Jimmy Williams
06-11-2009, 1:54 PM
First the back-story.
Towards the end of last year, my brother asked if I could make him a horizontal display stand for two military sabers that would allow the sabers to cross in the middle. He sent me a few grainy photos from his cell phone to give me an idea of what he was talking about. He also sent me a few measurements (more like guesstimates) for the display. He also sent a few measurements for the sabers at different points along the saber. It sounded like a cool project and a quick glance on the internet didn't turn up anything so I decided to take on the project.
I wanted it to be a Christmas present but after jotting a few ideas down, I couldn't figure out how to make it work without the sabers hitting one another when they crossed. It wasn't until I put the design into sketch-up that it all started to come together. By that time, Christmas had come and gone.
After asking several times for advice from this site, I finally decided on a plan.
http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?p=1026715#post1026715 (http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?p=1026715#post1026715)
and
http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?p=1087030#post1087030 (http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?p=1087030#post1087030).
It wasn't long after starting the project that I found out that my woodworking skills hadn't caught up to my math skills. I got frustrated and shelved the project for a few months.
I then found out my brother was moving back to Fort Bragg and was about to be re-deployed to Afghanistan but would be in town for a family get together before leaving. That was all the motivation I needed to get the project re-started and finished. I went back to the drawing board and simplified the design but kept the overall look I was going for.
The stand is about 45" long by 8" wide and is a solid piece of 8/4 Ash. Two 5/8” dowels attach each vertical holder to the base so that they can be removed and packed flat for each of his moves (Army movers don't take the most care when packing and moving things). Each vertical holder also has black velvet lining the part that holds the saber. The finish is two coats of India ink followed by two coats of satin poly. I was very impressed with the India ink and will definitely use that again on other projects. The final picture is the display at his house with the sabers on it and was taken with the same cell phone he sent me the ideas with. He promises his wife will send better pictures later so I'll update this post when I get them. Until then, enjoy and sorry for the long back-story.
Towards the end of last year, my brother asked if I could make him a horizontal display stand for two military sabers that would allow the sabers to cross in the middle. He sent me a few grainy photos from his cell phone to give me an idea of what he was talking about. He also sent me a few measurements (more like guesstimates) for the display. He also sent a few measurements for the sabers at different points along the saber. It sounded like a cool project and a quick glance on the internet didn't turn up anything so I decided to take on the project.
I wanted it to be a Christmas present but after jotting a few ideas down, I couldn't figure out how to make it work without the sabers hitting one another when they crossed. It wasn't until I put the design into sketch-up that it all started to come together. By that time, Christmas had come and gone.
After asking several times for advice from this site, I finally decided on a plan.
http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?p=1026715#post1026715 (http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?p=1026715#post1026715)
and
http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?p=1087030#post1087030 (http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?p=1087030#post1087030).
It wasn't long after starting the project that I found out that my woodworking skills hadn't caught up to my math skills. I got frustrated and shelved the project for a few months.
I then found out my brother was moving back to Fort Bragg and was about to be re-deployed to Afghanistan but would be in town for a family get together before leaving. That was all the motivation I needed to get the project re-started and finished. I went back to the drawing board and simplified the design but kept the overall look I was going for.
The stand is about 45" long by 8" wide and is a solid piece of 8/4 Ash. Two 5/8” dowels attach each vertical holder to the base so that they can be removed and packed flat for each of his moves (Army movers don't take the most care when packing and moving things). Each vertical holder also has black velvet lining the part that holds the saber. The finish is two coats of India ink followed by two coats of satin poly. I was very impressed with the India ink and will definitely use that again on other projects. The final picture is the display at his house with the sabers on it and was taken with the same cell phone he sent me the ideas with. He promises his wife will send better pictures later so I'll update this post when I get them. Until then, enjoy and sorry for the long back-story.