Thread: Inaugural tight lines comp - Contractor edition!

NOTE: The images are original size so they could be critiqued. You might have to right click and open in new window to get them to resize. I don't know how to make them smaller on here. The gallery can also be found here Imgur: The magic of the Internet.

Ok, sit tight, this is not your average box making show and tell. This all started when a younger carpenter working with me corrected me and said the only way to get tight mitres was to use a Festool Kapex. This was after a comment I made about my shabby old bosch drop saw that is mainly used for cutting framing pine, not being great for mitres. So I set out to set out to show him that he was incorrect.

The challenge was set. I could only use what was in my tool trailer or at the jobsite. The tools used were as follows:
Makita DLS713Z 36V Cordless 190mm SCMS with Irwin Aluminium Saw Blade
Makita DSP601ZJU 36V Cordless Plunge Saw
Bosch GTS10J Table saw with Bosch General Purpose 40 tooth rip saw blade
Carbatec 13" Spiral Head Benchtop Thicknesser
Makita 18V Random Orbit Sander.

Timber (all recycled) was a 21mm (not sure what the imperial size is) Hoop Pine 100mm VJ for the sides. The Bottom was 1/2" Hoop Pine 100m VJ. The top was 1/2" Hoop Pine and Cypress 100mm VJ, and some random hardwood joist of what species I am unsure.

This is the end result:





Not all was great to start with, the bottom left a little to be desired, but it did show off the mitres. There was a little tear out when ripping the boards.






The poor lines I blame on the old blade which has cut 1000's of metres of timber, including a lot of Australian hardwoods. It was replaced with a spare blade I had in my tool trailer before I started work on the top. The old blade will be cleaned and inspected at some point, and will be dispatched for sharpening.


The new blade was fitted, and result was much nicer to the eye when making the top.






I actually tried to put a mitre chamfer on the top, but the fence on the table saw was not up to scratch. In hindsight, I should have clamped a solid bit of timber to the fence first. I then tried to use the sander to clean it up, but alas that was no good either, so I then decided to round off the chamfer, which actually turned out better than I expected. Finish was and old tin of polyurethane floor finish applied with an old curtain removed from the jobsite.

Its also not technically finished either, I will take home to open it up on the bandsaw and install hinges. Initially it was going to be used as a box for my router bits, but then end result was better than expected!

I'll have to throw in a disclaimer here. I am by no means a cabinet maker, nor a box maker, nor skilled in the arts of fine furniture, so I am sure it will not be perfect (plus the gyprocker dropped a bucket on it just before these photos were taken). The aim was to prove to the young buck that super expensive tools were not needed to make a good quality product, but rather practice and understating your tools and timber.. What I have achieved is from years of watching and learning from others who are much more talented than me. The best part about it all, is I have also learned a lot of tricks from the young feller as well!



Couple more pics here: Imgur: The magic of the Internet