The product is the best lacquer in a can I’ve ever used. After applying the filler, I allowed it to dry for 24 hours.įor a clear top coat I used a lacquer that comes in an aerosol spray can.
![wooden photo album wooden photo album](https://img1.etsystatic.com/001/0/5271646/il_fullxfull.393744721_am7a.jpg)
I added oil-based walnut stain to the filler to color the filler and the wood. Because walnut is an open-pore wood, I filled the grain using paste wood filler. The finish may be a bit more complicated than you are accustomed to, but the fantastic figure in the walnut demanded as good a finish as I know how. It is necessary to drill the front and back banding strip exactly alike.Īt this point I progressively sanded to #220 grit, rounded the outside corners to a 3⁄16″ radius, and heavily eased the edges, except for the edges where the hinge would be installed. I used a Forstner bit for drilling in my drill press. The posts required a 1⁄4″ hole with a 1⁄2″-diameter counterbore to recess the flat heads of the screws. From the binding edge, I marked a hole center of 1⁄2″. Allowing for the top and bottom overhang, my hole center for the screws was 2-9⁄16″ from the top and bottom. I followed the hole patterns for the post binding screws that were already in the album sheets. The point of all this is to remind you to be cautious about your wood selection and handling. Even at the thin 1⁄4″ dimension, I was lucky and both pieces have remained perfectly flat. I know that walnut is a relatively stable wood, like mahogany, but I kept my pieces on a flat surface with a weight on top until I was able to put a finish on them. Highly figured wood often has a mind of its own. Although it’s been air drying all this time I was nervous as a cat about my pieces warping after resawing and glue up. It came from a tree in my neighborhood that was taken down and sawn into lumber about three years ago. My album covers are made using feather-figured walnut that was resawn and bookmatched. The cover thickness was 1⁄4″, which is perfect for the hinge leaf. This allowed a table saw cut to separate the binding strip from the cover piece. When I cut the pieces I made the width 12-5⁄8″. The bound side has 1⁄8″overlap, leaving 3⁄8″ for the open side. This allows 1⁄4″ for the cover to overlap top and bottom. The wood covers’ finished size is 1⁄4″ x 12-1⁄2″ square. The page size and hinge gave me dimensions I could start to work with. The brass hinge comes in a 3′ length and is easily cut. The screws, called “Chicago Bolts” in the catalog, come in various lengths, with each length allowing for a 1⁄4″ adjustment. Next I ordered my post binding screws and hinge from Lee Valley. I selected a sheet size that was 12″ x 12″. The sheets I used were hole punched for post binding and “hinged,” meaning each sheet was made to fold at a given place along the edge where it would be bound into the album. The protectors, in turn, are usually punched for use in a three-ring binder. Some pages simply are plain sheets that are inserted in clear plastic sheet protectors. Select the photo page size you want to work with. Getting StartedĪ trip to an art or office-supply store is the first step. The hinges and post binding screws can be ordered through the Lee Valley woodworking catalog.
![wooden photo album wooden photo album](https://img0.etsystatic.com/001/0/5271646/il_fullxfull.400549716_azop.jpg)
![wooden photo album wooden photo album](https://img.etsystatic.com/il/746771/1247751474/il_fullxfull.1247751474_5r8f.jpg)
No matter what direction your version of this project takes, two simple elements will make it all possible: the post binding screws that fix the covers and pages together, and the small-scale continuous hinge that allows the covers to open, making them truly functional. You could easily alter the size of the covers for smaller photo album sheets, you could set it up with blank pages for use as a personal journal, or documents from your family tree research. Framed displays.There could, in fact, be many variations on this project.