More bandsaw boxes

[twodoctors]

More bandsaw boxes. Slight variation to a drawer type... I thought I would make something that's a bit more practical for the size.

Bought a couple of blocks of spalted beech/ash three weeks-ish ago. Thanks again for the heads up from Pete Maddex. Couldn't decided what to do with them. The blocks were approx 120x120x70-ish, and could have made a small bandsaw box with drawer easily... but that would be a bit boring. So I thought I would make a round box instead. A variation from what Steve Maskery showed me when I visited him in March. He showed me one with a rotating lid. This one is just a lift-up lid.

Again, had to thank Malcolm (Alexam) for letting me use his bandsaw for part of the project. I cut the top and bottom off at his place when I visited him yesterday, as my baby bandsaw can't up deeper than 80mm. Schoolboy error no.1, work out all the cuts you need for the project! Even though I managed to get the back cut, I forgot about the inner part of the lid...

Like all bandsaw boxes, I cut the top and bottom off and then cut the innards out. Did the top and bottom at Malcolm's place. Used double sided tape to put the all back together temporarily, then cut the circle profile out. So far so good. Proceed to cut the "cavity" out of the "body", also no issues. Then I needed to cut the lower half of the lid using the "cavity" bit, and that's when I realise the diameter of that is still larger than 80mm. :-(

Like all good bodger does, I took the tenon saw out and cut a small chunk out of the "cavity" bit, then smoothed it out with the thicknesser. Glue it all up again and I have two small boxes.

Now I need to work out what finish to apply on them. I'm thinking shellac on the ?spalted beech (lighter one) and Osmo-oil for the ?Ash (darker one). Also need to flock the inside and part of the lid, and then cut out a shape with the scroll saw for the handle (and also to cover the hole I made with the compass when drawing the circle!

Simple box that cost less than a fiver of material. Probably sell for £10-20 if made by someone else more skillful than me, and more if store bought. Mine? I'll probably have to pay someone a tenner to take it away! :-D

Post more photos as I progress.

Adrian

 

[twodoctors]

And this is what happen when you have an impatient woodworker with insomnia! Spalted beech butterfly (courtesy of Malcolm) and sycamore boxer dog (from my own off cuts collection!)

Better go to bed!

Adrian

 

[twodoctors]

Finally got round to finishing them.

Shellac on the spalted ash, and Osmo Oil on the... the other one! Used clear lacquer for the dog and butterfly.

Mistakes / I've learned from this two boxes:

Diluted PVA is not that great a sealer. I think that has stopped the glue for the flocking from staying on properly in the butterfly box. The flock is a bit thin in certain places... having said that same technique, different box yield better results. It might be the flocking glue that I'm using. I'll try shellac as a sealer for the dog box before flocking it.

I used the inner cut from the box as part of the lid so it doesn't slide around. The inner cut is a bit smaller in diameter then the hole because of the kerf from cutting. Even when gluing the box back together, when in theory it would make the hole a bit smaller, the lid is still a bit loose fitting. Possible solutions include using a completely new piece of wood, but that would detract from the "one-piece" nature of a bandsaw box. However after flocking the inner side of the box, the fit was a lot better. The lid will still fall off if inverted, but tight enough to stop it from sliding around.

Shellac is quite yellowing in nature. Certainly made the spalted beech a bit "too yellow" for my liking. I used clear lacquer for the "dog" as it was sycamore and was keen to keep the white of it. Not as nice to apply (in my hands) as shellac, with all the bubbles it generates with each brush stroke. Maybe I'm doing it wrong.

Opinion and advice welcomed.

Adrian