Wall hanging, how would you approach?

[kirkroy]

I'd like to make some wall hangings for one of my kids and was thinking of doing half laps and such for putting it together. Does that sound reasonable for this basic design?



Any better ideas?

Thanks!

[cabinetman]

If you want it flat, that would be a way to do it.

Or, layout the one grid (that attaches to the frame), and overlay the top grid (the two squares), and then add filler pieces to fill in the bottom grid.

Or, glue up one panel and cut out the spaces, but that would be a PITA.
.

[LCHIEN]

yes, i would probably use half-laps. you going to half-lap the corner joints as well as the intersections?

[LarryG]

Basic design? Did you say basic design? If I counted correctly, there are 54 connections in your layout. By comparison, a project like, say, a Shaker-style end table with a single drawer has maybe 18-20, give or take.

There are a couple of things you don't mention that could have considerable influence on the joinery.

First is the matter of scale ... what are the dimensions of this? If it's fairly small, you could cut it out of a single piece of wood (by any number of methods); in the long run that could be easier than fussing with a lot of tiny joints. OTOH if it's pretty big, you might have room for pocket screws at many of the intersections. It's dead easy to get a tight, strong joint with pocket screws and since the piece is meant to hang on the wall, they'd go on the back and would never be seen.

Second is the choice of materials and how the piece will be finished. If you're going to use a single species of wood and just want a clean, hairline joint at all the intersections, that gives you more latitude than if you want to use two or more species and play up how they connect and interact. All this assumes a transparent finish. If you're going to paint the thing a solid color, you can use pretty much any kind of joinery and take up the slack with wood filler.

A half-lap is regarded as a simple joint, but it's really not. When a half-lap is used at a crossing intersection, there are no fewer than 10 mating surfaces which all have to fit precisely. And that's just for one joint ... things get complicated when there are other connections just a short distance away, as you have here.

All this is a long way of saying I don't have any definitive suggestions for you. It is an interesting technical problem, though. I hunch most woodworkers would find building something like this involves a lot more work than they might initially think ...

[footprintsinconc]

i have some thing very similar on my drawing board right now. i though that this would be a perfect piece to get some practice on joinery. i was planning on doing miters at the corners, and where the pieces over lap, use half laps. i was going to make one out of pine first and paint it, and then do one for inside the house using maple and black walnut. that is what i have planned so far, but is subject to change down the road

[MikeMcCoy]

Or, depending on dimensions... you could talk nice to someone who has a carving machine and make it out of one piece with no joinery.

[Mr__Bill]

Pocket screws?

[kirkroy]

Basic design?

Ok, I meant that sentence to read, "Does that sound reasonable for something like this?" I didn't mean "basic" as in "simple".

I'm thinking it would be 2'-3' tall but I haven't thought through dimensions yet. The overall plan is to make two with a single framed mirror in the middle

Thanks for the ideas so far, the wheels are turning...

[pelligrini]

Half laps would probably be the way I would do it. If you design it right many of the cuts would be repeatable once you set it up. I'd probably fasten the inside grid to the outer frame and middle cross member with butt joints and pocket screws. I'd probably do the half laps with a good dado stack rather than a bunch of passes on a router table.

[LCHIEN]

on reconsideration, Larry has a point about the number and complexity of the joints.
The depth and width and position of the cut have to be precise.
Since there's no real stress on the joints, cutting a bunch of pieces to length (many the same length) and then assembling with glued butt joints (or pocket joints if you must) would be much simpler and hardly noticable in the end product... only you would know.

[kirkroy]

on reconsideration, Larry has a point about the number and complexity of the joints.
The depth and width and position of the cut have to be precise.
Since there's no real stress on the joints, cutting a bunch of pieces to length (many the same length) and then assembling with glued butt joints (or pocket joints if you must) would be much simpler and hardly noticable in the end product... only you would know.

Yeah, butt joints are making more sense to me the closer I get to actually putting it together (hoping for some cooler weather soon so I can get it done without drenching the wood in sweat). I think I'll do the main frame with pocket joints and then plain vanilla butt joints on the detailed part.

Thanks again for the ideas!

[LarryG]

Here's another thought for you, if you wouldn't object to getting some three-dimensional aspects into the design:

Make the outermost frame from 3/4" thick material.

Make the "plus signs" (the pieces that connect to the outermost frame) 3/8" thick, with their backs set flush with the back of the outermost frame.

Make the open squares that are superimposed on the plus signs also out of 3/8" thick material, and simply overlay them on the plus signs. The faces of these pieces will be flush with the face of the outermost frame, although they don't touch it directly.

This modification (or anything generally similar) will simplify the joinery a great deal and add some depth to the piece that you might find visually appealing. Just a thought.

BTW, I knew what you meant by "basic" ... I was just giving you some gas. Instead of the Eeek! smiley I probably should have use the Wink smiley, like you did.

[billfrommich]

Is the final product supposed to show contrasting woods and/or woodgrains in different directions (as depicted in your left hand picture), or is supposed to be monotonous (for lack of a better word, as depicted in your right hand picture)? If the latter is the case, I would make a template (perhaps using half laps) and use the template to guide a router to "cut out" the final products.

[billfrommich]

Following up on my last post I might add that you could also use the template/router idea to make a structural backing on which you could attach woods of various shades and grain orientations. The surface wood could be quite thin, even veneer (the structural strength being provided by the backing). You could then use butt joints cut at 90 degree or 45 degree angles, according to your asthetics.