Getting Started
I blogged a couple of weeks ago about what I should charge for a small box I was asked to make.
I thought that those of you who haven't delved into the wonderful world of box making might like to journey along with me as I make this commissioned box. I was given the outside dimension for the box, as the owner intends to place it in a chest of drawers, so it must fit the size constraints of the drawer. The box will be 95mm high x 360mm wide x 240mm deep (approximately 3.75" x 14" x 9.5").
I have selected a wood I've had in my stock for some time. I'm not absolutely certain, but I believe it to be Northern Queensland Lacy Oak.
The joinery will be miters with splines. The lid will be a frame and panel with a Burl veneered.
Below I've milled the box walls to approximately 1/2" thickness, cut the pieces to length and mitered the ends.
Here I'm clamping the Victoria Ash trim to the lid frames.
After the glue has dried, I plane with a small Stanley adjustable mouth block plane and finish with a scraper.
This shows that I've decided to add trim to the inside of the frame to highlight the veneered insert panel. I've also cut the rebate to hold the veneered panel using my router table.
Before cutting for the spline I glued up the lid frame. The box in the foreground is not yet glued up.
Then I used this miter spline jig to cut for the insertion of a spline.
Here you see the lid glued up with the splines inserted and glued. The box is only dry fitted at this point.
This final shot today shows the box being glued up. I use two picture frame clamps to apply even pressure to the miters. Note that I have stained and inserted the base of the box. The base is 'trapped' in a rebate, but not glued. I have found that installing the base this way when using mitered joinery helps to keep the corners square and stop the miter joint from creeping when the glue is drying.
This represents about eight hours of work thus far. More pictures in a few days when I progress.
I blogged a couple of weeks ago about what I should charge for a small box I was asked to make.
I thought that those of you who haven't delved into the wonderful world of box making might like to journey along with me as I make this commissioned box. I was given the outside dimension for the box, as the owner intends to place it in a chest of drawers, so it must fit the size constraints of the drawer. The box will be 95mm high x 360mm wide x 240mm deep (approximately 3.75" x 14" x 9.5").
I have selected a wood I've had in my stock for some time. I'm not absolutely certain, but I believe it to be Northern Queensland Lacy Oak.
The joinery will be miters with splines. The lid will be a frame and panel with a Burl veneered.
Below I've milled the box walls to approximately 1/2" thickness, cut the pieces to length and mitered the ends.
Here I'm clamping the Victoria Ash trim to the lid frames.
After the glue has dried, I plane with a small Stanley adjustable mouth block plane and finish with a scraper.
This shows that I've decided to add trim to the inside of the frame to highlight the veneered insert panel. I've also cut the rebate to hold the veneered panel using my router table.
Before cutting for the spline I glued up the lid frame. The box in the foreground is not yet glued up.
Then I used this miter spline jig to cut for the insertion of a spline.
Here you see the lid glued up with the splines inserted and glued. The box is only dry fitted at this point.
This final shot today shows the box being glued up. I use two picture frame clamps to apply even pressure to the miters. Note that I have stained and inserted the base of the box. The base is 'trapped' in a rebate, but not glued. I have found that installing the base this way when using mitered joinery helps to keep the corners square and stop the miter joint from creeping when the glue is drying.
This represents about eight hours of work thus far. More pictures in a few days when I progress.