Thread: Filling in time WIP

Cut out my selected pieces and cut everything to length. The mitred corner I cut with zero loss by setting the tablesaw blade to barely break through the top - didn't want to lose the grain flow.

cut-to-length.jpg

Then made my first cock-up - earlier than usual - not a good sign Thought I would be clever while taking the veneers off by pushing one board through with the next as a pushstick - might have been OK if I had been holding it downwards as well as pushing and NOT using a 1.3tpi resaw blade. Fairly mangled one end as it tipped it into the blade slot but I persevered and dug an offcut out of the bin to match and patch - worked so well I can hardly see it myself

patching.jpg

So the substrate and veneers are already to go but I've got no glue - waiting for some West Systems to come and Ozpost have been shocking lately. Could use Titebond but I keep seeing people on the forum recommending epoxy so I'll wait.

veneers.jpg

Originally Posted by TTIT

So the substrate and veneers are already to go but I've got no glue - waiting for some West Systems to come and Ozpost have been shocking lately. Could use Titebond but I keep seeing people on the forum recommending epoxy so I'll wait.

I would have used selleys exterior aquadhere. I think epoxy is a heavy duty overkill, it is expensive plus there is inevitably a percentage of waste. Are you going to make the box first and then veneer it after? How thick are the veneers?

Jim

TTIT,

I’m with Powderpost on this. For something the size of a box with straightforward flat surfaces I’d normally use Titebond (any variety) or Aquadhere. Or hide glue. I’ve never had a veneer failure with these.

Epoxy is good, too - just more exacting to work with. Once it sets it is like concrete and not at all friendly to chisels. Times I use epoxy on boxes are mainly:

* when I need a longer open time,
* where I need a truly rigid bond such as making curved pieces.
* where I need gap-filling properties and
* where I need to colour it.

If you haven’t used epoxy with veneers before I’d mention it bleeds through veneers easily as it is very liquid unless you add West’s microfibre fillers or apply very thinly (I use a small foam roller). Probably not a problem for you as you’re cutting your own thicker veneers, but if you use standard 0.6mm veneers - and especially burr veneers - it is easy to have the epoxy bleed through and spoil the piece.

Looks like an interesting project. I’ll watch with interest.

Brian

Originally Posted by powderpost

I would have used selleys exterior aquadhere. I think epoxy is a heavy duty overkill, it is expensive plus there is inevitably a percentage of waste. Are you going to make the box first and then veneer it after? How thick are the veneers?

Jim

Originally Posted by homey

TTIT,

I’m with Powderpost on this. For something the size of a box with straightforward flat surfaces I’d normally use Titebond (any variety) or Aquadhere. Or hide glue. I’ve never had a veneer failure with these.

Epoxy is good, too - just more exacting to work with. Once it sets it is like concrete and not at all friendly to chisels. Times I use epoxy on boxes are mainly:

* when I need a longer open time,
* where I need a truly rigid bond such as making curved pieces.
* where I need gap-filling properties and
* where I need to colour it.

If you haven’t used epoxy with veneers before I’d mention it bleeds through veneers easily as it is very liquid unless you add West’s microfibre fillers or apply very thinly (I use a small foam roller). Probably not a problem for you as you’re cutting your own thicker veneers, but if you use standard 0.6mm veneers - and especially burr veneers - it is easy to have the epoxy bleed through and spoil the piece.

Looks like an interesting project. I’ll watch with interest.

Brian

Might go home and dig out the Titebond then! I thought it was important to use something that didn't 'wet' the veneer/substrate. The veneers are 2mm thick and only on the drawer front and the back of the box as the grain is running vertically and I don't want them blowing the box apart when the weather changes - the hinged lid is staying as solid timber as it can expand/contract a little with no issues and I wanted to see the long grain on the side of the lid when it is opened, particularly the Milkwood as it has a quilted look to it.
What am I gonna do with the epoxy now - hate using the stuff to be honest - hope it has a long shelf-life

Thought I'd try cutting the rear dovetails for the drawers while I was waiting for the glue (which I'm not going to wait for now!). Tried cutting the pins first for a change and wished I hadn't - the first set was atrocious, the second only slightly better and I just about got it right on the last one pictured on top. Must remember to get rid of the pencil lines before gluing up.

rear-dovetails.jpg

Though I'd be clever then and cut the half-blind dovetails for the front before gluing the veneers on - my theory is that all I will have to do afterwards is open up the back veneer to complete the cutting instead of hacking into blind corners - will probably regret it

front-dovetails.jpg

What am I gonna do with the epoxy now - hate using the stuff to be honest - hope it has a long shelf-life

Put it in the fridge and it will keep forever.

Cutting the dovetails before applying the veneers turned out to be a very easy way to produce the half-blind dovetails on the drawer fronts. OK, so they might not technically be half-blinds in the traditional sense but they are going to work very nicely for me

half-blind-cut-thru.jpg

Got all the rebates/trenches routed so now I just have to cut some ply for the bases and I'll be able to do a dummy fit up. Thinking about shortening the drawers a couple of mm before I cut the tails to the fronts as I cut the sides to the exact length for the cavity - figure I can always buffer them out to align with the lid, but it would be a bit dodgie to remove a mil or so from the back if needed - thoughts??
rebating-done.jpg

Made some good progress over the weekend. Ply floors cut and fitted and the carcases glued up.

carcase-glue-up.jpgcarcases-glue-cleaned-up.jpg

I have to look twice to find my patch job on the back of the camphor box myself - very happy with that save.

carcases-back-view.jpg

Then set about joining the lids. Decided slip-feathers on just one edge would look odd so I thought about using stopped spline joins instead . . . and then decided short dominos were easier . I've circled the depth-stop mod I use to get the right depth for my shortened dominos in thin stock like this. Also use a piece of 2mm sheet to raise the work so the domino goes right to the inside of the join to enable maximum length of the dominos.

domino-setup.jpgdominos-cut.jpgmitre-clamp-setup.jpg

. . . and also managed to get the drawers together. Some of the dovetails are a little sloppy but I'm improving all the time

drawers-ready-for-glueup.jpgdrawers-clamped.jpg

Got the drawers cleaned up and sized to fit and the dovetails don't look quite so bad with a bit of glue in them Couple of problems with the drawers though. The first was the piston-fit which made opening and closing slow and tedious so I drilled 3 x 5mm holes in the base near the back to let some air in/out - helped, but might need another couple of holes yet.
Main problem is the racking with the drawers being wider than they are deep - any tips to reduce the racking before I start putting a finish on??? (he asks an audience of 1 )

drawers-sized.jpg

Little bit more progress this weekend.
As the offspring of an engineer I tend to make things so they can be repaired/maintained so I don't like gluing hinge-pins in place and decided to make this lot removable. Some 5/32 brass threads are a nice size to work with and they turn down to a neat 3mm just before the thread disappears - used to do these on the wood-lathe or even in the drill press with a file but the mini-metal lathe makes a very tidy job of them. A quick rub on the metal buff puts a shine on the tops so they don't look quite so industrial.

Making-hinge-pins.jpgHinge-pins-done.jpg

Then set up a jig to hold the boxes in place to get the holes centered on the lids (5mm in from the back and 5mm down from the top). Guesstimated I would need to raise the lids from the back about 1mm to have them lay back enough to stay open but went with some strips of laminex at 0.75mm in case I was wrong. With the jig positioned 5.75mm each way from the drill centre, I used another strip of laminex to space out the relevant side when switching from one end to the other. Thought I would screw at least one up but managed to get them right for once.

Hinge-pin-jig.jpgDrilling-hinges.jpg

Could have gone with the 1mm spacing! They were a little too far forward but it didn't take much to shave a wee bit off the back of each lid to get them laying just where I wanted them Then I ran a 5/32 tap through the pin holes in the box sides and countersunk the faces, followed by a drop of CA to stabilize the threads.

Hinges-before-adjustment.jpgHinges-done.jpg

The handles on my original design didn't appeal to me by the time I got this far so I rethought them a little. I wanted them to look like one knob/pull but didn't want them sticking out too far and came up with these two versions. I'm happy with the one on the Milkwood box which was turned a bit larger diameter from the Acacia used on the sides with a 12m filler in between which was cut out after turning, but the Rosewood knob on the Camphor box looks awful so I've glued up another blank to make it the same as the Milkwood box. Can't decide whether to glue them or screw them on in case I change my mind later

Knob-trials.jpg

There are no rules for boxes.

I'm enjoying watching your journey