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Just a Box

Project by mot posted 707 days ago 979 views 0 times favorited 31 comments Add to Favorites Watch

Bob #2 and I were fiddling in my shop on Thursday night. Well, I was fiddling and Bob #2 was on the shop cam and voice communications from my workshop page. While Bob was waxing poetic about some topic of the moment, I decided to make a box. I haven’t spoken much about the Akeda Dovetail jig, mostly because I don’t use it very much. Not because it’s not just fantastic, but just because I don’t use the router for this type of work much since I started obsessing about hand cut joinery. Anyway, I resawed some cherry and started cutting some box parts. While I was doing that, I noticed the cuts were burned by the back of the blade. That fried me as this saw of mine has a real thing about staying in alignment. I took out the shooting board and a Veritas Low Angle Jack plane and fixed the problem with the pieces, put them on the bench, and then went about dissassembling my outfeed setup and Festool MFT table to get at the back of my tablesaw. Taking advantage of the free space, I cleaned up the crap out of the back of the saw, and alinged the blade. All the while, Bob was on story #3 with the odd interjection of inquiry as to why a perfectly neat shop now had stuff strewn all over the place.

After the saw station was reassembled, some test cuts were made and the world was sane again!

I used the Akeda jig to cut some, perhaps atypical, box joints. After putting them together, I had to pound them with a hammer because they fit so tight. A quick email to Kevan Lear at Akeda Jigs gave me some insite into guide bushing diameters and how they affect joint fit for this setup. That’s going to be a topic that will need blogging, so stay tuned. If anyone has gotten a chance to talk to Kevan, he’s a lot like Jim Lindsey from Dowelmax, in that he responds to your question immediately, and with an answer that has considerably more detail than you might have thought your question involved, but ultimately giving you a very good understanding of the problem and solution.

After getting things worked out, I cut a little panel for the top and bottom from some scrap oak that I had laying around and tight joints and all, glued the box up. I got a lecture from Bob about glue starving this joint due to the tight fit. He’s right. There is no way that anything but hot stuff could be used. After getting the box together, I wicked thin cyanoacrylate into all the joints, hit with accelerator et voila, it was glued together. It’s a box, and a bloody mediocre one at that! Sorry, Don!

I cut the top off with the bandsaw, cleaned up the edge with low angle block plane, smoothed four sides with the low angle jack and tossed some really crappy hardware on it that I bought at the local box store. I won’t use the stuff again, but it isn’t really a special box…just a test. All the edges were chamfered with a low angle block until they looked about “right.”

My wife saw it and asked, “What’s it for?” I replied, “Nothing.” She said, “It should work perfectly then.”

Now that it’s built I do have a use for it but it’s the wrong size. I’ll build another for a storage purpose that I have…namely the pieces for the Akeda jig. This one now has been relegated to my Mot Jr’s uses to store his puzzle pieces.

There it is, and thanks for looking!

Cheers!

-- You can discover more about a person in an hour of play than in a year of conversation. (Plato)


31 comments so far

View Bob #2's profile

Bob #2

2990 posts in 900 days


posted 707 days ago

Nice recovery Tom.
What doesn’t show here is the fact the the first pass with the finger joint attachment for the Akeda gave poor old Tom “hammer tight” joints.

The jigs in incredibly simple to set up and use but I guess the tolerance for finger joint need three different bushing sizes like Goldie locks and the porridge.(too big too small and just right)
That’s better than I had in the Army for clothing. (Too big or Too small) <g>

As Tom says above it ended up being Hotstufff glue up .
Good job and nice recovery Tom.

Bob

-- A mind, like a home, is furnished by its owner

View Douglas Bordner's profile

Douglas Bordner

3415 posts in 942 days


posted 707 days ago

I like the variable spacing on the joints. Now Tom, just enjoy the jig and don’t obsess about the saw and chisel. Groovy box hardware and a smooth hand rubbed finish and it would be quite stylish. And it does qualify for Boxhound status…Betcha can’t make just one, they’re addictive.

-- "Bordnerizing" perfectly good lumber for over a decade.

View Lee A. Jesberger's profile

Lee A. Jesberger

3709 posts in 858 days


posted 707 days ago

Hi Tom;

Nice joinery! You’re right, them’s some tight joints.

Nice to get good customer service from a company nowdays.

Nice job!

-- by Lee A. Jesberger http://www.prowoodworkingtips.com http://www.ezee-feed.com

View Brad_Nailor's profile

Brad_Nailor

1192 posts in 836 days


posted 707 days ago

Nice box and nice joinery. I’ll have to take a look at that Akeda jig. I have been thinking about acquiring a dovetail/box joint cutting jig. Great work Tom!

-- David, South Windsor, CT "I love the smell of sawdust in the morning"

View cajunpen's profile

cajunpen

5970 posts in 944 days


posted 707 days ago

Nice box Tom. I’m with Lee and Douglas, in that I really like the spacing on your box joints. Well done.

Lee, I just sent the link to your ezee-feed site to a couple of friends that are each running a 1 man cabinet shop. I was telling them about how much easier the ezee-feed would make their lives. Hope you pick up a couple of sales.

-- Bill - "Suit yourself and let the rest be pleased." http://www.cajunpen.com/

View MsDebbieP's profile

MsDebbieP

14090 posts in 1039 days


posted 707 days ago

excellent blog
nice box

and, as always, I am inspired by the feedback from your other half!

-- ~ Debbie, Canada (http://www.execulink.com/~yohan)

View Douglas Bordner's profile

Douglas Bordner

3415 posts in 942 days


posted 707 days ago

Gulp. Deb jogs were others fear to tread…

-- "Bordnerizing" perfectly good lumber for over a decade.

View MsDebbieP's profile

MsDebbieP

14090 posts in 1039 days


posted 707 days ago

hey Mot, I’m guessing that your wife is a very practical person… purpose and function, foremost

-- ~ Debbie, Canada (http://www.execulink.com/~yohan)

View miles125's profile

miles125

1413 posts in 884 days


posted 707 days ago

Handsome box there Mot!

-- miles125, Alabama.."Architecture is frozen music""

View Harold's profile

Harold

313 posts in 726 days


posted 707 days ago

My wife has been bugging me to finish the panel behind our stove, so I have lbeen ooking around for some way to just cover it up. What I am leaning towards are those decorative copper panels that would stick to the wall. I think those little panels would really accent something like this or perhaps something similar to the beautiful tiles that Dan Walters does with the box becoming a multi purpose frame of sorts.

-- If knowledge is not shared, it is forgotten.

View mot's profile

mot

4901 posts in 915 days


posted 707 days ago

Thanks for the comments folks. Douglas, I bet I can’t just make one of them either. I like the way the joinery looks, but it’s through no fault of mine…the Akeda jig is pretty idiot proof, so I can’t lay claim to any precision or accuracy.

-- You can discover more about a person in an hour of play than in a year of conversation. (Plato)

View Karson's profile

Karson

25271 posts in 1279 days


posted 707 days ago

Great box Tom. And it satisfy its purpose.

You going to put dividers in it for different puzzles.

-- What happens in the workshop stays in the workshop. No wait that doesn't sound right. Karson Southern Delaware karson_morrison@bigfoot.com †

View mot's profile

mot

4901 posts in 915 days


posted 707 days ago

It’s too small to bother with dividers. Mot Jr. is 2 years old so his puzzle pieces are about the size of CD’s…they just stack nicely. It’s about 6” square.

-- You can discover more about a person in an hour of play than in a year of conversation. (Plato)

View jockmike2's profile

jockmike2

7222 posts in 1125 days


posted 706 days ago

Mot! How dare you! There is no such thing as JUST a box. Do you want to offend Don. I’d rephrase that if I were you. That is a beautiful cherry box. Nice box joints. mike

-- Mike. mwurm13@yahoo.com

View Don's profile

Don

2590 posts in 1055 days


posted 706 days ago

Tom, when I see a nicely made box like this, I’m reminded why I just love small wooden boxes. This one is sweet.

-- CanuckDon "I just love small wooden boxes!" http://www.hilsbiblechurch.org/

View mot's profile

mot

4901 posts in 915 days


posted 706 days ago

You’re very right, Mike. After looking at it some more, it’s a pretty nice box. The finger joint spacing is growing on me.

-- You can discover more about a person in an hour of play than in a year of conversation. (Plato)

View Bob Babcock's profile

Bob Babcock

1808 posts in 964 days


posted 706 days ago

I really like it. Looks like the kind of box you’ld find all of your granddads old stuff in. Strudily built and full of purpose.

-- Bob, Carver Massachusetts, Sawdust Maker http://www.capecodbaychallenge.org

View DAN 's profile

DAN

6396 posts in 861 days


posted 706 days ago

sweet little box for your family

-- work from your heart and your spirit will live forever

View Douglas Bordner's profile

Douglas Bordner

3415 posts in 942 days


posted 706 days ago

I’ll bet Mot, Jr. won’t outgrow it, ever.

Ah – little box – the repositories of treasured items of youth, secret spaces filled with memories and dreams, alive with possibilities. What mysteries lurk there, what potentialities exist in your dark recesses, ready to spring to life with the lifting of the lid (slapping self). I know why Don loves small wooden boxes. And so do I.

-- "Bordnerizing" perfectly good lumber for over a decade.

View YorkshireStewart's profile

YorkshireStewart

779 posts in 779 days


posted 706 days ago

Looking at that delightful box, there’s absolutely no indication that you were distracted by voice communications, Bob ‘looking over your shoulder’, a misaligned saw, having to pound the joints with a hammer, glue starvation and fitting crappy hardware. Amazing!

Oh, you’ll have to tell Mrs Mot that boxes don’t need to be for anything!

-- Res severa verum gaudium - True pleasure is a serious business. http://www.folksy.com/shops/TreeGems

View Thos. Angle's profile

Thos. Angle

4015 posts in 841 days


posted 706 days ago

Tom, I wouldn’t allow a box like that to be anywhere in my shop, I’d be so ashamed to have made someting that bad that I’d throw it out at the first opportunty. I’d probably throw it all the way to Oregon. Yeah, it’s bad. I think I need an Akida.

-- Thos. Angle

View Andy's profile

Andy

562 posts in 787 days


posted 706 days ago

I agree with the others..the joints are very nicely done and I like the variable spacing.Will need to try that sometime.

-- " If I can make it,so can you" Andy in Oregon

View CharlieM1958's profile

CharlieM1958

7466 posts in 1097 days


posted 706 days ago

Nothing mediocre about this box in my estimation, Tom. As a matter of fact, I’m kinda ticked that here you turn out something I would be bragging about, and make it sound like something you knocked off with one hand while you were doing a crossword puzzle with the other.

I had to laugh, because every time I make a new box my wife asks me what it’s for. I just give her the old blank stare.

-- Charlie M. "Woodworking - patience = firewood"

View mot's profile

mot

4901 posts in 915 days


posted 706 days ago

Okay, Charlie. How did you find out that I was doing a crossword? Did Bob say something?

-- You can discover more about a person in an hour of play than in a year of conversation. (Plato)

View CharlieM1958's profile

CharlieM1958

7466 posts in 1097 days


posted 706 days ago

Well, I really didn’t know what you were doing with your other hand, but I figured it had to be something.

-- Charlie M. "Woodworking - patience = firewood"

View Chip's profile

Chip

1058 posts in 971 days


posted 705 days ago

That box is a beaut Tom. Terrific craftsmanship on the joinery. Very, very nice.

-- Better to say nothing and be thought the fool... then to speak and erase all doubt.

View Alin Dobra's profile

Alin Dobra

316 posts in 766 days


posted 701 days ago

Alright Tom,

Very nice box. When should we expect a hand-cut dovetailed box from you?

Alin

-- -- Alin Dobra, Gainesville, Florida

View mot's profile

mot

4901 posts in 915 days


posted 699 days ago

The next one, Alin…the next one.

-- You can discover more about a person in an hour of play than in a year of conversation. (Plato)

View RobG's profile

RobG

71 posts in 700 days


posted 698 days ago

Every wood project is just a box!! It is kind of funny I have done some of my best work in almost exactly the same way. Somebody will come into the shop and say what are you going to do with this? It will be a piece that I forgot that I had. I’ll say this. And bam, there it is. Some times with all the planning and measuring and more planning and measuring it really frees you up to just make something that looks right. Good work.

-- Woodworking is Life. Anything before or after is just waiting.--S. McQueen sort of

View Krisztian's profile

Krisztian

89 posts in 778 days


posted 698 days ago

Nice box Tom!

-- Krisztian VA My website: www.vacarpentry.com

View Dustmite97's profile

Dustmite97

159 posts in 99 days


posted 94 days ago

This is a very nice box. Great job on the box joints by the way.

-- Remember, measure twice, cut once

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