Thread: Gentleman's box WIP

Since the huon didn't arrive yesterday, I decided to set the hinges between the two lid panels, even though I haven't made them yet. The panels will have brass butt hinges between them, and the rear panel will be attached to the carcass by pin hinges.
Unless you have bought expensive hinges, they will almost certainly need to be squared up before they can be set. I do this in the following order:
1. File the leaves so that they are the same depth. Put the hinge in a vice pin down, and file until you are filing both leaves.
2. Dress the leaves so that their edge is parallel to the backs (where the pin is) of the hinges, and they are the same size. Use a vernier or micrometer to check.
3. Check that the ends of the hinge are square with the edge of the leaves, and that both hinges are the same length.
4. Number each leaf of the hinges with a felt pen.

To mark out for the hinges, clamp the two pieces to be joined together, so that they are properly aligned. Make small marks with a marking knife where the outside ends of the hinges will be. Put the end of the knife in the mark and hold a hinge against it, then use the knife to mark the position of the other end. Repeat for the other hinge. Unclamp the pieces, and use a pencil to highlight these marks, and extend them round the adjacent edges, on both pieces that will take the hinges.
Set a marking gauge from the edge of the leaves to just short of the centre of the pin. If you set it exactly to the centre of the pin, the lid may bind when you open or close it. Mark this distance between the pencil marks, on both pieces. Reset the marking gauge to just under half the thickness of the folded hinge, and mark on the other faces. Now mark the positions of the hinge ends with a knife.
Carefully use a saw to make sloping cuts at the ends of the hinges. These will be half the thickness of the hinges at the faces, sloping to zero depth at the edge of the leaf. Depending on the length of the hinges, you may also make a cut in the centre of the hinge position.
You may deepen the lines you've marked for the edge of the leaves using either a marking knife or a chisel. I used the knife, but if you use a chisel, clamp the piece in a vice so that it doesn't split, and don't hit it too hard - it only needs to be deepened to the thickness of the hinge leaf.
Paring out for the hinge. Use a sharp chisel and make a shallow cut back to your mark. repeat this until the cut is the same depth as the hinge leaf thickness. Then, work down to the line you marked, half the hinge thickness from the face, gradually sloping it up to the other mark. As you complete this for each leaf, number the cut.
When all the cuts are completed, place the hinges in position and check that they are all fit. When the pieces are put together with the leaves hard up against the back of their recesses, the wood edges away from the pins should be the same distance apart at each hinge. Carefully mark the centres of the screw holes and drill the holes. If you are not confident that you can drill in the correct position to set the hinges, just drill for one hinge in each leaf. You can then cheat, if necessary, by drilling subsequent holes off centre.
Set hinges 1.jpg

Set hinges 2.jpg
The huon arrived this morning. It looks quite nice. There are some small splits, and a couple of knots look a bit loose, so I decided to fill these with epoxy.
Huon 1.jpg

Huon 2.jpg
I surrounded the parts to be filled with hot-melt glue dams. If any of these had gone the full thickness of the board, I'd glue a blanking piece on one side.
Glue dams.jpg
I cleaned out all the splits with a toothbrush and acetone, then mixed up a small amount of West system epoxy using a measuring syringe. It's important to use the exact proportions specified, and make sure the two parts are thoroughly mixed. I dribbled the epoxy onto the splits, and blew it into them, refilling as necessary and finally overfilling. The resin has low viscosity and slow setting, and will find its way into fairly small splits.
Fill with epoxy.jpg

Tomorrow (I hope) the resin will have set, and I can start on the lid panels.

Thanks for this valuable information, Alex, and the tricks of the trade like the glue dam. I admire the way you drill the screw holes to fit the hinges dead centre.

I thought you were brave doing the hinges before the lid was built.

Interesting how you used a syringe to insert the epoxy - where do you get them?

I thought that you would have colored the epoxy to match the timber or the knot you were filling.

I didn't use the syringe to insert the resin - tried, but it's not so effective. I used it to measure the two part epoxy. They're available from chemists - just ask for measuring syringes. Cost me a whole $1.50 for two!
If there were big holes or splits I'd probably colour them, but these are pretty small, so they'll look like gum veins (I hope).

After resawing yesterday, there were a couple of spots that the epoxy hadn't reached, so I had to touch them up.
Because of the interlocked grain, there's likely to be a lot of tear-out if I put it through the thicknesser, so instead, I used the drum sander. It's not ideal, as it is time-consuming, but better than ruining the timber.
After taking it down to thickness, it needs to be sanded to 800 grit using the ROS to remove the marks left by the drum sander.
lid panels bookmatched.jpg
The next step was to look at both sides of the timber, and arrange them different ways to decide the best arrangement. I moved the frames around on them to select the best appearance, before marking and cutting to size.
I cut slots in the frames and on the edges of the lid panels using the router. I'd prefer to use the table saw, but it's not possible with M&T joints on the frames. It took a few test pieces to get the fence position right, so that the panel can move, without being too loose or showing a gap.
Lid panels in frames.jpg
While working with the huon pine, I often get visitors...
Native bee 1.jpg
I believe they are native bees, and I've heard of other people getting them too. They seem to be attracted to the huon, although I don't see that they'd be able to get anything from it. I'll ring the Botanical Gardens tomorrow, to see if they can confirm what they are.

Tomorrow, I'll shape the edges of the lid panels and give them a coat of shellac.

Alex

nice piece of huon

Oh and thanks for the thread

Hmmmm Doesn't look like any of the native bees we get up here - looks more like a wasp to me - ouch

Yup, little wasp.

Native bees don't sting or bite, those little buggers will bite & bite more than once.

I wanted the lid panels to have a rounded 'cushion' appearance. The first step is to plane the shape, then sand it.
I always do the ends first,so that if there is any splintering, it will be planed off when doing the sides. However, you don't want splintering if it can be avoided, so I pare a corner off at the end of the bevel that I will be planing to.
Bevel corner.jpg

Then I plane the shape on the ends, with the plane angled towards the end, rather than straight across. I try to get it as smooth as possible, but there will always be small planes the need to be sanded smooth.
Bevels planed.jpg

I started planing at 240 grit, again doing the ends first (just out of habit). Start with the sanding block perpendicular to the end of the board, and working in the direction of the grain, roll it so that it finishes up level with the face of the board. Sand the edges along the grain, starting with the block perpendicular to the face and gradually moving it round so the it's level with the face. I sand up to 800 grit.

After all this sanding, I wiped the panels over with white spirits to remove the dust. At this stage, while the panels are wet, you can also see if there are any small scratches or dings that need to be removed. If there are, sand or steam them, and re-sand the area and remove the dust.

When the white spirits evaporated I gave the panels a coat of white shellac on both sides. I'll leave this overnight, and sand with 800 grit, ready for oiling.
Bevels planed & shellacked.jpg

I've sent pics of the insects to the Australian Museum. I don't think they are bees, as they have no pollen sacs that I can see with a hand lens. Nor do I think they are wasps, or if they are, they're pretty placid. I had one on my arm,and it didn't sting when I brushed it off. Perhaps it's some sort of fly? Perhaps I'll find out on Monday.

Any particular plane for rounding the edge?

Originally Posted by Pac man

Any particular plane for rounding the edge?

I used my low angle block plane on the ends, and my Veritas 5 1/4 on the sides. Because of the cranky grain, I wanted to be able to close the gap between the blade & front of the throat up as much as possible.

Thanks Alex

Im interested in the box construction, can you mention the hinge source as my last batch had duds , also the fly/ bee species , i had the same experience with some huon fresh from Tassie, there were dozens of them on the timber for days , thanks Rossco

It's hard to get good butt hinges. I've had good ones from Anton Gerner, but they aren't cheap. I used ones from Bunnings, but they need to be squared up as described in my post on 5th Feb. It's a pain, but needs to be done to set them properly.

Thanks Alex for descriptive WIP .

Have you ever sourced hinges from Mother of Pearl and Sons Trading » Search Results » hinges
they also offer up a range .I suspect that the Bunnings hinges may be sourced out of Asia.

Be nice to see the finished product .

Cheers