Free Plan: 1912 Mission Screen
Three sections, pierced panels over cloth — and one hinge choice that decides whether it stands.
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- The hinge layout that lets it stand
- Cut list for six posts and rail sets
- Pierced panels and the cloth tensioning method
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Three flat sections, some hinges, done by lunch. That is what a folding screen looks like from the outside.
Then you stand it up and it falls over.
A screen holds itself up because it zigzags — one section leaning one way, the next leaning back. Take that away and you have a stack with no footprint and nothing pushing back against gravity. And a screen can only zigzag if every joint folds both directions, which an ordinary hinge does not do. That is why this plan calls for double-acting hinges.
This plan has the cut list, the grooves, the cloth method and the hinge placement — so the screen you build stands where you put it.
Project at a Glance
- Difficulty
- Intermediate (grooved rails, pierced panels and textile work)
- Main materials
- Six oak posts 1 x 1 x 65 inches, four double-acting hinges, six yards of dark cloth, three pierced panels, grooved rails and cloth rails (dimensions in the plan), two dozen slender 2-1/2-inch screws, glue, stain and wax
- Build time
- Three to four shop days, plus the textile work
- Tools needed
- Plow plane or router for 1/4-inch grooves, compass saw or jigsaw, 1-inch drill bit, drill and pilot bits, clamps, square, sewing machine or hand-sewing tools, sander and finish supplies
- Safety
- A folding screen can tip or pinch — keep hinge gaps clear of fingers, set the sections in a stable zigzag, and keep it away from children, open flames and heaters
- Source
- Popular Mechanics Handbooks, 1912 (public domain)
Why the hinge type is not a detail:
A screen stands because it zigzags, and it can only zigzag if each joint folds both ways. An ordinary hinge folds one way. Fit three sections with ordinary hinges and they close into a neat stack that cannot stand, because there is no footprint and nothing resisting the fold. That is why this plan specifies four double-acting hinges — the kind that swing in either direction — and why you set them with alternating fold direction so the sections lean opposite ways. Two placement details go with it. Set the hinges about four inches in from the ends of the posts rather than right at the corners, where you would be screwing into the weakest part of the frame. And keep the hinge gaps clear: a folding screen pinches, and fingers find the gap before you do. Open the screen into its zigzag and check the hinge travel in both directions before the cloth goes on.
Six posts, six rail sets, three panels — a screen is repetition work, and repetition is where the difference between a piece that looks handmade and one that looks well made actually shows. Square corners, matching lengths, grooves that all sit at the same depth.
What one of the plans looks like
One plan, front to back
Every plan in the library comes with the same three things: a cut list you can total before the lumber run, measurements on every part so nothing gets scaled off a photo, and step-by-step instructions from rough stock to finish. That is the layer this screen plan gave you, sixteen thousand more times.
The library covers furniture, shop jigs, outdoor builds and small projects, beginner to advanced. It works with a few hand tools or a full shop, and you keep it for good.
Disclosure: Some links on this page are affiliate links. If you buy through them, I may earn a commission at no additional cost to you.
Also worth a look: the technique layer
Woodworking Secrets is a printed book on layout, cutting, joinery and finishing, the part a plan leaves out. The publisher sends it at no charge and you cover the shipping. It ships to US addresses. On the order page there is a box for a trial membership that is already ticked — untick it if you only want the book.
See the book →