Andersonec (Andy) Box wip

andersonec · 26 Feb 2013

I want to make a predominantly white box, quite contemporary with some veneer on the lid. I know the directive is a box which stands 6 inches high but I wish to digress and keep this one to the 'golden mean' ratios, this one will be 300 x 185 x 115 high,

Chose a piece of Maple

Set out the dovetails and the box size on a piece of paper

Did 4 and 5 dovetails to see which looks best, five is too busy so four it will be.

Back to the board, after laying it out I now have the dimensions I need to finish the board, it needs to finish at 16mm thick as I will be curving the sides and the top edge needs to finish at 12.5mm to take a hinge.

I faced one side and one edge then paralleled the board to 105 mm wide, finished two strips of Wanut to 5mm and glued them to the edges to bring the board to 115mm, removed the slight overhang of the walnut on the face side and then finished the board to 16.5mm thick. It is now ready for cutting to length.

Too cold in the garage so I've come in for a cup of tea and a warm.
Andy

andersonec · 2 Mar 2013

Went for a recce today to look at a monthly artists/craft market in Lincoln in which I am taking part as from next month so on my return I decided to do a little more as the temperature in the garage had increased slightly. Managed to finish cutting the tails just as the nose started to run and feet were starting to complain of the cold.

Redesigned the dovetails

and cut the tails. As I am going to curve the outside of the box the base of the tails had to be flat and not undercut otherwise a gap would show up when the side is planed, used a block to keep the chisel vertical.

Tails cut.

andersonec · 6 Mar 2013

Some progress with the box,

Glued up, got a little carried away when routing the slote for the base, lid and the slot for tray support, these had to be stopped grooves otherwise it would show through the dovetails.

Close up to show the slot for the tray support and the rebate for the lid, the corners will be chopped out with a chisel.

Lid panel ready to be glued in, the inside has been veneered and sanded as it will be inaccessible afterwards.

Sides being planed to a curve, the shaping is being done now because there may be variations in the shape if done after the lid is separated plus the curve is carried on continuously and not stepped.

Sides planed and sanded, lid panel glued in

Got headache now and going to lay down in a darkened room...................

Andy

carlb40 · 6 Mar 2013

That is coming along nicely, do like a bit of maple

andersonec · 6 Mar 2013

And matched with some Walnut is a marriage made in heaven Carl

carlb40 · 6 Mar 2013

Yes i know. I want to do as yet an undecided project in maple and black walnut

Rob Platt · 6 Mar 2013

Its not an unusual combination I`m going a similar way myself with some extras as soon as I can get at it.
They`re all looking good glad I`m not judging
all the best
rob

andersonec · 7 Mar 2013

Separated the lid today

and tidied up the cut

decided on what is going on top.

A design I want to put on the lid with marquetry, the design is printed off, transferred to tracing paper then transferred to the veneer with carbon paper, I will cut that and stick it on the lid over the next couple of days.

I go to a website for patterns http://www.craftsmanspace.com/ it has a very large selection of nice patterns under various headings, there are also some old books available for free download, woodwork, metalwork, engineering etc. a handy site with buckets of stuff which will keep you browsing for a while.

Andy

stevenw1963 · 7 Mar 2013

Looking good

bobscarle · 7 Mar 2013

Andy. Good looking box so far (Bah! :lol: ) How did you separate the lid? It must have been the devil's own job to hold a box with curved sides on a table saw or router table. Or even handheld with a fence.

JakeS · 8 Mar 2013

The curve of the sides looks very nice!

I'm curious - do you do anything in particular to minimise break-out on the far end of the plane stroke? Or are you starting at both ends and working towards the middle for that?

andersonec · 8 Mar 2013

bobscarle":n0uxzslb said:
Andy. Good looking box so far (Bah! :lol: ) How did you separate the lid? It must have been the devil's own job to hold a box with curved sides on a table saw or router table. Or even handheld with a fence.

Bob, Firstly I made sure the top was as flat as I could get it then screwed a tall piece of mdf to the fence of the band saw and took a few minutes to make sure it was the correct distance from the blade (sharp) and absolutely vertical and parallel to the blade (very sharp) kept it firm against the fence and fed it into the blade with it slightly tipped forward so the blade (very very sharp) which cut into the top corner first and wasn't hitting the full length of the side all at once which may have caused it to deflect, the side was just resting on the table. I then smoothed the cut with a block plane set very fine and took some time and care doing it to achieve a perfect :roll: fit
But I notice you are using mainly hand tools, I have separated them before with my Dozuki saw, just keep the corners square.

Andy

andersonec · 8 Mar 2013

JakeS":1xhmokhl said:
The curve of the sides looks very nice!

I'm curious - do you do anything in particular to minimise break-out on the far end of the plane stroke? Or are you starting at both ends and working towards the middle for that?

Hiya Jake, plane inwards from both ends, don't go full length otherwise disaster #-o the plane was angled quite sharply crosswise to try and avoid tear-out when planing against the grain, the finishing planing was done with a block plane honed at approx 50 deg to remove any sections of tear-out and was sometimes planing at almost 90 deg to the run of the grain.

Andy

DIY Stew · 8 Mar 2013

Andy

This is probably a stupid question but the wide pin where you split the box for the lid, is it exactly twice the width of the other pins, or do you also have to take into account the kerf on the saw you are using?

By the way it's looking very nice.

Stew

andersonec · 8 Mar 2013

DIY Stew":1c0skl0o said:
Andy

This is probably a stupid question but the wide pin where you split the box for the lid, is it exactly twice the width of the other pins, or do you also have to take into account the kerf on the saw you are using?

By the way it's looking very nice.

Stew

Stew, the dovetails were laid out on paper first and the thickness of the kerf was taken into account then. What I was more concerned with was the width of the pin at the top matching the width of the pin at the base, done those first then laid out the the same width either side of the cut plus the kerf plus clean-up which gave me the width of that pin, the remaining distance was then divided up for the other two pins and made them roughly the same width as the ones already done.
Hope you can understand that :?

Andy

DIY Stew · 8 Mar 2013

andersonec":366rwj7w said:
DIY Stew":366rwj7w said:

Andy

This is probably a stupid question but the wide pin where you split the box for the lid, is it exactly twice the width of the other pins, or do you also have to take into account the kerf on the saw you are using?

By the way it's looking very nice.

Stew

Click to expand...

Stew, the dovetails were laid out on paper first and the thickness of the kerf was taken into account then. What I was more concerned with was the width of the pin at the top matching the width of the pin at the base, done those first then laid out the the same width either side of the cut plus the kerf plus clean-up which gave me the width of that pin, the remaining distance was then divided up for the other two pins and made them roughly the same width as the ones already done.
Hope you can understand that :?

Andy

Thanks for that Andy.

I think when I make my first box I will perhaps just try mitring the corners!!! :?

Stew

andersonec · 8 Mar 2013

Veneered the lid today

Unclamping is always done with a little apprehension on my behalf, is it straight? are there any bubbles, is it stuck all round the edges? luckily this time it came out ok

it is still a little damp from removing the veneering tape but will clean up the edges tomorrow when dry and then maybe start on the tray but according to the weather forecast that may be a little ambitious.

Andy

gasman · 10 Mar 2013

Hi Andy - great project. Can I ask you about the lid? Is is a man made board veneered on both sides so there will be no expansion or are you relying on the wood being fairly dry. The only time I ever made a box like this, I used a solid board for the lid and after a few months inside there was a very small gap opened up due to shrinkage across the grain
Lovely job on the marquetry
Cheers
Mark

andersonec · 11 Mar 2013

gasman":1q36fi91 said:
Hi Andy - great project. Can I ask you about the lid? Is is a man made board veneered on both sides so there will be no expansion or are you relying on the wood being fairly dry. The only time I ever made a box like this, I used a solid board for the lid and after a few months inside there was a very small gap opened up due to shrinkage across the grain
Lovely job on the marquetry
Cheers
Mark

Mark, The lid is 9mm Birch ply veneered on both sides, although one side was done first and when removed from the clamps the lid was sized, sanded and glued into the box before it had time to cup, the outer veneer could only be glued on with the panel fixed in place and the marquetry had to be done first and that took an evening to cut then clamped up overnight.

Andy

andersonec · 20 Mar 2013

OK, got a couple of decent (sic) days in the garage and got the thing finished, had to finish it anyway as I have got involved with a monthly craft market next to Lincoln castle, hope to sell a few bits to enable me to buy some more timber and stuff so now got to make some stuff to sell.

Made the trays from some Walnut, mitred the corners and made some splines from five layers of veneer,
Fitting the splines