Flag Case

[Casey Carr]

301478
Here's my attempt at a flag case with some Greene & Greene elements thrown in. I'm pretty happy with it, definitely learned some things. I have all these tools and rarely get to use them for something that I actually want to use them for. I messed up and got white silicone to hold the glass in, the picture really shows it well, doesn't show as well in actuality.

Walnut and Maple, finished with four coats of Sam Maloof's poly/oil, followed by two coats of oil/wax. Sized to fit a 3x5 flag.

[Lee Schierer]

Very nice, I'm sure it will be greatly appreciated. When you add the flag, use a piece of foam core poster board and mount the part of the flag that will show to the foam core with straight pins so that it is centered and fills the window completely and is wrinkle free.

[John Pratt]

I like the design elements you put into this. I make a lot of these and I hadn't thought of using splines or tenons as part of them. I really like the base as well. To hold the glass in I use hot glue in about four 2" strips. It is more than enough to hold in the glass and a lot easier to clean up/hide/remove as necessary. Lee's advice is a great one as well and we use it often.

[Mike Null]

That's beautifully done.

[Casey Carr]

Well, the flag was folded by the honor guard, so I wasn't about to undo that! If it was up to me, I'd prefer it your way Lee. As far as the splines go, I thought they were necessary as there isn't much strength in end-grain glue-ups. I don't have a 45 sled for my table saw, so I actually milled the slots with an end mill and did a final clean up with chisels. I was terrified the vibration was going to break that glue joint. I will remember the hot glue tip, that would have been a lot easier. The base became a necessity because of the name/identification plate that went on it, hadn't really planned on that but it worked out well. I was wanting to put some ebony plugs in the corners of the base as well, but just ran out of time to get that done.

It was well received, so that made me happy. Now there are a lot of people wanting something similar for their retirements...

[Jim Becker]

That's really beautiful!

In the same vein as Lee's suggestion, you may be able to slip a triangular piece of foam board into the folded flag to help with support without unfolding it.

[Mike Null]

I have marked the glass with sandblasting or with a brass plate stuck on the outside of the glass. I like your base better.

[Lee Schierer]

Well, the flag was folded by the honor guard, so I wasn't about to undo that!

You only work with the last section of the flag just before they tucked in the binding to get the four stars showing in the triangle. The remainder of the flag stays folded behind the exposed portion.

[Gordon Eyre]

You have done a nice job and it will display the flag with pride.

[Raymond Fries]

A really sweet project for a bitter life experience. I am sure it will be much appreciated and I hope the family of the person it is for will heal from their loss. Those cases are always a reminder to me of how lucky I am to live here.

[Casey Carr]

No worries Ray, nobody died for this one, just a retirement flag for a civil servant with 34 years of service.

I've had at least 4 other requests for something similar, don't think I'll be able to turn at least two down, but I've got a few years on these. Now how to gracefully decline all the other requests. The only reasons I did this one was for a) practice, b) I hadn't done one before and c) I had worked fairly closely with this person for a number of years. I bore easily though, don't know how I'm going to like repeating projects...

[Larry Browning]

Very nice Casey!
I have made a few of these as well. I found I liked the look of a 22.5deg joint rather than the 45deg at the base. It is actually easy to do if you have a table saw tenoning jig like this:
http://www.rockler.com/heavy-duty-tenoning-jig
You set the blade at 22.5 and mount the board vertically in the jig. Quick, safe and very accurate in the jig.

But mine didn't have a base so it became a little more important because I didn't want any end grain showing.

[Raymond Fries]

Oh good. What a nice retirement gift. Guess I always think of those that have a life for us.

I am sure it will be well received.

Take Care and Enjoy Life....

[John Pratt]

After looking at this again, I like that base so much I think I might steal some design elements from it with your permission. might even throw a drawer in it to keep uniform ribbons, mementos, challenge coins, etc.

Don't feel bad about partially unfolding a retirement flag to get the cardboard in there. Just make sure when you refold it there is no red showing. If you run into issues there are plenty of videos online to help. The use of another person helps. If you partially unfold a burial flag make sure to watch for the spent shell casings to fall out so you can put them back in.

[Larry Browning]

I agree with John Pratt. I really like the base, and the splines at the 90deg joint. If I ever have the opportunity to make another one, I may steal both of those ideas.

[Larry Browning]

After looking at the photo again, I am thinking that this case would not hold a burial flag. I think those are larger. Is that correct? Unless of course those tiles behind it are larger than they look. What size flag goes in that case? A burial flag is 5 X 9.5 (I think)

[Casey Carr]

It was sized to fit a 3x5 flag I believe. The internal dimensions are 14.5" across the bottom and 10.25" up each side, depth was a little less than 2.5" from the glass to the backer board. Still had room in there, but not horribly so.

As far as stealing ideas, that's why I come here! I'm of the opinion that imitation is the highest form of flattery! I'm honestly surprised my little box has generated this much activity.

The splines really do make me laugh. After enough reading here and elsewhere, I didn't think there was any strength in end grain to end grain glue ups. I thought there must be biscuits in the ones I've seen without them and I don't have a biscuit cutter, so how else can I get some strength there. So maybe it was just ignorance on my part!

[william watts]

I like the way the flag case floats above the base, a very nice design touch. How is it fastened to the base? That is sure to be a cherished family possession.

Bill

[Stew Hagerty]

That's really a beautiful design. I hadn't though of mounting it to a base. I agree with the rest who like the exposed splines, that it really sets the piece off.

[Larry Browning]

The splines really do make me laugh. After enough reading here and elsewhere, I didn't think there was any strength in end grain to end grain glue ups. I thought there must be biscuits in the ones I've seen without them and I don't have a biscuit cutter, so how else can I get some strength there. So maybe it was just ignorance on my part!

The ones I built have biscuits at the joints.

[Casey Carr]

Bill, the spacers I used to make it "float" were 1/4" thick and measured roughly 7/8" x 1.5". I used two flat head screws to hold each spacer to the bottom of the case, then I drilled a hole through the underside of the base and used one screw between the other two screws on each spacer to hold the flag case to the base. All the screws run from the bottom up, so no exposed holes inside the case.