About six weeks ago I received a catalog in the mail with a jewelry box on the cover. My wife saw the cover and asked me to make it. I guess I should not leave catalogs lying around and should take them to the shop. However, if I leave the catalogs in the house she will find something for me to make. Yes! A new project is born.
I ordered the box side and foot router bits together with the plans and hardware. When I saw the size of the box side bit at 2 ¾” tall and 1 ½” wide I knew that I would have to use a slow router speed. Thankfully, I had recently purchased a PC 890 variable speed router with a soft start to be permanently mounted in the router table.
Since the box side bit was so tall, I also wanted to hold the work piece snugly to the router fence to prevent any slop. I decided to make a 3” tall feather board.
I could have just stacked some feather boards together but half the fun for me is to make something. I measured an existing feather board so the new one would be approximately the same dimensions. Then I glued 4 pieces of ¾” MDF together and cut the kerfs on the band saw. It is not a pretty feather board but it sure does the job.
I carefully routed the sides and feet from one long board. Then I cut to dimension and marked each piece so I could get matching grain. I mitered the ends then glued it together. I must have used 10-12 clamps and right angle jigs. It turned out square. TADA I then cut the feet at a miter as well. I wanted to have the mitered ends of the feet match the box so I made a temporary box out of scrap and placed the jewelry box inside it and the mitered ends of the feet matched up very well. It would have been real tricky for me to glue the feet to the box since I have experienced slip on glued pieces before.
The hinges supplied with the plans had round head screws. After I mortised the hinges I installed them and found that it would not close all the way due to the round head screws. I tried a number of different ways including deepening the hinge mortise on the jewelry box. I didn’t want to mount one part of the hinge on the back of the lid since I wanted it to overhand the jewelry box by 3/8”. Nothing seemed to work. I then went to my local woodworking store, starting with the letter R, and bought some hinges with flat head screws. I then plugged the mortise on the jewelry box and started again. This worked great. I trimmed the lid and when I placed it on the jewelry box found that I had cut too much. Hint to self measure twice and cut once. So, I made another lid.
After sanding I sprayed a satin PolyAcrylic blend for the finish. After 4 coats and rubbing out between coats I was finally finished. Here are some pictures of the project.
-- Fred Childs, Pasadena, CA - - - Law of the Workshop: Any tool, when dropped, will roll to the least accessible corner.
11 comments so far
WayneC
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6074 posts in 997 days
posted 955 days ago
The feather board looks cool. I think the pictures of the box may not be showing.
-- We must guard our enthusiasm as we would our life - James Krenov
fred
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posted 955 days ago
Wayne, you are so fast that I hadn’t linked them yet.
-- Fred Childs, Pasadena, CA - - - Law of the Workshop: Any tool, when dropped, will roll to the least accessible corner.
WayneC
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6074 posts in 997 days
posted 955 days ago
I was guessing, but thought I would say something just in case.
Also, I’ve got the PC890 in my table and am quite happy with it as well.
-- We must guard our enthusiasm as we would our life - James Krenov
oscorner
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posted 955 days ago
Interesting feather board design.
-- Jesus is Lord!
Chip
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posted 955 days ago
Great feather board Fred. I’m like you, I like making these jigs and having them around but I do have something coming up that this would be great for. Thanks for posting.
-- Better to say nothing and be thought the fool... then to speak and erase all doubt.
Dick, & Barb Cain
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7050 posts in 1199 days
posted 954 days ago
Nice feather jig, it looks like you have the same table as I have.
-- -** You are never to old to set another goal or to dream a new dream ****************** Dick, & Barb Cain, Hibbing, MN. http://www.woodcarvingillustrated.com/gallery/member.php?uid=3627&protype=1
Ethan
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751 posts in 1073 days
posted 954 days ago
Who would supply round head screws with hinges, especially if they knew it was going to be for a box and the hinges needed to close all the way? That sounds a bit odd to me. It would make me question myself before buying kits from that company again.
(Kind of a severe statement, isn’t it? But if we continue to accept and buy poor quality equipment and tools, then they will continue making it. Providing round head screws with hinges is minor, but I’d still make a point of writing the company and letting them know I didn’t appreciate having to go out and buy screws again because of bad packaging and that I would definitely consider buying plan packages from somewhere else in the future. One letter might line a trashcan. Ten might raise some eyebrows. 100 letters would definitely make a statement, when we’re talking about an industry as small as woodworking.)
But your jewelry box looks great, Fred!
Did you do a lining on the inside? And what did you use for the bottom of the box?
-- Ethan, http://greystonegreen.blogspot.com/
dennis mitchell
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3791 posts in 1214 days
posted 954 days ago
...don’t get me started on screws! Good job Fred.
-- http://www.woodsongsfurniture.com
MsDebbieP
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posted 954 days ago
god point Ethan,
The power does lie with the consumer. We just sometimes forget that.
-- ~ Debbie, Canada (http://www.execulink.com/~yohan)
Ethan
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751 posts in 1073 days
posted 954 days ago
One absolutely great quote I remember from the Frank Klausz seminar…
“Why do they continue to sell crap? Because you continue to buy it.”
(And yeah, I know, I’m working on my blogs… sigh... not enough time!)
-- Ethan, http://greystonegreen.blogspot.com/
fred
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257 posts in 998 days
posted 954 days ago
Ethan -
I thought the same thing about the supplier of the hinges. A letter is appropriate in this case. There is no lining on the inside. I was going to plane down some maple for the bottom, but decided that half of the board would turn out to be chips and that might be a little wasteful. So, I used some 1/4” ply I had in the shop.
-- Fred Childs, Pasadena, CA - - - Law of the Workshop: Any tool, when dropped, will roll to the least accessible corner.