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18K views 20 replies 10 participants last post by  James McIntyre 
#1 ·
Intro (The Body)

I've had several inquiries for plans or more info into the details of my exposed finger joint boxes I've been building of late.
Plans get complex and are often best explained in some detail, hence this project blog.

Lots of pictures and details, hopefully clear and not too boring 8^)

A set of dimensional drawings (4 pfd files) can be downloaded here

It's next to impossible for drawings like these to contain all the details. These boxes have simple structure, but a lot of "what's what" is in the process, so hopefully in the next few parts I'll sort this process out.

It should finish in three parts, the box body (this entry), the base, and the lid.

This is what the final box looks like:
Table Wood Rectangle Varnish Plank


The wood is cherry. A bit light right now, but it'll darken up.

No hard/fast rules, the dimensions are entirely arbitrary and simple to alter without adding too much confusion. Feel free to be free!

Let us begin.

The "box" portion of the box

I like the look of exposed finger joints, they add detail and are simple to cut, but they take more time then simple miters.

Prepping the stock

It all begins with resawing the cherry to 1/2" thick and the four sides being cut to size.
Wood Composite material Plywood Automotive exterior Hardwood


I select where to cut the pieces from to avoid the "cathedral" grain and use care to orient assembly to keep the grain patterns simpatico.

Wood Rectangle Natural material Material property Composite material


Wood Rectangle Wood stain Hardwood Plywood


For this box, I opted for a 45 degree chamfer. Fingers extend out 1/8" past the sides and these chamfers are about 3/32".
The routing is done on all ends and sides at this step, though no need to route the top/bottom edges on the box sides since they get removed later.

Wood Material property Gas Flooring Hardwood

Wood Tints and shades Rectangle Art Hardwood


I find his a great time to sand the end grain as well. It is easier to stack the boards together now and hit the end grain with a ROS then do it later. The chamfers are hit with some strip paper and a small, flat piece of wood as a sanding block.

Ganging up the pieces helps keep the edges crisp:
Wood Finger Nail Collar Thumb


Making the fingers

Divide one of the sides into thirds ( I usually start with a front or back piece ). "Thirds" is arbitrary, but for purposes of discussion….
Ruler Table Rectangle Office ruler Wood


For the finger cuts, I use a tenoning jig. It allows fine tuning the cut position and has provisions for clamping and backer boards to prevent chip-out. You can also do this with a simple stop block on a sled or miter gauge.
Wooden block Rectangle Wood Wood stain Plank


I use my best blade for these cuts to keep the edged crisp. The depth of the cut is the board thickness (1/2") plus the finger protrusion (1/8"). Make the cut so the blade removes material from the inboard side of the line.

Place the board in the tenon jig (or against a stop block), make the cut, rotate the piece, make the cut. This method ensures that the finger is now exactly centered.

Repeat the process for each end of the front/back pieces.

Do the same with the side pieces except set up so the blade removes material from the outboard side of the line, leaving the center finger a tad wide.
I usually make the cuts a bit further out initially then sneak up on the perfect fit.

Here is a front/back (bottom) butting up to the side piece just cut (top). You can see the reason to correctly position the cuts on the proper side of the lines.

Wood Rectangle Door Grey Wood stain


I bandsaw away some of the waste material to get a test fit. Be sure to mark what gets removed! I've messed up before at this step 8^(

Brown Rectangle Wood Wood stain Hardwood


I return the side to the tenon jig with any slight adjustments for the cut dialed in. Once I have the fit I want (gapless), I finish the cuts on all remaining ends of the side pieces.

Of note here is the side pieces should have the center fingers. This allows the lid to hinge back properly without hitting the finger ends.
Rectangle Wood Wood stain Hardwood Plywood


I trim the waste from the sides with a miter gauge just like one would cut tenon shoulders.

Wood Rectangle Flooring Floor Wood stain


I trim the waste on the front/back parts with a flat tooth blade on my sled. This Freud box joint blade set gives perfectly flat/smooth bottomed cuts and excellent shoulder cuts. The 3/8" kerf finishes things up fast.
A backer board is critical here for clean cuts!
Wood Floor Art Wood stain Hardwood


Wood Floor Flooring Wood stain Hardwood


The fingers fit well!
Results of taking time and fine tuning the cuts:

Rectangle Wood Hardwood Wood stain Art


The finger chamfers are finished with a miter gauge set to 45 degrees (front piece shown).

One nice thing about choosing chamfers instead of radiuses edges is I can do all the cuts with a machine. These edges would otherwise need to be done by hand with a rasp.

Wood Ruler Wood stain Hardwood Plywood


The trick here is knowing when to stop pushing 8^)

Pre-finish (optional)
Finish sand all the surfaces (except for the sides, done later) and apply the finish now when it is easy to do.

The finish I'm using is Homer Formby's wiping varnish and requires a final rubbing with #0000 steel wool. This is so much easier to do without the box body being assembled and having the fingers in the way.
I only finish the outside, the interior gets wax.

Art? Is that you???? (or are you really Homer?, hmmmmm….)

Hair Forehead Nose Head Hairstyle

Font Liqueur Circle Advertising Label


Assembly
I use epoxy to simply tack the parts together. 30 minute epoxy gives me plenty of time to apply and get everything set up in the clamps, less stress is nice 8^).
Epoxy is only applied where the fingers contact the bottoms of their corresponding sockets. Glue applied to the sides of the fingers would just get smeared, I want to avoid any squeeze-out.

Wood Household hardware Material property Rectangle Hardwood


Clamps and cauls. I also have a machinists square spring-clamped in place for reference.
Wood Gas Machine Tool Auto part


Once the epoxy has set, the box can be handled.

I now reinforce and lock the joints together with these 1" long copper rivets and epoxy. These are what really hold the box together!

Metal Tool Wood Titanium Cylinder


Note that I filed small notches on the rivets to give the epoxy a good mechanical grip.

Masking tape is applied and marked for the rivet holes. The holes for the 1/8" diameter rivets are bored on my drill press with a #30 bit. This provides perfect clearance for inserting the rivets and getting a film of epoxy on their sides. The holes are about 1/8" deeper then required to provide a place for excess epoxy to collect when installing.

Don't remove the tape after drilling! It protects the surface while placing epoxy into the holes.
Wood Wood stain Hardwood Rectangle Plank


I use a toothpick to place several "globs" of epoxy into each hole, then pull the tape. A rivet is pushed into the hole while rotating it to help cover it with epoxy. Applying epoxy only to the hole lets the rivet be installed without any excess epoxy getting scraped off (and creating a real mess!). If the fit is good, the rivet will spring back up a bit due to trapped air. Clamps or tape hold the rivets down in place until the epoxy sets.

I added a thin (3/16" x 1") ledge to the interior to act as a tray support. Pieces are cut to length for a tight fit and clamped until set.

Wood Bumper Gas Automotive exterior Paint


Care is taken to keep the top edges of these strips aligned.

Final box prep
Last step is to flatten the entire box body on a cheap 20" sander PSA disk applied to a flat 3/4" melamine board.
First 120 grit, then 180.

Rectangle Wood Table Window Hardwood


I just sand in circular motions until the entire surface is even.

I now have a perfectly flat box body!

No finish on the bottom edge which gets glued to the base. The top gets finished after I cut the hinge mortises.

Thanks for following along.

Until next entry!
 

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#2 ·
Intro (The Body)

I've had several inquiries for plans or more info into the details of my exposed finger joint boxes I've been building of late.
Plans get complex and are often best explained in some detail, hence this project blog.

Lots of pictures and details, hopefully clear and not too boring 8^)

A set of dimensional drawings (4 pfd files) can be downloaded here

It's next to impossible for drawings like these to contain all the details. These boxes have simple structure, but a lot of "what's what" is in the process, so hopefully in the next few parts I'll sort this process out.

It should finish in three parts, the box body (this entry), the base, and the lid.

This is what the final box looks like:
Table Wood Rectangle Varnish Plank


The wood is cherry. A bit light right now, but it'll darken up.

No hard/fast rules, the dimensions are entirely arbitrary and simple to alter without adding too much confusion. Feel free to be free!

Let us begin.

The "box" portion of the box

I like the look of exposed finger joints, they add detail and are simple to cut, but they take more time then simple miters.

Prepping the stock

It all begins with resawing the cherry to 1/2" thick and the four sides being cut to size.
Wood Composite material Plywood Automotive exterior Hardwood


I select where to cut the pieces from to avoid the "cathedral" grain and use care to orient assembly to keep the grain patterns simpatico.

Wood Rectangle Natural material Material property Composite material


Wood Rectangle Wood stain Hardwood Plywood


For this box, I opted for a 45 degree chamfer. Fingers extend out 1/8" past the sides and these chamfers are about 3/32".
The routing is done on all ends and sides at this step, though no need to route the top/bottom edges on the box sides since they get removed later.

Wood Material property Gas Flooring Hardwood

Wood Tints and shades Rectangle Art Hardwood


I find his a great time to sand the end grain as well. It is easier to stack the boards together now and hit the end grain with a ROS then do it later. The chamfers are hit with some strip paper and a small, flat piece of wood as a sanding block.

Ganging up the pieces helps keep the edges crisp:
Wood Finger Nail Collar Thumb


Making the fingers

Divide one of the sides into thirds ( I usually start with a front or back piece ). "Thirds" is arbitrary, but for purposes of discussion….
Ruler Table Rectangle Office ruler Wood


For the finger cuts, I use a tenoning jig. It allows fine tuning the cut position and has provisions for clamping and backer boards to prevent chip-out. You can also do this with a simple stop block on a sled or miter gauge.
Wooden block Rectangle Wood Wood stain Plank


I use my best blade for these cuts to keep the edged crisp. The depth of the cut is the board thickness (1/2") plus the finger protrusion (1/8"). Make the cut so the blade removes material from the inboard side of the line.

Place the board in the tenon jig (or against a stop block), make the cut, rotate the piece, make the cut. This method ensures that the finger is now exactly centered.

Repeat the process for each end of the front/back pieces.

Do the same with the side pieces except set up so the blade removes material from the outboard side of the line, leaving the center finger a tad wide.
I usually make the cuts a bit further out initially then sneak up on the perfect fit.

Here is a front/back (bottom) butting up to the side piece just cut (top). You can see the reason to correctly position the cuts on the proper side of the lines.

Wood Rectangle Door Grey Wood stain


I bandsaw away some of the waste material to get a test fit. Be sure to mark what gets removed! I've messed up before at this step 8^(

Brown Rectangle Wood Wood stain Hardwood


I return the side to the tenon jig with any slight adjustments for the cut dialed in. Once I have the fit I want (gapless), I finish the cuts on all remaining ends of the side pieces.

Of note here is the side pieces should have the center fingers. This allows the lid to hinge back properly without hitting the finger ends.
Rectangle Wood Wood stain Hardwood Plywood


I trim the waste from the sides with a miter gauge just like one would cut tenon shoulders.

Wood Rectangle Flooring Floor Wood stain


I trim the waste on the front/back parts with a flat tooth blade on my sled. This Freud box joint blade set gives perfectly flat/smooth bottomed cuts and excellent shoulder cuts. The 3/8" kerf finishes things up fast.
A backer board is critical here for clean cuts!
Wood Floor Art Wood stain Hardwood


Wood Floor Flooring Wood stain Hardwood


The fingers fit well!
Results of taking time and fine tuning the cuts:

Rectangle Wood Hardwood Wood stain Art


The finger chamfers are finished with a miter gauge set to 45 degrees (front piece shown).

One nice thing about choosing chamfers instead of radiuses edges is I can do all the cuts with a machine. These edges would otherwise need to be done by hand with a rasp.

Wood Ruler Wood stain Hardwood Plywood


The trick here is knowing when to stop pushing 8^)

Pre-finish (optional)
Finish sand all the surfaces (except for the sides, done later) and apply the finish now when it is easy to do.

The finish I'm using is Homer Formby's wiping varnish and requires a final rubbing with #0000 steel wool. This is so much easier to do without the box body being assembled and having the fingers in the way.
I only finish the outside, the interior gets wax.

Art? Is that you???? (or are you really Homer?, hmmmmm….)

Hair Forehead Nose Head Hairstyle

Font Liqueur Circle Advertising Label


Assembly
I use epoxy to simply tack the parts together. 30 minute epoxy gives me plenty of time to apply and get everything set up in the clamps, less stress is nice 8^).
Epoxy is only applied where the fingers contact the bottoms of their corresponding sockets. Glue applied to the sides of the fingers would just get smeared, I want to avoid any squeeze-out.

Wood Household hardware Material property Rectangle Hardwood


Clamps and cauls. I also have a machinists square spring-clamped in place for reference.
Wood Gas Machine Tool Auto part


Once the epoxy has set, the box can be handled.

I now reinforce and lock the joints together with these 1" long copper rivets and epoxy. These are what really hold the box together!

Metal Tool Wood Titanium Cylinder


Note that I filed small notches on the rivets to give the epoxy a good mechanical grip.

Masking tape is applied and marked for the rivet holes. The holes for the 1/8" diameter rivets are bored on my drill press with a #30 bit. This provides perfect clearance for inserting the rivets and getting a film of epoxy on their sides. The holes are about 1/8" deeper then required to provide a place for excess epoxy to collect when installing.

Don't remove the tape after drilling! It protects the surface while placing epoxy into the holes.
Wood Wood stain Hardwood Rectangle Plank


I use a toothpick to place several "globs" of epoxy into each hole, then pull the tape. A rivet is pushed into the hole while rotating it to help cover it with epoxy. Applying epoxy only to the hole lets the rivet be installed without any excess epoxy getting scraped off (and creating a real mess!). If the fit is good, the rivet will spring back up a bit due to trapped air. Clamps or tape hold the rivets down in place until the epoxy sets.

I added a thin (3/16" x 1") ledge to the interior to act as a tray support. Pieces are cut to length for a tight fit and clamped until set.

Wood Bumper Gas Automotive exterior Paint


Care is taken to keep the top edges of these strips aligned.

Final box prep
Last step is to flatten the entire box body on a cheap 20" sander PSA disk applied to a flat 3/4" melamine board.
First 120 grit, then 180.

Rectangle Wood Table Window Hardwood


I just sand in circular motions until the entire surface is even.

I now have a perfectly flat box body!

No finish on the bottom edge which gets glued to the base. The top gets finished after I cut the hinge mortises.

Thanks for following along.

Until next entry!
Hey. Splint, you are close. Actually, he was my dad and I learned a ton about woodworking and finishing from him and my grandfather who was a cabinetmaker.

Thanks for the tutorial. I have added this to my list of future projects.

P.S. JK re the family tree. :D
 

Attachments

#3 ·
Intro (The Body)

I've had several inquiries for plans or more info into the details of my exposed finger joint boxes I've been building of late.
Plans get complex and are often best explained in some detail, hence this project blog.

Lots of pictures and details, hopefully clear and not too boring 8^)

A set of dimensional drawings (4 pfd files) can be downloaded here

It's next to impossible for drawings like these to contain all the details. These boxes have simple structure, but a lot of "what's what" is in the process, so hopefully in the next few parts I'll sort this process out.

It should finish in three parts, the box body (this entry), the base, and the lid.

This is what the final box looks like:
Table Wood Rectangle Varnish Plank


The wood is cherry. A bit light right now, but it'll darken up.

No hard/fast rules, the dimensions are entirely arbitrary and simple to alter without adding too much confusion. Feel free to be free!

Let us begin.

The "box" portion of the box

I like the look of exposed finger joints, they add detail and are simple to cut, but they take more time then simple miters.

Prepping the stock

It all begins with resawing the cherry to 1/2" thick and the four sides being cut to size.
Wood Composite material Plywood Automotive exterior Hardwood


I select where to cut the pieces from to avoid the "cathedral" grain and use care to orient assembly to keep the grain patterns simpatico.

Wood Rectangle Natural material Material property Composite material


Wood Rectangle Wood stain Hardwood Plywood


For this box, I opted for a 45 degree chamfer. Fingers extend out 1/8" past the sides and these chamfers are about 3/32".
The routing is done on all ends and sides at this step, though no need to route the top/bottom edges on the box sides since they get removed later.

Wood Material property Gas Flooring Hardwood

Wood Tints and shades Rectangle Art Hardwood


I find his a great time to sand the end grain as well. It is easier to stack the boards together now and hit the end grain with a ROS then do it later. The chamfers are hit with some strip paper and a small, flat piece of wood as a sanding block.

Ganging up the pieces helps keep the edges crisp:
Wood Finger Nail Collar Thumb


Making the fingers

Divide one of the sides into thirds ( I usually start with a front or back piece ). "Thirds" is arbitrary, but for purposes of discussion….
Ruler Table Rectangle Office ruler Wood


For the finger cuts, I use a tenoning jig. It allows fine tuning the cut position and has provisions for clamping and backer boards to prevent chip-out. You can also do this with a simple stop block on a sled or miter gauge.
Wooden block Rectangle Wood Wood stain Plank


I use my best blade for these cuts to keep the edged crisp. The depth of the cut is the board thickness (1/2") plus the finger protrusion (1/8"). Make the cut so the blade removes material from the inboard side of the line.

Place the board in the tenon jig (or against a stop block), make the cut, rotate the piece, make the cut. This method ensures that the finger is now exactly centered.

Repeat the process for each end of the front/back pieces.

Do the same with the side pieces except set up so the blade removes material from the outboard side of the line, leaving the center finger a tad wide.
I usually make the cuts a bit further out initially then sneak up on the perfect fit.

Here is a front/back (bottom) butting up to the side piece just cut (top). You can see the reason to correctly position the cuts on the proper side of the lines.

Wood Rectangle Door Grey Wood stain


I bandsaw away some of the waste material to get a test fit. Be sure to mark what gets removed! I've messed up before at this step 8^(

Brown Rectangle Wood Wood stain Hardwood


I return the side to the tenon jig with any slight adjustments for the cut dialed in. Once I have the fit I want (gapless), I finish the cuts on all remaining ends of the side pieces.

Of note here is the side pieces should have the center fingers. This allows the lid to hinge back properly without hitting the finger ends.
Rectangle Wood Wood stain Hardwood Plywood


I trim the waste from the sides with a miter gauge just like one would cut tenon shoulders.

Wood Rectangle Flooring Floor Wood stain


I trim the waste on the front/back parts with a flat tooth blade on my sled. This Freud box joint blade set gives perfectly flat/smooth bottomed cuts and excellent shoulder cuts. The 3/8" kerf finishes things up fast.
A backer board is critical here for clean cuts!
Wood Floor Art Wood stain Hardwood


Wood Floor Flooring Wood stain Hardwood


The fingers fit well!
Results of taking time and fine tuning the cuts:

Rectangle Wood Hardwood Wood stain Art


The finger chamfers are finished with a miter gauge set to 45 degrees (front piece shown).

One nice thing about choosing chamfers instead of radiuses edges is I can do all the cuts with a machine. These edges would otherwise need to be done by hand with a rasp.

Wood Ruler Wood stain Hardwood Plywood


The trick here is knowing when to stop pushing 8^)

Pre-finish (optional)
Finish sand all the surfaces (except for the sides, done later) and apply the finish now when it is easy to do.

The finish I'm using is Homer Formby's wiping varnish and requires a final rubbing with #0000 steel wool. This is so much easier to do without the box body being assembled and having the fingers in the way.
I only finish the outside, the interior gets wax.

Art? Is that you???? (or are you really Homer?, hmmmmm….)

Hair Forehead Nose Head Hairstyle

Font Liqueur Circle Advertising Label


Assembly
I use epoxy to simply tack the parts together. 30 minute epoxy gives me plenty of time to apply and get everything set up in the clamps, less stress is nice 8^).
Epoxy is only applied where the fingers contact the bottoms of their corresponding sockets. Glue applied to the sides of the fingers would just get smeared, I want to avoid any squeeze-out.

Wood Household hardware Material property Rectangle Hardwood


Clamps and cauls. I also have a machinists square spring-clamped in place for reference.
Wood Gas Machine Tool Auto part


Once the epoxy has set, the box can be handled.

I now reinforce and lock the joints together with these 1" long copper rivets and epoxy. These are what really hold the box together!

Metal Tool Wood Titanium Cylinder


Note that I filed small notches on the rivets to give the epoxy a good mechanical grip.

Masking tape is applied and marked for the rivet holes. The holes for the 1/8" diameter rivets are bored on my drill press with a #30 bit. This provides perfect clearance for inserting the rivets and getting a film of epoxy on their sides. The holes are about 1/8" deeper then required to provide a place for excess epoxy to collect when installing.

Don't remove the tape after drilling! It protects the surface while placing epoxy into the holes.
Wood Wood stain Hardwood Rectangle Plank


I use a toothpick to place several "globs" of epoxy into each hole, then pull the tape. A rivet is pushed into the hole while rotating it to help cover it with epoxy. Applying epoxy only to the hole lets the rivet be installed without any excess epoxy getting scraped off (and creating a real mess!). If the fit is good, the rivet will spring back up a bit due to trapped air. Clamps or tape hold the rivets down in place until the epoxy sets.

I added a thin (3/16" x 1") ledge to the interior to act as a tray support. Pieces are cut to length for a tight fit and clamped until set.

Wood Bumper Gas Automotive exterior Paint


Care is taken to keep the top edges of these strips aligned.

Final box prep
Last step is to flatten the entire box body on a cheap 20" sander PSA disk applied to a flat 3/4" melamine board.
First 120 grit, then 180.

Rectangle Wood Table Window Hardwood


I just sand in circular motions until the entire surface is even.

I now have a perfectly flat box body!

No finish on the bottom edge which gets glued to the base. The top gets finished after I cut the hinge mortises.

Thanks for following along.

Until next entry!
Hah!
 

Attachments

#4 ·
Intro (The Body)

I've had several inquiries for plans or more info into the details of my exposed finger joint boxes I've been building of late.
Plans get complex and are often best explained in some detail, hence this project blog.

Lots of pictures and details, hopefully clear and not too boring 8^)

A set of dimensional drawings (4 pfd files) can be downloaded here

It's next to impossible for drawings like these to contain all the details. These boxes have simple structure, but a lot of "what's what" is in the process, so hopefully in the next few parts I'll sort this process out.

It should finish in three parts, the box body (this entry), the base, and the lid.

This is what the final box looks like:
Table Wood Rectangle Varnish Plank


The wood is cherry. A bit light right now, but it'll darken up.

No hard/fast rules, the dimensions are entirely arbitrary and simple to alter without adding too much confusion. Feel free to be free!

Let us begin.

The "box" portion of the box

I like the look of exposed finger joints, they add detail and are simple to cut, but they take more time then simple miters.

Prepping the stock

It all begins with resawing the cherry to 1/2" thick and the four sides being cut to size.
Wood Composite material Plywood Automotive exterior Hardwood


I select where to cut the pieces from to avoid the "cathedral" grain and use care to orient assembly to keep the grain patterns simpatico.

Wood Rectangle Natural material Material property Composite material


Wood Rectangle Wood stain Hardwood Plywood


For this box, I opted for a 45 degree chamfer. Fingers extend out 1/8" past the sides and these chamfers are about 3/32".
The routing is done on all ends and sides at this step, though no need to route the top/bottom edges on the box sides since they get removed later.

Wood Material property Gas Flooring Hardwood

Wood Tints and shades Rectangle Art Hardwood


I find his a great time to sand the end grain as well. It is easier to stack the boards together now and hit the end grain with a ROS then do it later. The chamfers are hit with some strip paper and a small, flat piece of wood as a sanding block.

Ganging up the pieces helps keep the edges crisp:
Wood Finger Nail Collar Thumb


Making the fingers

Divide one of the sides into thirds ( I usually start with a front or back piece ). "Thirds" is arbitrary, but for purposes of discussion….
Ruler Table Rectangle Office ruler Wood


For the finger cuts, I use a tenoning jig. It allows fine tuning the cut position and has provisions for clamping and backer boards to prevent chip-out. You can also do this with a simple stop block on a sled or miter gauge.
Wooden block Rectangle Wood Wood stain Plank


I use my best blade for these cuts to keep the edged crisp. The depth of the cut is the board thickness (1/2") plus the finger protrusion (1/8"). Make the cut so the blade removes material from the inboard side of the line.

Place the board in the tenon jig (or against a stop block), make the cut, rotate the piece, make the cut. This method ensures that the finger is now exactly centered.

Repeat the process for each end of the front/back pieces.

Do the same with the side pieces except set up so the blade removes material from the outboard side of the line, leaving the center finger a tad wide.
I usually make the cuts a bit further out initially then sneak up on the perfect fit.

Here is a front/back (bottom) butting up to the side piece just cut (top). You can see the reason to correctly position the cuts on the proper side of the lines.

Wood Rectangle Door Grey Wood stain


I bandsaw away some of the waste material to get a test fit. Be sure to mark what gets removed! I've messed up before at this step 8^(

Brown Rectangle Wood Wood stain Hardwood


I return the side to the tenon jig with any slight adjustments for the cut dialed in. Once I have the fit I want (gapless), I finish the cuts on all remaining ends of the side pieces.

Of note here is the side pieces should have the center fingers. This allows the lid to hinge back properly without hitting the finger ends.
Rectangle Wood Wood stain Hardwood Plywood


I trim the waste from the sides with a miter gauge just like one would cut tenon shoulders.

Wood Rectangle Flooring Floor Wood stain


I trim the waste on the front/back parts with a flat tooth blade on my sled. This Freud box joint blade set gives perfectly flat/smooth bottomed cuts and excellent shoulder cuts. The 3/8" kerf finishes things up fast.
A backer board is critical here for clean cuts!
Wood Floor Art Wood stain Hardwood


Wood Floor Flooring Wood stain Hardwood


The fingers fit well!
Results of taking time and fine tuning the cuts:

Rectangle Wood Hardwood Wood stain Art


The finger chamfers are finished with a miter gauge set to 45 degrees (front piece shown).

One nice thing about choosing chamfers instead of radiuses edges is I can do all the cuts with a machine. These edges would otherwise need to be done by hand with a rasp.

Wood Ruler Wood stain Hardwood Plywood


The trick here is knowing when to stop pushing 8^)

Pre-finish (optional)
Finish sand all the surfaces (except for the sides, done later) and apply the finish now when it is easy to do.

The finish I'm using is Homer Formby's wiping varnish and requires a final rubbing with #0000 steel wool. This is so much easier to do without the box body being assembled and having the fingers in the way.
I only finish the outside, the interior gets wax.

Art? Is that you???? (or are you really Homer?, hmmmmm….)

Hair Forehead Nose Head Hairstyle

Font Liqueur Circle Advertising Label


Assembly
I use epoxy to simply tack the parts together. 30 minute epoxy gives me plenty of time to apply and get everything set up in the clamps, less stress is nice 8^).
Epoxy is only applied where the fingers contact the bottoms of their corresponding sockets. Glue applied to the sides of the fingers would just get smeared, I want to avoid any squeeze-out.

Wood Household hardware Material property Rectangle Hardwood


Clamps and cauls. I also have a machinists square spring-clamped in place for reference.
Wood Gas Machine Tool Auto part


Once the epoxy has set, the box can be handled.

I now reinforce and lock the joints together with these 1" long copper rivets and epoxy. These are what really hold the box together!

Metal Tool Wood Titanium Cylinder


Note that I filed small notches on the rivets to give the epoxy a good mechanical grip.

Masking tape is applied and marked for the rivet holes. The holes for the 1/8" diameter rivets are bored on my drill press with a #30 bit. This provides perfect clearance for inserting the rivets and getting a film of epoxy on their sides. The holes are about 1/8" deeper then required to provide a place for excess epoxy to collect when installing.

Don't remove the tape after drilling! It protects the surface while placing epoxy into the holes.
Wood Wood stain Hardwood Rectangle Plank


I use a toothpick to place several "globs" of epoxy into each hole, then pull the tape. A rivet is pushed into the hole while rotating it to help cover it with epoxy. Applying epoxy only to the hole lets the rivet be installed without any excess epoxy getting scraped off (and creating a real mess!). If the fit is good, the rivet will spring back up a bit due to trapped air. Clamps or tape hold the rivets down in place until the epoxy sets.

I added a thin (3/16" x 1") ledge to the interior to act as a tray support. Pieces are cut to length for a tight fit and clamped until set.

Wood Bumper Gas Automotive exterior Paint


Care is taken to keep the top edges of these strips aligned.

Final box prep
Last step is to flatten the entire box body on a cheap 20" sander PSA disk applied to a flat 3/4" melamine board.
First 120 grit, then 180.

Rectangle Wood Table Window Hardwood


I just sand in circular motions until the entire surface is even.

I now have a perfectly flat box body!

No finish on the bottom edge which gets glued to the base. The top gets finished after I cut the hinge mortises.

Thanks for following along.

Until next entry!
Nice blog Splint. Thnx for the link as well. Very nice box
 

Attachments

#5 ·
Intro (The Body)

I've had several inquiries for plans or more info into the details of my exposed finger joint boxes I've been building of late.
Plans get complex and are often best explained in some detail, hence this project blog.

Lots of pictures and details, hopefully clear and not too boring 8^)

A set of dimensional drawings (4 pfd files) can be downloaded here

It's next to impossible for drawings like these to contain all the details. These boxes have simple structure, but a lot of "what's what" is in the process, so hopefully in the next few parts I'll sort this process out.

It should finish in three parts, the box body (this entry), the base, and the lid.

This is what the final box looks like:
Table Wood Rectangle Varnish Plank


The wood is cherry. A bit light right now, but it'll darken up.

No hard/fast rules, the dimensions are entirely arbitrary and simple to alter without adding too much confusion. Feel free to be free!

Let us begin.

The "box" portion of the box

I like the look of exposed finger joints, they add detail and are simple to cut, but they take more time then simple miters.

Prepping the stock

It all begins with resawing the cherry to 1/2" thick and the four sides being cut to size.
Wood Composite material Plywood Automotive exterior Hardwood


I select where to cut the pieces from to avoid the "cathedral" grain and use care to orient assembly to keep the grain patterns simpatico.

Wood Rectangle Natural material Material property Composite material


Wood Rectangle Wood stain Hardwood Plywood


For this box, I opted for a 45 degree chamfer. Fingers extend out 1/8" past the sides and these chamfers are about 3/32".
The routing is done on all ends and sides at this step, though no need to route the top/bottom edges on the box sides since they get removed later.

Wood Material property Gas Flooring Hardwood

Wood Tints and shades Rectangle Art Hardwood


I find his a great time to sand the end grain as well. It is easier to stack the boards together now and hit the end grain with a ROS then do it later. The chamfers are hit with some strip paper and a small, flat piece of wood as a sanding block.

Ganging up the pieces helps keep the edges crisp:
Wood Finger Nail Collar Thumb


Making the fingers

Divide one of the sides into thirds ( I usually start with a front or back piece ). "Thirds" is arbitrary, but for purposes of discussion….
Ruler Table Rectangle Office ruler Wood


For the finger cuts, I use a tenoning jig. It allows fine tuning the cut position and has provisions for clamping and backer boards to prevent chip-out. You can also do this with a simple stop block on a sled or miter gauge.
Wooden block Rectangle Wood Wood stain Plank


I use my best blade for these cuts to keep the edged crisp. The depth of the cut is the board thickness (1/2") plus the finger protrusion (1/8"). Make the cut so the blade removes material from the inboard side of the line.

Place the board in the tenon jig (or against a stop block), make the cut, rotate the piece, make the cut. This method ensures that the finger is now exactly centered.

Repeat the process for each end of the front/back pieces.

Do the same with the side pieces except set up so the blade removes material from the outboard side of the line, leaving the center finger a tad wide.
I usually make the cuts a bit further out initially then sneak up on the perfect fit.

Here is a front/back (bottom) butting up to the side piece just cut (top). You can see the reason to correctly position the cuts on the proper side of the lines.

Wood Rectangle Door Grey Wood stain


I bandsaw away some of the waste material to get a test fit. Be sure to mark what gets removed! I've messed up before at this step 8^(

Brown Rectangle Wood Wood stain Hardwood


I return the side to the tenon jig with any slight adjustments for the cut dialed in. Once I have the fit I want (gapless), I finish the cuts on all remaining ends of the side pieces.

Of note here is the side pieces should have the center fingers. This allows the lid to hinge back properly without hitting the finger ends.
Rectangle Wood Wood stain Hardwood Plywood


I trim the waste from the sides with a miter gauge just like one would cut tenon shoulders.

Wood Rectangle Flooring Floor Wood stain


I trim the waste on the front/back parts with a flat tooth blade on my sled. This Freud box joint blade set gives perfectly flat/smooth bottomed cuts and excellent shoulder cuts. The 3/8" kerf finishes things up fast.
A backer board is critical here for clean cuts!
Wood Floor Art Wood stain Hardwood


Wood Floor Flooring Wood stain Hardwood


The fingers fit well!
Results of taking time and fine tuning the cuts:

Rectangle Wood Hardwood Wood stain Art


The finger chamfers are finished with a miter gauge set to 45 degrees (front piece shown).

One nice thing about choosing chamfers instead of radiuses edges is I can do all the cuts with a machine. These edges would otherwise need to be done by hand with a rasp.

Wood Ruler Wood stain Hardwood Plywood


The trick here is knowing when to stop pushing 8^)

Pre-finish (optional)
Finish sand all the surfaces (except for the sides, done later) and apply the finish now when it is easy to do.

The finish I'm using is Homer Formby's wiping varnish and requires a final rubbing with #0000 steel wool. This is so much easier to do without the box body being assembled and having the fingers in the way.
I only finish the outside, the interior gets wax.

Art? Is that you???? (or are you really Homer?, hmmmmm….)

Hair Forehead Nose Head Hairstyle

Font Liqueur Circle Advertising Label


Assembly
I use epoxy to simply tack the parts together. 30 minute epoxy gives me plenty of time to apply and get everything set up in the clamps, less stress is nice 8^).
Epoxy is only applied where the fingers contact the bottoms of their corresponding sockets. Glue applied to the sides of the fingers would just get smeared, I want to avoid any squeeze-out.

Wood Household hardware Material property Rectangle Hardwood


Clamps and cauls. I also have a machinists square spring-clamped in place for reference.
Wood Gas Machine Tool Auto part


Once the epoxy has set, the box can be handled.

I now reinforce and lock the joints together with these 1" long copper rivets and epoxy. These are what really hold the box together!

Metal Tool Wood Titanium Cylinder


Note that I filed small notches on the rivets to give the epoxy a good mechanical grip.

Masking tape is applied and marked for the rivet holes. The holes for the 1/8" diameter rivets are bored on my drill press with a #30 bit. This provides perfect clearance for inserting the rivets and getting a film of epoxy on their sides. The holes are about 1/8" deeper then required to provide a place for excess epoxy to collect when installing.

Don't remove the tape after drilling! It protects the surface while placing epoxy into the holes.
Wood Wood stain Hardwood Rectangle Plank


I use a toothpick to place several "globs" of epoxy into each hole, then pull the tape. A rivet is pushed into the hole while rotating it to help cover it with epoxy. Applying epoxy only to the hole lets the rivet be installed without any excess epoxy getting scraped off (and creating a real mess!). If the fit is good, the rivet will spring back up a bit due to trapped air. Clamps or tape hold the rivets down in place until the epoxy sets.

I added a thin (3/16" x 1") ledge to the interior to act as a tray support. Pieces are cut to length for a tight fit and clamped until set.

Wood Bumper Gas Automotive exterior Paint


Care is taken to keep the top edges of these strips aligned.

Final box prep
Last step is to flatten the entire box body on a cheap 20" sander PSA disk applied to a flat 3/4" melamine board.
First 120 grit, then 180.

Rectangle Wood Table Window Hardwood


I just sand in circular motions until the entire surface is even.

I now have a perfectly flat box body!

No finish on the bottom edge which gets glued to the base. The top gets finished after I cut the hinge mortises.

Thanks for following along.

Until next entry!
Ha! I actually remember when Mr. Formby starred in his own commercials…

Awesome box, BTW!
 

Attachments

#6 ·
Intro (The Body)

I've had several inquiries for plans or more info into the details of my exposed finger joint boxes I've been building of late.
Plans get complex and are often best explained in some detail, hence this project blog.

Lots of pictures and details, hopefully clear and not too boring 8^)

A set of dimensional drawings (4 pfd files) can be downloaded here

It's next to impossible for drawings like these to contain all the details. These boxes have simple structure, but a lot of "what's what" is in the process, so hopefully in the next few parts I'll sort this process out.

It should finish in three parts, the box body (this entry), the base, and the lid.

This is what the final box looks like:
Table Wood Rectangle Varnish Plank


The wood is cherry. A bit light right now, but it'll darken up.

No hard/fast rules, the dimensions are entirely arbitrary and simple to alter without adding too much confusion. Feel free to be free!

Let us begin.

The "box" portion of the box

I like the look of exposed finger joints, they add detail and are simple to cut, but they take more time then simple miters.

Prepping the stock

It all begins with resawing the cherry to 1/2" thick and the four sides being cut to size.
Wood Composite material Plywood Automotive exterior Hardwood


I select where to cut the pieces from to avoid the "cathedral" grain and use care to orient assembly to keep the grain patterns simpatico.

Wood Rectangle Natural material Material property Composite material


Wood Rectangle Wood stain Hardwood Plywood


For this box, I opted for a 45 degree chamfer. Fingers extend out 1/8" past the sides and these chamfers are about 3/32".
The routing is done on all ends and sides at this step, though no need to route the top/bottom edges on the box sides since they get removed later.

Wood Material property Gas Flooring Hardwood

Wood Tints and shades Rectangle Art Hardwood


I find his a great time to sand the end grain as well. It is easier to stack the boards together now and hit the end grain with a ROS then do it later. The chamfers are hit with some strip paper and a small, flat piece of wood as a sanding block.

Ganging up the pieces helps keep the edges crisp:
Wood Finger Nail Collar Thumb


Making the fingers

Divide one of the sides into thirds ( I usually start with a front or back piece ). "Thirds" is arbitrary, but for purposes of discussion….
Ruler Table Rectangle Office ruler Wood


For the finger cuts, I use a tenoning jig. It allows fine tuning the cut position and has provisions for clamping and backer boards to prevent chip-out. You can also do this with a simple stop block on a sled or miter gauge.
Wooden block Rectangle Wood Wood stain Plank


I use my best blade for these cuts to keep the edged crisp. The depth of the cut is the board thickness (1/2") plus the finger protrusion (1/8"). Make the cut so the blade removes material from the inboard side of the line.

Place the board in the tenon jig (or against a stop block), make the cut, rotate the piece, make the cut. This method ensures that the finger is now exactly centered.

Repeat the process for each end of the front/back pieces.

Do the same with the side pieces except set up so the blade removes material from the outboard side of the line, leaving the center finger a tad wide.
I usually make the cuts a bit further out initially then sneak up on the perfect fit.

Here is a front/back (bottom) butting up to the side piece just cut (top). You can see the reason to correctly position the cuts on the proper side of the lines.

Wood Rectangle Door Grey Wood stain


I bandsaw away some of the waste material to get a test fit. Be sure to mark what gets removed! I've messed up before at this step 8^(

Brown Rectangle Wood Wood stain Hardwood


I return the side to the tenon jig with any slight adjustments for the cut dialed in. Once I have the fit I want (gapless), I finish the cuts on all remaining ends of the side pieces.

Of note here is the side pieces should have the center fingers. This allows the lid to hinge back properly without hitting the finger ends.
Rectangle Wood Wood stain Hardwood Plywood


I trim the waste from the sides with a miter gauge just like one would cut tenon shoulders.

Wood Rectangle Flooring Floor Wood stain


I trim the waste on the front/back parts with a flat tooth blade on my sled. This Freud box joint blade set gives perfectly flat/smooth bottomed cuts and excellent shoulder cuts. The 3/8" kerf finishes things up fast.
A backer board is critical here for clean cuts!
Wood Floor Art Wood stain Hardwood


Wood Floor Flooring Wood stain Hardwood


The fingers fit well!
Results of taking time and fine tuning the cuts:

Rectangle Wood Hardwood Wood stain Art


The finger chamfers are finished with a miter gauge set to 45 degrees (front piece shown).

One nice thing about choosing chamfers instead of radiuses edges is I can do all the cuts with a machine. These edges would otherwise need to be done by hand with a rasp.

Wood Ruler Wood stain Hardwood Plywood


The trick here is knowing when to stop pushing 8^)

Pre-finish (optional)
Finish sand all the surfaces (except for the sides, done later) and apply the finish now when it is easy to do.

The finish I'm using is Homer Formby's wiping varnish and requires a final rubbing with #0000 steel wool. This is so much easier to do without the box body being assembled and having the fingers in the way.
I only finish the outside, the interior gets wax.

Art? Is that you???? (or are you really Homer?, hmmmmm….)

Hair Forehead Nose Head Hairstyle

Font Liqueur Circle Advertising Label


Assembly
I use epoxy to simply tack the parts together. 30 minute epoxy gives me plenty of time to apply and get everything set up in the clamps, less stress is nice 8^).
Epoxy is only applied where the fingers contact the bottoms of their corresponding sockets. Glue applied to the sides of the fingers would just get smeared, I want to avoid any squeeze-out.

Wood Household hardware Material property Rectangle Hardwood


Clamps and cauls. I also have a machinists square spring-clamped in place for reference.
Wood Gas Machine Tool Auto part


Once the epoxy has set, the box can be handled.

I now reinforce and lock the joints together with these 1" long copper rivets and epoxy. These are what really hold the box together!

Metal Tool Wood Titanium Cylinder


Note that I filed small notches on the rivets to give the epoxy a good mechanical grip.

Masking tape is applied and marked for the rivet holes. The holes for the 1/8" diameter rivets are bored on my drill press with a #30 bit. This provides perfect clearance for inserting the rivets and getting a film of epoxy on their sides. The holes are about 1/8" deeper then required to provide a place for excess epoxy to collect when installing.

Don't remove the tape after drilling! It protects the surface while placing epoxy into the holes.
Wood Wood stain Hardwood Rectangle Plank


I use a toothpick to place several "globs" of epoxy into each hole, then pull the tape. A rivet is pushed into the hole while rotating it to help cover it with epoxy. Applying epoxy only to the hole lets the rivet be installed without any excess epoxy getting scraped off (and creating a real mess!). If the fit is good, the rivet will spring back up a bit due to trapped air. Clamps or tape hold the rivets down in place until the epoxy sets.

I added a thin (3/16" x 1") ledge to the interior to act as a tray support. Pieces are cut to length for a tight fit and clamped until set.

Wood Bumper Gas Automotive exterior Paint


Care is taken to keep the top edges of these strips aligned.

Final box prep
Last step is to flatten the entire box body on a cheap 20" sander PSA disk applied to a flat 3/4" melamine board.
First 120 grit, then 180.

Rectangle Wood Table Window Hardwood


I just sand in circular motions until the entire surface is even.

I now have a perfectly flat box body!

No finish on the bottom edge which gets glued to the base. The top gets finished after I cut the hinge mortises.

Thanks for following along.

Until next entry!
Thanks for sharing, I might have to try one of these.
 

Attachments

#7 ·
Intro (The Body)

I've had several inquiries for plans or more info into the details of my exposed finger joint boxes I've been building of late.
Plans get complex and are often best explained in some detail, hence this project blog.

Lots of pictures and details, hopefully clear and not too boring 8^)

A set of dimensional drawings (4 pfd files) can be downloaded here

It's next to impossible for drawings like these to contain all the details. These boxes have simple structure, but a lot of "what's what" is in the process, so hopefully in the next few parts I'll sort this process out.

It should finish in three parts, the box body (this entry), the base, and the lid.

This is what the final box looks like:


The wood is cherry. A bit light right now, but it'll darken up.

No hard/fast rules, the dimensions are entirely arbitrary and simple to alter without adding too much confusion. Feel free to be free!

Let us begin.

The "box" portion of the box

I like the look of exposed finger joints, they add detail and are simple to cut, but they take more time then simple miters.

Prepping the stock

It all begins with resawing the cherry to 1/2" thick and the four sides being cut to size.


I select where to cut the pieces from to avoid the "cathedral" grain and use care to orient assembly to keep the grain patterns simpatico.





For this box, I opted for a 45 degree chamfer. Fingers extend out 1/8" past the sides and these chamfers are about 3/32".
The routing is done on all ends and sides at this step, though no need to route the top/bottom edges on the box sides since they get removed later.




I find his a great time to sand the end grain as well. It is easier to stack the boards together now and hit the end grain with a ROS then do it later. The chamfers are hit with some strip paper and a small, flat piece of wood as a sanding block.

Ganging up the pieces helps keep the edges crisp:


Making the fingers

Divide one of the sides into thirds ( I usually start with a front or back piece ). "Thirds" is arbitrary, but for purposes of discussion….


For the finger cuts, I use a tenoning jig. It allows fine tuning the cut position and has provisions for clamping and backer boards to prevent chip-out. You can also do this with a simple stop block on a sled or miter gauge.


I use my best blade for these cuts to keep the edged crisp. The depth of the cut is the board thickness (1/2") plus the finger protrusion (1/8"). Make the cut so the blade removes material from the inboard side of the line.

Place the board in the tenon jig (or against a stop block), make the cut, rotate the piece, make the cut. This method ensures that the finger is now exactly centered.

Repeat the process for each end of the front/back pieces.

Do the same with the side pieces except set up so the blade removes material from the outboard side of the line, leaving the center finger a tad wide.
I usually make the cuts a bit further out initially then sneak up on the perfect fit.

Here is a front/back (bottom) butting up to the side piece just cut (top). You can see the reason to correctly position the cuts on the proper side of the lines.



I bandsaw away some of the waste material to get a test fit. Be sure to mark what gets removed! I've messed up before at this step 8^(



I return the side to the tenon jig with any slight adjustments for the cut dialed in. Once I have the fit I want (gapless), I finish the cuts on all remaining ends of the side pieces.

Of note here is the side pieces should have the center fingers. This allows the lid to hinge back properly without hitting the finger ends.


I trim the waste from the sides with a miter gauge just like one would cut tenon shoulders.



I trim the waste on the front/back parts with a flat tooth blade on my sled. This Freud box joint blade set gives perfectly flat/smooth bottomed cuts and excellent shoulder cuts. The 3/8" kerf finishes things up fast.
A backer board is critical here for clean cuts!




The fingers fit well!
Results of taking time and fine tuning the cuts:



The finger chamfers are finished with a miter gauge set to 45 degrees (front piece shown).

One nice thing about choosing chamfers instead of radiuses edges is I can do all the cuts with a machine. These edges would otherwise need to be done by hand with a rasp.



The trick here is knowing when to stop pushing 8^)

Pre-finish (optional)
Finish sand all the surfaces (except for the sides, done later) and apply the finish now when it is easy to do.

The finish I'm using is Homer Formby's wiping varnish and requires a final rubbing with #0000 steel wool. This is so much easier to do without the box body being assembled and having the fingers in the way.
I only finish the outside, the interior gets wax.

Art? Is that you???? (or are you really Homer?, hmmmmm….)




Assembly
I use epoxy to simply tack the parts together. 30 minute epoxy gives me plenty of time to apply and get everything set up in the clamps, less stress is nice 8^).
Epoxy is only applied where the fingers contact the bottoms of their corresponding sockets. Glue applied to the sides of the fingers would just get smeared, I want to avoid any squeeze-out.



Clamps and cauls. I also have a machinists square spring-clamped in place for reference.


Once the epoxy has set, the box can be handled.

I now reinforce and lock the joints together with these 1" long copper rivets and epoxy. These are what really hold the box together!



Note that I filed small notches on the rivets to give the epoxy a good mechanical grip.

Masking tape is applied and marked for the rivet holes. The holes for the 1/8" diameter rivets are bored on my drill press with a #30 bit. This provides perfect clearance for inserting the rivets and getting a film of epoxy on their sides. The holes are about 1/8" deeper then required to provide a place for excess epoxy to collect when installing.

Don't remove the tape after drilling! It protects the surface while placing epoxy into the holes.


I use a toothpick to place several "globs" of epoxy into each hole, then pull the tape. A rivet is pushed into the hole while rotating it to help cover it with epoxy. Applying epoxy only to the hole lets the rivet be installed without any excess epoxy getting scraped off (and creating a real mess!). If the fit is good, the rivet will spring back up a bit due to trapped air. Clamps or tape hold the rivets down in place until the epoxy sets.

I added a thin (3/16" x 1") ledge to the interior to act as a tray support. Pieces are cut to length for a tight fit and clamped until set.



Care is taken to keep the top edges of these strips aligned.

Final box prep
Last step is to flatten the entire box body on a cheap 20" sander PSA disk applied to a flat 3/4" melamine board.
First 120 grit, then 180.



I just sand in circular motions until the entire surface is even.

I now have a perfectly flat box body!

No finish on the bottom edge which gets glued to the base. The top gets finished after I cut the hinge mortises.

Thanks for following along.

Until next entry!
Splinter, this is one of the most detailed, informative and well photographed blogs I ever read.
And yes Art does look like Hormer Formby. Ha Ha Ha! I learned a lot in a short period of time that I can apply to other projects as well.
Thanks for posting. Now I must head back to the laundry room..
 

Attachments

#8 ·
Intro (The Body)

I've had several inquiries for plans or more info into the details of my exposed finger joint boxes I've been building of late.
Plans get complex and are often best explained in some detail, hence this project blog.

Lots of pictures and details, hopefully clear and not too boring 8^)

A set of dimensional drawings (4 pfd files) can be downloaded here

It's next to impossible for drawings like these to contain all the details. These boxes have simple structure, but a lot of "what's what" is in the process, so hopefully in the next few parts I'll sort this process out.

It should finish in three parts, the box body (this entry), the base, and the lid.

This is what the final box looks like:
Table Wood Rectangle Varnish Plank


The wood is cherry. A bit light right now, but it'll darken up.

No hard/fast rules, the dimensions are entirely arbitrary and simple to alter without adding too much confusion. Feel free to be free!

Let us begin.

The "box" portion of the box

I like the look of exposed finger joints, they add detail and are simple to cut, but they take more time then simple miters.

Prepping the stock

It all begins with resawing the cherry to 1/2" thick and the four sides being cut to size.
Wood Composite material Plywood Automotive exterior Hardwood


I select where to cut the pieces from to avoid the "cathedral" grain and use care to orient assembly to keep the grain patterns simpatico.

Wood Rectangle Natural material Material property Composite material


Wood Rectangle Wood stain Hardwood Plywood


For this box, I opted for a 45 degree chamfer. Fingers extend out 1/8" past the sides and these chamfers are about 3/32".
The routing is done on all ends and sides at this step, though no need to route the top/bottom edges on the box sides since they get removed later.

Wood Material property Gas Flooring Hardwood

Wood Tints and shades Rectangle Art Hardwood


I find his a great time to sand the end grain as well. It is easier to stack the boards together now and hit the end grain with a ROS then do it later. The chamfers are hit with some strip paper and a small, flat piece of wood as a sanding block.

Ganging up the pieces helps keep the edges crisp:
Wood Finger Nail Collar Thumb


Making the fingers

Divide one of the sides into thirds ( I usually start with a front or back piece ). "Thirds" is arbitrary, but for purposes of discussion….
Ruler Table Rectangle Office ruler Wood


For the finger cuts, I use a tenoning jig. It allows fine tuning the cut position and has provisions for clamping and backer boards to prevent chip-out. You can also do this with a simple stop block on a sled or miter gauge.
Wooden block Rectangle Wood Wood stain Plank


I use my best blade for these cuts to keep the edged crisp. The depth of the cut is the board thickness (1/2") plus the finger protrusion (1/8"). Make the cut so the blade removes material from the inboard side of the line.

Place the board in the tenon jig (or against a stop block), make the cut, rotate the piece, make the cut. This method ensures that the finger is now exactly centered.

Repeat the process for each end of the front/back pieces.

Do the same with the side pieces except set up so the blade removes material from the outboard side of the line, leaving the center finger a tad wide.
I usually make the cuts a bit further out initially then sneak up on the perfect fit.

Here is a front/back (bottom) butting up to the side piece just cut (top). You can see the reason to correctly position the cuts on the proper side of the lines.

Wood Rectangle Door Grey Wood stain


I bandsaw away some of the waste material to get a test fit. Be sure to mark what gets removed! I've messed up before at this step 8^(

Brown Rectangle Wood Wood stain Hardwood


I return the side to the tenon jig with any slight adjustments for the cut dialed in. Once I have the fit I want (gapless), I finish the cuts on all remaining ends of the side pieces.

Of note here is the side pieces should have the center fingers. This allows the lid to hinge back properly without hitting the finger ends.
Rectangle Wood Wood stain Hardwood Plywood


I trim the waste from the sides with a miter gauge just like one would cut tenon shoulders.

Wood Rectangle Flooring Floor Wood stain


I trim the waste on the front/back parts with a flat tooth blade on my sled. This Freud box joint blade set gives perfectly flat/smooth bottomed cuts and excellent shoulder cuts. The 3/8" kerf finishes things up fast.
A backer board is critical here for clean cuts!
Wood Floor Art Wood stain Hardwood


Wood Floor Flooring Wood stain Hardwood


The fingers fit well!
Results of taking time and fine tuning the cuts:

Rectangle Wood Hardwood Wood stain Art


The finger chamfers are finished with a miter gauge set to 45 degrees (front piece shown).

One nice thing about choosing chamfers instead of radiuses edges is I can do all the cuts with a machine. These edges would otherwise need to be done by hand with a rasp.

Wood Ruler Wood stain Hardwood Plywood


The trick here is knowing when to stop pushing 8^)

Pre-finish (optional)
Finish sand all the surfaces (except for the sides, done later) and apply the finish now when it is easy to do.

The finish I'm using is Homer Formby's wiping varnish and requires a final rubbing with #0000 steel wool. This is so much easier to do without the box body being assembled and having the fingers in the way.
I only finish the outside, the interior gets wax.

Art? Is that you???? (or are you really Homer?, hmmmmm….)

Hair Forehead Nose Head Hairstyle

Font Liqueur Circle Advertising Label


Assembly
I use epoxy to simply tack the parts together. 30 minute epoxy gives me plenty of time to apply and get everything set up in the clamps, less stress is nice 8^).
Epoxy is only applied where the fingers contact the bottoms of their corresponding sockets. Glue applied to the sides of the fingers would just get smeared, I want to avoid any squeeze-out.

Wood Household hardware Material property Rectangle Hardwood


Clamps and cauls. I also have a machinists square spring-clamped in place for reference.
Wood Gas Machine Tool Auto part


Once the epoxy has set, the box can be handled.

I now reinforce and lock the joints together with these 1" long copper rivets and epoxy. These are what really hold the box together!

Metal Tool Wood Titanium Cylinder


Note that I filed small notches on the rivets to give the epoxy a good mechanical grip.

Masking tape is applied and marked for the rivet holes. The holes for the 1/8" diameter rivets are bored on my drill press with a #30 bit. This provides perfect clearance for inserting the rivets and getting a film of epoxy on their sides. The holes are about 1/8" deeper then required to provide a place for excess epoxy to collect when installing.

Don't remove the tape after drilling! It protects the surface while placing epoxy into the holes.
Wood Wood stain Hardwood Rectangle Plank


I use a toothpick to place several "globs" of epoxy into each hole, then pull the tape. A rivet is pushed into the hole while rotating it to help cover it with epoxy. Applying epoxy only to the hole lets the rivet be installed without any excess epoxy getting scraped off (and creating a real mess!). If the fit is good, the rivet will spring back up a bit due to trapped air. Clamps or tape hold the rivets down in place until the epoxy sets.

I added a thin (3/16" x 1") ledge to the interior to act as a tray support. Pieces are cut to length for a tight fit and clamped until set.

Wood Bumper Gas Automotive exterior Paint


Care is taken to keep the top edges of these strips aligned.

Final box prep
Last step is to flatten the entire box body on a cheap 20" sander PSA disk applied to a flat 3/4" melamine board.
First 120 grit, then 180.

Rectangle Wood Table Window Hardwood


I just sand in circular motions until the entire surface is even.

I now have a perfectly flat box body!

No finish on the bottom edge which gets glued to the base. The top gets finished after I cut the hinge mortises.

Thanks for following along.

Until next entry!
Your drawings are so detailed. What software did you use? What type of band saw fence do you use? I haven't seen it before.
Now back to the laundry room.

- James E McIntyre
[/QUOTE]
 

Attachments

#9 ·
The base

The base of this box is where anyone can "go wild" with design options. The basics are simple, a frame with lap joints, filled with a plywood panel. The feet are simple squares.

A pdf file with dimensions for the base can be found here

The design allows for the base to have 1/2" of exposure along its perimeter with the box, basically it aligns flush with the boxes inside dimensions.
A felt covered plywood piece fits into a routed shelf to seal off the box bottom.
Table Rectangle Wood Blackboard Electronic device


The box walls cover the seam between the plywood and base frame, hiding any missteps with the routing and securing the felt to the plywood.

Furniture Table Wood Rectangle Wooden block


Build a frame

It all begins with some 1/2" thick x 1" wide material cut to the proper lengths. I use a stop block setup to ensure all corresponding parts are the same.

Wood Hardwood Rectangle Wood stain Composite material


At this point I go ahead and sand the edges (220 grit). Easier now then later!

Triangle Rectangle Tints and shades Silver Wood


The ends of this frame overhang by 1/4". This means the half lap joint needs to be offset from the end of the "sticks" by 1/4"

I set my trusty box joint blade set 1/4" from the fence to make the first cut. The blade height is set to 1/2 the thickness of the stock (1/4").
Ruler Office ruler Rectangle Measuring instrument Composite material


A good backer keeps any chip out from happening.

Wood Floor Door Wood stain Flooring


There are many tricks to accomplish the depth setting. My favorite is to set the blade height just shy of the half way mark, make a cut, flip the stock, make another cut. The blade height is bumped up slightly and the two cuts are made again. Repeat until the second cut removes the thin wood left by the first cut.

I have a secret weapon to make this "perfect". The top and bottom of this frame needs to be flush, time spent on these half laps makes flattening in the easier in the end.

All pieces of the frame are passed over the blade to make the first cuts.

I use a scrap to check these setups. For the opposite side of the half lap, I make a pencil mark based on the width of the frame stock. This mark then is used to align the blade for the next cuts. I always cut slightly shy of the line and "sneak up" on the final position. The table saw fence is being used as my stop block reference.

Wood Plank Hardwood Wood stain Varnish


Wood Rectangle Hardwood Wood stain Plank


"Dial" in the slot width
I clean out the material between the two cuts on my scrap with passes over the blade. This makes room for calipers to measure the width of the slot I have just created.

I compare the measured width to the actual width of my frame parts
Gauge Measuring instrument Wall Font Wood


Calipers Gauge Wood Measuring instrument Font


1.001" - 0.962" = 0.039"

This is how far I need to widen the slot, basically I need to move the fence 0.039" away from the blade.

This is where my dial gauge and magnetic base come in handy. Dial gauges used to be pricey, but now they are quite inexpensive. A worthy addition to anyones tool collection!

Set the dial indicator against the fence, zero out the indicator, then "bump" the fence away until the indicator shows the correct value.
Gauge Gas Wood Auto part Measuring instrument


I moved the fence 0.04". The dial is rotating CCW here so I had to go to the "60" mark. The extra 0.001" gives me some clearence for a slip fit between the parts. Actually this is wood working so the extra clearance allowed will vary depending on the wood, etc. I just happened to hit on the right numbers the first try 8^)

The scrap is cut again with this new blade position set and tested against a frame piece. The fit is good so I cut the remaining parts and clean out between the two cuts.

This is the resulting fit:

Product Rectangle Wood Material property Hardwood


Nice and tight!

Chamfer and assemble

My secret to flattening is to fit the frame together and run it through my drum sander (cheating, I know 8^).

To remove the linear scratches let by the drum sander, I rub it around on my 120 grit disc mounted on a piece of melamine.
Rectangle Dishware Material property Tints and shades Serveware


Now is when I take the frame pieces to the router table and chamfer the ends (just like on the box body).
The pieces are reassembled, this time with a spot of glue at each joint (not too much! don't want any squeeze out).

After drying, I sand the surface as before on a 180 grit disc. The end grain is also squared up.

Wood Rectangle Road surface Flooring Asphalt


A further sanding with a 320 grit strip gives the end grain a polish.
Wood Tool Gas Composite material Flooring


Route the plywood base rabbet
A rabbet is needed to hold the base panel, The depth needs to be equal to the thickness of the plywood plus compressed felt.

I've done this different ways to achieve the same results. I started by doing stopped rabbets on each piece using a straight bit and the router table fence. This works, but is a bit of effort to get the start/stop points set accurately and handling the narrow pieces is difficult. By making a template I can get accurate and easy results with my router table or even a hand held trim router. This template method is my favorite so far.

I place a scrap on felt on my sanded plywood and compress it with the calipers.
Watch Gauge Wood Clock Hand tool


Almost 1/4" (0.0240").

-Make the template-

My router mortising bit cuts the same diameter as the bearing (some have a cutter larger then the bearing).

I need to make the template have a square "hole". This is easily done with some hardboard strips.
Wood Flooring Rectangle Office equipment Electronic device


I use two layers to get a proper surface for the bits bearing. These layers are interleaved. The layer on the left in the above photo has the long edges running the full length (the blue painters tape is spanning the seams, holding the strips together). The layer on the right has the short edges running the full length. These two layers are then joined with double sided tape into a stack. The overlap at the corners locks the square into place.

The new template is joined with the base frame using the same double sided tape.
Rectangle Wood Hardwood Wood stain Plywood


A shallow pass on the router table, followed by raising the bit until I hit my target depth, completes the rabbet.
Wood Gas Circle Hardwood Wood stain


Clean radius corners are a benefit of using the template.
Brown Rectangle Wood Wood stain Flooring


Felt the plywood and trim it to size

I cut the plywood for a good fit into the new rabbet. The corners are rounded on a disc sander to fit into the base.

Next is to apply the black felt. I like using the 3M "super 77" spray adhesive. Works great and one can goes a long way. Following the directions on the can gives good results. I spray the felt only to avoid getting overspray on the sides of the plywood.
Liquid Cosmetics Fluid Rectangle Font


After a minute or so, I place the felt onto the plywood (the felt is cut oversized). A "J" roller is used to smooth it all out, though just smoothing with your hand works well too.

Auto part Bumper Automotive exterior Machine Composite material


The excess felt is trimmed away with scissors.

Finishing

As with the box body, I apply finish to the base now while access is easy for rubbing out. The box body will be glued to the base so I avoid getting finish in this glue area.

Wood Rectangle Wood stain Flooring Hardwood


The feet also will be glued so I leave an area finish-free in the bottom corners as well.

The feet are simple 2" x 2" squares, 1/4" thick with the top edges chamfered. These are also finished with a glue area left exposed.

Wood Rectangle Font Flooring Beige


Brown Rectangle Wood Wood stain Hardwood


I made a simple fixture to square up a foot with the frame.
Rectangle Wood Cutting board Flooring Ingredient


This is used with a clamp to attach the feet.
Wood Rectangle Wood stain Hardwood Electric blue


The finish is buffed and the prepped. The box body is now glued into position with the plywood, completing the assembly.

Wood Floor Flooring Rectangle Hardwood


Next up, the lid.

Thanks for following along!
 

Attachments

#10 ·
The base

The base of this box is where anyone can "go wild" with design options. The basics are simple, a frame with lap joints, filled with a plywood panel. The feet are simple squares.

A pdf file with dimensions for the base can be found here

The design allows for the base to have 1/2" of exposure along its perimeter with the box, basically it aligns flush with the boxes inside dimensions.
A felt covered plywood piece fits into a routed shelf to seal off the box bottom.
Table Rectangle Wood Blackboard Electronic device


The box walls cover the seam between the plywood and base frame, hiding any missteps with the routing and securing the felt to the plywood.

Furniture Table Wood Rectangle Wooden block


Build a frame

It all begins with some 1/2" thick x 1" wide material cut to the proper lengths. I use a stop block setup to ensure all corresponding parts are the same.

Wood Hardwood Rectangle Wood stain Composite material


At this point I go ahead and sand the edges (220 grit). Easier now then later!

Triangle Rectangle Tints and shades Silver Wood


The ends of this frame overhang by 1/4". This means the half lap joint needs to be offset from the end of the "sticks" by 1/4"

I set my trusty box joint blade set 1/4" from the fence to make the first cut. The blade height is set to 1/2 the thickness of the stock (1/4").
Ruler Office ruler Rectangle Measuring instrument Composite material


A good backer keeps any chip out from happening.

Wood Floor Door Wood stain Flooring


There are many tricks to accomplish the depth setting. My favorite is to set the blade height just shy of the half way mark, make a cut, flip the stock, make another cut. The blade height is bumped up slightly and the two cuts are made again. Repeat until the second cut removes the thin wood left by the first cut.

I have a secret weapon to make this "perfect". The top and bottom of this frame needs to be flush, time spent on these half laps makes flattening in the easier in the end.

All pieces of the frame are passed over the blade to make the first cuts.

I use a scrap to check these setups. For the opposite side of the half lap, I make a pencil mark based on the width of the frame stock. This mark then is used to align the blade for the next cuts. I always cut slightly shy of the line and "sneak up" on the final position. The table saw fence is being used as my stop block reference.

Wood Plank Hardwood Wood stain Varnish


Wood Rectangle Hardwood Wood stain Plank


"Dial" in the slot width
I clean out the material between the two cuts on my scrap with passes over the blade. This makes room for calipers to measure the width of the slot I have just created.

I compare the measured width to the actual width of my frame parts
Gauge Measuring instrument Wall Font Wood


Calipers Gauge Wood Measuring instrument Font


1.001" - 0.962" = 0.039"

This is how far I need to widen the slot, basically I need to move the fence 0.039" away from the blade.

This is where my dial gauge and magnetic base come in handy. Dial gauges used to be pricey, but now they are quite inexpensive. A worthy addition to anyones tool collection!

Set the dial indicator against the fence, zero out the indicator, then "bump" the fence away until the indicator shows the correct value.
Gauge Gas Wood Auto part Measuring instrument


I moved the fence 0.04". The dial is rotating CCW here so I had to go to the "60" mark. The extra 0.001" gives me some clearence for a slip fit between the parts. Actually this is wood working so the extra clearance allowed will vary depending on the wood, etc. I just happened to hit on the right numbers the first try 8^)

The scrap is cut again with this new blade position set and tested against a frame piece. The fit is good so I cut the remaining parts and clean out between the two cuts.

This is the resulting fit:

Product Rectangle Wood Material property Hardwood


Nice and tight!

Chamfer and assemble

My secret to flattening is to fit the frame together and run it through my drum sander (cheating, I know 8^).

To remove the linear scratches let by the drum sander, I rub it around on my 120 grit disc mounted on a piece of melamine.
Rectangle Dishware Material property Tints and shades Serveware


Now is when I take the frame pieces to the router table and chamfer the ends (just like on the box body).
The pieces are reassembled, this time with a spot of glue at each joint (not too much! don't want any squeeze out).

After drying, I sand the surface as before on a 180 grit disc. The end grain is also squared up.

Wood Rectangle Road surface Flooring Asphalt


A further sanding with a 320 grit strip gives the end grain a polish.
Wood Tool Gas Composite material Flooring


Route the plywood base rabbet
A rabbet is needed to hold the base panel, The depth needs to be equal to the thickness of the plywood plus compressed felt.

I've done this different ways to achieve the same results. I started by doing stopped rabbets on each piece using a straight bit and the router table fence. This works, but is a bit of effort to get the start/stop points set accurately and handling the narrow pieces is difficult. By making a template I can get accurate and easy results with my router table or even a hand held trim router. This template method is my favorite so far.

I place a scrap on felt on my sanded plywood and compress it with the calipers.
Watch Gauge Wood Clock Hand tool


Almost 1/4" (0.0240").

-Make the template-

My router mortising bit cuts the same diameter as the bearing (some have a cutter larger then the bearing).

I need to make the template have a square "hole". This is easily done with some hardboard strips.
Wood Flooring Rectangle Office equipment Electronic device


I use two layers to get a proper surface for the bits bearing. These layers are interleaved. The layer on the left in the above photo has the long edges running the full length (the blue painters tape is spanning the seams, holding the strips together). The layer on the right has the short edges running the full length. These two layers are then joined with double sided tape into a stack. The overlap at the corners locks the square into place.

The new template is joined with the base frame using the same double sided tape.
Rectangle Wood Hardwood Wood stain Plywood


A shallow pass on the router table, followed by raising the bit until I hit my target depth, completes the rabbet.
Wood Gas Circle Hardwood Wood stain


Clean radius corners are a benefit of using the template.
Brown Rectangle Wood Wood stain Flooring


Felt the plywood and trim it to size

I cut the plywood for a good fit into the new rabbet. The corners are rounded on a disc sander to fit into the base.

Next is to apply the black felt. I like using the 3M "super 77" spray adhesive. Works great and one can goes a long way. Following the directions on the can gives good results. I spray the felt only to avoid getting overspray on the sides of the plywood.
Liquid Cosmetics Fluid Rectangle Font


After a minute or so, I place the felt onto the plywood (the felt is cut oversized). A "J" roller is used to smooth it all out, though just smoothing with your hand works well too.

Auto part Bumper Automotive exterior Machine Composite material


The excess felt is trimmed away with scissors.

Finishing

As with the box body, I apply finish to the base now while access is easy for rubbing out. The box body will be glued to the base so I avoid getting finish in this glue area.

Wood Rectangle Wood stain Flooring Hardwood


The feet also will be glued so I leave an area finish-free in the bottom corners as well.

The feet are simple 2" x 2" squares, 1/4" thick with the top edges chamfered. These are also finished with a glue area left exposed.

Wood Rectangle Font Flooring Beige


Brown Rectangle Wood Wood stain Hardwood


I made a simple fixture to square up a foot with the frame.
Rectangle Wood Cutting board Flooring Ingredient


This is used with a clamp to attach the feet.
Wood Rectangle Wood stain Hardwood Electric blue


The finish is buffed and the prepped. The box body is now glued into position with the plywood, completing the assembly.

Wood Floor Flooring Rectangle Hardwood


Next up, the lid.

Thanks for following along!
Nice step by step
 

Attachments

#11 ·
The Lid

The lid is the most "visible" part of these boxes. I've been making mitered frames with panel centers. Some times a mirror on the inside, other times I use veneer.

Options would be to make a panel similar to the base or choose another arrangement that draws the eye.

For this box, I chose a veneered panel with a mitered frame.

Brown Rectangle Wood Floor Varnish


As with the base, the dimensions of the inside of the top frame are identical to the dimensions of the box body interior (6" x 8"). This makes for easy hinge installation

A dimensional drawing can be found here

The Panel
The lid is 1/2" thick. I like to use a groove of about 1/4" deep to hold the panel, therefore I need a panel approximately 6-1/2" x 8-1/2"

I've just recently begun experimenting with veneers and have recently built a Venturi vacuum that uses my air compressor.
Motor vehicle Electronic engineering Electrical wiring Audio equipment Cable


Not sure why I didn't just get a vacuum pump, but it works well.

The lid has a "waterfall" bubinga front and a lacewood rear.
First thing was to flatten the bubinga. I used a solution based on propylene glycol to wet the veneer, then some flat weight and absorbent towels to level it out.
Brown Wood Ingredient Rectangle Cuisine


Wood Rectangle Flooring Gas Hardwood


A proper layer of glue applied with the Rockler silicone glue spreader (Love this thing!) is applied to the plywood core…

Rectangle Wood Font Composite material Flooring


...and the veneers are then positioned for the vacuum press.
Brown Rectangle Wood Flooring Wood stain


With the veneering complete and sanded smooth, I can measure the with required for the frames groove.
As with the other parts of this box, I pre-finish this panel while it is easy to sand and buff out.

Begin the frame

I prep the frame stock by ensuring the parts are sanded and dimensioned equally (1/2" thick, 1-1/4" wide)
A well positioned stop block and backer board on my miter gauge gets me 45 degree corners that fit nicely.

Using my box joint blade set for a flat bottom groove, several cuts produce the correct width groove for the veneered panel to fit snugly.

I use a feather board for consistency and the dial gauge technique shown in part 2 to zero in.

Scale Motor vehicle Gauge Measuring instrument Gas


Rectangle Wood Hardwood Kitchen utensil Dishware


The inside edges are then chamfered and finish applied to the bevel.
I install the panel (cut to size) and use stretched masking tape on the miters to pull/hold the corners together.
Blue painters tape is then carefully applied to the panel to protect it when I glue up the miters. Note the notations so I can re-install it correctly after gluing things up. The miters are epoxied so I have plenty of panic/stress free time to get everything aligned before clamping. The panel has PVA glue along its perimeter in the groove. Together this makes for a stable unit.
Masking tape is again stretched over the joints (on both sides) to clamp them together.
Brown Rectangle Wood Wood stain Art


I then clamp the corners down to my small granite surface plate for a flat glue up.
Motor vehicle Wood Hood Bumper Gas


The splines

Miter joints are weak, end grain glue ups. Splines with the long grain perpendicular to the joint line provide excellent strength. I typically use a FTG (flat top grind) rip blade and my spline jig to cut slots. The 1/8" slot has a flat bottom and I can use my drum sander to dial in perfect fitting splines.
Brown Rectangle Wood Line Wood stain


Again with epoxy, the splines and slots are coated on both sides. Splines are slid into place and clamped to ensure they stay at the bottom of the slots. I have maybe 1/4" extending out which gets trimmed later.
Wood Rectangle Art Wood stain Red


Remember that the frame pieces are 1-1/4" wide? I leave an extra 1/8" on each piece so I can trim things square later. Here I am trimming the excess spline away. The thin board riding along the fence allows me to reference against the frame and not the spline stubs. The veneer showing in this picture is the lace wood.
Rectangle Wood Floor Flooring Composite material


The panel is square and the frame pieces are 1-1/8" wide all around. Next is to get the panel flat again by surface sanding on my 20" disc (180 grit).
Tableware Dishware Rectangle Wood Serveware


Hinge Install
My previous boxes had surface mount hinges, this time I decided to mortise them in.

A simple jig and trim router (with the same mortising bit used for the base) provides the required accuracy for these solid brass hinges.
This is the base being mortised.
Wood Hardwood Auto part Plywood Composite material


I then only need to center and square the jig to mortise the lid.
Table Wood Rectangle Wood stain Flooring


Mortise depth is about 1/2 the folded hinges thickness at the pin. If you go too deep, the lid will bind on closing. Too shallow, the lid will have a visible gap at the rear when closed. The only cure for too shallow is to cut deeper, for too deep, you can add paper or thin cardboard shims which stay hidden. I tend to either nail the depth exactly of go slightly deep.

The hinges are test fit. I use a vix bit to drill the holes and steel screws for this test. The steel screws pre-cut the threads so when I install the brass screws, they shouldn't snap off as easily 8^).
Wood Wood stain Varnish Hardwood Flooring


Same for the lid.

These screws are #4Ă—1/2" Since the lid is only 1/2" thick, I cut the tip off of the screws with a pair of *************************. You don't want hinge screws poking through your lid!

Lid profiling
I want the lid to lay back at about 95 degrees when opened. In the above photo you can see that the hinge pin sits a small amount back from the box wall. This will provide a bit of that lean back for the lid to keep it open. I have copper rivets with large heads that will also direct how far the lid may be opened and these rivets counteract the hinge pin offset. I still need a way to allow for that lid lean back.
The solution is to run a taper along the back bottom of the lid. This serves two purposes, allow for the lean back and remove the hinge mortice from the rear where it can be seen and serves no purpose.
Wood Road surface Grey Asphalt Floor


This photo shows the under side rear of the lid. You can see one of the hinge mortises. I know that the box wall is 5/8" back from the edge of the lid. I mark a line showing this position on the lid.

I angle my table saw blade (about 10-15 degrees) such that the taper begins on this line and leaves enough material next to the spline. This photo shows the underside of the lid after the cut. It's difficult to see, but if you look at the hinge mortise, you can see how it "disappears" towards the rear of the lid.
Wood Table Rectangle Flooring Wood stain


This picture shows the effect from the side view with the hinges installed.
Brown Rectangle Wood Wood stain Hardwood


You might notice a tiny chip on the corner of the spline in this photo. That will disappear when I route the chamfers on all edges of the lid.

Finishing up
I apply the same finish to the lid after profiling the edges and remove the tape.
For the final box, I added some trays. You'll see these when the project is posted.

I apply the finish to the top edges of the box and buff this out after it dries.
A coat of wax on all surfaces is applied and buffed out before final hinge installation.
The inside of the box was waxed before the felt bottom was installed, much easier to keep wax off the felt this way!

The hinge screws in the lid pass close to the slot cut for the panel. To better secure the screws here, I place a dab of epoxy in the screw hole before tightening things up.

That's it! Thanks for the comments and following along 8^)

Table Wood Rectangle Varnish Plank


Font Rectangle Wood Chair Metal


Furniture Table Wood Rectangle Wooden block
 

Attachments

#12 ·
The Lid

The lid is the most "visible" part of these boxes. I've been making mitered frames with panel centers. Some times a mirror on the inside, other times I use veneer.

Options would be to make a panel similar to the base or choose another arrangement that draws the eye.

For this box, I chose a veneered panel with a mitered frame.

Brown Rectangle Wood Floor Varnish


As with the base, the dimensions of the inside of the top frame are identical to the dimensions of the box body interior (6" x 8"). This makes for easy hinge installation

A dimensional drawing can be found here

The Panel
The lid is 1/2" thick. I like to use a groove of about 1/4" deep to hold the panel, therefore I need a panel approximately 6-1/2" x 8-1/2"

I've just recently begun experimenting with veneers and have recently built a Venturi vacuum that uses my air compressor.
Motor vehicle Electronic engineering Electrical wiring Audio equipment Cable


Not sure why I didn't just get a vacuum pump, but it works well.

The lid has a "waterfall" bubinga front and a lacewood rear.
First thing was to flatten the bubinga. I used a solution based on propylene glycol to wet the veneer, then some flat weight and absorbent towels to level it out.
Brown Wood Ingredient Rectangle Cuisine


Wood Rectangle Flooring Gas Hardwood


A proper layer of glue applied with the Rockler silicone glue spreader (Love this thing!) is applied to the plywood core…

Rectangle Wood Font Composite material Flooring


...and the veneers are then positioned for the vacuum press.
Brown Rectangle Wood Flooring Wood stain


With the veneering complete and sanded smooth, I can measure the with required for the frames groove.
As with the other parts of this box, I pre-finish this panel while it is easy to sand and buff out.

Begin the frame

I prep the frame stock by ensuring the parts are sanded and dimensioned equally (1/2" thick, 1-1/4" wide)
A well positioned stop block and backer board on my miter gauge gets me 45 degree corners that fit nicely.

Using my box joint blade set for a flat bottom groove, several cuts produce the correct width groove for the veneered panel to fit snugly.

I use a feather board for consistency and the dial gauge technique shown in part 2 to zero in.

Scale Motor vehicle Gauge Measuring instrument Gas


Rectangle Wood Hardwood Kitchen utensil Dishware


The inside edges are then chamfered and finish applied to the bevel.
I install the panel (cut to size) and use stretched masking tape on the miters to pull/hold the corners together.
Blue painters tape is then carefully applied to the panel to protect it when I glue up the miters. Note the notations so I can re-install it correctly after gluing things up. The miters are epoxied so I have plenty of panic/stress free time to get everything aligned before clamping. The panel has PVA glue along its perimeter in the groove. Together this makes for a stable unit.
Masking tape is again stretched over the joints (on both sides) to clamp them together.
Brown Rectangle Wood Wood stain Art


I then clamp the corners down to my small granite surface plate for a flat glue up.
Motor vehicle Wood Hood Bumper Gas


The splines

Miter joints are weak, end grain glue ups. Splines with the long grain perpendicular to the joint line provide excellent strength. I typically use a FTG (flat top grind) rip blade and my spline jig to cut slots. The 1/8" slot has a flat bottom and I can use my drum sander to dial in perfect fitting splines.
Brown Rectangle Wood Line Wood stain


Again with epoxy, the splines and slots are coated on both sides. Splines are slid into place and clamped to ensure they stay at the bottom of the slots. I have maybe 1/4" extending out which gets trimmed later.
Wood Rectangle Art Wood stain Red


Remember that the frame pieces are 1-1/4" wide? I leave an extra 1/8" on each piece so I can trim things square later. Here I am trimming the excess spline away. The thin board riding along the fence allows me to reference against the frame and not the spline stubs. The veneer showing in this picture is the lace wood.
Rectangle Wood Floor Flooring Composite material


The panel is square and the frame pieces are 1-1/8" wide all around. Next is to get the panel flat again by surface sanding on my 20" disc (180 grit).
Tableware Dishware Rectangle Wood Serveware


Hinge Install
My previous boxes had surface mount hinges, this time I decided to mortise them in.

A simple jig and trim router (with the same mortising bit used for the base) provides the required accuracy for these solid brass hinges.
This is the base being mortised.
Wood Hardwood Auto part Plywood Composite material


I then only need to center and square the jig to mortise the lid.
Table Wood Rectangle Wood stain Flooring


Mortise depth is about 1/2 the folded hinges thickness at the pin. If you go too deep, the lid will bind on closing. Too shallow, the lid will have a visible gap at the rear when closed. The only cure for too shallow is to cut deeper, for too deep, you can add paper or thin cardboard shims which stay hidden. I tend to either nail the depth exactly of go slightly deep.

The hinges are test fit. I use a vix bit to drill the holes and steel screws for this test. The steel screws pre-cut the threads so when I install the brass screws, they shouldn't snap off as easily 8^).
Wood Wood stain Varnish Hardwood Flooring


Same for the lid.

These screws are #4Ă—1/2" Since the lid is only 1/2" thick, I cut the tip off of the screws with a pair of *************************. You don't want hinge screws poking through your lid!

Lid profiling
I want the lid to lay back at about 95 degrees when opened. In the above photo you can see that the hinge pin sits a small amount back from the box wall. This will provide a bit of that lean back for the lid to keep it open. I have copper rivets with large heads that will also direct how far the lid may be opened and these rivets counteract the hinge pin offset. I still need a way to allow for that lid lean back.
The solution is to run a taper along the back bottom of the lid. This serves two purposes, allow for the lean back and remove the hinge mortice from the rear where it can be seen and serves no purpose.
Wood Road surface Grey Asphalt Floor


This photo shows the under side rear of the lid. You can see one of the hinge mortises. I know that the box wall is 5/8" back from the edge of the lid. I mark a line showing this position on the lid.

I angle my table saw blade (about 10-15 degrees) such that the taper begins on this line and leaves enough material next to the spline. This photo shows the underside of the lid after the cut. It's difficult to see, but if you look at the hinge mortise, you can see how it "disappears" towards the rear of the lid.
Wood Table Rectangle Flooring Wood stain


This picture shows the effect from the side view with the hinges installed.
Brown Rectangle Wood Wood stain Hardwood


You might notice a tiny chip on the corner of the spline in this photo. That will disappear when I route the chamfers on all edges of the lid.

Finishing up
I apply the same finish to the lid after profiling the edges and remove the tape.
For the final box, I added some trays. You'll see these when the project is posted.

I apply the finish to the top edges of the box and buff this out after it dries.
A coat of wax on all surfaces is applied and buffed out before final hinge installation.
The inside of the box was waxed before the felt bottom was installed, much easier to keep wax off the felt this way!

The hinge screws in the lid pass close to the slot cut for the panel. To better secure the screws here, I place a dab of epoxy in the screw hole before tightening things up.

That's it! Thanks for the comments and following along 8^)

Table Wood Rectangle Varnish Plank


Font Rectangle Wood Chair Metal


Furniture Table Wood Rectangle Wooden block
Beautiful box and excellent commentary. I greatly appreciate your attention to detail. Thank you for sharing.
 

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