Thread: Picture postcard box - help needed

Dengy, interesting project, I,m thinking out loud, Top quality marine ply, with choice of veneers, dovetail joints glued and pinned with brass rod, instead of glass I would use lexan. I am going to follow this with interest.
When I say glued I,m referring to west system or atl epoxy glue on dovetails but with aereosil ( a form of cotton in fine powder form) white filler added to form a small internal fillet on all internal crns. top and bottom and sides of outside corners of inner box would need a small bevel to clear the fillet

Hi Joe,

You seem to have plenty of interesting projects on the go!

I make quite a few small boxes for our local neighbourhood centre to sell. In many ways these are similar to what you have in mind. They are 200mm x 100mm x 60mm


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Usually I make the sides from 5mm spotted gum from flooring offcuts although I have used walnut and rosewood. I use small rebate joints for the corners and I’ve never had one come apart. The sides are glued to the base (MDF painted with milk paint) which helps give strength.

I haven’t found working with thin timber such as jewellery box trays (mine are typically 4mm) much different from 10 or 12mm. Sometimes I’ve drilled two holes on the rebate joint then put in a couple of small brass escutcheon pins. A drop of CA glue in the hole first. Tap the pins in, leaving say 3mm sticking out, snip this part off with side cutters and gently (very) file flush with the side.

Alternatively, just use slipfeathers of the same timber across the corners, or even something contrasting made of alternating veneers:

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Best regards,

Brian

Originally Posted by Ian Artlett

, instead of glass I would use lexan.

Why would you choose a polycarbonate, Ian? Surely it is prone to scratching

Originally Posted by Dengue

Why would you choose a polycarbonate, Ian? Surely it is prone to scratching

Have not had a problem with lexan scratching I use it for race car windows,and safety cell screen in raceboats , and templates for my bone carving designs ect. I was thinking of safety if say children would use it

Thanks Ian, that makes sense. Can you recommend an adhesive that will stick the Lexan into a surrounding timber frame? Silicone?

Dengy, I use polyurethane ,Sika flex brand, but think silicone would work also.

I don't have any advice on the construction but be careful with how you fit the Lexan if you use it. I don't know if it reacts the same as Perspex but Perspex (Plexiglas®) has a high coefficient of expansion so needs some clearance around it if fitted to a rebate.

Hi Dallas, thats very interesting to know, must keep that in mind. Not that I have used it as described.

Paul

Joe, I have some 1.5mm thick Clear acrylic I could send your way, its left overs from a photo frame I made for the Mother In law a few year ago.

let me know what size you need and I can have it far north as fast as Aus post wants to get it there.

why not route a slot so that the Perspex sits in a groove and can expand and contract without the need for an adhesive.

Richard

Thanks for this kind offer, Fumbler. Sorry I did not see it earlier.

I have changed the design, a bit of lateral thinking, and have been working on this over the past month or more. Getting sick of the look of it.

Basically, I have made a box with one long side a small picture frame with 3mm glass, for all the cards to sit in. The 100 card pack is dropped into the box and the front card presses up against the glass. The cards are held in position by a timber wedge behind the last card.

The top of the box is a sliding pencil case lid, held shut with magnets.

Nearly finished, so will post some pics

The picture box is made of blac kbean timber 10mm thick, and the picture frame side will have 3mm glass.

The box OD is 260 x 130 x 90, and there is an ebony base 10mm thick which protrudes around all sides by 10mm

The frame for the glass is 18mm high x 10mm thick, and on that the front is bevelled, and the rear has a 3 x 4mm rabbet for the glass, and a 4mm slot top and bottom for the base and the sliding lid. So it was very tight and a bit fiddly. In addition, the mitred corners of the frame were drilled for a 4mm dowel for re-inforcing the joint. Black bean is fairly oily, and somewhat difficult to glue, so there was lots of acetone prior to gluing.

All the box corner joints are butt jointed with 4mm dowels, and the mitre joints for the frame and the ebony base are reinforced with 4mm dowels. The box glued with Titebond III which dries to a suitable brown colour. I normally use keyed mitre joints for box corners, but the front frame was so full with rebates, bevels and slots that it was a bit too risky.e

All dowel holes are located using a mild steel jig I had made at a local Engineering shop to give 4mm holes 20mm apart. Also useful for checking the size of the dowels.

Pictures below are at the stage of ready to apply Kunos #244 oil



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This is a collection of pics of the box glued up and sliding lid made.

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Lovely work, Joe, and a very precise fit everywhere. I especially like the number of dowels you’ve used to join the sides - a bit of the engineer coming out there?

Love to see another pic or two once you’ve put the Kunos 244 on it.

Best regards,

Brian

PS - How’s the collection cabinet going?

thanks for the nice comments, Brian, much appreciated.

Yep, the number of dowels are a bit of overkill, for sure. I didn't trust the butt joints at all with that oily timber. but it was no extra trouble to put a lot more holes in with that jig. It was a bit stressful beforehand, but they all fitted perfectly. Well machined jig !

The collection cabinet --well, ummm , have been putting it off and off, letting other things like this picture box and the 3 dog bowl stands take precedence. When there is a high risk of failure, I tend to do that. Once this picture box is posted off, it is 100% collection cabinet with no disruptions until it is finished !!!!

Have left it a bit late, with the shed getting quite hot now. Time to get the headbands out to stop the salty sweat landing on the cast iron surfaces and on the workpieces.