1890 Cedar Box plus another box

Hi Gang,

I was very interested to see the other thread from Double.d on old cedar. At the same time as that thread a builder mate of mine (I play pennants bowls with him), had just given me some 1890 Australian Red Cedar. One of his jobs was to replace the old original doors on the Bowraville Public School. I googled the school and it was built in 1897. So who knows how old this cedar would be. Back then along this Coffs Coast a lot of ARC was being milled, and I believe there were a lot of Cedar Cutters at that time.

I've got quite a bit of this, it wasn't easy to work with, I found it rather splintery, particularly say routering out the slots for the hinges, thank God for Wood Glue which is stronger than timber.

So a nice timber but I wouldn't rate it in my top 10 timbers I like to work with.

At the same time I also made another box, which is a larger version of one of the "three" boxes I put up a few weeks ago. That box is White Cedar and Rosewood.

Both boxes are 300mm x 185mm, sides are 12mm.

Paul

Beautiful boxes Paul!..your problem with workability of Aussie red cedar is that the box is made from Western red cedar and NOT Australian Red Cedar :(

Nice boxes Paul well done. Red and Western Red cedars have vastly different aromas so if the timber you were machining had a strong earthy masculine aroma it would have been the Western Red. The Red Cedar has a more subtle flowery aroma.

Beautiful work, Paul. I especially like the dovetailed box with the front drawer. How do you grip the drawer to open it? And may I ask what finish you used?

Brian

Hi, and that's a very interesting point regarding the Western Red and Australian Red. I looked at it when the builder gave it to me. He said no, it's Australian Red. His Dad was a builder and his Grandfather was a builder. All in this area for yonks. I'll quiz him again.

That photo with the "drawer" isn't a drawer, that's the tray that lifts out of the box/es. The finish I use is two coats of Danish Oil (which I make myself), then two coats of wax. I've sanded down to 2000 grit before applying all this, so the finish is very smooth.

Paul

REALLY lovely boxes - kudos to you!

But I must agree with those former comments, that box in pics 7 and 8 is definitely WRC not ARC, despite the assurances of the giver.

I've currently got both in my shop (both old recycled stock, 80+ years old) and recently made a couple of small projects out of each. Both are fragile, I'll give you that but the WRC is a giveaway by its really distinct old/new ring pattern. ARC has very little, in fact no hard/dark grain.

ARC is a pleasure to work. WRC a bugger to work.

Very nice box Paul. Could you give a brief run down on how the lid was made?

Regards
Keith

Quote:

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Originally Posted by homey

Beautiful work, Paul. I especially like the dovetailed box with the front drawer. How do you grip the drawer to open it? And may I ask what finish you used?

Brian

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At least I'm not the only one who thought it was a drawer! Had to have several looks at the front of the box to convince myself the tray wasn't sliding out :-

Very nice boxes Paul even if it isn't the timber you thought it was!!

Hi Terry and sorry about the confusion in my photos with the drawer not being a drawer but the tray. I just put it that way to take the photos.

And hi Keith. A rundown on how I make those lids. It's pretty much identical to any youtube videos you will find on Roger Gifkin, on how me makes his lids. Firstly the frame of the box, with the base in it, is glued and left to dry. Most times you dont need any clamping as the dovetail joints are so precise, no clamping is required. I have a pipe clamp and a couple of pieces of scrap timber with a small lip on them, just enough to straddle the 1mm or so that the dovetails protrude out, to put pressure on the dovetails to eliminate any tiny gaps there might be. After drying I put the box onto my sanding belt and clean up the dovetails.

Then the lid is next. On my sawtable with a home made 45 degree sled, I cut the mitres a tad longer than the actual sides and ends of the box. This timber would be 25mm x either 10mm or 12mm, whatever I have used for the main box. In those photos it would be 12mm. When the 4 pieces are mitred, I then use a slot cutter router bit, and put a slot through each one. I then get a measurement for the insert I am going to use, making it about 1mm less than required. Also the same 12mm in thickness. I then use a panel raising bit on the top and bottom edges of the insert, keep going till its a snug fit inside the slots.

Then I have a home made clamping jig to clamp all this up. I use rapid drying glue and remove it after about 30 minutes so there is no chance the lid is going to stick to parts of my jig. I suppose I could wrap it all in gladwrap but my system works fine. Then leave that overnight to finish drying. Next day I put it through my home made drum sander to clean it all up, nice and smooth.

Then I run the lid through a straight bit around the underside perimeter exactly 1mm. Keep creeping on it, till it fits in the other part of the box like a glove, and glue it on. No chance of it twisting all over the place under glue/clamping pressure.

After all that I clean it up again on my belt sander to clean up the lid part, then give it a really good sanding on my Triton ROS, going through the grades 240, 320, 400, 800, 1500 and 2000 grit. Beautiful finish by the end. Then I slice the lid off on my router table using a 5/32 spiral bit. Now I finally have the bottom and top of a box.

Not sure if all this makes sense Keith, but look for a Roger Gifkin youtube video, he goes through all this technique.

Regards
Paul

Thanks very much for the lid information Paul.
I will also look at the Roger Gifkins video.

Regards
Keith

Hi Paul, I did a search for Roger's videos but didn't find much at all on doing the different lid styles, only found basic instructional videos on how to use the jig. Do you have any links to the appropriate videos?

Ah haaaa,..that may be correct. It's a while now since I searched youtube for Roger's videos. I do know he has basic videos on his jig. Maybe I am thinking of a cd that I bought from Col, (who now owns the Gifkin franchise in Coffs Harbour). A very detailed cd on a full box construction. Originally made by Roger on what he called his Special Box.

Sorry to have mislead you there.

Paul