Assumptions: I assume you have looked at the tutorial on making the splines themselves. The tutorial on cutting the splines slots with the jig there gives you a box that looks like this on the corner.

The next step is to glue in the splines themselves.

I should have pictured it, but I apply Tightbond’s Carpenter’s and Trim Glue to both the spline and the slot to assure there will be a good bond. This thicker glue is easier to work with, and much less runny, but it should be stored upside down to be sure it flows out when you squeeze the bottle.

Keeping your plumber’s brushes in water will let you reuse these brushed for months. Dry them on a paper towel before you apply glue.

(below) This is a demonstration box that I use to explain to customers and students the steps involved in the spline process. All the splines are cut before the top of the box is separated and the hinge is added.

(above) This represents adding the splines in the demo box. There is a tutorial about gluing on a lid onto the box.

So now you have a rough box complete and it looks like this. (Below)

Let’s take a close look at the corners.

As you can see the top and the splines are hanging over the sides. Now make to trip to the band saw and trim away most of that overhang without cutting into the side of the box.

After bandsawing away the overhanging top and splines, It will look something like this on the corners.

With the overhang removed you can now apply a large bearing-centered flush trim bit. This will give you a box that looks something like this corner does. For this to work your bearing has to ride on the smooth edge of the box. There is a real possibility of kickback using a large roundover bit on a router. Use a starter pin, and consider making a light pass first, then another pass. Grip the box tightly and be very wary of kickback! You may be more comfortable using a flush trim bit on the first step of this route.

Next the top is separated and hinges are added and the corners are sanded and finished.

When all this is done you should have a box that looks something like this.

To see other boxes click here.

PS

Making a tutorial with this many links and pictures is pretty exhausting. I hope it is of use to my fellow Lumber Jocks.

Boxes with inset tops (above) where the the top floats in a dadoed groove that runs around the sides,

and attached tops where the top is glued directly onto the sides of the box. This tutorial will feature the attached top method, and a press design to help with this process.

Of course you can use clamps to hold the top on until the glue sets. But I prefer this press.

The press features 8 all-thread sections with a compression spring and plastic pipe around the all-thread at each corner. The springs are meant to hold the press open so you can place a box inside without having to fight with the press.

So in this box the splines were glued in, the top has had glue applied and has had the rough top set on the box.

To save time I often will install the splines and add the top then I can let both of them cure at the same time.

Now it gets set into the press and then I use an impact driver to tighten the nuts and apply even pressure to the top.

This version has a welded metal lattice that keeps the all-thread from turning and strengthens the bottom plywood.

This shot demonstrates a 2×8 wooden cull added on top of the box top to make it easier to tighten in the press.

So now you can tighten the nuts with the impact driver and let the glue dry. Sure, you could use a ratchet wrench, but the impact driver is so much cooler and faster. I usually start at opposing corners and then move in and do a final re-tighten.

When the press is not being used, the press and some culls are stored on the shelf above the glue-up table.

If you build boxes at all, eventually you tire of cranking your blade from 90 degrees to 45 degrees and back…I did. So I built this simple jig, and now I can cut all 8 ends of a box accurately in about 5 minutes, AND STILL LEAVE MY TABLE SAW SET AT 90 DEGREES.

Assumption: I am assuming that you have already laid out the board for your sides and have cut all four sides of your box to length. Short side, long side, short side, long side and have cut a dado slot in these boards that will accept the bottom board of your finished box.

(above) The key to efficiency is this jig. It is designed to hold the box side on a 45 degree angle. It has an adjustable stop running vertically in a track, and a clamp to hold it while you run it across the blade. Used properly, your hands will be well out of the way while this is happening.

IT IS IMPERATIVE THAT YOU WEAR EYE PROTECTION WHEN YOU USE THIS JIG. THE SMALL CUT OFF FROM THE DADO GROOVE CAN REALLY FLY AROUND THE SHOP.

(above) To operate the jig, put the bottom dado cut up and clamp the box side in the jig. Feel under the clamped side to see that just a little of the bottom edge of the board extends just beyond the blade-side part of the jig. Now, BRING THE SLIDING STOP DOWN TO CONTACT THE TOP EDGE OF THE CLAMPED SIDE AND LOCK THE STOP. The stop is the white plastic piece with the knob in the sliding track.

Use the clamp lever to be sure the box side is firmly clamped and seated properly in the jig.

Now use the jig to slide the jig and board over the saw blade. KEEP YOUR HANDS WELL INSIDE AND TO THE BACK OF THE JIG. USE THE HANDLE.

(above) Now slide the jig well back on your table saw so the board is well back and out of the way of the blade. To be safe turn off the saw. Release the clamp, spin the side around and put the newly cut edge against the stop.
Then cut the opposite end too.

(above) This shows the two ends cut. IMPORTANT: DON’T MOVE THE STOP. WHILE YOU HAVE THIS SETTING, CUT THE OPPOSING SIDE OF THE BOX…NOW BOTH OPPOSING SIDES WILL BE IDENTICAL IN LENGTH.
If you are making a square box leave the stop in place and cut the next two sides. If it is oblong, reset the stop for the next two sides and cut them.

Jig Building Hints:

(above) This shot shows the bottom of the jig. It runs on a single guide. I prefer UHMW (ultra high molecular weight) plastic for runners. These guides don’t swell or shrink and are self lubricating. If you let the guide extend a bit beyond the back of the jig it makes it easy to align the guide with the table saw slot.

(above) This is not a great shot, but you can see the clamping board is supported by an angle cut 2×6.

Additional Suggestions:

While I used a dual clamp modified to hold the clamp in the the jig with one side, and the box side to be cut is clamped on the other side, you could use a simple clamp to hold the box side and screw it securely to fasten it to the jig.

(above) I have found that having the saw-side edge elevated about an inch above the table allows the cut of edges to drop in the center of the blade and the cutoffs are less likely to be thrown by a moving blade. A ZERO CLEARANCE INSERT IS A MUST SO THE SMALL CUT OFFS DON’T GET WEDGED BETWEEN A MOVING BLADE AND THE INSERT.

Recess your clamp so it is even with the angled top of the jig.

Be careful not to let the angled edge of the cut and spun board slip under your stop. If I build another of these, I’ll put a dado and a finger on the stop to prevent the angled side from slipping under the stop.

Design your stop so it stays square to the vertical track.

In practice this jig is quick and easy to use and the build is not really complex. It saves me a ton of time.

Here is a quick way to set up your saw for cutting spline slots using a spline cutting jig and a dado blade. This method involves no measuring and take only a minute or two.

The trick is to use brass set up bars.

I keep my set close to the dado saw in my shop.

Hold the largest bar on a 45 degree angle on the corner of the box.

Add other bars until you get a combination that is just a little under the width of the box corner.

Now move these bars to the saw blade and crank it up or down until you have matched the height of the saw blade and the height of the set up bars. A finger touch will tell you when they are even. The blade tooth needs to be top dead center when you measure.

Now you can cut your spline slots without fear of cutting through your box corners. Have fun and look at my blog tutorial on how to build a slot cutting jig.

Hint: To make this a quick read just scan the dark print and look at the pictures. You can come back for the details if you need them.

I will try to explain this process in two languages…English and pictures. Any comments or suggestions will be appreciated.

Start with a package of these. Cheap tie-downs from Sam’s or an auto store. Buy a set that has rubber covered crank handles as they are much easier on your hands when you tighten them.

General Idea: What we are going to do is remove the hook on the long strap. Throw away the small strap. Grind away the rivet from the frame, and re-position the long strap so the looped end that held the hook is now re-connected with a bolt where the short strap was connected, and re-thread the long strap through the eye in the ratchet mechanism. If this is confusing…just follow the pictured steps.

Here are the tools I used for this job. You don’t need all of these, but they are useful if you have them. A vise, angle grinder (you could use an emery wheel or file), ball peen hammer, small vise grips, drift punch, scissors, channel locks, 1 inch x 1/4 inch bolt, a couple of wrenches to fit the bolt and nut, and a big screwdriver. If you have been looking for a use for that great big screwdriver that came in the Craftsman set you got for Christmas…this is your chance to finally use that sucker!

Start by cutting away the short strap and hook with the scissors. DO NOT get carried away and cut the loop on the long strap! We will need this for later.

Now, you have the fame with no straps attached.

Twist the hook on the longer strap to spring the eye of this hook slightly so you can slip the loop off the hook. Told you you could finally get to use that great big screwdriver. (This is much easier and faster than cutting the hook itself.)

The next modification is to remove the rivet holding the long strap onto the ratchet mechanism. We are going to grind off the head of the rivet to remove it without harming the ratchet frame.

Use the channel locks to bend the frame enough so the rivet head stands proud of the frame itself.

I found it useful to use the vise grips to hold the rivet up while the frame was clamped in the regular vise.

With the frame clamped back in the regular vise grind away the head of the rivet.

Use the hammer and a punch to remove the rivet from the frame.

With the channel locks bend the frame back into its original position making sure the ratchet can turn freely and the spring loaded catch mechanism works freely too.

Now we are going to re-attach the loop from the long strap (This loop originally held a hook we removed.) We will bolt it in place back on the frame using the holes from where the short strap was originally held in place by the rivet.

Here you see that the original rivet has been replaced by a 1/4 inch bolt and nut.

Back to the vise putting the bolt head in the vise jaws.

Grind away most of the bolt sticking out beyond the frame, but leave about 1/8 of and inch to peen down. Caution: don’t let the bolt get so hot you melt the nylon strap. If you melt through the loop the clamp can’t work. (The voice of experience speaking here.)

Peening the threaded end means you batter what is sticking out beyond the nut spreading the end of the bolt so the nut won’t be able to come off.

Final step…take all the twists out of the strap and thread the loose end of the strap through the eye in the ratchet mechanism. You need to feed the strap from the bottom of the clamp to the top so it will draw around the box as you tighten it up.
I keep my supply of these straps hanging on my glue-up table. They are color coded for length since it is awkward gluing up a small box with a longer strap. Hint: I usually put a small block of wood under the ratchet body to prevent denting the wood when the clamp is tightened.

Thanks for working through all these steps with me. This post was really tedious for me, but hopefully it will cover any problems you have with the process. If you have questions ask, please Any comments or suggestions are always appreciated.

Overview: In the last blog I detailed how to separate the top from the box and how to start with a long piano hinge then size, cut, polish, round, crimp, smooth, and paint the hinge so it will fit any size of box.

In this chapter I will explain how to install a piano hinge in a box. We will go through how to mortise, fit and fasten the hinge. The essential tools are: router table, small try square, vix bit, drill and impact driver. If all goes well, it should look like this when you are done.

Centering: Exactly center the hinge on the back of the box using a try square. Move a small try square from left side to right side. Adjust the blade of the try square in and out until the end blade of the try square just kisses the hinge on both sides. No real measuring is needed.

It may take a few tries making fine adjustments and going back an forth, but when you are finished you will have your hinge in the exact center. Now lock down the stock of your try square to preserve that measurement. We are going to use this measurement to set up the router fence.

Fence Location: As you can see I use a simple clamping straight edge as a fence for this. It is light, easy to move and change, and stays in place. (Remember, when you are setting a router fence like this, all that matters is the distance between the fence and the cutter. If it isn’t straight so what? The bit is round so straight isn’t important, distance is.) With the head of the straight edged cutter bit turned so the longest point is closest to the fence, align the cutter with the stock and transfer the measurement you took when centering your hinge to be the distance between the fence and the point of the cutter. This needs to be an exact match and you should sight down the head to get the exact point of the cutter at the edge of your try square head. Bring your fence over until it touches the blade of your try square and lock the fence in place. With good light and some care this can be a very exact measurement…and it needs to be.

Cutting the Mortise: What I didn’t think to picture was setting the bit height. Put your hinge on the table and raise the bit until the top of the bit is at the exact center of the pin of your hinge. Since this mortising is all I do on this table, I leave it set for the hinges I buy.

Now bring your box down the fence to cut a mortise. Notice two things: One, I marked the back side with chalk so I don’t screw up and cut the mortise on the front side. Two, be sure your table and fence are free of sawdust. Any dust between the box and the fence will throw off your measurements. Now reverse the box and cut the other end of your mortise going along the fence from the opposite side of the bit. Thus, you have cut both ends of your mortise and now all you do is freehand cut the waste wood between the two exact ends.

This shows cutting between the end cuts. Be careful not to cut too far. Listening for the end of the cut helps. (Of course if you were using 3/4 hinges and a 3/4 inch bit, you would be done and not need to cut out the waste.)

Repeat the same process for cutting the top. First cut the ends…

Then cut the waste between the two end cuts.

The Completed Mortise: This shot shows the top and the bottom of the box held together so you can see the completed mortise. The ends match nicely, the mortise is evenly cut, and now you are ready to insert the hinge.

Install The Hinge: Here you see the hinge set in the mortise. If you have worked carefully (and are a little lucky) the hinge will be a nice snug fit. Install the hinge starting on the bottom of the box. This shows the reason. You can reach across the box and use your wrists and palms to hold the box down while you work. This is a good time to sand the inside and outside edges of your mortise to be sure there are no splinters to catch unwary fingers (like yours)...before you start putting the hinge in place.

Use a Vix Bit: A Vix bit is a must. This bit centers the screw-hole you are drilling in the center of the hole in the hinge. Don’t just set the Vix bit in the hole and jam the bit into the wood. Let the bit spin in the screw hole then while it is spinning lower your bit into the wood. Spinning the bit first lets it get better seated and you will have better results.

Drill One Or Two Holes In the Bottom: First put just one or two screws and screw holes in the top. Don’t drill all the holes yet. If you missed the mark you can still make adjustments using the other holes to straighten it up.

Put One or Two Holes in the Top: Check your fit. If it is just very slightly off you can sand the outside of the box so they match exactly. But if the sides and front don’t match well, remove one or two screws and get the fit right. Here again it is a help if you have a back-rest to lean the bottom against so you can hold it in place and it gives you two free hands to work with.

Check the Fit: See if the sides and front match. If they do match, carefully open the box and install a few more screws and then check the fit again when you work on the bottom. It helps if your work station has some kind of rest to let the open box lean against so you have two free hands to work with.

Now drill and install all your remaining screws. I like to use an impact driver. It takes a bit to get the right touch with this tool, but it is far less likely to strip out the screw heads and brings the screws down snuggly.

Hinge Completed: If all has gone well, your finished hinge will look like this on the outside of your box. As you can see here, I sand the back edges at the back corner to be sure the box will swing to 90 degrees

The next time I am daft enough to take on a pictured blog like this I will be writing about this sanding station. Who knew it would take 6 sanders to make a box? But it is much quicker than changing Velcro paper.

Alan

You Could Use This!...My Hinge Station or a Hack Saw

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Just Browsing? If you want to casually breeze through this just read the dark print and look at the pictures. For more serious readers, I have included details in the fine print.

Economics: Price is a major consideration if you are making boxes for sale. I simply can’t afford to put $35 or more into a set of fine brass hinges and make any money on the boxes I sell. I wish I could. So I choose to use piano hinges that have been cut from a 4 foot length so they fit the particular box that I am working on at the moment. I use 1 1/16 inch wide brass coated steel hinges and try to keep my side thicknesses at 5/8 of an inch. Steel plated piano hinges are my compromise between economy. appearance, and function.

Reasoning: Other than money why this choice? I am trying to make boxes that will still be in use 100 years from now. With modern glues and careful joinery, I may have a chance. Piano hinges are the most stable and strongest way I know how to join the lid to the bottom of a box and allow it to swing open. Other styles of boxes lend themselves well to pin hinges and pivot hinges on the outside of the box, but I have not made many of that style of box.

The Process In Pictures: It may take some scrolling, but I have tried to have a picture for each step.
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Separating The Top:

Set Your Blade Height: First use a scrap from the original board you started with to set your saw blade to slightly beyond the thickness of the side of your box. (If you lost the scrap you can set the blade by the edge showing on top or bottom, but it is more difficult to be accurate, especially if you rounded those edges as I have here.) Note the shop-made zero clearance insert…good idea.

Set Your Fence: Now set your fence to the proper position to cut your lid off. Always keep the lid to the left of your blade. Cut through the two long sides, but lower your blade so you don’t quite cut through with the end cuts. Notice that I marked the back in chalk so I can be sure to put it back together properly after it is separated. With close grain patterns you often can’t tell the front from the back until you apply a finish. Remember! For the two end cuts lower the blade enough so it doesn’t cut all the way through the box side. This lowering keeps the blade from being pinched by the box. When the box pinches the saw blade a lot of bad things happen to the box and maybe to you as well.

Finish Cutting the Ends: Now cut the remaining sliver away in the two end cuts with a box cutter and separate the lid from the bottom.

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Making The Hinge:
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Size It: The first step is to set your hinge on the box and determine how long it should be. Obviously you don’t want it to end in the middle of a screw hole, but you do want it to be close to the inside edge of the box.

Cut The Hinge: I took an old metal-cutting band saw and made it into a tool specifically for this job, but you can cut it by hand using a hack saw.

Smoothing And Rounding: I use a cheap ($35) one inch belt sander that I bought from Grizzly for this. But you can use any sander or even just do it by hand. Just remove the burrs and any saw marks. I round off the inside and outside corners so they won’t be too sharp and cut customers.

Shorten The Pin: Over time the hinge’s pin would work loose and stick out as a sharp point. To prevent this I use a small punch to make the pin slide to one end. Shown here is a specialized tool. It is a magnet over a metal bar with a hole in it. The advantage of this is that I can use two hands to work and the magnet will hold the hinge for me. Obviously, you can do this just using something like a small nail to slide the pin to the hinge end.

Cut The Pin: Pictured is cutting off the extended pin.

Stuff The Pin Back In Place: Using the pin punch slice the pin back inside the knuckle of the hinge.

Crimp The Hinge Ends: Using a ball peen hammer and a small anvil lightly tap the hinge ends to crimp them closed and prevent the pin from slipping out of the knuckle. You may need to resand the hinge if you have a burr or sharp end after peening the ends of the hinge.

Painting The Ends: Since I use steel hinges, they would soon rust if they were not coated. I spray paint the ends to prevent this. Notice that everything you need to do this job is at one station. (See the holders for pliers and hammer?) Once I walk up to this station, I can make a hinge that will fit a box without taking a step. With practice and this station it takes about 10 minutes to size, cut, smooth, shorten the pin, crimp the knuckle, re-smooth, and paint the ends of a hinge. Now, how do you mortise and install these hinges in a box? Read the next chapter of this blog. “How To Install a Hinge” to find out.

I’ll leave you with a few pictures of the hinge station itself. I finished building it this spring and it has seen hard use in a short time. This summer I’ll make the final refinements and paint it to make it pretty.
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My Hinge Station (The Chop Smith)
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Everything is at hand. Even a trash can.

Tools

Paint and New Hinges

Pin punch, Anvil, Magnetic Hinge Holder

Belt Grinder

Modified Metal Cutting Band Saw (It sports a 1/2 HP motor)

This hard working (and dusty) jig is used on almost every box I make, and is quick and simple to build. It has a wide plywood board for a base, a long “trough” supported by 45 degree triangles cut from a 2X6 and a handle so you can pull it back to you. (I just made the handle out of a forking branch.) The long trough lets me use this for boxes that are large or small. The wide base lets me run the jig along the saw fence. Sliding the fence over so it is snug along the jig removes all the play in the slide and makes the jig extremely accurate.

If you spread the two sides of your “trough” apart a little, your box will touch both sides, but rests on the bottom. Touching the box to the bottom board is important because it lets you set the height of your saw cut accurately using the base of the jig as a starting point for your cut. I can now set the slot depth using those long square brass spacer bars to raise my blade to the proper height by just sliding the jig forward and setting the bars on top of the jig base. (Hint: when you are making the jig. Affix the back side of the trough so it aligns with the back end of the jig, then just set a box into the trough to align and set up the front side so the box touches the jig base and then fasten the front trough board in place.) There are two important things to notice in the above picture. First, I have drawn a pencil line on the jig that aligns with and is as wide as the dado blade. Second, there is a strip of 2 inch masking tape running across the back side of the trough. More about these next…

You can see the tape and the line on the outside top of the trough here. (The mark on the trough takes little looking, sorry.) Though I have posed this with a finished box, you can get the idea.

First, I mark where I want each spline cut to be made on the box blank itself with a pencil. (In this case I would have marked three 1/4 inch wide lines for the three splines.) Second, I align these penciled-in marks for the splines with the pencil marks on the trough that indicate where the blade will cut. Third, using the box itself as a ruler, I draw a line along the top of the box and across the masking tape. This pencil line across the tape will now become my indicator for locating the box on the jig for each cut.

I draw one line across the tape for each row of splines (in this case three marks) and put a number next to each line. (If you don’t number the lines, I find it is too easy to lose track of where you are in the sequence and accidentally cut the same slot twice.)

To cut the slots I hold the box blank firmly in place with both hands, and use my body to shove the jig forward and over the dado blade. Do not bring the box blank backwards through the blade. Instead, after cutting the slot, lift or tilt the box blank up and above the blade then pull the jig back into place for the next cut. Making more than one pass through the dado blade will widen the slot slightly and you will not get a nice, tight fit on your finished spline. I cut all three slots in one corner then roll the box to the next corner and cut three more slots.

I like to use the back of the trough as a foot so I can stand this large jig out of the way on the floor next to the saw. That is why I cut the hole-handle in the base board.

This shot shows the back of the jig. Notice the maple stop at the top so you don’t push the jig too far forward with your body as you make the pass over the blade. It also shows the runner that fits in the saw’s miter slot.

Conclusion:

It took me far longer to tell how to cut slots than it takes me to actually cut the slots in my boxes. With practice, blade height set up, locating the slots on the box blank, marking the lines on the masking tape, and actually cutting the slots with the dado blade only takes 5 to 10 minutes.

If you have questions or comments, just ask. Thanks for reading.

I use this jig to make all my splines. Basically it is set up to use the band saw to cut triangles out of a long thin strip of wood. It is just a board with a runner for the guide slot and another board fastened at a 45 degree angle. Cutting small pieces on a table or radial saw is a disaster. Your fingers wind up in wrong places and the small pieces fly all over the shop (not good). This is a job for the band saw! If it is done well the splines will look like this…

A quick word about fit: Once you have cut a strip of wood to approximate size let’s say 1/4 inch thick by 1 inch wide by 18 inches long, you fine-tune the fit with the planer so that this strip will easily, but barely slip back and forth in the spline slots you have cut in the box. If you make this fit too tight you will have to fight the work and pound the splines into place in the slot. A slip fit lets the splines and wood swell a little with the glue. A thin bit of glue will not show, but a spline that doesn’t bottom out in the slot looks really bad when the box is finished.

Since splines are often made from expensive and rare woods, I try not to waste any of it. Why make a square spline for a triangular slot? So as you see in the picture you use the jig to cut a 45 across the strip and then FLIP IT OVER and make your next cut forming a triangle. The width of your strip really determines the size of the triangular spline. If you need a smaller spline, make your strip more narrow. Don’t try to cut smaller 45s it just doesn’t work. I usually push the strip a little beyond the blade before making the second cut so I get a flat spot at the point of the triangle. I use the flattened point to push the splines in place. It is easier on my fingers.

Any scrap will do when you are experimenting with a jig, but when I have perfected a jig I try to make a pretty one. It makes time in the shop more fun, and I can take pride in using it. This one is made from a scrap of bird’s eye maple and eucalyptus veneer.

This jig works better if it is thicker and allows the triangles to fall when cut and then be pushed slightly out of the way by the jig after you have cut through the strip. Don’t push too hard as you cut, let the blade do the work. Pushing makes the triangles fly and you want to keep the triangles on the table of the bandsaw. The rough edges of the bandsaw cuts don’t matter. You will just trim off the excess sticking out beyond the box edges with the bandsaw or sander anyhow. I use the hole in the end to hang the jig on the saw between uses.

Later I’ll show more about splines. Have fun, and keep boxing.

In my shop the most important element in efficiency is organization. That means having what I need at hand when I need it. In the case of the glue up table it starts with a straight line that I can put the sides of the box against to line them up for glue-up.

This is a shop made holder for the tape dispenser. It allows me to have the tape already positioned over my work and it is easily removed from the holder.

Glue and brushes are essential. I keep my brushes in water and they don’t clog up. I can use the same brush for months on end as long as I put it back in the water cup at the end of each use. Since I use the thicker Tightbond Trim and Molding glue it is essential to hold the bottle up-side down.

Paper towels are another must. I use them to clean up and dry off the brushes when I first take them out of the water. They are handy here on the left.

My home made band clamps hang on a hook on the left. I can quickly reach them and put them back when I’m finished.

An air hose is useful for blowing away dust before finish is applied and for the pin nailer I use to hold parts in place until the glue dries. The small shelf also holds a scraper for cleaning dried glue off the table and a screwdriver for cleaning away glue squirt out. I set the timer (silver left) for an hour to let me know when the glue has set up enough for me to work on the next step.

Of course you need a nice bright task light and if you are wondering about the piece with the bars welded across it that is a press for attaching tops. The other boards are culls for the press.

In later chapters I will show the actual process of gluing a box together and talk about the press.

I had the low down, no good, dual drum blues…but I have found the cure. I have had a 27 inch Steel City dual drum sander for a couple of years and while I liked what it could do it was driving me crazy trying to keep sandpaper on it. The clips didn’t hold…I fixed that. The paper kept wrinkling and tearing. I tried different brands of paper and 4 inch paper and 6 inch paper. I wrapped the ends with tape. I tried Steel City’s tech service (not a good experience). Nothing worked. I had the Steel City Dual Drum Blues…then it was Lumber Jocks to the rescue.

After reading their comments on Steel City sanders, I wrote to Lumber Jocks Jerry and Carson. They responded that they had had good luck with their Steel City sanders using hook and loop technology and said they had been running them that way for a while. After a little searching, I found that Woodmaster Tools could furnish me with both the Velcro mat and felt backed paper. They even sent me a PDF of their machine’s manual which gave very thorough instructions. If you are going to do this conversion read Woodmaster’s manual and get a buddy to help. Rolling the drum, peeling the backing paper away, and wrapping the Velcro evenly takes at least 4 hands and some patience.

It was an investment, but for $200 I got a 25-yard roll of 120 grit and a 25-yard roll of 150 grit and enough sticky-backed Velcro to do the job. Turns out it was money well spent. Thanks to Lumber Jocks named Jerry and Carson, and Woodmaster Tools I am cured of the Dual Drum Blues. “I am cured…cured I tell you…and I can sand! Stand back and just watch me go.”

With hook and loop backing and felt paper this sander finally works like I always thought it should. I have to tape the left side of the sandpaper with reinforced packing tape, but you let the right side float! If the paper stretches or the hooks flatten out with time…no problem it just self-adjusts. What a change, the sandpaper battle is finally over.

My Steel City always had potential, but the paper was just a frustrating mess. What I like about the tool is that it will crank down 12 inches. I don’t have many one foot thick boards, but being able to sand the top and bottom of the cut-off box top makes the joint of the two halves of a box fit perfectly after you add the hinge. This was the only machine that would crank down the 7 or so inches I need to do that job. It also means I can glue an attached lid on a box body and have a perfect joint.

You got the Steel City Dual Drum blues? Velcro is the cure!

Quick lessons:

When installing the cast iron wings. Attach the center bolt with the wing upside down and then spin it to attach the other two bolts. Put in the set screws for these wings first before you install the wings. It will save you a lot of standing on your head time.

The pull-out lift bars and a good tractor are a real help in getting the planer off the pallet and into the shop.

Putting a #8 wire in a #10 connection box is a real pain.

Because the shaving are finer, the 4 inch collection port works just fine…especially with a cyclone type collector.

Connecting the dust collector took 6 inch water pipe fittings, AC duct work tin pipe, and some actual 4 inch dust collector hose.

It is a vast improvement in noise and has much less tear out on curly stock.

I am having way too much fun planing down stock for future boxes.

Alan