Thread: Heads Up - Boxmaking Videos by Ian Hawthorne

I like the vacuum press he uses in the first video, so user friendly. I will work my way through the series as i'm sure there will be plenty for me to learn.

Enjoyed the series so far but it is VERY VERY slow with a lot of talking. In same cases over 10 minutes before any woodworking is done. It reminds me of why I tape a TV show and fast forward through the ads. Anyway he is a good presenter and some of his techniques are worth adopting.

Originally Posted by barri

Enjoyed the series so far but it is VERY VERY slow with a lot of talking. In same cases over 10 minutes before any woodworking is done. It reminds me of why I tape a TV show and fast forward through the ads. Anyway he is a good presenter and some of his techniques are worth adopting.

I watch pretty much all YT vids at 1.25x playback speed to start with. If there's anything I think I want to gloss over I'll bump that up even more, and if there's some deep interesting/something I want to learn I'll slow it back to normal. I dislike it when I can't ramp up the speed (thanks Facebook!)

Funny thing I was just skimming through that video and the product he produced "West System 105 Epoxy Resin", I just ordered a 1.2 litre container of that via ebay. For a totally different purpose though. I seen it on the Timbercon site but as its classified as a dangerous goods product they wouldnt ship it, only to be bought at the shop. I found it in ebay and bought it there. Not arrived as yet,

Paul

Originally Posted by poundy

I watch pretty much all YT vids at 1.25x playback speed

Case in point. Episode 7 today went for an hour and it was all about installing hinges. Could have been covered in 10 minutes. A skilled craftsman but I'm sorry, I'm not watching another one.

Hi Paul,

The West System user guide is a good read Epoxy User Manual & Product Guide - WEST SYSTEM Epoxy

Making sure the correct resin/hardener mix ratio is used is critical, as is mixing it extremely thoroughly. I mix by weight as I find this more accurate for the small amounts used for boxes. A small digital lab scale helps.

I use West fibres to give body to the mix and help prevent bleed-throughs if using on veneers. This stuff dries HARD and is a beggar to clean up once it sets. If you’ve ever used urea formaldehyde glues (another one Ian H uses I think) it’s the same story - you need a road drill to clean off the excess

I’d be interested to hear what you think of the epoxy, Paul.

Dallas - agree about the vacuum table!

Regards,

Brian

Originally Posted by barri

Case in point. Episode 7 today went for an hour and it was all about installing hinges. Could have been covered in 10 minutes. A skilled craftsman but I'm sorry, I'm not watching another one.

After having sat thru a couple, it's now clear to me that the series is an instructional video series for his box kit, not really a general boxmaking series. And yes, they all seem waaaay longer than others on similar topics - almost like this is a capture of everything and had no editing.

Certainly the editing could be tighter. Still, his work is of a very high quality (or he couldn’t charge what he does) so I’m happy to be patient and pick up tips as they come along.

I'm quite happy to sit through something that I can take learnings away from even if it is a bit stretched out. Ian is giving freely of some information that he has built up with over 20 years of boxmaking experience and he is selling to the high end of the market so he must be doing something right. Some youtubers edit so much out that it's hard to understand how they do certain things.
Just need to watch No.6 tonight.

Yes, editing is critical.

Anyone know where one can buy Urea formaldehyde two part resin here in Oz?

A search has revealed nothing so far

Sorry wP, can’t help. I use the UF type that’s mixed with water - Cascamite - which I bought from the UK.

Brian

Homey, my random wanderings also just found "cascamite" (from a comment on video 1)

Chaps on Alibaba sell it in 1, 5 and 25kg bags.

I'm quite sure there will be no problems importing a kilo of fine white powder from China in an baggie.


"Cascamite eh, mate? No worries.... next!".....

Today I watched episodes 1 to 7. As someone who's never made a veneered jewellery box I learned quite a bit. I figured I'd buy some of his hinges and put all his good advice to into practice. Then I discovered the price. 45 British pounds for a pair of the SS hinges! They are obviously very high quality, but $80 Oz for a pair of hinges? Is there a cheaper local source of quality jewellery box hinges?

Wasn't UF glue phased out years ago due to it being carcinogenic ?

woodPixel,

Crikey, you nearly killed me. Had just taken a mouthful of red when I read your post - spluttered and coughed for minutes!

Jack - yes, the stainless hinges are much more expensive than the brass ones - which are also expensive. I think you’re correct that UF glue become less popular with home users in recent years but there’s still 20 million tons of it produced each year as it is used a lot on plywood and MDF manufacture.

Best regards,

Brian