Greetings. I’m a student new to fine woodwork, with some experience in rough carpentry. Long-time reader, this is my first post in the forum.
I’m going to build a small box this summer as a practice piece before taking some classes in the Fall. I’d like the removable lid of the box to be recessed and flush with the top edges, and the corners to be splined mitre joints. It seems simple enough with one or two tricky parts.
My question is, does the order of operations matter regarding the rabbets for the lid and cutting of the mitre joints? i.e. should I cut the rabbets and then cut the mitres, or cut the mitres and then add rabbets? Any help is much appreciated.
Chris
Replies
order of operations
I opted to have the brain surgery last. Had I started with that, I might not have spent so much on tools! ;-)
Depending on how you're making the rabbets, it might be good to do those first, so any tear-out from that process will be removed by mitering.
Also, if you don't have one, you might consider using a shooting board to get the corresponding sides to precisely the same length, and precisely square. Doing so makes the box-making life much easier.
hi chris,
and, of course, welcome. i stand shoulder to shoulder with ralph on the matter of cutting the rabbets first and the 45's after. however, his "suggestion" that you procure a shooting board is most questionable. i myself have been trying to go the way of the s'ing board for nigh on two years now. i have fettled for days, only to fail at tuning the required hand plane with which to shoot. i am currently knee deep in acquiring, tuning and putting to use the needed tools to make my own wood shooting plane, a'la sir krenov. go the way of the shooting board if you must, but be warned, once under-way, you're going to like it all too much to ever stop...
eef
Yep, a good design on the shooting board, along with a really sharp iron in the plane helps. End grain is difficult to plane, so the really sharp iron and some heft in the plane helps. I've been using my old Record #7 with some success, but recently acquired an LN low-angle Jack to try. Angling the bed of the shooting board slightly in relation to the plane track can help, too, essentially creating a skew cut. Before the shooting board, the boxes I made were all slightly wonky.
huntin' wabbets
Thanks for the input. I'm going to cut the rabbets by hand so I'm not anticipating too much tearout. A shooting board for mitres is a good tip, and seems simple enough to construct.. I have a sharp Veritas low angle block plane which cuts end grain well, so I'll try that one and go up from there. To larger planes shoot better for any reason?
Chris
jigs on jigs
To shoot the miters on the edges of the boards, you'll need both the basic shooting board and what I believe is commonly called a donkey - another attachment/jig that holds the board at 45° from the surface of the shooting board. You'd trim to length and square on the basic shooting board first, then add the donkey and shoot the miters.
Since you run the plane on its side along the track surface, it needs to be wide enough for the iron to reach all of the thickness of the board, plus the amount of elevation difference between the track and the primary support surface on the shooting board. Naturally, the side of the plane has to be precisely square to the sole, so you end up with a square cut at the end of the board.
The actual cutting/planing process is a combination of the sharpness of the iron and the effort behind it. Larger planes will track better (truer) along the track, and the added weight of the larger plane reduces the amount of muscle needed to slice along the full width of the stock in one pass. Obviously, adjusting the iron for a very thin shaving also helps.
If you shoot the edge miters, I'd rough out the cut on the table saw (or miter box) first, and then trim on the shooting board+donkey.
Here are some pics of the shooting board I made. Nothing fancy, but it works OK. The only difference between mine and some designs is that I made it so I could shim and adjust the backer board to dial in a precise 90°. The exposed green phenolic, where the plane rides, is what I've been calling the track. I've shown both the LN low-angle jack (with "hotdog" grip installed, and my old Record #7 for comparison. I haven't had a chance to use the low-angle jack yet, though. The attachment does 45° angles for what I'd call face miters (e.g. for frames and such), not the edge miters you're planning for your boxes.
The elevation from the track to the stock surface could be reduced by using thinner material for the top. Or, the top (or, the track) could be tapered to produce a skew cut.
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