Bandsaw box - Step by step help needed

[marcros]

ok, i am talking in general terms, rather than offering comments on the blocks in the pics...

1. take it very slowly with your 10tpi blade, or consider not using it. I would design the box to accommodate the 3/8 blade, you will still get a reasonable radius. Too many teeth and it wont cut straight. Sketch out your design, and see whether you can manage with a min radius of the bend greater than 1 1/2".

2. get some shellac dissolving now if you plan to use it. I find best results come from putting it in a coffee grinder or pestle and mortar to make a powder or smaller flakes.

3. You can fill pores with shellac, but it takes ages. tens of coats, and literally weeks/months. There are all sorts of things that you can use to fill pores, the easiest that i found was an egg white, and applying it with sandpaper to form a slurry. Took a few coats, but worked and was transparent. https://homegrownlutherie.wordpress.com ... gg-whites/ i seem to remember the recipe that i used i had to whip it, let it settle for an hour and then strain part of it. I cant find that link now.

3a. There is no need to fill the pores at all if you dont want to. You will not get a glass like finish, but you may not want to. http://www.woodworkerssource.com/blog/w ... -projects/ there is a pic on that link showing filled and unfilled mahogany.

4. If you have some meths, IPA or whatever you are using for disolving the shellac in, wipe the faces of your blocks and it will give you an idea of how the wood will look after finishing. You can do the same with water, but it will raise the grain, so i tend not to.

 

[graduate_owner]

This is a very interesting post, and I am posting because I want to be able to find it easily. There is probably a way of marking posts, but I don't know it.

K

 

[twodoctors]

Welcome to my "blog" K. :-D

Well, like all impatient woodworker do, I went ahead and cut the blocks up this evening. Remember that these are my first ever bandsaw boxes, there are bound to be some mistakes along the way!

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1XO4YAa ... sp=sharing

First thing you notice is the one on the left. A bit of an ambitious design... and it was. Now I have only scrolled (3 times) and first time I remember cutting curves on the bandsaw. I did take thing slowly. The one on the left was my second effort, and you can see the top drawer frame, on the lower right (in the picture) the wall was a bit thin. That's me misjudging how tight a turn I can make with the 1/4" 10TPI. I thought I wasn't going to make that turn. Well, I did, but that wall looks too thin now... so I'll need to come up with some ideas to salvage that so it looks like I did it on purpose. :-D

The first effort was a bit more simple. I cut the shape out first, then cut the back. I left about 1/2" to allow myself to really sand the edges and make nice edge curves. Wasn't sure what to do with the entry/exit point for the drawer... I wasn't sure I want to glue it or leave it open. I can't remember the design! Anyway you'll see it tomorrow when the glue is set. Otherwise the first box was fairly uneventful. It will need lots and lots of sanding but I have left myself enough room to do that (I think). Hand sand most of it I think but I might (gently) power sand to get the shape first.

Mixed my shellac this afternoon. I make a 2 cut mixture. Seems very runny to me and most of it has dissolved. Left it on the radiator to help it dissolve more. I can always add more alcohol to dilute it if required.

Made another block out of something I forgot the name of (looks like meranti / oak but it's something else). My wood guy sold it to me for a £5, a roughly 10x10x100 block. He said it should be around £15. Put a piece of beech in between. Should make another interesting box out of that. Third time lucky right?!

Let's cross our fingers then....

Adrian

 

[Alexam]

Good start Adrian and I fully understand the initial errors from when I started. You need to go more slowly when cutting and prepare for the turns before they come up, doing them even more slowly. Trying to recover thin walls rarely works, so you may have to put that down to experience and move on.

Just remember that exterior sanding can be heavier than internal, otherwise the gaps around drawers start to look silly. Use felt pads to support the drawers when finished and that helps to smooth the operation.

Keep going and keep photos coming as I see great things ahead.

Malcolm

 

[twodoctors]

Thanks Malcolm. Better to be lucky than good!

Not sure how I would sand th le edges yet. I deliberately left the drawer front a bit thicker so I can do more. Haven't cut the second one yet as I ran out of clamps!

What do you mean by felt pads to support the drawers? You mean something at the bottom to lift it up?

With the sawing I thought I was going fairly slowly. The edges are rough, but I think that's what I should expect with 10TPI. The turns of was confident enough to to make are nowhere near as tight as what Axminster said I can do with 1/4". But it could be me. Or the saw. Or how I set the saw up. Maybe my guides are too close to the blade. It was a 70mm block after all. Lucky I managed to make the cuts at all!

More to learn... It's only a week and a bit since I started!

Adrian

 

[twodoctors]

West African Sapele... That's the latest acquisition.

 

[Alexam]

Thanks Malcolm. Better to be lucky than good!

Not sure how I would sand th le edges yet. I deliberately left the drawer front a bit thicker so I can do more. Haven't cut the second one yet as I ran out of clamps!

What do you mean by felt pads to support the drawers? You mean something at the bottom to lift it up?

With the sawing I thought I was going fairly slowly. The edges are rough, but I think that's what I should expect with 10TPI. The turns of was confident enough to to make are nowhere near as tight as what Axminster said I can do with 1/4". But it could be me. Or the saw. Or how I set the saw up. Maybe my guides are too close to the blade. It was a 70mm block after all. Lucky I managed to make the cuts at all!

More to learn... It's only a week and a bit since I started!

Adrian

You would work so much better by having a session with your neighbour, who has offered. Just watching someone else do it will make a huge difference to what YOU do.

Malcolm

 

[twodoctors]

And here we are again. This is the box glued together.

Obviously a bit rough... so did (quite a) bit of sanding tonight. Thank goodness for the 305mm sander, would have taken a lot more elbow grease if I haven't bought that. Decided to round the edges on the outside only, and tidied the faces very gently. Here it is after an hour or so of sanding (machine and hand), with alcohol wipe to see what the finish could look like.

I trimmed a bit too much on the drawer at the rear... not much I can do about that. Unless of course I make the hole bigger for drawer opening. It's a weird place to put it though. Maybe making the finger hole quite wide? Or accept it as it is and put a handle on somewhere. I'll have a think tonight.

Will sand further to about 180 grit tonight. Shellac tomorrow and hopefully it will turn out ok. Any tips on this one welcomed.

My other one... Had a disaster! I was cutting one of the drawers and then realise I forgot to drill out the corner holes after making one horizontal cut on one edge. I took it off the saw and proceed to drill said hole. As you have probably guessed, the sawn part cracked and split open. :-( Manged to find all the bit and glued it back. That's all I can do. Hopefully won't look too obvious as it's the back of the drawer that cracked. Finished cutting the drawers, and back of the box, and it was glue and clamp until tomorrow night.

See you all tomorrow.

Adrian

 

[Alexam]

That's a great start. One thing which may help, when you have gaps, it could look a lot better if the edges of box and drawer are rounded. Have you decided how you will finish it?
Malcolm

 

[twodoctors]

Thanks. You mean rounding the internal edges as well? I'll have a look.

At the moment probably shellac. I think I need to fill the pores first. Need to read up on that. Would be a pity to mess up on the finish!

Adrian

 

[Alexam]

Only fill gaps or bad joints with same colour sawdust and superglue, then sand flat.

Plenty of examples of rounded edges, complete D Shape, but it can hide gaps somewhat.

The felt pads I mentioned are always put on my boxes with one or two on the back wall of the drawer opening, so no wood to wood clinking sound when closing. Then usually three on the drawer itself. Two towards the front on bottom and one or two to balance at the rear base. I buy mine from British Felt on a roll and they are 1 to 1.5mm thick and 3 - 5 mm wide, just enough to make the drawer look balanced top and bottom and to slide smoothly.

Malcolm

 

[twodoctors]

Thanks Malcolm. Just looking at your website and your work again. I think I know what you mean. I shall order some for my boxes. I'll get on and do more sanding tonight.

Adrian

 

[twodoctors]

Not much to report overnight. I sanded the edges round as Malcolm suggested. Tried slurry sanding not sure it worked. 2 coats of shellac and it's looking OK. Pictures tonight or tomorrow.

I was mostly tidying up late night. Lots of toys arrived for th workshop so I was installing them instead. Also made some major modifications to my scroller. Will post in another forum.

Adrian

 

[twodoctors]

So I found some time to do more finishing work on both boxes tonight. Truth be told I ought to be getting on with other work (like finishing my pistol grip, the reason I bought all these kit to start with!). The first one ("The Whale" because it unintentionally was cut like that) has 3 coats of shellac on now. Also glued a handle on the front.

The second one ("Da Laydee" ;-P) caused a bit more problem. Neither drawers fit the box! It could be because when I was cutting the drawers out from the main block I pushed too hard and ended up with a skewed edge. It could also be because the shape of the drawers changed a bit with closing the entry point for one, and moving the entry point close on the other. Or both. In any case thank goodness I have a orbital sander. Made fairly light work of reshaping both drawers so they fit. Also reshaped the box overall. Had trouble with the "neck" of the box... this is where an bobbin sander would have come on its own. The B&D Powerfile is a bit aggressive with the standard P60 paper, even on the slowest speed. Had to do a bit of recovery sanding afterwards to repair the unevenness. It should be a lot better when the 80 grit and 120 grit belt arrive.

I tried slurry sanding. With the first box it didn't work because I haven't done it before and I was using shellac. Even with 2 pound cut it dried too quickly for me. Not sure it worked. The plan is to put a couple of coats on it and try to get a dull finish. At the moment it looks a bit pale (especially next to "Da Laydee"). I might put a coat or two of danish oil or Tru-Oil on it to give it a bit of colour. Not sure. I'm using blonde shellac. I guess I can buy some darker shellac to colour it that way (and probably the better way forward) but dried shellac are expensive...

With "Da Laydee", I wet slurry sand with Walnut oil, and it seemed to work much better. The finish is brilliant as well, and I can see all 7 layers... Not sure I wanted to show the walnuts separately (maybe add a thin layer of something in between next time), and it wasn't as obvious with the Shellac (which was also 4 walnut layers in the middle). I shall see how it goes when it dries. May use the shellac as well and get a soft sheen finish.

Also forgot to put a handle on the drawer. Now that I have oiled it I fear that PVA may not work. I'll give it a go tomorrow. Probably use beech or walnut for it.

Adrian

 

[Alexam]

Well done Adrian, you made them very quickly. Everyone makes a few mistakes when they start but you are well on the way to producing some excellent work and I will be watching for the next ones you produce.
Malcolm