Thread: Blackwood and Tassie Oak

Looking sweet [emoji108]

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Looks great I think Blackwood and Tassie Oak work very well together.

Nice box Dallas. I notice you got the spacing right so that when you cut the lid off your dovetails were nice and even.

You’ve done well Dallas
cheers Peter

Hi Dallas,

Very nice box. I understand what you say about the Gifkins jig but I’m sure you will find it gets much easier very quickly with practise. Blackwood is just lovely, isn’t it - just wish it wouldn’t splinter so easily.

i’d love to see this box if it were lined with a deep plum or burgundy lining.

Look forward to seeing the next creation!

Brian

Hey there Dallas, very good mate, well done, all joints etc look very nice indeed. Doesn't take too long to get the hang of using that jig. Main thing is just taking your time.

Paul

Thanks for the encouragement guys. I find making boxes challenging but satisfying as I do like to get things right. I need to upskill to some of the fancier builds by adding some more detail.

Originally Posted by aldav

Nice box Dallas. I notice you got the spacing right so that when you cut the lid off your dovetails were nice and even.

I used a 1.6mm slot cutter in the router to remove the lid so as not to loose any more wood than absolutely necessary.

Originally Posted by homey

Blackwood is just lovely, isn’t it - just wish it wouldn’t splinter so easily.
i’d love to see this box if it were lined with a deep plum or burgundy lining.

I didn't know if it was me or not as I found trying not to get splintering was difficult, so I'm glad you have mentioned it so that I know it's not entirely my fault.
I was considering lining it but I had used a solid Oak panel in the bottom and didn't like covering it up.

Originally Posted by Pauls321

Doesn't take too long to get the hang of using that jig. Main thing is just taking your time.

Yes I think next time will be a lot more relaxing. I like to work by feel so never go gungho at anything.

Originally Posted by talors

Looks great I think Blackwood and Tassie Oak work very well together.

Yes I like the contrast too. Unfortunately my photographic skills don't show how light the Tassie Oak is.

Hi Treecycle

Thanks for sharing and you have achieved a great result there with the combination of timbers and finishing touches. Can I ask how you went about cutting the recesses for the strap hinges.

Thanks Yosam. I cut the recesses on the router table with stops set along the fence to cut the recess to the correct length. I set up one stop and cut one recess in the box body and one in the lid and then remove that one and set up a stop on the other side of the fence to do the other two recesses.
One lesson I have learnt is that the fence needs to be dead flat. My fence is made in 2 halves and I found that 1 half is a few thou out compared to the other so when you do your recesses they are not perfectly in line with each other. What I have done now to cut the recesses for future boxes is replace the 2 piece fence with a single length of Pine so it has to be in line.
I did multiple test cuts on scrap until all measurements were correct (length & depth), but unfortunately the slight misalignment doesn't show up until you do the real cuts on the box and go to put the lid on.
The first box I used these hinges on I cut the recess too long and had to plane a chamfer on the lid and box to allow the lid to open correctly.

Hey there Dallas, just for interest sake, I make all my fences for my home made router table,...from MDF. I think I have about 5 fences. Even if you need a higher fence, just join say 2 pieces of 12mm MDF on top of each other. I find they stay very true over the years. The only fence I have that isn't MDF, is for my slot cutter, I had a big piece of ply left over from something else and used it. A nice big chunky piece to keep fingers away from those huge slot cutters.

By the way, my Triton JOF 001 router sold, posted it away today.

Paul

Hi Paul,

My fence is made from MDF but it appears to have moved a little. I did coat it with poly to try to prevent any absorption of moisture from the air but maybe that wasn't a good idea. I just went and checked it and found that it has about 0.15mm dip in the middle when I put a straight edge across. I will try putting it across the buzzer and see if I can get it straight again. I thought the problem was with the sub fences on the front but it wasn't.
Someone got a bargain with your router. I hope they put it to good use.

Hi TC,

I use 19mm MDF most times, but it is 100 x 19 and I lay the 100 side down, i.e. the fence is 19mm high. A “thickness” of 100mm isn’t going anywhere. I also have a 19mm piece of UHMW polyethylene fixed to the front of the fence to give a smooth slippery surface.

One big advantage of low fences is that only the first 19mm of your box is riding on it, so if the box is out of square at all it does not get pushed away from true. I also use a low fence on the table saw when cutting off lids - for the same reason.

Brian

Thanks Brian. I can see that you need to look at setups differently when boxmaking compared to general woodwork as you need to make sure there is nothing that can cause any slight variation in cuts. I will try to straighten my current fence and also look at using a piece of MDF laid flat as you suggest. For your tablesaw fence do you make up an L shape and clamp it to the fence?
So many things to learn in the quest for ultimate precision.

Dallas