Smaller is Not Simpler Part II

     Before I picked up the lumber for the table base commission I just received I decided to design the handle for the Maple Splendor box.  Even though it's a small detail it needs to be right to go along with the overall design of the box.  Here's what I came up with:

Maple Splendor Handle

     I like the idea of attaching it without any screws so naturally a mortise and tenon is the way to go.  It's a little over 2 1/2" long with a 1/4" x 1 1/2" tenon.  This wood is pretty difficult to work with, exotics become desirable because of their grain patterns.  The very thing that makes them beautiful also makes them hard to work with.  After cutting the handle to rough shape and forming the tenon I found that the spokeshave I'd made a few years ago was the best tool to bring it to shape.
     Here it is, ready to be glued into the lid:

     Not to sound like a broken record but the grain on this piece is stunning.  You can see in the picture that the ends of the dovetails still need to be trimmed but that can wait.  I'm experimenting with spraying super blonde shellac on some test pieces.  It's pretty hot and above the recommended temperature to apply shellac but I'm thinning it down considerable and using an airbrush to do it.  I'll let the samples cure for a few days and then see how they rub out.

Maple Splendor

Splendorous Don't You Think??

     Wasn't too sure if splendorous was a word but since I didn't get the squiggly line it must have passed the spell check!  I met a man (via the internet) from Virginia who saw my scrub plane on Highland Woodworking's newsletter.  He asked for more information which I gladly gave and in return, he sent me some local wood that he's been harvesting.  They were two beautiful pieces, one Curly Cherry and the other Curly Maple.  The photograph downs't begin to do it justice though, it really is a spectacular piece.  Even with my Lie-Nielsen smooth plane I still got a bit of tear out but the cabinet scraper tamed that for me.  In any case, I've decided to use this piece as the lid for another of the Slanted Dovetail boxes.
     I'm a "tails first" kind of dovetailer and in a previous blog I mentioned how I use the table saw to do the Stanley 140 Trick.  This time around thought I'd do it more safely with a tenoning jig rather than just holding the piece up against the fence and it worked fine.

Safer Way to Cut Tailboard 

     Once that was completed the tails were laid out and cut, again I cut both sides of the box at a time:

     Then before I cut off the outer sides I prefer to make a slight notch with a chisel for the dovetail saw to ride in.  I find that this is a good aid  for the saw.  By cutting just shy of the line you can pare right to your marked line.  A technique I use to refresh the edge of the chisels is one I learned about from Everett Ellenwood.  I rented a DVD of his from SmartFlix and what he does is use a piece of cardboard as stropping material.  Recommended is a smooth cardboard like a cereal box.  It's charged with a white rouge, placed on a hard, flat surface and the chisels drawn across it.

Stropping Trick

     What makes using the white rouge so nice is that you can see the track marks of the removed metal   This will show any small nicks that may be in the blade.  Once the bevel is refreshed the back is rubbed on the cardboard and you're good to go.  What I like about this technique is that it won't matter if you cut the stropping cardboard which isn't good if you're using a leather strop.  Besides, it's keeping with the green movement and recycling (that's a tongue in cheek remark!).  When I taught the dovetail class last summer we just kept some cardboard pieces on a machine top and the students were able to maintain a sharp edge on their chisels.
     One of the small problems of the slanted dovetail box is clamping it squarely when gluing up.  The tails are almost an inch and a half long so need a good caul.  What I tried on this box was to use a couple of pieces of UHMW polyethylene to press down on the tails:

Assembly Clamping Process

     These were then covered with another piece of the polyethylene and clamped to a flat surface.  You can see the try square and it was just a matter of moving the clamps as needed.  I let this dry for a few hours and then used the same technique to attach the other side and bottom.  Next up is work on the lid and trying to fashion a handle that will be functional yet not take away from the beauty of the grain patterns on the lid.

This is Fun!! Happy Fourth of July

Almost Ready for Finishing

     Couldn't resist posting these unfinished box pictures, I think they're a fun use of wood and somewhat playful in design.  They're roughly 2" tall and 3" x 7".  The one thing I realize though is that even though my plan was to produce a few boxes fairly quickly and price them to be what I'd call an "impulse item"  I'm guessing there is no such thing!  That's okay with me, it really isn't about the money.  For me the creative part and the process of working with the wood is what it's all about.  These are a good case in point.  Art Espenet Carpenter said it right; Time = Care rather than the standard adage of Time = Money.
   
     The lids were fun to make and I'm pleased with how they came out.  Since our humidity has been so low lately I thought it would be wise to allow some space between the rabbet on the lid and the box sides.  I'd much rather have the lid fit a bit looser than not being able to take it off if the lid expands in more humid conditions.  Having never worked with these species of wood seems like a good idea.  Many times you hear arguments/discussions among woodworkers about machine work versus hand work.  The chamfer on the top of the lid was done by hand.  Doing it manually eliminates the noise, dust, and probability of burning the wood with that spinning router bit.  Really didn't take long at all.  First of, a pencil and small combination square was used to draw the line to work to:

Chamfer Lay-Out

     I was able to clamp the lid between the bench dogs at the rabbet.  This way there was no danger of the plane hitting them.  Always go across the grain first, this applies to hand work or machine work since the the grain will tend to tear out.  This tear out will be eliminated when the edges are cut.  Here's a close up of the work on an end:

Working to the Line

     What's so cool about this is that it just gets to be a matter of muscle memory.  The line drawn on the edge and face is really just a loose reference point and your objective is to move the plane at the angle so you reach both lines at the same time.  I find that I also count strokes, the ends took about 30 each.
Once they were completed the sides had to be done, this is more a visual thing than anything else.  The goal is to create a crisp, 45 degree cut from the intersection of the lines to the tip of the lid:

Have to be Ambidextrous...

to Plane with the Grain!

     It's not to difficult to see how the edge meets the chamfer planed on the end, should make a good miter.  By putting a low bench dog in the outside vise jaw I was able to plane without any interference, this is where being ambidextrous comes in handy.  I may try spraying these smaller boxes with shellac but, the weather may not cooperate with that plan.  Most recommend temps below 85 degrees or so and that's just not going to happen.  I'll do an experiment by spraying some 1/2 lb. cut through an air brush and see what the results are.  I have a gorgeous piece of Curly Maple that I'd really like to finish with super blonde Shellac --- we'll see.

Cabinet Scrapers are Awesome!

Nothing Like It

     Although most of my time has been spent working on the dovetails for the Maple Splendor box I needed a break from the exacting work so am playing around with some of the Brazilian Satinwood and the Macacauba.  Maybe it's corny but I'm going to do a series of boxes and title them "A River Runs Through It".  They will feature some free form bandsaw work on the tops reminiscent of a river or stream running between it's banks.  These will be smaller sized boxes that will be decorative and functional.  Smoothing out the irregularities and removing the Gorilla Glue was easy work with my freshly burnished cabinet scraper.  Here's another shot:

     It's pretty amazing how the shavings even stay together where the two woods are joined!

     Once the rest of the box was resawn and mitered the shooting board was used to make them the exact same width.  Here's something I should have shown at the demonstration I gave at the Sin City Woodworkers last Wednesday; how to insure that each piece is the same width.  That's done by clamping a stop block to the fence as shown here:

Use of the Stop Block

     Here's what it looks like from a different point of view:

Stop Block

     When I made this shooting board I considered making a more sophisticated stop block arrangement but this works just fine.  Quite often, simple is better.  It got too hot in the shop and besides it's time to call it a night.  Tomorrow I'll continue work on the slanted dovetail box plus fit the bottom to these boxes and assemble them using packaging tape.  Needs to be done when it's as cool as possible but since these are so small I'll more than likely assemble them on the kitchen island in the air conditioned house!

Dovetail Tutorial / Slanted Dovetail Box #2

     The second slanted dovetail box is made of Zebrawood and Walnut.  The length of the tails adds some difficulty to it but I think the final result is well worth the effort.  I can only echo what I said in an earlier post -- smaller does not equal easier!  This seems like a good time to do a tutorial on making dovetails.  There are many ways to do them and like most other woodworkers I've come up with a system that works well for me.  My preference is to cut tails first.

Stanley #140 Trick on Table Saw, not OSHA approved

     Stanley made a skewed plane that could be used to cut a rabbet of sorts on the end of your drawer or box sides.  The purpose of this trick is to create a shoulder that will sit against the front piece and give a clean intersection inside of the box or drawer.  A set of skewed planes was used and Lie-Nielsen makes their quality pair but they are pricey.  This way works too, keep in mind that tails wouldn't be this long in a typical drawer, you'd have 3/4" of blade showing at most.  I suppose you could use a tenoning jig for this as well but this way works, just be careful. Keep a firm grip on the wood and around your rip fence.
     After this step is complete it's time to lay out and cut the tails.

Cutting the Tails

          I generally cut both sides of the tail boards at one time, before transferring the tails to the pin board you should check them for square:

Checking Tails for Square

     If the sides aren't square you'll have a real hard time fitting them into the pin board.  In case you're wondering what the green tape is for I found it pretty confusing keeping track of which end is up so this was just a way to mark them.  After these edges are square it's time to remove the waste between the tails.

Removing Waste

     A small section is removed right on the scribed line to give the chisel back a flat surface.  I'll generally enlarge that until I'm half way through.  There's really no reason to remove all of the waste to the end of the board.  By leaving it, there is more support and less risk of a ragged cut when the tail board is flipped over to remove all of the waste.
     Now it's time to transfer the tails to the pin board.  To hold the beveled sides for this box it's necessary to either use the cut offs or make an angled jig like the one shown here:

Jig to Secure End Pieces

     Transferring is done with a marking knife and due to the length of these (1 1/2") I make about 2 additional cuts in the waste area to make removing it a bit easier.  In the above picture the pin board is almost complete but the jig is also used for the initial steps of chopping out the waste.  Notice the additional cuts made in the waste area.

Holding Jig

Holding Jig

     A complication with this box design is keeping everything square during glue up.  The small size makes it tricky to check for 90 degrees because the clamps take up a bit of room.  If the box wiggles when it's on a flat surface here's an easy method to make it sit flat.  I'm using decorative screw hole buttons for feet, these are glued on into 1/2" holes.

Decorative Screw Hole Feet

     Next you clamp a piece of 100 grit paper to a flat surface, I'm using the tablesaw and by putting weight on one end of the box and rubbing it back and forth on the sandpaper it's a quick process to remove any slight wiggling:

Taking Care of the Wiggle

     This box has just been oiled so it's on to the next one.  I'm planning 2 more of the Slanted Dovetail boxes as well as 2 more of the Urban Ranch design.  I have a beautiful piece of curly Maple that I want to showcase for some other boxes, right now I'm leaning towards a sliding top design similar to the style of boxes the Shakers made to hold candles.

Extremely Labor Intensive

First Coat of Finish

     I'm not sure how others who work with wood feel about this but there are times on a project where I question the direction a project is going in.  Maybe I feel it's taking more time than I thought it would or should, maybe there's a set back or a failure, or what I envisioned in my mind is not what's happening.  Then, after working through all of those negative thoughts, I apply the first coat of finish and my vision is just as I'd anticipated.  Now all of the time spent has been justified and most of the problems are forgotten and lessons are learned.  Kind of like Marine Corps boot camp, only the good memories remain.
     The dark, reddish wood is called Macacauba and I just had a vision of brass being the perfect highlight for it.  Time consuming process because each finger was predrilled before the box was assembled to make sure they're all in the exact location.  Once the box was assembled the hole was enlarged ever so slightly so a brass screw could be inserted.  Well, brass is soft and Macacauba is hard so in my trial piece the screw twisted apart before it went in beyond the threaded part.  That added a step to the process:

 

Brass Screw Sequence (4 down; 48 to go!)

     I needed to cut the screw down first (right in picture) from the original 1" length (center in picture).  Then pre-drill each hole and drive the screw in until the threads were below the surface.  Next the head (left in picture) was cut off which ends up a little point at the bottom of the box.  This needs to be filed first, then sanded flush with the wood.  At the time I was wondering if it would be worth the effort but after seeing the first coat of finish I feel it was.  This process, just like so many others in woodworking, had it's finer points.  There was a fine line between the screw driven deep enough or else having the head twist off. That's what I feel makes this craft exciting, you're never really in control of what the wood wants to do. Just when you think you may have a technique figured out some bit of gnarly grain or tiny knot reacts in a way to let you know  you're really not in full control here.
     Now is time to start on the slanted dovetail series of boxes.  This style of boxes is predominately done by hand with dovetail saw and chisels.  The plan is to do one in Cherry & Leopardwood, one in Walnut & Zebrawood, and another in all Maple.  Looking forward to spending some quiet, relaxing work on those.

Whatever Was I Thinking?

     The morning started off with some pretty cool temperatures in the shop -- 83 degrees.  Because of that I figured if I got right on it at 7 am I could assemble the finger jointed boxes before the heat set in.  Here's the results:

75 % Isn't the Best Results!

     Unfortunately the Brazilian Satinwood box at the lower left isn't going to leave the shop.  During the assembly process, one of the Walnut pegs hit the groove the bottom sits in and went off by about an eighth of an inch.  That resulted in the box being out of square the same amount -- bummer.  I'll cut it apart to save the top piece and repurpose it for another box in the future.  I attempted planing the side of the lid but it's not up to my quality standards for leaving the shop.  The lid has some red coloration in it so hopefully I can design a different box for it.  Lots of work left to do on these though.
     For starters, each finger of the Macacauba boxes in the background will need to be pre-drilled for a brass screw.  Once that's done and the screw is inserted, the head of it will be cut off and then filed and sanded level with the sides for decorative accents.  Total of over 60 screws between the two boxes!  The Satinwood box will be somewhat easier, all that it needs is to have the Walnut pegs cut flush, planed, sanded, and finished.
     Here's what I started the morning with:

Yeah, What Was I Thinking??

..... and this is only for the Brazilian Satinwood boxes.  The insides of the each edge was taped to make any glue squeeze out easier to remove.  Almost wish I was an octopus for this assembly job.  The sequence was to apply glue to the fingers for the back and it's corresponding side.  These were assembled and the bottom was inserted into the groove.  Next, a brass pin and washer was put into place and the lid attached to the one side.  Now comes the fun part, gluing the remaining joints, fitting the hinge pin and the fingers in their proper place and all the time trying to be expedient so the glue won't set up in the heat before all's assembled.  I started with the smallest box and worked my way up.  For work like this I prefer to use Liquid Hide Glue as it allows more open time than other glues do.  Plus, it is reversible by soaking the joint with water.  I'd considered doing that for the box that went astray but decided not to. I've spent an incredible amount of time on these so far so if I want to make at least welfare wages on them it's not worth saving at this time.
     You may notice that the lids of the boxes have a different look than the rest of the box does.  That's because they are pretty much finished prior to assembly.  The way things go on this design with the hidden hinge pins once it's glued together that's it -- no more adjustments or fixes.  I'm pleased with how they feel when you open/shut them and hope they'll be a project someone will want.