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| by:
Paul Lewis
photos: Simon Cheung,
Steven Maxwell |
PICTURE ALBUMS |
| Transform
workshop scraps or special exotics into treasured keepsakes |
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| Exotic
wood, such as lacewood, koa, bocote and zebra, give
the albums unique appeal |
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The design
for these picture albums started out as an easy gift project.
They’re simple enough to make, and using some unusual
wood (such as zebra, koa, lacewood or bocote) makes it unlike
anything you can buy. You’ll need a bandsaw and thickness
planer to mill the thin stock required for the covers, or you
can buy it off-the-shelf from wood suppliers who sell parts
and materials for instrument makers. This approach is slightly
more expensive, but the quantities of wood required are small
enough that the added expense doesn’t add up to much.
Whatever approach you take, choose woods with interesting figure
and colour. This project is a good chance to work with some
expensive exotics without breaking the bank. You should also
pay extra attention to grain patterns and orientation as you
cut and arrange parts. Look at wood patterns closely and position
them in a balanced way, aligned with the sides and centre of
the cover outline. You should also be aware of growth ring orientation
in the wood you use. The more perpendicular the growth rings
are to the face of each piece of wood, the more reliably your
album covers will resist warping with seasonal changes in humidity.
The Skinny on Thin Wood
Start the project by resawing rough stock to 3/8" thick.
This involves slicing wood vertically on edge, and a bandsaw
is the ideal tool for the operation. If your bandsaw can’t
handle the full dimensions of the album covers, resaw smaller
pieces and laminate them together to get the wider dimension
you need. You can also rough-saw narrower pieces of wood in
a similar way on the tablesaw. Take a rip cut on one edge, then
flip the wood over and cut again from the other edge, raising
the blade incrementally with each pass. With your wood roughcut,
start trial-fitting the pieces together, looking for best appearance.
I often sandwich a darker strip of wood between the laminated
pieces for contrast. Wood with an angled grain pattern is best
arranged in a book-matched pattern, with the joint line exactly
in the middle of the front cover. Complete the milling procedure
by planing the stock down to its final 1/4" thickness using
a surface planer after glue-up. Next, rip the front and back
covers to width and crosscut to final length.
| MARKS
OF DISTINCTION |
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All
treasured family photos have one thing in common:
they’re personal. And the more you enhance
the tie between your wooden album covers and the
people you give them to, the more appreciated your
work becomes. Personal initials, significant dates
and unique markings can all conjure up enormous
emotional impact, and shop-made burning brands are
an easy way to add these significant details to
your work.
You can make excellent
brands using piano wire—a rigid, springy material
available from model boat and aircraft supply outlets.
It comes in various diameters, including the 1/16"
stock that I favour for making small initials in
my work.
Begin by donning a
pair of safety glasses and sparking up your propane
torch. It doesn’t take long for the wire to
glow red in the flame, ready for shaping with two
pairs of needlenose pliers. As you work, leave a
six-inch length of straight, unheated wire on one
end for a main handle, and a short one-inch tail
on the other, to grab with some pliers during use.
As you bring the completed,
hot brand to your wood surface, push the brand evenly
using both handles. Pull the metal away from the
wood after two or three seconds of contact and you’ll
be amazed by the results. —Steven Maxwel |
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One
of the best features of these albums is the hole in the front
cover. It allows the photo on the first page to show through,
inviting you to look further, and it turns the album into a
picture frame when displayed on a small easel. Measure and mark
the location of the hole, then use a circle cutter mounted in
the drillpress to cut it. You could use other kinds of bits,
but this one does the best job. Perform some test cuts in the
wood you’re using before attempting the hole in your cover.
You need to be sure that your circle cutter is sharp enough
to cut cleanly so that it doesn’t burn the wood. Next,
clamp the front and back covers together and drill the 3/16"-dia.
holes for the binding cord that holds the covers and pages together.
Clean holes are key here, so be sure to use a backer board underneath
your covers to eliminate tearout around the hole. A brad-point
bit produces the cleanest entry of any wood bit, and it’s
definitely worth using in this case. Sand the covers up to 220-grit
and apply four coats of polymerized tung oil. After a week or
two of curing time, follow up with a couple of coats of paste
wax. A fine 3M rubbing pad under a random- orbit sander does
a terrific job of power-buffing the cover surface.
Assemble the Albums
Cut the pages for the albums from good-quality paper stock.
Visit your local art-supply store and look for acid-free paper
in a weight heavy enough to support photographs. My albums use
80-lb. cover stock in either ivory or black, depending on the
wood used for the covers. Cut the pages to size with a fresh
blade in a utility knife, then punch holes that correspond to
the cover holes. Finally, sandwich everything together and thread
elasticized cord through the holes. Secure the cord with the
cord lock, write the name of the wood on the first page with
pencil, then you’re done. If you’re giving the album
as a gift, include a package of self-adhesive photo corners,
which are available at any photography store. |
| You
Will Need |
| Part |
Size |
Qty. |
| Cover |
1/4"
x 7" x 10" |
2 |
| Pages |
80
lb. cover stock, 7" x 10" |
8-10 |
| Binding
cord * |
3/16"-dia.
elasticized cord |
18" |
| Cord
Lock * |
3/4"-dia.
plastic |
| *
available from sewing notions suppliers |
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