Fly Art--Shadow Boxes

My recent "Fly Art" posts showed pieces I submitted to an upcoming show. They were accepted to the show and therefore needed frames. Shadow boxes were a great solution, but I could not find any for sale in the right size (3" x 3" inside). So, I made my own. Here's how:

1) Using the table saw, I prepared my own molding from scrap wood I had lying around. Here's a section of molding I had left over, to give you an idea of the cross-section. I originally cut the molding to have a 1/4" lip, but decided that was too deep and planed it down to 1/8" using my block plane.

2) I cut the molding into mitered (the ends had 45 degree angles) sections on the chop saw (aiming for 3" square on the inside). I clamped a block on the fence of the saw so that all pieces would be exactly the same length. The pieces were short, so in order to keep my fingers intact, I used a scrap stick to hold the molding for each cut.

3) I glued the frames up using an ingenious technique outlined in Fine Woodworking (#205, May/June 2009, p.65) a while back--blue painter's tape as a clamp (I've also seen regular ol' masking tape, packing tape, and electrical tape, but I like the blue stuff the best because it comes off easiest). I taped the sections end-to-end, as tightly as possible, spread glue (Titebond) on half of each joint, and taped the final corner as tightly as possible. This is a fantastic method for small boxes and frames (I also used it for the fly tying box outlined in an earlier post). After drying overnight and scraping off any dried glue that squeezed out of the joint, the frames were ready to begin finishing. Here is a picture of them after priming.

4) The great folks at Village Arts in Los Alamos cut the glass for me. It was $1.30 for all 3 pieces.

5) I filled the corners, bigger dings, knots, etc. with Rock Hard Water Putty, sanded with 150 then 180-grit sandpaper, and wiped down with a cloth. I painted the frames gloss black (3 coats) on the outside and left the inside natural.

6) I glued the glass in place using clear silicone. That was time consuming and tedious as I only had a 1/8" lip to work with and the glass was a bit undersized. I added the silicone using a 5 cc syringe and a 16G blunt-tipped needle. As an added structural measure, I glued in a small shim to sandwich the glass between the shim and the lip. Here's a look at the painted frames with the glass installed.

7) I mounted my art pieces on plywood with spray contact adhesive and fit them inside the frames. I glued the plywood in place (more Titebond), signed, labeled, and dated the backs, and stamped them with my logo (using my hand-cut stamp). The back of one:

The finished products, from left to right-Elk Hair Caddis, Parachute, Copper John:

And now I know one way to make a shadowbox!