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View Full Version : Starting with the basics - butt joints, nails and glue



RufflyRustic
18th April 2006, 09:56 AM
Here's some boxes I've made recently.
1. Camphor Laurel with a beefwood, includes a box lock - hard shellac finish only. It's approximately 300 x 200 x 90. The top and bottom simply sit in the rebate, kept in place with the box corners.

I rushed this one, so after giving myself a good talking to, I decided to slow down, be more patient (yeah right:rolleyes: ) and start with practicing the basics - properly this time. Seems to have worked. I'm pleased with the results - cuts more square than ever before, nails hammered in without splitting the wood every single time, the boxes are more square than they have ever been, I'm happy.

2. Salt Box - Camphor Laurel with dowel hinges - hard shellac and EEE finish. about 170 x 190 x 100

3. WIP - a miniature chest, crapiata - it's practice only. I think the barrell top is too high but am unsure on this. It will sit in a base. It will be fun finding the right fittings for it, don't know whether I'll go gold ie brass or dark iron.

cheers
Wendy
______
PS I have to apologise for the photos. I am on holidays and don't have access to all the programs and tools I have at work. Sorry.

zenwood
18th April 2006, 10:22 AM
Great stuff, Ruffly! I'm going to have to find some camphor laurel somewhere. The dowel hinge is a neat idea.

I'd go dark iron for the chest.

Simomatra
18th April 2006, 10:31 AM
Well done Wendy:)

Nice to see that you and the wood are getting along
;)
Love your Camphor Laurel can rember as a kid that every house had a blanket box made of it:D

Cheers Sam:)

Wongo
18th April 2006, 10:51 AM
Wendy,
Great effort, the Camphor Laurel box looks nice. It must pretty tricky to install the lock?
:)

Wood Borer
18th April 2006, 11:09 AM
Wendy,

Good to see you have been busy with your woodwork over Easter. Those boxes look really good, are they for gifts or sale?

RufflyRustic
18th April 2006, 12:50 PM
Thanks Guys!!

Zen - just for you, dark iron it is.

The dowel hinge is a great, easy and very effective idea I got from a book listed below. I should have whittled the pegs, but I like my fingers where they are, they have enough cuts and lost fingernails for the present :cool:

The Book:-
Boxes & Chests, - How to make and decorate 15 traditional country projects - Alan and Gill Bridgewater, published by Stackpole Books, ISBN 0-8117-2559-6 (I'm on 7 weeks leave, I now have time to put in these little details:D - just a little gloat)

Sam - the big camphor chest will eventually get built, after I master dovetails, sigh.....

Wongo - the lock was actually quite easy to fit. Luckily enough the same book had great instructions to do so, but looks like I went the difficult path and mortised it in fully, instead of an open mortise so you can screw it in from inside the box - doh! Hand mortised - drill holes, be very careful and slow when chiseling - a good thing to do when you are not feeling 100% - well, it helped me do it slowly :) I realised one of ApricotTripper's bent chisels for getting the shavings out of the mortise would have been right handy then.

WoodBorer - There are a few stuff ups on the boxes - naturally:rolleyes: - so I couldn't really offer them for proper sale, however, I'd be more than happy to have the cost of materials/fittings donated to Ian for his fundraiser if there is interest. The Salt Box - I wouldn't put salt in it unless you like camphor salt:eek: - $10.

The little chest is supposed to be a gift - but it's so fun to make, I might make a couple more, especially if there's enough interest and I can help raise a few $ for Ian. Problem is the fittings will end up costing more than the wood!!!:( I hope to find them this afternoon.

Ah well, the learning is priceless :)
cheers
Wendy

doug the slug
18th April 2006, 02:05 PM
Problem is the fittings will end up costing more than the wood!!!:(

Thats usually the way Wendy, and nice workhttp://www.woodworkforums.ubeaut.com.au/images/icons/icon14.gif

AlexS
18th April 2006, 02:29 PM
Good results Wendy. The c/l came up well, looks good with that grain match.

Woody1
18th April 2006, 03:25 PM
Ruffly
Great job. I love all the boxes

johnc
18th April 2006, 11:40 PM
Ruffly

Nice boxes, nice timber choice.

John

RufflyRustic
20th April 2006, 11:49 PM
Thanks Woody1 and John

Zen - getting dark iron hardware for the box is a pain. Here's hoping third time lucky and I have all that I need now. Must be a lack of dark stuff around at present, there used to be heaps a few months ago:confused: Everything I've seen online is either too big or too expensive, well for pine anyway.:(

OK - here's my progress. Two days to figure out and cut the base curves - lot's of scraps from that learning experience.

Today I got the whole thing fitted together, lightly fitted the latch and finally found the hinges and some florentine piano hinge. I figure I 'should' be able to make the iron wrapping from the hinge.

To think that if this had been a normal sized chest, I'd have finished it by now:rolleyes:

Anyway, I'm really pleased with the progress, regardless of all the character bits in it (ok - mistakes ;) ). :)

cheers
Wendy

PS Pine doesn't talk, it cracks, splits, bows, warps and shakes. What a shame it doesn't rock'n roll as well......

zenwood
20th April 2006, 11:56 PM
Looking good so far. Base curves look very flash: are we going away from 'rustic'...?;)

Harry72
21st April 2006, 01:26 AM
Ruffy not so rustic!

Nice work Wendy the CL box looks spectacular.

RufflyRustic
21st April 2006, 09:07 AM
Thanks Harry72, AlexS, and Doug. I'm glad I finally had a chance to use the beefwood and yes, it matches in with the CL beautifully.

Zen, those curves were a b*&^%$# f*&^%$# to cut, no wonder it took me two days, two different approaches and about 2 metres of broken pine pieces to get them looking like that in the end. (Where's the tearing my hair out smiley:rolleyes: )

Yeah, not so ruff and rustic. This is the second piece I've built closely, well, almost, following a plan and to be honest, I'm not that wrapt with the process. However, it has taught me a lot. I can't wait to finish it and go back to my normal style. After so many days on this piece, I'm really looking forward to another day of dovetailing :)

cheers
Wendy

bitingmidge
21st April 2006, 09:18 AM
Zen - getting dark iron hardware for the box is a pain. Here's hoping third time lucky and I have all that I need now. Must be a lack of dark stuff around at present, there used to be heaps a few months ago:confused:

Wendy,

I haven't tried this, BUT: have you thought about dropping your nice shiny nickel plated hardware in the coals of a fire for five or ten minutes? I reckon if it got a bit hot (not quite red) the plating would change colour, and all you'd need to do would be wax it for a mellow, aged patina.

That's my theory, all I need now is a sucker... err...someone to test it!

Cheers,

P

Simomatra
21st April 2006, 09:27 AM
Well done Wendy

Looks as if you and the wood are geting along just fine. http://www.ubeaut.biz/woohoo.gif

Must be the elevation to the presindent's position ;)

Some nice grain there the box is looking great. I hope my first attempt at box making will be so good

Cheers Sam:)

DPB
21st April 2006, 11:58 AM
I enjoyed this thread on your boxes, Wendy. Keep up the good work.:)

RufflyRustic
21st April 2006, 12:16 PM
Thanks for the support. :)

Simomatra - you may have spoken too soon:rolleyes: Being prez hasn't helped at all:(

This box is really giving me grief. I don't know if it's lack of know-how and skills, or using the wrong hinges, or simply not looking hard enough for the hardware but I think I've hit the wall on this one in a big way. http://www.ubeaut.biz/banghead.gif

I found some small butt hinges painted dark brown. I cut the mortise for them (did a much better job this time - YAY) and screwed them in, but the box won't shut. Eased the edges and then realised the screwheads were hitting together. OK smaller screws, they don't touch anymore, all edges eased and the box still won't sit shut nicely.:confused: :confused: :confused: The hinges are obviously too big for the box and 12mm pine. They hang over the back of the box by about 5 mm and look horrible.

So am I using the wrong hinges or misfitting the butt hinges or both????http://www.ubeaut.biz/help.gif

The iron wrapping or box straps. Still can't find the right stuff for it. I really don't want to cut through all that piano hinge.

BitingMidge - I don't dare play with fire and metal, I'll leave that to Andy Mac.:o Though it is a darn good idea.

I thought of painting on the box straps, but I don't think it would look as good and I don't have Jill's skills in painting.

Sigh! http://www.ubeaut.biz/shame.gif Must be time to put it aside for awhile until I can find what I really want for it before I thoroughly ruin it.

cheers
Wendy

Carry Pine
21st April 2006, 12:34 PM
If hinges are an ongoing concern there was an article in the Wood Review about fitting them. It went into detail even to the point of removing the fake coating on screws and hinges and poloshing the screws with brasso in a drill. If you are interested I will look it up.

jmk89
21st April 2006, 12:49 PM
The iron wrapping or box straps. Still can't find the right stuff for it. I really don't want to cut through all that piano hinge.



I thought of painting on the box straps, but I don't think it would look as good and I don't have Jill's skills in painting.

Sigh! http://www.ubeaut.biz/shame.gif Must be time to put it aside for awhile until I can find what I really want for it before I thoroughly ruin it.

cheers
Wendy

Wendy

Since it appears that the straps are purely decorative, why not go to your closest shop that sells model train and aeroplane stuff and buy the right size of brass strip rather than using iron. Brass binding of those kinds of chests is perfectly authentic and if you want it black, you can readily paint it before you install.

Cheers

Jeremy

zenwood
21st April 2006, 07:21 PM
If the box isn't closing because the hinges are binding, I think you need deeper hinge mortises.

And yes, a bit of heat makes new brass look nice and aged. I've done it by putting them on the stove top for a while. No doubt google could turn up some other suggestions.

ptc
21st April 2006, 09:19 PM
Wendy.
only just found your post on your boxes.(i must have been asleep sorry.)
they are great !
as for stuff ups remember " They Are Inovations !"
Peter.

RufflyRustic
22nd April 2006, 02:25 PM
Thanks - more good suggestions to follow up on. I got some hooping iron and will have a play with that this afternoon. I really don't want to go brass, but I just might. Zen - is that like what I did to my brand new stainless steel saucepan lid when I left it on top of the element and turned on the wrong hot plate - one multi-coloured lid:rolleyes:

The good news is that I found the right size handles yesterday, so that's one problem out of the way.:)

Carry Pine - I would greatly appreciate some info from the magazine about hinges - Thanks!

P.T.C. - you are so right about innovations - this one certainly has got me thinking along some very wierd lines .

Cheers
Wendy

TTIT
24th April 2006, 12:38 AM
""7 weeks leave"":eek: You must work for EQ too ;).

Love the boxes Ruffly. I know you don't want to play with fire and steel but if you really want the black-iron look, get someone to heat up the hardware and drop it in some old sump-oil - nice black finish that doesn't rust too easy.

PS: Can't have you wasting your talents on Crapiata though. Know what to bring through next trip now!

RufflyRustic
24th April 2006, 09:16 PM
Hi TTIT,

Yeah, I'm a bit nervous about playing with metal and fire.

Yep, shouldn't have used pine, but at least now the next one should be a lot easier to make.

Today's good news is I finally got hold of some of that brown hooping iron and a pair of brass hinges which I'll fiddle with, either paint or see if HWMNBO will fire them for me. Definitely worthwhile taking a break from it.

I've also decided to use that Sikkens HLS Dark Oak to give it a lovely aged colour - well, it looked really good on the test piece :)

cheers
Wendy

Bodgy
24th April 2006, 10:02 PM
Enjoy your hols Ruffy. One expects and requires more pictorial evidence of your outputs!

Driver
24th April 2006, 10:53 PM
Wendy

I am very impressed! This is great work. Well done! If the BB will allow me to give you a greenie, there will be one from me in your list soon.

I've only just attempted box-making (see elsewhere in this forum) and, after enjoying the scope for error that large items of furniture allow, I now have a better appreciation of the accuracy and delicate touch required to make small boxes.

Goodonya!

Col

bitingmidge
24th April 2006, 11:09 PM
I've only just attempted box-making (see elsewhere in this forum) and, after enjoying the scope for error that large items of furniture allow, I now have a better appreciation of the accuracy and delicate touch required to make small boxes.
Good point Col!

Having just worked my way down to a 1200 x 1500 x 2m high version myself, it may be a few more tries before I get to the scale you are perfecting Wendy!

I'm looking forward to you solving the hardware blackening issues before I get there though!

cheers,

P ;)

RufflyRustic
25th April 2006, 08:36 PM
TTIT - 7 weeks leave from working at Uni actually started at 8 and is now down to 5 1/2 weeks left :( It's going tooooo quickly.

Bodgy - I'm not going to make promises - too easy to break them :cool: but the next photo of the chest will indeed be interesting - that I can promise:) Started another project today, and finished the saw till. I have my usual 3-6 projects going all at once, with many new ones running around in my head - don't know how I sleep sometimes there's so much going on up there and 90% of it is to do with wood, plans, fittings.... :confused: :eek: :rolleyes:

Thanks Col!!!:)

BM - The brown hooping iron is perfect - Whew! no blackening needed (yep, I chickened out) :o The hinges I'm yet to get to. Am figuring Feast Watson Black Prooftint followed by some brass spray lacquer.

cheers
Wendy

RufflyRustic
27th April 2006, 11:04 AM
Yay - it's finished!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Finally!

The brown hooping iron was perfect!!! Easy to cut, bend, drill and countersink. If only I could make a hinge out of it and then I'd be set :)

I also put in a little ditty box - yes they are actually called that! but without the lid.

Finished with hard shellac, Sikkens HLS Dark Oak - more shellac and of course EEE buffed with the swansdown mop. Swweeeeeeettttt!!!!!!

cheers
Wendy

ptc
27th April 2006, 11:28 AM
Looks great !
Now you need to build a Galleon to go with it !
A greenie on the way if i'm allowed.

Not allowed yet.

zenwood
27th April 2006, 11:29 AM
Fantastic stuff, Ruffly!!

That ironmongery really sets it off. BTW: why can't you make hinges? Just cut a couple of tabs out and wrap them round a decapitated nail--and voila!--a brown hooping hinge.

Greeny will be attempted...

Simomatra
27th April 2006, 01:57 PM
Fantastic Wendy.

The iron work really sets it off. http://www.ubeaut.biz/thumbupwink.gif

Looks like a minature of the real thing.http://www.ubeaut.biz/captain.gifYou just have to fill it up with some treasure now


http://www.ubeaut.biz/cheers.gif Sam

Bodgy
27th April 2006, 02:17 PM
That looks really, seriously good, Ruffy.

Well done.

TTIT
27th April 2006, 04:12 PM
Bloody brilliant result Ruffly - very authentic look to it. Consider yourself greened again.:D

RufflyRustic
27th April 2006, 09:02 PM
Thanks Guys! It was certainly worth all the hassle in the end.
Zen, I'll have to try the hinges anyway and maybe even the latch as these are the two things I'm not happy with - i.e. the latch looks like it's breaking anyway :cool:


I showed one of the guys at one of the furniture shops here in town from where I got the handles and even he said it was a good job while sounding a little surprised. :D I think he realises I'm serious now as I walked out with a lovely little piece of ironbark. I'm so going back there again :D to get the hardware for the next chest.

A Galleon????? :eek: :eek: :eek:

TTIT - authentic aye? it's even got it's own set of banged bits and scratches, dents already, so yes, it's authentic :)

Treasures - must remember to tell HWMBO that my new jewellry box is empty:D

cheers
Wendy

TTIT
28th April 2006, 12:00 AM
Treasures - must remember to tell HWMBO that my new jewellry box is empty:D

cheers
Wendy

If telling him the box is empty gets it filled, build a shed and tell him that's empty too ;).