Ron travels to Salt Lake City, Utah where he meets graphic artist, Robert Rampton and his daughter, Corinne. Robert has asked Ron to help him design, build and install an oak plate rail in his living room to display a few treasured curios as well as favorite pieces of his own work. In keeping with the clean, linear arts and crafts style, what Ron and Robert create is a work of art in itself!
Click Here For a list of what
you will need in order to complete this project.
|
 |
| |
|
1. Getting started:
- They began by pulling all the furniture away from the walls so they could make some measurements.
- Carin and Ron held a strip of wood on the wall at various heights while Robert stood back and decided which he liked best. Five feet was what he preferred, so they carefully measured the width of the walls.
|
 |
| |
|
- After writing down the measurements, they headed out to the temporary workshop in the garage.
|
 |
| |
|
2. Cut wood:
- Ron chose oak for this project to match the oak furniture Robert had in his living room. Ron was careful to select only pieces that were dry and flat and not cupped or curved in any direction. It save a lot of work in the long run when you start off with great lumber like this.
|
 |
| |
|
- They used the table saw to cut or rip the wood to the proper width. Like most lumber, oak comes in standard thicknesses.
|
 |
| |
|
- For this project, however, they required some thinner pieces and so Ron used his thickness planer for this job. With the wood cut to the proper width and thickness, they then used the power miter box to cut them to length. Some of the ends required angles or mitered cuts.
|
 |
| |
|
- After all of the wood was ripped, planed and cut to length, they were ready to begin the process of assembling the plate rail.
|
 |
| |
|
3. Shelf assembly:
- The design Ron created consisted of a shelf, a ledger or back support and some trim pieces. They started the assembly with the shelf itself.
|
 |
| |
|
- Ron recommended cutting a grove in the top of the shelf to receive the edge or the lip of the plates and keep them upright. Ron used a router for this task, which is a rotary cutting tool that spins while a guide (fence) runs along the edge of the board. Eye protection is essential. The cutter spins rapidly and can propel wood chips and splinters at high speeds. As the router was pushed along the board, it left behind a clean precise groove, just the right width to hold the edge of those decorative plates.
|
 |
| |
|
- The longest wall in the living room was longer than the longest board, so it was necessary to join boards together to make the shelf as long as the wall. For this job they used a technique called biscuit joinery. The tool they used for this job was a plate joiner, which has a cutter bit that cuts a slot in the end of the boards. The plate joiner was placed right on top of the board and then pushed all the way in. When removed, this tool leaves a small slot in the end of the board.
|
 |
| |
|
- Wood glue was applied to the slots in the end of the boards and oval shaped biscuits made of compressed wood were then inserted into the slots. These tabs were then inserted into the slots in the adjoining board. Once the glue dried, Robert used a random orbital sander to smooth over the joint.
|
 |
| |
|
- The design called for a strip of wood to be attached to the edge of the shelf. This would create the lip that ran along the front of the shelf. Robert applied a bead of glue along this front edge of the shelf and the lip was pressed onto the front edge and held in place with finish nails.
|
 |
| |
|
- Next, it was time to attach the ledger to the rear edge. This strip of wood was used to aid them in mounting the shelf to the wall. Again, glue was applied to the edge of the board and the ledger was set in position and held in place with clamps. They needed maximum strength from this joint so they first bored pilot holes and then inserted screws.
|
 |
| |
|
- Once the ledger was in place, they laid the rail flat on the bench and clamped it so it would not move around and then plugged the screw holes with decorative button plugs. They turned the rail back over one last time to put some decorative trim on the bottom of the ledger. This piece of trim was held it in place once again with glue and nails.
|
 |
| |
|
- Dental blocks were the next detail to be added to the art shelf. The dental blocks were attached to the ledger right under the shelf. They were made by first gluing and then nailing together two small squares of oak. The blocks were then attached to the ledger from the back. The shelf was now completely assembled.
|
 |
| |
|
4. Sanding and stain:
- The plate rail assembly was completed with a final sanding followed by a coat of golden oak stain varnish to add color and luster.
|
 |
