How to Make an American Flag Case

Description:

This week I was asked by one of my friends at school to make him a case for one of his flags that he received while he was in the Army. I thought this was a great idea and it was perfect timing since Veterans Day was just the other day. For this project, I used some scrap oak 3/4″ thick plywood and began constructing the frame for the case. I ripped the plywood to get a few 1×2’s for the front and back triangles and added 45 degree miters on the ends of each of them. This allowed me to get the 45,45,90 triangle that I was going for. I glued the the pieces together to make two triangles (One for the front and one for the back). Using a rabbeting bit in my router, I cut out slots in the back of each triangle (one for the glass and one for the plywood backing). From here, I cut a few more strips of plywood to 3″ wide and mitered the ends of those as well to form the middle triangle. Now it’s just a matter of attaching all three triangles together. I glued the back frame to the middle triangle and cut a piece of 1/4″ plywood to fit inside the rabbet on the back side. I sanded all my pieces smooth and painted spray painted all my pieces black. Next, I had to break a piece of glass to fit inside the rabbet on the front triangle. This was a tricky process, but I was able to get a piece that finally fit. I then epoxied the piece of glass inside the front triangle and used wood glue to attach the front triangle to other side of the middle triangle. After letting the glue cure, my flag case was all done and ready to have a flag put inside. In order to hold the back sheet of plywood in place, I added a metal bracket on two sides of the triangle to secure it. With that back piece of plywood in place, the flag case is all done! I’m sure he’ll love the way it came out and I can’t wait to give it to him.