How would you do it?

[Ronn W]

Every project has to have a new technique or something to be learned.  So.........The first picture shows a board that will be cross cut into 4 pieces, to form the sides of a box.  The corners will be mitered.  The pencil show where the cross cuts will be.  The wavy groove is 1/16" wide and 1/16" deep and will be inlaid with a ribbon represented by the little piece of mahogany.  The ribbon is a boundary between 2 different finishes: a colored dye below the ribbon and a natural finish above. The dye while be applied before the ribbon is inserted so that the 1/16" groove will prevent the dye from seeping into the natural finish area. I want the ribbon to look like it is continuous around the box.  The ribbon will be dyed black prior to being installed.

If you were doing this would you 1) Dye the lower portion then install ribbon, then cut the miters, then assemble the sides or: 2)  cut the miters, assemble the sides, dye the lower portion and then install the ribbon:  3) other.     I think that the corners where the ribbons meet will be be easier to make look good if I use #1, but I would appreciate your ideas and suggestions.

Hijack my own thread:  This was my first time using my new set of bushings for the router.  I wanted to use a standardized set of bushings and not the very expensive set of Triton bushings.  But I could not find a sub base that would fit the Triton and  that would accept the bushings and lock nut.  So I bought a scrap of 1/4 plastic poly carbonate and made my own sub-base from scratch.  That was a learning experience all by itself. [ Hint:  Drill the 4 mounting bolt holes first and then use a pointed router bit in the collet to mark for the center bushing hole.] It came out pretty well and the bit is dead center in the bushing.  My only regret is that I should have used clear plastic so I can see what I am doing.  Live and learn.

[Chet]

I think your first idea is the way to go.  I would feel that getting the dye done and the ribbon inserted in a single piece of lumber will make the whole thing have a better continuous flow once you cut the miters.  Trying to get the ribbon to look as nice after the miters are cut is going to be a lot of extra work. 

[Barron]

To get a really clean match you may need recut the width for each piece after cutting the miters.  It's not much, but the saw kerf is enough to keep things from lining up.  

[treeslayer]

31 minutes ago, Barron said:

t's not much, but the saw kerf is enough to keep things from lining up.  

Barron is on to something i think, you're going to loose at least an 1/8" at the miters and may cause an alignment problem, having said that where you're going to cut them is probably the best choice, at the apex of the curve. you could double stick tape your guide pieces all the way around the box after its assembled for a better match on the grooves. be sure to post some more pictures Ronn and anything you learn, thats going to be a cool box and i may have to swipe that one from you, nice work so far.

[Ronn W]

Thanks for the alignment suggestions, I did try to straighten the lines for about 1/4" where the corners will be to allow for the the saw kerf.  I'll just have to see how it turns out.  I won't be able to do much alignment adjusting during gluing since I routed a dado for the box bottom already.  That may have been a mistake.  I am apprehensive about getting the miters right to begin with so I do have a plan B if the corners go south on me.  Waiting for my dye to arrive so I can do some samples.