Joinery & Wood Selection | Calendar Frame Part 1

Video - November 23, 2011

Looking for Part 2? Go here.

The calendar frame is a project that highlights the joys of simple joinery. The frame pieces are held together with half-lap joints which are as strong as they are basic. The frame is designed to allow calendar loading from the front unlike traditional frames that need to be removed from the wall every month.

The first part of this series covers the wood selection, milling, cutting half-laps, layout and cutting various rabbets. For the sake of simplicity, all of the joinery is made at the router table with a single router bit.

The calendar frame is made to fit calendars that are roughly 13 1/2″ x 24″ when opened.

Download the Free Plans:

Helpful Links

Discussion

Jarek Ostaszewski November 23, 2011 9:38 am

Nice idea, my wife likes it ;) I will fit to my kitchen very good :)

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Christopher P Dyer November 23, 2011 11:22 am

good idea Mark! Any chance you could include the sketchUp drawings as a link or download? See you still have your bracelet on; must be looking forward to the day that comes off!!

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- thewoodwhisperer November 23, 2011 11:26 am
  
  We now have a PDF and SketchUp file available for download. Just posted it above. And as you’ll see in part 2, the boy is already home from the hospital. Surprised I had time to even get this video out! :)
  
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Craig Clemans November 23, 2011 11:24 am

Thanks for the news on your son. Congrats again.

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Colin Linerode November 23, 2011 11:35 am

Mark, why not use a router table sled to mill the short side of the rails and stiles of the frame? Are you using the scrap piece b/c it’s an inexpensive solution? Thanks.

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- thewoodwhisperer November 23, 2011 1:35 pm
  
  Yup. Just keeping things simple.
  
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Bill Akins November 23, 2011 11:57 am

I believe my wife will want one of these. Nice hospital bracelet.

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Evan November 23, 2011 1:07 pm

Fantastic news! Congrats man!

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Dale Schack November 23, 2011 1:08 pm

I noticed that when you did the initial “drop in” cut for the stopped rabbet, you pivoted from the front of the piece.

I have read in an HSE document on shaper safety that the board should be pivoted at the back, dropping the front onto the bit. Yet, I have also seen other documentation advising the method you use.

Any ideas/opinions as to which is the safer method? I usually pivot at the back, as it seems to keep my hands further away from the spinning bit.

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- thewoodwhisperer November 23, 2011 1:37 pm
  
  Hmm….good question. That was really just the way I was taught. It feels natural and “safe” so that’s the method I prefer. Doing it the other way just doesn’t feel as safe to me. But to be honest, I don’t even know if I can really pin point the reason why it doesn’t feel as safe. Perhaps, both ways are acceptable?
  
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Ben November 23, 2011 2:08 pm

Marc, I’m just surprised that you and Nicole use an old fashioned low-tech paper calendar. :-) You could modify the frame design to hold an iPad instead!

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Bryan November 23, 2011 6:55 pm

You could probably use a band saw to remove the bulk of stock instead of the tablesaw.

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Jarrid November 23, 2011 8:23 pm

I agree on using the bandsaw for width cuts! I’ve actually gotten to the point now where I only use the table saw when absolutely necessary. I think it’s a conditioned response to working in the ER for 7 years! LOL!

As far as pivot front vs. pivot back, The safest logic to me is to think of the piece being moved is like a lever and to remember back to high school physics when you learned M=Fd(M being the movement possible by the piece in the action, F being the contant torque being exerted onto the piece as it is pushed onto the spinning bit, and d being the distance from the fulcrum point to the force exerted on the lever). I can see where even though pivoting from the front might be putting your hands closer to the bit, you have more control pivoting from the front because of where the fulcrum in this scenario is, i.e. the closer to the fulcrum u r the more force it takes to move it and the farther you are from the fulcrum, it takes less force, thus the constant force or push exerted on your work piece by the bit is gonna be less effective at throwing the piece when pivoting from the front(if that made sense at all to ya’ll). And the issue of hand to bit proximity is a concern but push blocks in this case will undoubtedly be a hand saver. A sled or sled-like set up to me is always the most ideal, but with stopped rabbets a sled isn’t much of an option unless you’re mechanical GENIUS and have found a way to make one(would love to somebody who’s smarter then I am come up with one and share the plans, HINT HINT)

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Sean November 24, 2011 4:07 am

Great project, Marc! And I love that you still had your ‘new Daddy’ hospital band on.

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thewoodwhisperer November 24, 2011 10:37 am

Just a quick note that the project files were updated today. There was a small error that was fixed.

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Mark Loughran November 24, 2011 5:00 pm

Hi Marc

Congratulations on Mateo and Nicole’s return home, delighted to hear both are doing well!! Best wishes to all your family, nice to be all home for Thanksgiving!!

Best wishes
Mark

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Ted Ames November 25, 2011 7:35 pm

Marc,

I do my pivoting from the front as you do. Also, I use Bruce’s push blocks adjusted to the stock, which adds some safety.

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Tony from Pandora November 26, 2011 4:57 pm

I have the kitchen cabinet episodes of New Yankee Workshop on my computer… Norm brings his stopped rabbets into the router table the opposite way you do. Maybe that’s the real reason it was cancelled…

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Steve November 26, 2011 4:59 pm

Marc-
A suggestion for setting the fence-to-bit distance for the half-laps –
Instead of using a ruler to measure the distance, why not use the actual material as you would use a brass set-up block? Place the piece that the half-lap will join to, against the fence just above the bit, and move the fence until the outside edge of the bit is flush with the workpiece.
As often as I can, I try to use the material itsself to gauge my dimensions, instead of relying on a ruler.

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Craig Reichert November 26, 2011 10:34 pm

Hey Marc,

Congratulations on the new addition to your family! Have the dogs met Mateo yet?

May I ask where you got your chiseling mallet? The short one with the brass end. It looks a lot easier to use for light work rather than the one-pound mallet I have.

Thanks,

Craig

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Dave November 28, 2011 12:38 pm

I hope that’s not blood all over the outlet cover behind the router table.

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- thewoodwhisperer November 28, 2011 12:43 pm
  
  What’s a wood shop without a little blood splatter?
  
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Lone_Wolf November 29, 2011 6:11 pm

Marc,

Thanks for another good video. I can’t wait for part two.

Congrats on your son making it home.

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John F November 30, 2011 8:08 pm

Nice project. I’m looking forward to part 2.
+1 on what Steve said. I’ve grown to like “relative dimensioning” more and more….and since I hate trying line up a round bit against a ruler, using the actual piece to set the fence seems to make sense.

I noticed that you were not using your Grrippers when ripping the narrow pieces on the TS. Any reason? Or did the push stick just happen to be more handy?

Also – I really appreciate your pointing out the issue you had on the jointer. Safety tips are always welcome. Shutting the machine off and “freezing” until it stops is a requisite shop skill, IMO. One question – what exactly caused the piece to bind up? It looked like there was something on your fence but I couldn’t tell for sure….

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- thewoodwhisperer December 1, 2011 8:45 am
  
  GRR-Rippers – I often forget to use them at the router table. No specific reason for not using them.
  
  The fence of the jointer has this little black filler piece and I honestly have no idea why it is even there. I should check the manual, lol. But it is about 1/64″ below the surface of the cast iron. So on a rare occasion, the workpiece will come in at just the right angle and get snagged. I think I need to put a little blue tape in there to help fill the gap.
  
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Steve Symes December 1, 2011 5:09 am

Marc

Thanks for the good advice – as a relative beginner I was especially glad to see how you did those half-laps – easy once you’ve seen it! – I had tried this before and got into all sorts of problems worrying about how to do cross-grain cuts and whether I should use the mitre slot etc – that backer piece against the fence all the time solves it all – best wishes to you and your family.

I’ve learned so much watching you project videos – thanks once again.

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David Miller December 2, 2011 9:46 am

I seen there is more to the video to making the calender and I can’t fine it is there a PT. 2 and where I’m a beginner making this calender for my wife at christmas. Thanks for the video it nice to have people care or helping other Thanks

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- thewoodwhisperer December 2, 2011 4:30 pm
  
  Part 2 is due out today. I’m running a little behind but it will be posted soon.
  
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David Miller December 2, 2011 10:40 pm

Yes Thanks for part 2 and You did a really good job at making the videos and Thanks one other thing what sides canendar do I need to buy to fit this frame !!!!!

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- thewoodwhisperer December 3, 2011 6:52 am
  
  Hey David. The frame will take a 13 1/2″ x 24″ calendar. The first part of the video talks about the different calendar sizes.
  
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David Miller December 3, 2011 8:18 am

I played it again seen it ha I hope Things go great with your new little one my little one is 18 and I real miss when he was little playing santa and easter bunny I would get cotton ball dip in baby powder dot two trail to the basket that was the big thing an playing and time goes way to fast. good luck with the family time and again Thanks for the video alot may be later I will help soneeone too Big Thanks

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will December 6, 2011 4:37 pm

As always great build.Thanks and I am very happy for the you and your family.

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Dean in Des Moines January 5, 2012 11:13 pm

I’m curious how to handle longer rips on a bandsaw. The tables on even the expensive models are so short, anything longer than two feet or so becomes difficult to handle towards the end of the cut.

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- thewoodwhisperer January 6, 2012 8:20 am
  
  I usually just use roller stands and a featherboard for extra support.
  
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Jeremy Scuteri May 5, 2012 9:40 pm

What was that red woodpeckers thing that is sitting behind your router table fence?

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Tom Wilson December 12, 2012 11:26 am

Nice project will make nice Xmas gift.

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Joinery & Wood Selection | Calendar Frame Part 1

Download the Free Plans:

Helpful Links

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