Brief Case

[srt]

Hello everyone, i am making a small brief case with oak which is 470mm x 210mm x 70mm.I have 30mm thick oak boards and would like to make the lid and the base about 6-8 mm give or take would i be able to rip these boards or will i have to plane them down to thickness.I would prefer to rip them as it will be less waste but iam worried if i rip them the might warp too much???

 

[Ian]

I would be worried about using a solid lid and base out of one piece, if it were me I would make the top and base with veneers glued to a mdf core. If that is not an option then resaw some oak (of the side) and glue about 7 pieces together and plane to your thickness - this will help to help keep the lid and base flat.

Hope that is of some help.

Ian

 

[srt]

Hello Ian if i planed it down evenly from each side and take it down to about 6-8 mm would it be free from moving that way?

 

[Ian]

I know what your saying but it will still want to move and if it were me I would want to minimise that and laminate several pieces.

Just my opinion

Ian

 

[srt]

Hi Ian i understand what your saying on laminating,i was also going to mitre the corners would this be strong enough with just glue or would it just open over time?

 

[Ian]

Mitres are not very strong by themselves - I would add some keys to the out side or if you don't want them to be seen and the inside is being lined then add to the inside. I use the internal type which consists of L shaped pieces of 6mm plywood set into routed grooves.

Will keep them together alot longer.

Best

Ian

 

[srt]

I like that idea Ian i have also seen that you can put in splines which also looks good would they provide sufficiant strenght?

 

[Ian]

Yes they sure would.

Is the case for show or to have heavy use?

 

[srt]

Hi Ian firstly thanks for your help much appreciated,it would be for very light use only, i love the boxes you make where do you get your material from for the insides?

 

[Ian]

That's fine then - GH leathers

 

[srt]

That's fine then - GH leathers

Cheers