Shadow boxes

[Richard Hutchings]

:confused: I'm making some shadow boxes out of 3/4" clear pine for my new granddaughters room. They will be 3.5" deep and 9" square and some 5" square. The 9" one are going to hold one letter of the baby's name. I made a mock-up using simple miter joints. Will they be strong enough or should reinforce them. They'll be painted black so I can cover any screw holes but that's a lot of extra work. Is it necessary?

[Todd Burch]

Glue and brads on those miters will be totally sufficient.

[Richard Hutchings]

Thanks Todd

[Bill Huber]

You could put a spline in the corners if you wanted and that would make them really strong and you would never have to worry about it.

[Richard Hutchings]

I like that idea but I'm not sure how to accomplish it.

[Bill Huber]

I like that idea but I'm not sure how to accomplish it.

Here is a video of a jig from Eagle. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4roxGpGa3_I

This is a video of a home made jig. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qGWc4zdWmnQ

Another home made jig. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uPRKSyZhSzI

[Richard Hutchings]

Now that's the ticket and that's how I'm going to do it. I was thinking of the long spline but this looks pretty quick and very sturdy. Thanks Bill.

[Richard Hutchings]

Finally getting around to painting these things, gloss black. What a pain. I'm wondering if I would have been better off painting in board form. Then I could just touch up the corners. I would have saved a lot on paint overspray. What do you think?

[scott vroom]

What type of sprayer and paint are you using?

[Richard Hutchings]

I'm using rattle can enamel. I have a compressor and hvlp gun that I use for shooting lacquer on mandolins and guitars but wanted to try something different for these boxes. Plus, these are going on a babys wall so I didn't want the the off gassing to be a problem. I think I should have tried something else but I'm not sure what. I don't think I can spray latex with my set up. Tell me if I'm wrong.

[George Gyulatyan]

I've gotten great results with General Finishes Lamp Black milk paint (which really is an acrylic paint). This gives you a matte black finish that you can then spray with clear coat on top for protection and desired gloss. I sprayed General Finishes PolyAcrylic Gloss and it worked out beatuifully.