Free Plan: 1912 Mission Screen
Three sections, pierced panels over cloth — and one hinge choice that decides whether it stands.
Free download. No signup required.
- The hinge layout that lets it stand
- Cut list for six posts and rail sets
- Pierced panels and the cloth tensioning method
✓ Your folding screen plan is downloading.
Frames, hinges, covering — all of it comes down to setup
The screen plan is yours to keep. If you want the joinery and finishing side to look sharper on the next piece, take a look at Woodworking Secrets.
Download didn't start? Get the plan here.Techniques for joinery, layout and finishing
Woodworking Secrets covers the setup work that decides whether a piece looks handmade or well made.
Show me the techniques →Disclosure: I may earn a commission if you buy through this link. It doesn't cost you extra.
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.
Recommended Next Step
The part that separates handmade from well made
Woodworking Secrets is a collection of woodworking techniques and shop methods covering joinery, layout, finishing and the setup work that decides how a piece turns out.
It fits builders who can already follow a plan and want the results to look sharper. If you just wanted the screen, the plan above is all you need.
Woodworking Secrets
Techniques and shop methods for joinery, layout and finishing.
Disclosure: I may earn a commission if you buy through this link. It doesn't cost you extra.
Start with the screen plan
Download the folding screen plan and build at your own pace. The plan is yours either way.