Thread: A few new boxes in progress

Try not to overdo it!

Originally Posted by AlexS

Try not to overdo it!

unfortunately Alex that was last week and now I’m staring at the boxes and cutting board and realise I have to get cracking. But trust me I only lifted the arm to call the poolside waiter over for drinks!!

yeah same question.

Team, help please!!!
we have had a disaster, I have put finish on and Lo and behold the lid has twisted, I am sure it’s due to the way the lid insert is cut on the angle but I was wondering if anyone knows how I can recover the lid?

to give you an idea, when I leave it out overnight inside of the lid face up, it flattens out, when I turn up the other way it curls front left to back right, these corners curl up!! It’s one angry lid.

i have tried scraping the inside to reduce tension, to no avail, I have since put finish only on the inside to try and let moisture stretch the inside but still no go. I have been thinking of cutting the piece out but risk damaging the frame of the lid.

and to make matters worse, it’s for a Xmas present and am running out of time to start again.

AAARRGGGHHH!!

heres a pic at its somewhat smallest movement.

643EFD90-1C1D-474C-8F13-D7DB73F6CDC5.jpg

You can see below the orientation of the grain below.

108F3D33-C953-4C12-919F-E114509360D6.jpg

Fingers crossed someone can help.

Hi Fumbler, I can't actually see anything wrong with that lid?. Looks pretty good to me. Is that lid insert glued in or just sitting there?

Paul

A close up view

front left
A8FAC399-26A0-4F13-A2F3-CC19F751F154.jpg
Side view
4AE22992-7973-423D-8298-F74FC9A31905.jpg

And rear right
C4A39F77-8568-4A8C-8181-947320C0982A.jpg

Hey Fumbler, ok, I follow what is happening now. This has happened to me maybe a couple of times, not quite as severe as yours. I am assuming the lid is already hinged (and anchored). what I did was put a piece of scrap timber a few mm's thick in the middle of the front of the box. Then the side that is popping up I put a clamp on that to down under my bench and tightened it slightly, just enough to draw down that part that had lifted up. Hence making the side that is not lifted up, now become lifted up. Left it for 24 or so hours. And it come reasonably good again. Good again to not worry about. Obviously something happened in the timber to make it move, who knows what.

Good luck

Paul

It's just this dry windy weather we are having at the moment. I cut lids off 5 boxes today and assuming what would happen i quickly as possible trimmed and hinged the lids and sure enough within an hour of each being hinged the lids started to move. At this point i do not trim any more as i know as soon as the air turns humid again they will settle back to original.

Originally Posted by Pauls321

Hey Fumbler, ok, I follow what is happening now. This has happened to me maybe a couple of times, not quite as severe as yours. I am assuming the lid is already hinged (and anchored). what I did was put a piece of scrap timber a few mm's thick in the middle of the front of the box. Then the side that is popping up I put a clamp on that to down under my bench and tightened it slightly, just enough to draw down that part that had lifted up. Hence making the side that is not lifted up, now become lifted up. Left it for 24 or so hours. And it come reasonably good again. Good again to not worry about. Obviously something happened in the timber to make it move, who knows what.

Good luck

Paul

Paul, no, the lid is still free, I tried scraping the inside as will be covered but to no avail, I can’t use as is so will do one more effort and that will be to use double sided tape around the rim and fix to a flat board then run through the drum sander and thin the lid some more from the outside and hopefully it will become thin enough to relax and not stress the frame. Filing that I may do as you did and line the lid with a rim of some description.

Since the lid will be covered wont it help gluing a piece of 6mm or thicker ply onto the lid to help stabilise it?

Originally Posted by botesmj1

Since the lid will be covered wont it help gluing a piece of 6mm or thicker ply onto the lid to help stabilise it?

I have applied finish to the inside of the lid, so I don’t think anything will now stick to it. NOESs I sand or scrape it off and then apply but I will then have to glue a piece inside that to alleviate the same thing happening. Thanks

So with a clear head thanks to the daughters Walnut/Rock Maple jewellery distraction, and the fact that time is running out I got back to the box that was giving me so much trouble.

i took the risk and ran the lid, secured to a dead flat board by double sided tape, through the drum sander to thin the lid and reduce the tension. Both of which were 98% successful.

the hinges are now set and the linings are all but set in.

E0D156FB-6317-4FC6-B73A-8373BF3F36E5.jpg 232358E6-E27C-422A-8513-63AEEEA09042.jpg 5E1E7E30-8F95-44DE-9751-532EDDCF4A9E.jpg 15CC1430-9C90-49A4-A6AB-41C50519C847.jpeg

Now for the draw back, as I mentioned the sanding was 98% successful,

here is the 2% that wasnt

D7238BD9-4D44-45B9-99E2-FEA0ED015169.jpg

Slight lift in front left left hand corner, and wanting a clean flush line I will be putting a clasp to keep it down. I will however learn from this and think about grain orientation and movement, also the thickness of the lid inset, and the actual depth of the lid itself.

stay posted for final gallery shots.

Done, and done, but I don’t know how I missed it, or it’s the damn weather again, but where I fix one problem another one has shown it’s ugly head.

anyway, I will post to the client and see if he is happy to accept, and I will let him know that I will give him the option. I wouldn’t be happy, and I saw some boxes at the markets whereby the inlay mitres corners had gaps and he was still charging over $300. I wanted it to be perfect but it isn’t and if he’s not happy then I’ll accept it.

3AF2BF0C-6069-490F-B38B-F5344006F8B9.jpg 284B1687-10C0-4D50-B79E-43A0EB572567.jpg DBEEB446-0F87-4B96-B9F7-C1D5458AD6CE.jpg BEF0BA90-9004-47A3-A7B4-3A421A5FED35.jpg BBC8811D-55E1-4501-BA95-EFAA29E97530.jpg

I think you're being too critical of your work. It's a beautiful box made with care and precision, from an imprecise material! I reckon 99.9% of people wouldn't find any fault with that at all. Now, if you show it to a bunch of box makers, we'll all find nit-picky things! None of us are ever completely satisfied with every aspect of a box we make - there's always room for improvement.

cheers,

ajw