Thread: First Bandsawn Box -WIP

progressed a bit further today. so far only sanded the box to 80 grit. I'm going to round over the inner & outer edge of the case as well as the draw.

Your WIP images are good, thank you.

It appears you are having difficulty gluing close the bandsaw entry point? My preference is to have this gap closed, not only for appearance of the finished work, but the difference created by removing the gap makes for a closer fitting drawer.

I can see there is some difficulty confronting this ambition ~ that is easily acieved by either using the off cut (of the cabinet) to create a squarish block/jig, or refraining off from bandsawing the outline shapping/cut until the last. It is easier to clamp flat sides rather than rounded sides.

When i first glued the back on the cabinet the bottom of the cab was actually pulling in hard so i glued it as was. It was still the same last night when i cut the cabinet to shape. However i noticed that after today at the community shed & probably because of the heat produced when finish sanding it actually pulled back out. It now needs a fair amount of force to push it back in. I'll need to use an epoxy or superglue to hold it in place.
I had originally decided not to glue the starting cut together as the 2 mating surfaces weren't a good flat match also i now realize that i made my starting cut in the wrong place, i should have made it horizontally so that it matched in with the timber grain. i don't feel at this stage that gluing the opening closed will look any good now so i'm planning to round over the opening edges to actually accentuate it. If i can't hide it, make it look like i meant to do it right? lol.
I've just taken another closer look at the pic of the finished piece you posted in your first post Tony & it just dawned on me that there isn't a visable entry cut at all! It never clicked with me when i first looked at your pic. where did u make the entry cut?
I'm looking into chasing up the correct type of blade for these style of boxes, i'm hoping that with the correct blade of good quality i'll get a cleaner entry cut that can be much better hidden.
This style of box have really grabbed my interest, i love the way there is almost no measuring to be done its all freehand & organic. They are the complete opposite to my previous boxes which were all exacting dovetails & tight 90deg corners.

Mr. R

Pleased to see your developing interest in the makin of Bandsawn Boxes, they are great fun, some makers say creating organic shapes is the most challenging aspect of this work.

You ask about the location of the bandsaw entry point, with this work it is on the left and along the grain which is always the best place.

the box progresses.
I've got most of the sanding done. Gotta sort out the runners next.
I haven't decided what sort of draw opener to put in. Weather to go with a shaped draw pull or a hole in the back or a 3/4 moon finger pull hole in the front.
I'm going to shellac the box & floc the draw.

I put in the huon pine keys because there was a fair amount of pressure pulling the box apart at the bandsaw entry point. I used a dremmel to round over all the edges then hand sanded the final finish.

Hi Rattrap
This box is well on the way to being a beauty, realy like the Huon keys, never thought of doing that myself. I will be having a couple of days in hospital as soon as I can get a bed, will be back to the forum when I sort out my problem.
Don Mc.

As DonMc said well done with the "keys" concept.

Rattrap, you must me highly delighted with your effort. It is really great, makes me more determined to enter into the world of band saw boxes. Top marks for your first effort, If mine turns out as well as yours, I will be over the moon.

BTW, thanks for the WIP. Most welcome to see. This is the sort of thing that creates interest in the forum.

Thanks very much for all the praise guys. Don i hope all goes well with your hospital stay, terrible places, try not too eat too much of their food..

well after a bit more finish sanding then a few coats of shellac followed by a wax up we have this! I'm heading to carbi-tec on friday to get a flocking kit, that will be the final step in the project.

The shallac has really brought out the lovely grain. Your piece more than any other thing I have seen has shown how important it is to get the grain and the shapes working together, thanks.

Beautiful finish, looks a million dollars. Let us see pic(s) when you do the flocking and WIP if possible. I am interested in the flocking procedure and to find out how you go.