Here I fit in the top wood piece! The wood I used was .5” maple plywood.
Next Phase:
At this phase I was also able to start ordering things like the Hammered Brown spray paint, door knob, and hinges and tiny machine screws. While I waited for things to arrive in the mail….
I measured the frame for actual wood cutout measurements and started to hesitantly cut pieces to fit. It was time consuming because of how out of square each opening was, but I was able to let go of the idea that it wouldnt fit in snugly on each side. I cut everything down so it would be about a 1/16” smaller even with it being out of square. This phase required a lot of sanding. I also sanded down the corners of the pieces to account for the fillet welds.
Not Shown:
After cutting and fitting all the wood pieces I shifted to finishing them. I used Polyurethane that you paint on. I liked the shine it gave the wood and didn’t want it yellowing over time like shellac does. So after wiping down with a damp rag I applied one coat to one side, waited two hours then lightly sanded the whole surface with anything over 250 grit that I could get my hands on. I sanded in the direction of the wood. After wiping down with a dry rag, I put on another coat. I repeated the process for three poly coats on each side.