Thread: Using up the scraps

Very nice outcome Brian. Some really nice pieces of "scrap" there and all for a very good cause. I hope they go for what they are really worth.

very nice work there Brian. Those boxes might look simple but a lot of work goes into them. Just lining up the barrel hinges is a task in itself. Have you got some sort of a jig for it.

I've got a heap of those inlays that I bought at the 2019 Maleny Wood Expo, cheap. Are the ones you used there 1/2mm thick. ?

Paul

Hi Dallas. Thanks - part of the joy is that people who benefit actually come along to the market days and take part in the selling process. They get a kick out of the interaction so we all get a win.

What are you working on these days?

Paul - you’re absolutely spot on. These took me a while but it was a good learning experience to see which methods worked quickly and which didn’t. I expected the barrel hinges to be a pain but they weren’t - just a bit fiddly. I clamped a piece of MDF as a fence to the table of my drill press to give me a consistent North-South measurement, set stops for the East-West movement then set the drill press depth stop to the necessary depth so the barrel went in as far as the bottom of the hinge pin.

My drill press is an old 1/3 hp Taiwanese thing. It was given to me free, and much though I’d love a Nova Viking I haven’t been able to convince myself that I need it. Must try harder

Regards,

Brian

Originally Posted by homey

Hi Dallas. Thanks - part of the joy is that people who benefit actually come along to the market days and take part in the selling process. They get a kick out of the interaction so we all get a win.

What are you working on these days?

Brian

That's a nice story of having the community inclusion in your work. I'm sure they really enjoy it.
Still making a few boxes, doing a small amount of turning which I struggle to get excited about nowadays, making jigs to help with my woodworking and a bit of general woodwork. I have been posting some of them on another platform and feel that I'm doubling up if I post here. Maybe I should change that as it looks like I'm doing nothing.

Hi again Brian and Dallas, Looking at your boxes again, I think the ones with the dowel joints look the best. I think a nice butt joint suits that style of box. I bought a nice simple dowel jig recently, must try it out on something like those boxes. I'm a bit like you, cant toss out timber, but lately I have been tossing out a lot of just small stuff. But then again I go and buy more, crazy eh.

Paul

Hi Paul,

The dowelled boxes were definitely the easiest to make by a huge margin. I used a wooden block inside the glue-up to position the sides and ends, glued then drilled two holes at each of the four corners. As you know, boxes like this don't need much (if any) strengthening, especially as the ply base is glued in, so I simply used bamboo skewers as dowels. Veeery easy.

The most fussy ones were the fingers jointed boxes partly because they required stopped grooves for the base and likewise the bevel on the back edge of the main box (the hinges stop) had to stop the short of the ends. No big deal but just extra work that could be avoided.

I meant to flock these boxes just to see how quickly that could be done. Next time, perhaps.........

Best regards,

Brian

Hi again Brian, just looked at your boxes again, gave me a sort of an idea. As a matter of interest what are the overall sizes you used, they seem to be all similar and your dimensions look pleasing to the eye.

Paul

Hi Paul,

Only one is a different size - the prototype. The rest are 230 x 101 x 56 high at the ends. Front and back walls are 41mm. All timbers are 12mm including the top, so 41mm + 12mm top = 53mm which leave the ends 3mm higher at 56mm. Hinges are 5mm x 17mm barrell hinges with the holes drilled with 1.5mm clearance to the outer edge, i.e. the drill centre is 4mm from the outer edge. The 45 degree bevel for the hinge stop was cut so it came just past the centre of the holes allowing the pin to sit almost level with the join.

I pretty much copied the dimensions from a box with a lift-off lid I made years ago.



Regards,

Brian

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Hi and thanks for that Brian, yes I recall when I used those 5mm barrel hinges the bevel had to go a tad past the centre. That was a few years ago now. I still have a few of them left in my box of bits and pieces.

I'll play around with that idea soon, when I get a couple of boxes out of my hair. One I just cant get right, but I will.

Paul

Hi Brian,

I played around with that idea I was mentioning before. From your idea I made 11 of these. I'm also trying to get rid of some of my red cedar, I have tooo much of it. I made these to suit my ring holder system. The inlay I made a heap of this some years ago and sorta forgot all about it. I have one with a totally different lid in progress, should be finished in a few days.

Paul

Lovely work, Paul. A great feeling, isn’t it, to use up stuff that’s been taking up space in the workshop for ages.

The ring boxes are a good idea - some questions if I may:

What size are they?
Are they 100% cedar? If so, what is the “sandwich” on the end walls?
Which joinery method did you use?
if the boxes are very light (weight) being cedar do you add any weight artificially to give some heft? I can imagine that the magnet holding the lid would otherwise require two hands to open the box - ir is the magnet not very strong?

Again - great stuff, Paul.

Best regards,

Brian

Hi and thanks Brian, Firstly the other timber is Bolly Silkwood. I just wanted to fancy up the boxes a bit, and sandwiched 4/4/4mm of each to make the ends 12mm. Not sure if I really liked the end result, if I make any more later I will just stick to one coloured timber, maybe silver ash.

I used the magnets as I had a lot laying around, just gives it that nice little clasp closing feeling. They are strong enough but not that strong to easily open the lid.

The "joinery" method is a thing called, "glue". Thats all I used, pain old Selly's Aquadhere indoor glue. I've built all the timber furniture in this house over the last 23 years, and always used Selly's, most of the furniture now being in excess of 20 years and no dramas at all. If I need a quick glue I use the quickset one.

Firstly I cut the main section of the box, sides 12mm thick and the base 6mm thick. From memory I made the base 154mm long as it works perfectly for 7 x 20mm ring holders with about 1mm of velvet around them. (7 x 22). I glued and clamped the U shape of the main box but made it longer than the 154mm. When dry I sliced it on my Makita drop saw with stop blocks, hence all ends nice and square ready to glue to the sandwich ends.

I also cut out the lids to match the bottoms also 154mm long. But this is when I cheated with the 5mm barrel hinges. I measured in whatever, think it was about 25mm and drilled a pilot 3mm hole all the way through the lid and bottom with a brad bit. Did one end first then slipped a piece of 3mm steel I had laying around into the hole, so the lid/bottom wouldn't move, then did the other pilot hole.

Then I worked out my proper depths for the 19mm barrel hinges and then used a 5mm standard drill bit. Then did my 45 degree bevels. Lid and bottom matched up perfectly. The hole in the top is covered by my inlay.

Like I said I have another one of these boxes in progress with a "different" design on the lid,...............stay tuned.

Paul

Thanks for that, Paul.

I remember asking Andrew Crawford which glue he uses. I can’t remember his exact words but the gist of it was normal white PVA from the local hardware. I use pretty much whichever comes to hand except for highly-stressed surfaces like curved work where my preference is urea formaldehyde or epoxy.

Looking forward to seeing your “different” design

Regards,



Brian

Originally Posted by homey

I expected the barrel hinges to be a pain but they weren’t - just a bit fiddly. I clamped a piece of MDF as a fence to the table of my drill press to give me a consistent North-South measurement, set stops for the East-West movement then set the drill press depth stop to the necessary depth so the barrel went in as far as the bottom of the hinge pin.

Hi Brian, I haven't used these hinges before but I picked up a batch of them recently to add another option to my hinging styles. I have set up the fences and stops the way you describe and they have come out pretty good on the couple that I have done so far. I was just wondering how you determine the positions of your east/west stops as they are the ones I find give me the most concern because you are not drilling the hole in the lid and base off the same stop. What I have done so far is cut 2 lengths of timber the exact same length as my box. I then mark the distance in from the ends that I want to drill the holes trying to get them as close to perfectly the same distance from each end. I then line the marks up under the brad point drill point and clamp a stop for each end. After doing this I drill the holes on both pieces, put the hinges in and check for alignment of the ends.
Am I going about this the right way or is there a simpler and more exacting way to position those holes?

Thanks,