Flag Display Case

My wife’s grandfather passed away recently. He was a veteran who was buried with full military honors. I made this case to display and protect the flag that was presented to us at the funeral. The dimensions of a coffin flag are 5 ft by 9.5 ft. When folded properly it will yield a triangle of only blue and stars (no red showing). The dimensions of the triangle are 16” on the two angled sides and 22” across the base and it is 3” thick. I am posting these dimensions because I had difficulty finding them and at the time of making the case I didn’t have the flag. My father-in-law measured the flag and gave me these dimensions. After which I was able to find them in a Google search ( isn’t that always the case?)

The miters on this case were by far the toughest to get correct. The 45 at the top was easy enough but the 22.5 deg miters at the base were difficult at best to get right. To cut them, I had to use a tenoning jig on the table saw because my miter saw would not bevel or miter at the needed 67.5 degrees. Even after setting up the table saw with a digital angle gauge the bottom miters were open at the ends. To fix this I glued up the frame as close to perfect as I could get without the glass in place and let it dry. I then clamped the frame back into the tenoning jig and set the jig so the saw blade would split the miter exactly down the middle cutting the same amount of material off of both sides. I did this again on the other base miter which released the bottom. I installed the glass in the dado and glued the base back in. This time the base fit perfectly because both sides of the miter were cut at the same time.

I have seen other people just cut 45’s on the bottom and glue them to the flat base but I think that is cheating. Miters are difficult for everyone so I try to push myself to make perfect fitting miters. When you do, it accomplishes two things, 1. it hones your skills 2. it shows a higher level of craftsmanship.

-- Save lives, ease suffering, reduce morbidity and mortality, stomp out pestilence and disease, postpone the inevitable, and fake compassion. The Paramedics Creed