Need ideas for a shadowbox

[Joe Tonich]

The guy that owns a trophy shop wants me to make a shadowbox for him to display. He's looking to sell them in his shop. He had someone make one for him & it was really bad. Anyone have an idea or pic's of one I could borrow, or know of plans? LOML would love for me to start selling stuff to pay for my lumber instead of giving them away. :)

Thanks,

Joe

[Todd Burch]

Parameters Joe, parameters??????

[Joe Tonich]

The one he showed me was about 2'Wx1 1/2'Hx6"D Pine with a glass front framed in what looked like modern door casing.

Joe

[Paul Downes]

Joe I found some old type setters boxes that make great shadow boxes. I think the main thing to consider would be the size of the partitions in the box. If this guy wants to sell these boxes I wonder if there should be a variety of partition sizes offered. I think the boxes I got were constructed with hard maple. The dividers were about 1/4" thick, and rounded over on top. If I were constructing a box I would make a bunch of divider stock and cut half laps at different intervals to box out the different sizes of partitions. I would also think about hingeing the glass at the bottom to allow the lid to swing down. It is also important to rig the hanger for the box so that the top of the box is closer to the wall than the bottom. I can tell you from experiance that it's a bummer when everything falls on the floor when you bump it. A cleat behind the bottom might fit the bill to get the box to hang right.

[David Rose]

Joe, we are finishing up one right now to hold our daughter's wedding bouquet and a few nicnacs from the wedding. I didn't take measurements when I shot these just now, but it is about 2' high and 2 & 1/2' wide and 4" thick. I got the basic dimensions and look from a couple of searched out sites.

For the first time ever, I didn't draw any plans! But what I built was pretty simple. The molding is just from the borg, but daughter liked it. We searched a bunch of places for picture frame material and she didn't find a thing she liked. If I do another one, it will be picture frame material! She wanted the slope on the molding which proved to be the most time consuming part. The rest of the box is all pine from cheap shelving material with the exception of the 1/4" plywood back. The back isn't in the pics as the wife is still "loading it up".

The reason the molding was time consuming is that angles were cut on the edge to match the slope we wanted. Also it made mitering just a bit more time consuming. The whole box just has mitered and glued corners. There are two 1/2" "walls" to the box spaced about 1/2" apart. This adds some depth but may be more complicated than you want for your purpose. Of course, with the molding not lying flat on the back, the walls had to have bevelled edges to match the slope and they are different widths for the same reason. Also the inner wall is shorter to allow for the thickness of the back and a French cleat hanger. I hope Paul is not right about the hanger. I simply added a French cleat that runs across the top and screws through the ply back and into the inner wall.

Now that the box is done I am told it should be nearly air tight! I asked about that in the beginning, but we are all beginners on this project. :o You can see the little clips holding in the acrylic front panel. I may pull those and use some silicone to seal that in. The back simply screws on but may get some weather stripping to seal it somewhat.

Oh, and the molding on the edge against the wall is just a piece that I ran an ogee bit over. It was an after thought, but the box just needed "something".

The box was shellaced as a sealer then painted with an off white from the borg.

Hope this helps, though there are no plans.

David

[Joe Tonich]

Paul,

Thanks for the idea of having the door swing down. I don't think he wants dividers in it but I'm going to talk to him today to find out exactly what he's looking for. Last time I talked to him I was in a rush as I was picking up some plaques he engraved for me and needed to get them laquered ASAP for a buddy of mine.

David,

That one you made for your daughter is NICE! Sometimes your MIND is the best plan! :D On the molding, did you have to cut the miters like you do with crown mold to get it angled like that? I don't know if I'll go that far, but it sure makes it look good!

Joe

[David Rose]

Joe, it was even a little worse than crown molding. Crown molding that I've seen (never installed any) has 2 flats on the back at 90 degrees to each other. The molding used on this box is just flat on the back. After determining the angle we wanted, I drew this part on the computer to find the spacer to support it for mitering. The spacer was then carpet taped to the back of the molding for cutting. There might have been a simpler way, but it didn't cross my mind.

David


Paul,

Thanks for the idea of having the door swing down. I don't think he wants dividers in it but I'm going to talk to him today to find out exactly what he's looking for. Last time I talked to him I was in a rush as I was picking up some plaques he engraved for me and needed to get them laquered ASAP for a buddy of mine.

David,

That one you made for your daughter is NICE! Sometimes your MIND is the best plan! :D On the molding, did you have to cut the miters like you do with crown mold to get it angled like that? I don't know if I'll go that far, but it sure makes it look good!

Joe

[Pat Salter]

Joe, I have had to make several shadowboxes at work for Marines who are either getting out or retiring. coming up with the size was always a problem because each one had differant items in them. We made one for a sword and one for a dress blues jacket but most have just medals, rank insignias (?), maybe a picture or a plaque. I talked to a local picture framer who was doing one and he agreed that there is no "common" size that you can make them. you might want to talk to your guy about that. maybe come up with a price per square foot.
I'm going to try to enclose a picture of one we did when our last Master Gunnery Sargent retired. the small dress blues uniform came of a teddy bear type doll.
Good luck.

[Joe Tonich]

Joe, I have had to make several shadowboxes at work for Marines who are either getting out or retiring. coming up with the size was always a problem because each one had differant items in them. We made one for a sword and one for a dress blues jacket but most have just medals, rank insignias (?), maybe a picture or a plaque. I talked to a local picture framer who was doing one and he agreed that there is no "common" size that you can make them. you might want to talk to your guy about that. maybe come up with a price per square foot.
I'm going to try to enclose a picture of one we did when our last Master Gunnery Sargent retired. the small dress blues uniform came of a teddy bear type doll.
Good luck.
Pat,

I'm just going to make a small one for a demo and then have him order a custom size if he sells any. One question, WHO told him it was from (or FOR :p ) a TEDDY bear? I heard those guys were tough!

Joe

[Earl Reid]

Joe, I've made several all were different. I'm going to make 2 this month , they will be naval in design. also many flag cases, most were different sizes.
Earl :)

[Pat Salter]

Pat,

I'm just going to make a small one for a demo and then have him order a custom size if he sells any. One question, WHO told him it was from (or FOR :p ) a TEDDY bear? I heard those guys were tough!

Joe


You're not going to believe this, but, they have them for sale at the PX's on base. They have them for all branches of the services. This guy wanted the uniform but not the bear. So, somewhere on this base....wandering around.... is a naked bear! :D Unless he's wearing a teddy...oops, sorry, I didn't say that. ;) :p