlight, you might want to do what most museums do and use OP-3 acrylic instead of glass. The last time I bought some it was about $0.08 per square inch for the regular and slightly more for the abrasion resistant.

[Joseph Smith]

[George]

You probably noticed that the rail/style bits give you a 1/4" groove which you'll have to shim to hold the plastic, which is, by the way, nicer, and easier to work with, especially with big stuff. Made a frame for my daughter's fiancé's college jersey last Christmas - wife's choice - and the lighter plastic really makes sense when you're marrying a former offensive tackle!

With permanently closed items like picture frames, it's especially important to have an antistatic spray or wipe on hand. There's always dust stuck to the plastic in the most obvious places, else.

Now were those medals or ribbons in the box he threw over the fence....

[Joseph Smith]

[Andy Dingley]

I'd make one with two lids. The outer is solid wood, the inner is glazed. Use quadrant hinges for the outer (solid) lid, so that it stays open unassisted.

That way you get all three options; closed and not so blatant, viewable through glass with dust protection etc., and open for access.

The

site has lots of useful information on museum-grade conservation, UV fading etc.

[J T]

Fri, Jun 11, 2004, 6:46am (EDT-3) [e-mail] (Andy=A0Dingley) says: I'd make one with two lids. The outer is solid wood, the inner is glazed. Use quadrant hinges for the outer (solid) lid, so that it stays open unassisted. That way you get all three options; closed and not so blatant, viewable through glass with dust protection etc., and open for access.

I go along with the solid lid, and it staying up, but not an inner lid. Way I figure, I'd probably be about the only one looking, and I don't think I'd want to look at memories through glass, or plastic. I'd just stick with a decent, smallish, wooden box (shopmade, of course, not bought), I could stick somewhere, handy enough to pull out once in awhile, look for a bit, then put back. It's one of those, "If you weren't there, you'll never understand", things.

JOAT You know it's gonna be a bad day, when you turn on the news and they're showing escape routes out of the city.