Finally knocked these out for an Ag. I love making this stuff, and am insanely jealous of the trophies he gets to mount on them. The panels are African mahogany crotch, and the frames are walnut I had that has a nice curl.
the concept:
getting the veneers in. Crotch grain is always wavy, so it needs to be softened and clamped to dry flat before I can glue it.
spraying with a softener:
after flattening and glued to backers:
the curly walnut I wanted to use:
gluing up the framing: I didnt get a pic, but I had to cut the fluting prior to gluing up the corners:
all of the framing:
framed up without trim. I put 1 coat of finish on the panels prior to glue up. this helps any squeeze out clean up, and i find with veneers they often have air bubbles that make small defects in the finish. I can spray a coat, sand it down and seal the wood, then when I put the final coats on the entire piece they are all smooth.
my anal retentiveness making the toeboards sequential cut from boards so the grain wrpas as much as possible:
the tops:
I wanted a way to remove the top with minimal hardware visibility. I decided to drill 2 small holes in the trim that go into machine screws. the two screws pull the top down against two angled cleats and pull the top down and into position:
screw holes:
finished pieces:
finished pieces with trophies mounted:
\
the concept:
getting the veneers in. Crotch grain is always wavy, so it needs to be softened and clamped to dry flat before I can glue it.
spraying with a softener:
after flattening and glued to backers:
the curly walnut I wanted to use:
gluing up the framing: I didnt get a pic, but I had to cut the fluting prior to gluing up the corners:
all of the framing:
framed up without trim. I put 1 coat of finish on the panels prior to glue up. this helps any squeeze out clean up, and i find with veneers they often have air bubbles that make small defects in the finish. I can spray a coat, sand it down and seal the wood, then when I put the final coats on the entire piece they are all smooth.
my anal retentiveness making the toeboards sequential cut from boards so the grain wrpas as much as possible:
the tops:
I wanted a way to remove the top with minimal hardware visibility. I decided to drill 2 small holes in the trim that go into machine screws. the two screws pull the top down against two angled cleats and pull the top down and into position:
screw holes:
finished pieces:
finished pieces with trophies mounted:
\ 
