Thread: Rock Maple Box - Work in Progress

Great to see someone posting their early stages of boxmaking as that is where I am and absorbing everything I see and read.
Look forward to your next instalment.

OK - now we’re on to the top panel. Again it will be 4mm ply veneered both sides. This time it will be veneered with bookmatched birdseye maple (again from TopVeneer). For this particular box I’m using the birdseye on both surfaces as the inside of the lid will be on show, i.e. no lining.


I cut the veneers a little oversize:

C767F2CE-2AEC-4A26-8D5C-E317B91075A9.jpeg


then use a ramped shooting sander to get the joining edges of the veneer square and crisp for a seamless joint. The shooting sander holds the pieces to be joined with the mating surfaces just a little outside the ‘sandwich’. The sander, which is in an aluminium runway is then moved backwards and forwards to get a perfect pair of matching edges. The ramped angle of the veneer holder means that more of the width of the abrasive strip is used rather than running over just one spot.

E1433B4E-7A70-474B-86D6-6AF076F06AEB.jpeg D9FD9080-D191-4133-BA0E-851671B4E5DF.jpeg




In the interest of keepng this post to a manageable size I haven’t described the bookmatching process, but there are lots of good articles and videos on the web.


We’re now ready to glue up the top panel. I use Titebond 2 for flat surfaces, applying with a wallpaper seam roller. This roller has a hard rubber surface so it is easy to clean and doesn’t soak up lots of glue. I aim for a translucent layer where I can still see the pencil lines underneath. This gives me good coverage without being so thick it bleeds through the veneer:


4038CE8D-FC1D-4F3B-9A3D-AD398B68B7E7.jpeg
Remember we are veneering both sides here. If you veneer just one side your panel will end up as bent as a banana. Guess how I know!


Generally I use a small book press for these jobs - I picked one up on eBay quite cheap:


F210CB93-0CA6-4207-9D53-4127D7F3A325.jpeg




The book press was already in use when I made this panel so I went to Plan B - using 25mm ply cauls and hand clamps. The ‘sandwich’ is made (from the bottom up) of: 25mm ply caul, cork tile to absorb any irregularities, waxed paper (wax side towards the veneer), the piece being veneered, more wax paper (facing the veneer), another cork tile and finally another 25mm ply caul. The wax paper, by the way, stops any glue that bleeds through sticking to the cork tile. Lots of clamps!


494F298B-F940-4E02-A8B5-88F402F4FE12.jpeg




Out of the clamps, and time to put a few coats of shellac, particularly on the inside surface which will show when the box is opened. It’s very difficult to finish the inside panel well after the lid is fitted and the box is glued:


FA21086A-6CD3-4BBB-BA50-A30BB4C04FBC.jpeg


A bit of a photographic gap here, I’m afraid. I forgot to photograph the process of putting inlay banding on the inside surface. I will try to remedy this when I come to fitting the inlay banding on the outside.

The channels for the banding (which is figured English Sycamore) were cut on the router table using stop blocks. I cut the channels just a little shallower than the banding and around 3mm short of the correct length either end, finishing the corners by hand and ruler with a scalpel. Finally I go over the grooves using a small hand router plane to ensure everything is square and cleaned out. This is the inside of the top panel after putting in the banding and polishing:


1F70EF70-8DD4-439A-93DD-BE216BB4BDC2.jpeg




Now the top panel is ready to go in with this side down (remember this is the inside of the lid) and the box is set to be glued up. Starting to look more like a box.


More later!


Brian

Thanks for an excellent post Brian, a lot of good information.

Regards
Keith

That's a pretty impressive lid I must say especially for the inside. cant wait to see the outside. the inlay looks fantastic. I must have to learn to do that one day.

It’s almost glue-up time! First, though, the lid is cut to size and the box dry-assembled to make sure everything fits:


3A629242-28AE-46A4-80AD-85A53BE88BA8.jpeg




I should say something here about how the top and bottom panels are fitted. You will recall that for the sake of simplicity the grooves for the top and bottom panels were made the same size and in the same position relative to the edge. This meant no need to change the router bit or move the fence.


The grooves are 3mm wide and the panels are approximately 5.2 mm thick, so something has to give!
The answer is simple. Top and bottom panels are cut to their final dimensions, i.e. allowing for the panels to tuck into the side grooves. Then, on the router table, a rebate is cut all around the top of the panel a hair over 2.2mm deep and a smidgin wider than the tongue that sits inside the side groove.


This leave the underside of the panel fitting flush onto the side grooves while the top surface sits about 0.8mm below the level of sides ready to be levelled once the inlay banding has been put in place. Very crudely drawn it looks like this:


4774FD22-AAF1-4B7F-B031-CBC909F53C88.jpeg



The bottom panel can be fitted either way up, but since the inside will be hidden by lining I usually place it this way up.


Right - on to glue up. I have a box glue-up jig made from scrap MDF. As you can see, it’s just two sides at right angles so the boxes are square every time. Four clamps and I’m done:


09ED5B81-4334-40C7-92AB-27D9272736E2.jpeg


A few hours in the jig and it is time to sand off those 1mm corner overhangs so the box is beautifully square. I use either a belt sander (but you have to be careful!) or a wide abrasive sheet spray glued to a flat board like this:


5E03F5DD-6F36-486E-8B30-B0BC167C5B48.jpeg


We’re now ready to bring the sides of the box down around 0.8mm so they are level with the top panel in preparation for the inlay banding. If I’m pushed for time I use a bearing-guided flush teim cutter in the router table. Otherwise I’ll take it down with a plane and a card scraper. Towards the end I keep the body of the scraper over the box rather than hanging out in mid-air. This reduces the chance of me rolling over the edge with the scraper:


DD07A95B-7243-4A72-B3F5-684B1E120800.jpeg


Next up is the inlay banding. Again I usually cut the channels on the router table, finishing the corners with a scalpel and rule before truing up the bottom of the channels with a small hand router plane.


I rough cut the mitres on the ends of each piece of banding using flush-cut pliers. Sounds crude, but actually does a good job. The mitres are then trued up on a disk sander using a small MDF jig to ensure accurate 45 degree cuts:


7FBED223-ECEA-4325-9A8A-E7306BB091E2.jpeg


If the banding is very thin or fragile I have a small chopper. No, no, no. Keep your mind on the job.


E8F67353-5CE2-4A75-BFB9-ED8BC76C9838.jpeg


The inlay pieces are gradually trimmed to size, then glued in place. I use an hypodermic syringe to get the right amount of glue (not much) into the channels and up the sides of the groove:


8B89C8F4-6225-4B12-B91B-41BFC9EDE9FF.jpeg


These bandings don’t need much pressure if they fit properly. I use a piece of cork, a ply caul and some weights:


A33B4B9D-8D60-41D4-9013-9065998AEC93.jpeg


Once the glue is dry, time to scrape the banding back level with the rest of the lid:


7CABA89D-3490-417F-ABFE-307B64F211C4.jpeg


Thankfully no mishaps (yet) so now we have a basic box. Still to cut off the lid, fit the hinges and lock, line the box, make the trays and complete the finishing.


50015CF1-C1B7-43C5-8B7B-7F7D898C513A.jpeg




Still, all OK so far. More later!


Brian

Once again, thank you very much.

Regards
Keith

Looking really nice. Does the top of the box become a solid panel after gluing in the banding or is there still some float there?

Thanks, Treecycle.

The panel becomes part of the solid top. Since it is ply with grain in alternate directions it should not move. Certainly I’ve never seen one of these shift at all. The baltic birch ply I get from Plyco in Melbourne is beautiful to use. MDF would be another option - and I have used it - but I like the ply better.

Brian

Right, now to cutting off the lid. Sometimes I use a bandsaw, but this one was cut on my table saw. I use double-sided tape to attach a very low auxiliary fence (a piece of UHMW) so there is minimum chance of the cut being pushed out of true if the top surface of the box is not 100% perfect. I don’t cut all the way through the sides. I aim to keep about 0.5mm of the walls intact to prevent the lid closing in on the blade. For extra security I also use small shims (not shown). When all sides are cut I use a scalpel to separate the top and bottom.




BA992E9A-A19D-4D44-997E-BC887E8DF59E.jpeg




With the lid separated, the base and lid are sanded smooth on the sanding board. 150 grit on one side, 240 on the other


00A31120-48F2-4D15-A796-D6CDC4DD0480.jpeg


A quick look at the inside of the lid - all OK there.

614B2C83-F6E3-4F19-8386-B3EB84EEDD83.jpeg


Next step is to cut the hinge gains. These are the channels the hinges fit into. Here I used brass SmartHinges from Andrew Crawford in the UK (www.smartboxmaker.com). These are straightforward to fit, and since there are full instructions on Andrew’s website I won’t repeat them here. Essentially I make four cuts on the router, one for each hinge arm, using an 8mm cutter, a low fence (UHMW poly again) and a stop block to prevent overcutting.


673C1451-4349-478B-8B59-50B31E3BD5B1.jpeg


The final job on the router is to put a small chamfer on all top and bottom edges. The bottom one effectively adds a shadow line to visually separate the box from whatever it is sitting on.


B7E87DA6-192A-4153-9299-8137DD8290AB.jpeg


Now some shellac on the lid to protect it from dirt while we finish off. Note that the first of the trianguar motifs (to match the bedroom furniture) has been inlaid into the top. This is a small piece of burr.


7036179E-BFC2-424B-92DE-510208767BB9.jpeg


Next is the escutcheon for the lock. In this case another triangular piece of burr. The burr is cut to shape then positioned on the box using a very small drop of superglue. This helps hold the escutcheon in place while I mark the line if the edges with a scalpel. Once the line is marked the escutcheon can be removed by putting a small block alongside it and giving it a smart tap sideways. A small drop of superglue doesn’t have much shear strength.


To cut the recess for the escutcheon I generally use my micro-router, a Proxxon cutter from Proxxon World (www.proxxonworld.com.au) teamed with a micro plunge router base from Microfence in the US (www.microfence.com). Solid carbide micro router bits were from Amana Tools in the US, I think (www.amanatool.com) :


01759A5A-F579-4521-82F4-089ECE7B1228.jpeg


For this box, though, I simply deepened the line with a scalpel and used a small hand router plane to remove the waste:


EDA4D3C7-EF05-43EC-87AD-A1AAE61F04F5.jpeg


Once the escutcheon was glued in, the burr was levelled to the surface of the box using a scraper:


B2717000-87CF-4AA4-901E-9303933771F0.jpeg


Now to fit the lock and striking plate, first test fitting using steel screws kindly supplied by Dengue (hi Dengue!). The lock and plate are from Andrew Crawford in the UK and again these are pretty easy to fit if you follow the instructions on the smartboxmaker.com website:


229D3F8E-8AE1-4C02-9F5A-6CFB5D62A346.jpeg


At this point we’re almost ready to start making the internal tray. However, to ensure a correct fit the basic ling of the box is completed first. Apologies that I don’t have detailed pics of this process - The material used here is Italian suede. I’m moving over to high quality microsuede (man made) as I run out of the real stuff because I’ve noticed that real suede can tarnish silver jewellery due to the gases released by the tannins in the leather. This doesn’t always happen, but since I can’t predict it I’ll avoid it.


For this box I’ve lined the inside edges of the lid as well as the inside surfaces of the box itself. A small reveal has been left between the opening edge and the start of the lining - about 2mm - to reduce wear on the edges of the lining. The lining is glued to stiff white art card using either spray glue or double sided tape. Only the top edge is folded over the card - the other edges are cut cleanly. I much prefer using a roller cutter (an Olfa) for this work as it cuts cleanly without dragging the fabric.

I incorporated a tray support at either end before covering the end piece with suede. We’re now ready to make the tray!


1733911F-D1C9-4679-B279-2D6FD1427D97.jpeg


More later - the final instalment I hope!


Brian

This thread is an absolute masterclass on how to build a nice box, including all sorts of useful jigs and tips. Is there any way this can be retained as a sticky to make it easy to find in future??

Excellent work, and thanks for the very detailed posts

Aw, shucks!

Thanks, Mr B

Brian

On the downhill run now.


The tray is made from 4mm huon pine I bought at a Working with Wood Show in Melbourne a couple of years back. A personal thing, I prefer thinner tray walls to thicker ones:


DA1BC615-7753-4B52-B5E5-A94BE5F2A5F6.jpeg


It’s a simple tray with a 3mm ply bottom. Corners are rebate joints. Although it’s a bit more effort I put the dividers in before lining the base. This allows the dividers to be glued not only to the sides but also to the base of the tray.


The tray is held in place within the box by the supports mentioned in my previous post.


Finally, the dividers are pinned through the sides and the centre. In this picture you can see where two brass pins have been inserted in the centre of the long divider. I use brass escutcheon pins (from Timbecon), drilling first to ensure the thin timber does not split. The pins are left around 2mm proud, snipped off with side cutting pliers and gently filed flush with the timber using a flat mill file:

9DDB89B4-211B-4973-9492-E93A45A0AEAE.jpeg



Unlike the box, which was french polished using UBeaut Hard Shellac, the tray was sprayed with Behlen nitrocellulose laquer - mainly because I wanted a satin finish here and it was simpler than french polishing the tray then rubbing it out with steel wool.


So, all is done. A couple of coats of liberon Black Bison wax and it is ready to go to its new owner.


21083F37-03E0-4CED-91F3-83F5634B07E0.jpeg


336CD226-1E5F-454D-ACF2-AE289D274401.jpeg


At the end of each project I try to note anything new I’ve learned along the way. On this box there were two things, both just personal preferences.


The first is that there seems little value in bookmatching this birdseye maple as the “pattern” is too small to be noticeable - I could have simply used a single sheet. To my eye, bookmatching works better with a bolder grain pattern in the burr or with crown cut timber where you can achieve some startling matches. The second is that Rock Maple (Hard Maple) is too white for my taste. If this box were for me I’d put a very small amount of dye (something like Honey Amber) in the shellac.


Finally, thanks to those who came along on my first Work in Progress journey! Any comments, suggestions, improvements are very welcome.


Off to the woodshed to find some walnut......


Brian

Thanks for your WIP, and congratulations on a very nice result.
One thing that I've started doing, to avoid chipping out the corners when routing the hinge gains, is to make small cuts with a razor saw.

That's a great idea, Alex. Thanks for the tip!

Brian