Thread: Walnut man-box

Hi Jacques,

I have a Dremel for general use and the Proxxon sits permanently in the router base. The Proxxon feels better built but it doesn’t do anything more than the Dremel. I did have the Dremel router base but wanted something better as I was using it a fair bit.

I’d used the Stewmac router base before at Andrew Crawford’s workshop, and that’s very stable but had no fence. At the time Veritas hadn’t launched their router base so I went for the Microfence. A lovely tool but a big bite in the wallet!

By the way, have you tried cutting the inlay channels on your CNC? I don’t have CNC but have thought about buying one for inlays, hinge recesses, escutcheons, rebates, some joints. I’d value your thoughts.

Good point, too, (no pun intended) about the downcut spiral bits!

Thanks and regards,


Brian

Inlay work on the CNC sounds like my next project Brian [emoji848]

Made some progress yesterday. Fitted the hinges, the striping and added another coat of oil.

The hinges are from Anton Gerner, must admit, I won't buy them again. They were a royal pain to install and once I screw them down the lid doesn't close properly (see how it's open slightly). I bought his box lock as well but it was too thick for the timber so I added a little lift instead.

Hope you enjoy.

Cheers
Jacques

Hi Botes, When you say that those hinges wont allow the lid to close, wouldnt they have to be recessed in to the timber?. They sure do look pretty complicated to install.

Looking pretty good though, and the finish is looking nice also

Paul

Hi Jacques,

A very striking box there! The walnut veneer top came out even better than I expected. Congratulations!

Yes, quadrant hinges are notoriously painful to fit. Rockler have a jig - I think it’s called “Hinge-It” - that can be used to rout out the correct shape. I suspect this may be tailored to either Brusso hinges or Rockler’s own. Worth a look for interest.

It’s difficult to tell from the pics but if the box is binding at the back so the front doesn’t close completely I find it is usually one of two things.

1. A hinge screw may be sitting proud of the surface of the hinge. It only takes a tiny amount sticking up to cause the problem. I’d sight down the side of the box with the hinge almost closed to see if there is anything binding the hinge.

2. The centre of the hinge pin is not exactly in line with the join of the box and lid. If this is the case you can ease off the screws and put either a piece of thin card or veneer under the back of the hinge. This tips the front of the lid down.

Will you be lining the box or leaving it natural?

Brian

Hi Brian,

Yes, I'm planning to line it once the oil has dried.

Those hinges man.... they close fine when if I don't have screws in them (on the one side). Once the screws goes in the problems start. They are flush, below the surface but will try and remove one by one until I can see the problem. One thing is for sure, i wont use them again

Ok, so they are flush, must be just my eyes.

Originally Posted by Pauls321

Ok, so they are flush, must be just my eyes.

Hi Paul, yes, they are recessed flush on the top of the timber.

Are the holes for the quadrants deep enough? If they are bottoming out the lid won't close properly.
I detest quadrant hinges for this reason - you have to cut deep recesses for them, and you run the risk of popping out the back of the box.

Originally Posted by AlexS

Are the holes for the quadrants deep enough? If they are bottoming out the lid won't close properly.
I detest quadrant hinges for this reason - you have to cut deep recesses for them, and you run the risk of popping out the back of the box.

I will check that again as well... [emoji106]

Originally Posted by botesmj1

I will check that again as well... [emoji106]

I've installed a few pairs of these Gerner quadrant hinges and whenever the lid wouldn't fully close it was always due to the arm binding within the recess I had cut for it. Once the arm can move freely the box lid should close properly. It is a bit fiddly to get right but after installing a few of them you get used to how deep and wide the recess for the arm needs to be.

Personally I like these hinges due to the fact they have square ends. Most quadrant hinges I've seen are rounded to fit a specific router bit and it's hard to use a chisel to fine-tune the mortice, but with these hinges all you need is an 8mm chisel to sneak up on the perfect fit.

Alexs and Talors nailed it on the head. [emoji106]

After removing that darn hinge which must have been about 30 times its working as designed. The left hand hole for the quadrant/arm didn't go back deep enough.

Only issue now is that I have a constant 1mm gap, back to front, equally all around the lid. That's due to the hinges being recessed absolutely flush with the timber, in reality they should have been slightly below the surface. I might leave it as is though as I don't have the will to set up the router to deepen the recesses, maybe [emoji848].

Thanks for the advise guys.

Cheers
Jacques

Originally Posted by botesmj1

Only issue now is that I have a constant 1mm gap, back to front, equally all around the lid. That's due to the hinges being recessed absolutely flush with the timber, in reality they should have been slightly below the surface. I might leave it as is though as I don't have the will to set up the router to deepen the recesses, maybes

Yeah the Gerner hinges have a slight gap between the leaves when fully closed - I think it's about 1 mm, so really you have to mortice the hinge in about 2.5mm (2mm thickness of brass + 0.5mm for the 'extra' gap as shown in the image below), or slightly less to avoid any springing of the lid when closed.

hinge.jpg

I usually route the mortice to the thickness of the hinge and then sneak up on a good fit with a small router plane. I find it only takes me a few extra minutes to do it this way and it's safer than setting the power router to the exact depth to begin with since you don't really know what the depth needs to be. I guess that's a drawback of these less expensive hinges - with Brusso hinges you won't have this extra step but I just find the pricing a bit too steep for some of my boxes and that's why I tend to use Gerner hinges more.

Thanks, that makes sense, will give it a go with the handheld router plane.