Saturday, April 22, 2017

Making a Shadow Box Display Case for a US Army Veteran's Cane

This week I had the honor of making a Shadow Box Display Case for a cane that belonged to a United States Army P.O.W.


This project was made from Poplar with Western Red Cedar splines.  I cut a rabbet on one side of each board to accept the 1/4" plywood back.  I also cut a groove on the other side of each board to accept the front clear acrylic panel.


This U.S. Army Veteran was a Staff Sergeant, so I added a stripes emblem made from Poplar and Walnut.


The family provided me some information to make a small plaque for the display case.  I used my Inventables X-Carve to carve the plaque.  It does a much better job at carving letters than I ever could.  I sprayed the plaque with a few coats of lacquer, then sprayed flat black paint into the letters.  I wiped off the surface paint with mineral spirits and sanded any remaining paint off, then sprayed a few more coats of lacquer to seal it.


I found the perfect U.S Army fabric for the background at Walmart of all places, and attached it with spray adhesive.  I attached a picture hanging wire to the back for easy hanging.  There is room for the family to add pictures or other items into the shadow box.  This was a fun and inspirational project.  Thank you Mr. Perkins for your service!




4 comments:

  1. nice build Steve ,our vets and families deserve all that they can get, i do stuff for vets and families like building cabinets and capentry work on the homes and dont charge them, its an honor for me to do it take care my friend

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    1. Hi Gene, thank you! That's great of you to do that. A lot of the tools I use were my dad's and he always helped others, so I try to do the same as he did and help whenever I can. Have a good weekend!

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  2. Great job Steve...working on my dad's case in honor of his service in WWII...will send pic when I get it finished...

    Curtis Brock

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    Replies
    1. Thanks Curtis! I would love to see it when you are done.

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