I processed some more Mahogany stock to make the wall brackets for the pair of Greene & Greene sconces I’m working on. I have no idea how the originals were constructed, but this is what I came up with — twin tenons. The hole in between is for the wiring.
Wall Bracket for Sconces
I chopped the mortises first, so I’d have something to gauge the tenon size from. I was really pleased with how well this process went, I chopped the mortises using a regular bevel edge chisel the way I’ve seen Paul Sellers do it in his videos. I laid out the location in pencil then scribed the exact location with a mortise gauge and knifed in the top and bottoms. Then I transferred the location to the backside using knife nicks at the corners and did the same layout on the back.
Layout for Mortising
I chopped half way through from each side and ended up with nice, true mortises. I;m really enjoying using my Lie-Nielsen chisels, they hold an edge much better than my old chisels. And this Mahogany chisels nicely.
First Pair of Mortises Chopped
Once I had the mortises chopped I cut the shoulders for the tenons with a dado blade, then transferred the width of the tenons directly from the mortises to the tenon piece, and sawed them with a back saw. I stayed off of the line and pared to the line, checked the fit, pared a little more and viola!
First Part Fit
Lather, rinse, repeat and I have the second part fit up. When I glue these up I’m going to wedge the tenons to make sure they won’t some loose or sag. The lantern and wiring won’n weigh much even with the glass installed, but I want to make sure it’s nice and sturdy.
Both Done
Notch cut for Sconce Top
There are a lot of little details to take care of still. I have to shape the back pieces, inset the Ebony accents, drill for wiring and figure out how to mount these on the wall. That last one I’m still not 100% clear on as I haven’t found the hardware I want to use. I want to inset some brackets in the back to be able to hook these over some protruding screws, and I’m thinking that mounting the hardware should probably be one of the very next steps. Rats!
I just did some quick research, apparently these are called “keyhole hangers”, and Woodcraft carries a size that will probably work. Maybe the local hardware store has something similar. I like the ramped slot in this which will tend to draw the lamp tighter to the wall as it slides on. Time to go shopping!
Key Hole Hanger
Hey Joe, How do you plan on fitting the glass in the sconce since it is al glued up? I am wondering if there is some method that I need to learn to insert the glass. Thanks again for posting this project. I was researching the greene and greene sconce just as you started your project, and I am learning tons from your posts. Also, thanks for posting your plans online.
Woodworking in the land of the Midnight Sun,
Erik
Hi Erik,
The glass sits in a rabbet, not a groove. It should slip in from the top (or bottom) at a slight angle, and then tuck right into the rabbet. At least that’s my theory, I’ll be disappointed if it doesn’t work out in practice! I’ll [rogagly hold it in place with a little dab of silicon or maybe some brads.
I was emailing yesterday with the woman that owns the local stained glass shop. I’m just about ready to start on the glass panels. That should be interesting, I’ve never worked with glass.