United States Quarter Map

Back in the spring of '05 while in college, I was searching for a woodworking project to make my Grandparents as a Christmas present.  While surfing the net, I came across the project plan at Rockler, a great woodworking store.  My Grandparents had already been collecting the new state quarters, so knew they would really enjoy it!

So, Erin and I jumped in the '88 Dodge Caravan and headed up to the Burnsville Rockler.  Now, one must understand that a real woodworker always needs a new tool to complete each project.  For me, I needed a scroll saw to cut out the intricate parts.  Luckily, this Delta model was on sale. 

I also picked up the project plan and the appropriate sized drill bit to drill the holes for the quarters.

This is the process that I went through to complete the project:

1.  I went to the local Fleet Farm and picked up some Aspen wood to cut the states out of.  I chose this wood because it was light colored with minimal grain, which would take the different stain colors very well.  For the backround, I laminated 1/4" oak plywood to 1/2" MDF.  For the trim around the edges, I used red oak.
2. Next, I cut and planed down the aspen to create a large wide piece with which I used some of Erin's vellum adhesive to attach the paper template to.
3. Then, using a drill press, I drilled out the quarter slots with the special quarter sized bit.
4. After that was the fun part.  Erin and I took turns sitting in our unheated apartment garage and cut out all 50 states.  Note to self, although Alaska is a great state, it is not fun to cut it out of wood!
5. At Rockler, we picked out some different wood dyes to stain the wood with.  After staining the wood, I used some spray polyurethane to seal the stain and give the wood a semi-gloss sheen.
6. Next, I glued all 50 states to the background using wood glue.  
7. Finally, I created a plexi-glass cover which slid into the side frame and was aligned with the face of the wooden states to hold the quarters in place.  To access the quarters, you simply take out two concealed screws in the top trim and slide out the plexi.

This was a very fun project, and turned out great.  I would say all in all, it took about 30-40 hours to make.  The best part was seeing my Grandparents reaction when I revealed it at Christmas.  Now that all the state quarters have been issued, the map is full and looks great!

Here is the finished piece.  Yeah...check out Alaska - still amazes me that we were able to cut it out!

Now the only problem is that I want one of my own!  Maybe some day I'll make another.