Rustic American Flag

This rustic wooden American flag was a great DIY project to fill my spare time. Not only that, but it was also a very fun project that I recommend you give a try. Down below I am going to give you the plans for the flag, along with the most helpful information I can to make this a fun, easy, stress-free build. The rustic American is true to the national specs (which I will include down below), so if you choose to follow the plans, the flag will be correct according to the specs. This build is very inexpensive and affordable, so please give it a try!

Supplies

SUPPLIES YOU WILL NEED:

x4 1x2's (Knotty pine boards recommended)

x1 1x6 that is 36" (36" is all you need but you can buy a 4' board as well as the 36" is not as common)

x50 wooden 1 1/4" stars

x1 paint sample Cherry Cola paint

x1 paint sample Starless Night paint

x1 2'x2' piece of 1/4 plywood

3ft of Galvanized hobby wire (this is to hang the flag)

x100 3/4 inch brad nails (Get ones for a nail gun if you have one if not just regular 3/4 inch finishing nails)

x1 Can of spray Varathane in Satin or Gloss (This is only needed if you would like to finish the flag)

x1 blue print plan print out (See the PDF below)

TOOLS YOU WILL NEED:

Brad Nail Gun (Or hammer)

Chop saw

x4 Large clamps

Old shop cloth

Skill saw

Sander

Square

Paint Brush (like one that you would use for water color paints)

A stencil for 1&1/4 stars for a 19.5 x 36.5 (or anything close to tha

Step 1: Designing

When I designed this flag I made it according to the American flag specs so that way it would look and be to scale. I have also designed this flag so that way you have almost zero waste materials and It only takes x4 of the 1x2's which helps cut down on cost, making it a inexpensive fun project.

The Flag Specs:

The scale is 1:1.9 for the stripes

The union has to be 2/5 the length of the flag

The stars should be 4/5 the width of a stripe

With that being said, I designed the flag in the picture above that is a 19.5 x 36.5.

It is now time to start the build, but don't forget to have the pans either printed out or on a mobile device with you as a reference point throughout the build.

Step 2: Marking the Boards

You should only need 4 1"x2"x8'. On one 3 of the four boards mark out two 36.5" pieces and one at 22" which will take up almost the whole board. Then mark the last board with x4 22" pieces, that will finish off your flag. Then take the 1x6 and cut two pieces at 14.5". You will notice that it doesn't exactly fit, that's ok but wait to trim off the extra until the stripes are nailed together because some might be clamped tighter than others. So that is best to wait until the stripes are done to do that step.

Step 3: Cutting Materials

In this step I used a chop saw to make my cuts. This step is super easy, so just make sure the cuts are correct because the more perfect the cut is, the less sanding and time you have to spend on that step.

Board lengths:

36.5" long stripes x6

22" short stripes x7

14.5" 1x6 union x2

Start by cutting all of the 1x2's and once finished lay them out and make sure you have 7 little stripes and 6 large stripes totaling 13 stripes in all. Then cut the 1x6 at 14.5" but don't worry about taking off that little bit until the end as the stripes get clamped closer together in the process. Once you have all of your boards cut, you are ready for sanding and burning.

Step 4: Sanding and Burning

This process is super easy! Start by taking the sander and make all of the boards smooth so that way there are not rough parts. Then, once all of the boards are sanded, take any kind of torch and the best way to burn it is supper light on the white. When there is a knot exaggerate it so it stands out. Knots are in all different spots making the flag very unique. Once you have completed that step you are ready to begin painting.

Step 5: Painting the Stripes

To start the best thing to do is to take all of the stripes and fit them together how they fit best together. Then rearrange them so that the stripes that got burnt a little darker and put them in the place of the red stripes. The reason you should consider doing this is so on the red stripes you see more of the grain and the burnt part. Then flip all of the boards upside down and label them r for red and w for white but do it with numbers so that way you know which boards go from first to last. When rubbing the paint on (Use the sample size Cherry Cola red paint) it is best to do two very light coats instead of one thick one. don't forget to paint the end grain and the edge that will be seen on the top and bottom board. Make sure they have enough time to dry and get ready to put it all together.

Step 6: Nail It

To start cut out three strips of 1/4 plywood x2 at the length 19" and the width 3". Cut the last one out at 8.5" by 3". once all of those strips are cut out it is time to nail it together. Flip the stripes upside down in order but make sure that the union is on the opposite side that you would normally look at it when you flip it over. Get all of the stripes together and then clamp them down nice and tight to get rid of any gaps that there might be. At this time take a nail gun (or a hammer and finishing nails) 3/4 inch long and get ready to put the nails in. Start by putting the long strip of plywood at the end of the stripes about a inch away from the edge and make sure that the top is about a 1/4 inch off the edge along with the bottom. Nail that together 2 nails per board. I found it worked best when I set the output pressure to 50 PSI for the brad nail gun. Take the next long strip and place it a 1/4 away from the top and bottom edges but make sure it is 3 inches away from where the union cut out is. Finally take the small strip and place it at the end of the 6 stripes 1/4 inch away from top and bottom and 1 inch from the side edge.

Step 7: The Union

Take the top board for the union and measure how much needs to come off the top edge. The reason for doing this now, is because all of the wood is different and it could come out 1/8 different than the way mine did. But it should be somewhere around 3/8 of an inch, so just use a skill saw or a table saw to take that part off. Once that is done, take some wood glue and glue it together so it is one piece and let dry before painting. Once dry paint it. Take the (starless night paint) and apply two to three coats so you can not see too much of the wood grain. For this part is good to paint all of the edges as it will have a better look at the end. Once dry prepare for the stars!

Step 8: The Stars

The best thing to do before you start is to take the 50 stars you plan to use and scatter them on a old piece of wood so you can burn them. This will work the best so that way the torch or burning utensil you are using doesn't spray any anything on the blue. The easiest thing to do is to clamp the stencil on to the wood and then take the bunt stars and set them in place. Make sure to mix it up put more burnt stars with less burnt ones. After test fitting them, glue them on one by one and having the stencil will allow you to just set it right in place. Let that cure for 24 hours before finishing up the flag.

Step 9: The Finish

To start cut out another 2 pieces of 1/4 inch plywood that measures 19"x3". Then place one of them on the seam between the union and the and the stripes parallel with the others and then the other as close to the piece connecting the 6 long stripes as possible. The nail it all together and it is just about done! You can now apply finish to it. Spray Varathane works really good for this in a satin sheen. Satin keeps is rustic, if you get to glossy you lose a lot of the rustic feel. The best tip I can give for this is to do about 3 to 4 thin coats, if you get to heavy with the coat it will drip and not turn out a good. After that it is time to attach the wire for hanging and hang it.

Step 10: Hang It

First find a couple small pieces of the 1/4 inch plywood to use to hang it with. Cut about 38 inches of hobby wire. From there make a loop around your finger and take the tail and wrap it around the main piece of wire to make a loop. repeat for the other side. Then lay it out across the flag to have it centered left to right on the 7th strip and the bottom of the union. The take the piece of plywood and place it on top of it. Finally nail that down but when doing so make sure that one or two nails makes it through the loop so it can't pull through. The last step is to find a good place to hang it. I hope you enjoyed this project as much as I did and I hope this Instructable was helpful!