Tool Chest - Finished


Immortan D

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Got the wood ripped with my bandsaw and edge jointed with hand planes today. I wanted to use a local species so I went for eucalyptus, which also has the advantage of not being in the heavy side.

Unfortunately my usual supplier was closed for vacation... so all I could get from another guy was a mass of cracks and knots. Luckily it was cheap.

After getting rid of the imperfections and evaluating the results, I decided to change my jointing strategy to dowels, which is not that bad because I love dowels LOL.

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I finished cutting all the rails and stiles and now I'm drilling for the dowels. Made all the cross cuts with my miter saw. Once I had all the stiles cut, I made a couple of makeshift saddle squares, using off cuts from the stiles, to help me accurately reference the length of the rails without having to measure.

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I positioned the jigs for each side and used an aluminum guide with a couple of sliding protractors to set the length of the three distinct frame configurations I have in my design. I used the interior part, upside down,  to clamp my jigs on the right corners for each length.

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After collecting each length, all I had to do was take the guide to my saw and set a stop.

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Of course I made a test cut before actually cutting the parts.

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They all fitted perfectly. I've used other methods in the past for this very same task  but this one was the most accurate and fastest method ever. 

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I've not had much success with dowels, especially multiple ones along one board. You've got to be dead nuts on for each and every one to fit. If yours works out, and I'm sure it will, you gotta teach this old man something. Looking good bud! 

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1 minute ago, K Cooper said:

I've not had much success with dowels, especially multiple ones along one board. You've got to be dead nuts on for each and every one to fit. If yours works out, and I'm sure it will, you gotta teach this old man something. Looking good bud! 

Thanks, Ken!

Dowels will work! I've done this a thousand times LOL

The secret is a good jig (I use steel bars and assemble my own jig depending on the joint) and most important, always reference the face of the pieces to be jointed. And take all necessary steps in order to prevent your jig from moving. That includes clamps, screws, whatever it takes.

I mark all corners before starting and use masking tape on all the holes on my jigs which will not be drilled. When possible I attach a wooden fence to the jig and always clamp it to the face of the piece. Also when possible, I attach a small fence for the corner and slide out of the way if I have to index the jig, like on this pic:

2017-01-10 17.02.20.jpg

 

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23 minutes ago, K Cooper said:

As is usually the case, you get out of it, what you put into it! I've been using a cheap ass jig from Rockler. I shouldn't say that. It will probably be "ok" if I were more accurate with my measurements. Thanks bud!

Measurements are important but when it comes to drilling for dowels, they play no role. Referencing the same face on both boards is what you have to pay attention to. With my jigs that means I cannot use the same setup on both parts of the same joint: I have to move the wooden fence to the other side of the jig to drill the other part, because if I didn't do that, I wouldn't be referencing the same face on both parts. 

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Nice progress Daniel.  What's it like to work with eucalyptus.  I always remember this small chest that my dad got from somewhere over sea's during the Pacific war.  It always had a distinct aroma when you opened it, kind of like aromatic cedar.

 

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1 hour ago, Chet K said:

Nice progress Daniel.  What's it like to work with eucalyptus.  I always remember this small chest that my dad got from somewhere over sea's during the Pacific war.  It always had a distinct aroma when you opened it, kind of like aromatic cedar.

 

It smells nice. Easy to work with hand planes. The grain is not tight though, special care has to be taken in order to avoid splitting and/or tearout. 

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I have a 13" by 7 1/2" panel I need to fit in a frame, both are 3/4" solid wood. I routed a 3/8" rabbet around all four sides of the panel and also on the back side of the frame. The width of those grooves is 1/2" and the panel's been sized in such way that, when installed, there's going to be a 1/4" visible groove all around the panel on both sides.

Can I just glue the panel to the frame? 

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