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| by:
Paul Lewis
photos: Roger Yip
illustration: Len Churchill |
CHARMING CHIME |
| Cheap
plastic chime covers should be heard and not seen—not so
with this Mission classic |
Often, the reason I decide to head out to the shop and build
a project is that something suitable can’t be purchased at a
reasonable price. On a recent trip to my local home centre,
I was disappointed with the range of doorbells that were offered.
White plastic is the material of choice for most economy doorbell
covers, while the premium models sport ugly approximations of
woodgrain with shiny gold accents. So, with my $12 builder’s
chime in hand it was back to the shop to figure out an alternative.
I used 3/8"-thick quartersawn white oak for this project, in
keeping with its arts and crafts look. If you don’t have a thickness
planer, ask your supplier to plane it to size. The thin stock
is necessary for the scale of this project.
|
| About Face |
 |
| Unlike
nasty plastic chime covers that are universally
uninspired, you'll want to hang this one in plain
view for all to admire |
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Start by
ripping the 1"-wide pieces for the face frame and sides, then
cut them to length. To make the half-lap corner joints on the
face frame, mark the shoulder of each one using the 1" stock
as a guide. Set the depth of your tablesaw blade to half the
thickness of the wood, then make multiple passes to mill the
joint. On the inside edges of the stiles, ease the edges slightly
using a router equipped with a 45° chamfer bit. Create the same
chamfer on the shoulders of the rails where they meet the stiles
using a sharp utility knife to pare away the material. Glue
up the face frame and set aside to dry. While the face frame
is drying, cut the four top and bottom pieces to size. The outer
top and bottom get 45° chamfers on the bottom edges of the front
and sides. These small pieces are best handled with a table-mounted
router. Set the depth of your router to remove 1/4" of material
and make some test passes on scrap stock before risking real
parts.
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| Final Assembly |
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| Two
small brads are all that's needed to secure the
new cover to the chime |
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Because
the pieces of this project are small, I used glue to fasten
the parts together.
Create the box that houses the
chime by attaching the side pieces to the inner top and bottom.
The 1/4" gap between these pieces allows the sound of the chime
to escape. Next, glue and clamp the face frame to the box. Finally,
glue and clamp the outer top and bottom pieces. If you have
enough small clamps, the whole glue-up can be accomplished at
once. If not, simply wait an hour between steps for the glue
to grab.
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| Finishing |
To give the white oak that classic Mission colour, I used two
coats of Minwax special walnut stain followed by two coats of
Circa 1850 Antique Oil. Both products were wiped on with a soft
cloth and result in a low lustre finish. By the way, don’t toss
that plastic cover that came with the chime—it makes a great
stain tray. |
Click
on the image
above to enlarge it |
You
Will Need |
| Part |
Size |
Qty |
| Stiles |
3/8"
x 1" x 7 7/8" |
2 |
| Rails |
3/8"
x 1" x 4 5/8" |
2 |
| Front
Panel |
3/8"
x 3 1/8" x 6 3/8" |
1 |
| Sides |
3/8"
x 1" x 7 7/8" |
4 |
| Inner
Top/Bottom |
3/8"
x 2 1/4" x 3 7/8" |
2 |
| Outer
Top |
3/8"
x 2 3/4" x 6 1/8" |
1 |
| Outer
Bottom |
3/8"
x 2 3/4" x 5 3/8" |
1 |
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