Scrap Boxes - September

[gee-dub]

After the buffet, the blanket chest, and the jewelry cabinet I have a swell of scrap.

I dig through and find enough pieces that will yield a given size of parts.



I even lucked out on some birdseye for some of the tops.



I find taking a pass or two with a hand plane saves me from any peek-a-boo saw marks showing up after assembly.



I have 3 of one thickness and three or four of another. I try for repeated parts but sometimes the scraps drive the design. Therefor I do a dry fit on each variation.



Side note -- If you don't want to go the whole hose-boom route this little clamp on hose/cable manager from Rockler has served me pretty well over the years.



Another side note -- I had a senior moment. After working my fingers to the bone I suddenly realized that I had a variable speed detail sander available . . . Doh!



I clamp a straight thing to an assembly surface for reference. I put tape at each joint and line up the parts. I add a dab of silicone rubber to each piece in the top and bottom groove for the floating . . . er . . . top and bottom.



I add the top and bottom (in the right locations . . . don't ask) and add the glue to the miters.



Roll the case parts up.



And tape off the last joint.



I don't trust tape alone at a certain size. These are borderline. I add some clamps. After an hour I glue up another box and move the clamps as I only have two sets right now. An hour after that I pull the tape on the first box and continue that sequence.  I can adjust the tops and bottoms a bit to assure they are centered.  Once the silicone cures they will stay centered over he seasons.



I don't feel like sanding anymore right now so I may cut a top off and add the hinges on one. I will have to make trays and pulls for all of them as I go along. Plenty to do so I don't get bored and don't burn out on repetitious tasks.

[Ron Swanson Jr.]

Beautifully executed boxes! Very nice. 

 

Edited September 17, 2023 by D W C
Removed question

[pkinneb]

Some great tips in there @gee-dub the straight edge trick is one I will be using going forward!

[Mark J]

On 9/16/2023 at 2:33 PM, gee-dub said:

Roll the case parts up.



And tape off the last joint.

There will be some glue squeeze out on the inside of the blue taped corner joints.  But it's going to be inaccessible till dry.  How do you manage this?  Is it small enough to ignore, or do you scrape it out when dry?

[BillyJack]

Too bad you don’t live close to me. I just dumped two 96 gallon trash cans with wood scraps and working on my third..

[gee-dub]

On 9/18/2023 at 5:03 AM, Mark J said:

There will be some glue squeeze out on the inside of the blue taped corner joints.  But it's going to be inaccessible till dry.  How do you manage this?  Is it small enough to ignore, or do you scrape it out when dry?

I've gotten pretty good about guessing the right amount of glue but there is always the chance of a bit of squeeze out. I pre-finish the insides with shellac. This makes popping or paring the squeeze out pretty easy.  I use a paring chisel or something like this if required.

I have used the blue tape along the inside seams method but find it . . . meh.  The pre-finish helps with the finished appearance and the squeeze out.

[BillyJack]

Cabinetry we don’t over glue, furniture we flood  it.

[gee-dub]

Having out of town guests this week.  Had to take some time off to dress up the house.  Back at it this morning.  Here's a batch of tops waiting for floating panel joinery.  I do this at the tablesaw with a FTG blade.

For whatever reason I didn't take a pic of the joinery but it looks sort of like this from another batch some time ago.

We've all seen the top removal process but I will show it here just to make the thread more complete for future visitors.

 

 

 

I take a pic like this every now and then . . .

. . . just to let LOML know how much work I go through so she can rock her Christmas gifts.

[gee-dub]

I make a quick hinge mortise jig out of some scrap ply.

I secure the part and then clamp the jig to that part.

If this works well I can quickly and confidently do the rest of the boxes.

I find a guide and smaller drills make working with thin stock and tiny screws easier.

If you don't have a set of numbered drills they are not expensive. They don't come out often but I am glad to have them.

I use a steel screw of the same size to pre-thread the holes for the brass screws.

And I end up here.

The lid lines up well but I would like the mortises a bit deeper. I leave a reveal between lid and box via the hinge height / mortise depth so that small felt bumpers at the front position the lid evenly when closed. I have made lids close completely wood-to-wood in the past but never cared for the "clack" when the box is closed.

[gee-dub]

Over the years I have gathered some Amana so called miniature router bits. If you do any kind of detail work they can be handy. This is a 1/4" shank, 1/4" x 1/4" template bit that works great for small hinge mortises.

This is just more of me using the hinge mortise jig on the balance of the boxes.





I then position a hinge and use the holes in it to make index "cones" with a properly sized split point bit. You could use a transfer punch or another drill bit to mark the position. However, I have found that the cone left by a twist drill makes it nearly impossible to goof on the position of the pilot hole.



I use a number 53 for the #1 sized brass screws. The guide block keeps me perpendicular to the narrow edge and acts as a drill stop.

I use a steel screw of the same size as the brass screw to pre-cut the threads.

This may seem like a lot of extra steps but I cannot remember the last time I broke a brass screw. For the trays I have a lot of small parts that I have to cut rabbets on.

I can still count to ten. I want to make sure I can do so at an advanced age so I am a little overkill on safety. I don't want the nurses gypping me on my sponge bath time. Small parts call for holders. The Grr-Ripper has a feature for this but these parts are a little too small for the adjustable range of the push block.



I make a little helper at the bandsaw. This is just a spacer with a toe-hook built in.

The spacer let's me use the Grr-Ripper which holds the small parts down and against the fence while feeding.

If there were just a few I would just push the part and the spacer through by hand. With 32 parts to mill the Grr-Ripper saves wear and tear on my finger tips.

For assembly I use glue and tape.





The bottoms will be added later. To hold the frames till the glue cures I just slip them into the box bottoms.

[gee-dub]

I like the pulls on my boxes to have a sort of organic feel. I cut out blanks from scrap at the bandsaw.

These get rough-shaped at the spindle sander and hand sanded to final shape.

I cut little "dowels" of 18ga wire. I drill slightly undersized holes in the pull for these.

I chuck the dowel in a drill and literally spin them into the holes.

Ta-da.

I then use the bits of wire like dowel-centers and press them into the surface of the lid. Here I have highlighted the marks with a white pencil to make them show better in the pic.

I drill receiver holes.

And the pull sets like so.

Some glue and clamps and the assembly line continues . . .

I end up here.





This should temporarily solve the problem of "do we have anything to give so-and-so? They'll be here tomorrow."

[pkinneb]

Very nice!!

[Ron Swanson Jr.]

Stunning! Masterfully executed. How does a guy land himself on your Christmas list? ;)

 

[gee-dub]

Thanks all!

[oldman_pottering]

Mate, I'd be happy to be able just to make a solid square box, let alone with hinged lids etc, beautiful work

[gee-dub]

Thanks @oldman_pottering.  So much of what we do is just a series of steps.  Some small boxes can be every bit as involved as a larger wall cabinet.  This is why I think I am drawn to them between larger projects.  They keep my brain ticking but you can start, stop, and re-start working on them pretty freely.  You can even start with boxes without lids, with slide lids, or with lift-off lids.  These still let you play with the joinery and practice your skills.  Come to think of it, that's another good thing about small boxes . . . if you totally mess one up you don't lose much by just tossing it in the burn barrel.