Cutting the box in half

[Michael Schaefer]

It is my understanding that the box is supposed to get cut into the lid/bottom after being turned into a box.  This sounds like a great idea to ensure a nice tight seam, but it does immediately leave me wondering how Marc intends to do this.  My first guess is with a band saw, but I am curious and hopeful that there is a more ingenious solution as I don't have a bandsaw.  I know I'm skipping ahead a few weeks on the build, but I'm trying to plan how I'll do this.  Thanks.

[hidrotule2001]

I've always done this on the table-saw, since I wanted a cleaner cut.  I'm sure there are lots of references on doing this, but here's the first I came across:

 

http://woodworkingtips.com/etips/etip021800sn.html

[wdwerker]

If you set a tablesaw to 1/16 less than the thickness of your box sides and cut all 4 sides the top is still attached by that 1/16 th. A few careful strokes with a sharp hand saw will complete the cut.

[Michael Schaefer]

I'm probably opening another can of worms here, but, the tablesaw option looks great however I'm using a Rigid R4510 (portable contractor saw) and will definitely need to upgrade the blade to make this sort of high quality cut.  Recommendations?

[Chris H]

I'm probably opening another can of worms here, but, the tablesaw option looks great however I'm using a Rigid R4510 (portable contractor saw) and will definitely need to upgrade the blade to make this sort of high quality cut.  Recommendations?

I did several humidors on an old Craftsmen contractor saw before I got my hybrid Ridgid, and I was just using a big box Freud blade (50 tooth, I think).  I have since upgraded to a Forrest WWII thin kerf blade which is better, but definitely not a requirement.  

 

The biggest thing with a contractor saw is make sure your fence / reference guide is exactly parallel, so your cut lines meet up nicely.  Also, put blue tape on the cut line to reduce chip out.  In fact, I recommend a lot of blue tape for when cutting the top of.  It prevents a lot of damage to the wood from sliding on the cast iron or against the fence (some softer woods may scratch).  

[wdwerker]

With a basic saw a thin blade with a blade stiffener will give you your best cut. Blue tape will help w chip out, so will a zero clearance throat plate. It you don't have one or it will be difficult to adapt one to your saw try this trick, after setting your fence lower the blade and tape or clamp a piece of 1/4 MDF over the saw( make sure it won't move and that nothing will interfere with cutting the box top off) then you slowly raise the running blade up through the 1/4" until it is near the height to cut your box. Fine tune the height and cut some test pieces of scrap from your box before you cut the box.

I always save project scraps for test cuts and set up work. This is a good habit to get into. If you barely have enough wood to build a project plane some cheaper material to the same thickness to use for test cuts and such.

[kaiser]

I'm probably opening another can of worms here, but, the tablesaw option looks great however I'm using a Rigid R4510 (portable contractor saw) and will definitely need to upgrade the blade to make this sort of high quality cut.  Recommendations?

you can always handplane the 2 surfaces once cut.

[AMarshall]

A little late, but I can confirm that Marc is planning to use the table saw.  The plans show 1/4" thick trim in the middle of the box, where the lip will be.  This was sized so that a 1/8" table saw cut would leave 1/16" on the lid and base of the box for an edging.

[Byrdie]

I did a few boxes with a fit lip top.  My technique on those was to rout a groove half the depth on the inside of the flat stock above the line of the lip before glue up.  After the box was glued up I routed the same width and depth groove below the line on the outside of the box.  Basically the bottom of the inside groove touched the top of the outside groove.  A nice sharp razor blade finished the through cut and with a little sanding I got a nice tight fit.