The Wood Whisperer

he 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 second and final part of the series focuses on the calendar frame details. We start by creating the front loading slots, then move on to creating the curve in the top rail, and finally we create the small pencil groove in the bottom rail. The frame is then glued up, the back panel is cut and installed and the roundover profile is routed on the perimeter.