My dad at jump school in the late 50s, and his memorial flag, presented to my family last summer.
My father’s flag, like so many others, is folded into a triangle.
Its blue field of stars rests on my mantle beside his photo, waiting for the permanent home that I am just starting to build in my shop.
Of course, it’s easy enough to buy a piece like the one I have in mind – a glass-fronted, triangular display case. Google the phrase “memorial flag box’ and you will find scores of them.
Some of these are quite nice but, as a woodworker – and a son – my conscience would not let me rest with a quick and empty purchase.
So, here’s a look at how I’ve gotten started.
I decided early on that I wanted the corners to be mitered, with interlocking joinery. The work gets interesting because those bottom corners are 45 degrees each. After some unsatisfying experiments at cutting dovetails for these corners, I opted instead for the finger-joint arrangement shown in the photos. The long miter in front, bisecting that 45, is arrow-like, which I find eye-pleasing – and appropriate for an old missile man. For the 90-degree corner at the top of the triangle, I plan a keyed miter to complement the look of the sample joint you see here.
This joint was cut with the tablesaw and bandsaw, and cleaned up with light chisel paring. In this sample, I didn’t follow my own layout very well and wound up with an empty finger socket (on the piece, not my hand). I also used a tablesaw blade with an alternating top bevel, which left its characteristic “ears” on the sockets. Before I start cutting in earnest, I need to lay hands on a rip blade with a flat top grind.
At any rate, I’ll show the set-ups in a future post. In the meantime, let me know what you think, and shout if you have any ideas for building one of these.
Thanks for reading!
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My dad at jump school in the late 50s, and his memorial flag, presented to my family last summer.
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A test of the finger joint for one of the bottom corners. I could have been more thorough about cleaning up the long miter. And I need to find a way of cutting those skinny fingers without chipping them out.
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The joinery from the inside. The ends are mitered first, and then the fingers and sockets are cut on the tablesaw. Instead of cutting the long miters by hand, I chickened out and set up a sled for my bandsaw to get me really close.
Comments
Good for you! I can especially appreciate your project as I am a paratrooper as well. I know he's looking down and shouting "AIRBORNE!"
Dan
Danyo,
Thanks very much for your comment. Although my Dad received some jump training - and loved it - he actually wound up in missiles (air-defense artillery they called it in the 60s - not sure if the term exists today). He served at Nike missile batteries in Germany and S. Korea. Thanks again, and thanks for your service!
I'm in the same position with my dad's flag... need to build a case. Fortunately, my local club, the Diablo Woodworkers, has some online instructions that might be useful to all of us. The guys in the club pitch in and make several of these each year for the vets. Take a look at http://www.diablowoodworkers.com/flagcases.html
-Gary
Thanks Gary! Nice photos on the site of an impressive and worthwhile project. Folks, check the "activities" link on the Diablo homepage to find photos of the project and a PDF of the club's instructions. Gary, hope you find building the case a rewarding experience - Best of luck! Steve S.
I'm building something similar for my husband's grandfather who passed last year. Those mitered finger joints are exactly what I want to do. Poppy was a woodworker too. What jig did you use to make those joints? I've been scouring on-line and seem to be unable to find even the slightest tip on how to make mitered finger joints. I could just put in a spline, but I really like the look of tight finger joints.
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