Setting Up a Bevelled Box

[Ed Sallee]

I've made a few bevelled boxes and I'm in the process of making another..... I know the first time that I saw one, I had no idea how to do it... so, I thought I'd drop a little "how to" in the hopes that it will help somebody else along the way....

On a bevelled box, you'll start out with 3/4 or even 7/8" thickness all around.... so you have the meat to bevel off....For example, on this one, 3/4" starting thickness....

You can see the lid's border sitting 1/4" proud of the box. I have the border sitting on ply spacers inside the box, with 7/16" of the border inside the box... the spacers will be in there when I drill the hinge pin holes. The border has a groove 3/8" deep centered. I used an outer border of Bubinga, 1/2" wide followed by alternating strips of Cocobolo & Bubinga 1/8", 1/16", 1/16", 1/8", 1/16th" and 5/16" respectivley to make an overall width of 1-1/4".

The lid is mounted 1/4" proud of the border. I cut a 3/8" rabbett, 1/2" deep leaving a 1/4 inch "tongue" all around the bottom of the lid piece.

This will allow an 11 degree bevel, the saw blade will just "kiss" where the angles meet on the lid. Should be a fun cut.... I'll post a picture after I make the cuts...

The lid will be cut first, then the box will be turned on it's side to bevel the top edges 11 degrees to match the bevel on the lid.

The side of the box, all the way around, will be bevelled at 9 degrees.... leaving 3/8" thickness at the top.

http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/nn88/evsallee/2009%20Project%2011/BevelDetail.jpg
http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/nn88/evsallee/2009%20Project%2011/DSC08520.jpg

I thought I'd throw this picture in just because I think it's cool.....

http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/nn88/evsallee/2009%20Project%2011/DSC08523.jpg

[Jerry Murray]

nicely done, thanks for the drawing.

[Ed Sallee]

Trimmed the fat off last night.... I'll post a picture of the completed project by the weekend.... Thanks for looking.

http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/nn88/evsallee/2009%20Project%2011/DSC08531.jpg
http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/nn88/evsallee/2009%20Project%2011/DSC08540.jpg

[Mark Kosmowski]

Very nice!

[John Keeton]

The secret revealed!! Ed, that is a neat tutorial, and I really like the high tech clamp you used;)

[Ed Sallee]

The secret revealed!! ;)

I better quit giving away my secrets.... :cool:

[glenn bradley]

Very nice Ed but you can't stop revealing the magic now; I'm learning too much from you.

[Larry Fox]

Very nice work there Ed. One question that I have wondered about seeing boxes with floating panels is how you prep for finish and finish the reveal around the floating panel.

I tend to use a veneered top panel so I can completely encase it so I don't have to deal with that particular issue.

[John Thompson]

And now I know why I can't find a case of tape local.. you scoundrel.. :mad:

:D

You know who from down the road... ha.. ha...

[Mike Wilkins]

Nice work and nice, great trick. Another method to add to my arsenal. Thanks.

[Mike McCann]

Ed

thanks for all the tips. I am amazed how fast you produce your boxes.

[Ed Sallee]

Thanks again to all.....

Larry... I use spray lacquer and have not really had an issue with the reveal around the floating lid. It is, indeed visibile....but it has not got in the way of any finishing concerns...

Sarge..... not sure what you mean about the tape... lol But, I'm sure you'll fill me in.

Mike.... and then, on the other hand.... some of them seem to take forever. It all depends on what sort of "groove" is going on. On this particular box, I started Sunday around noon and the groove was definitely on! Plus... I have a deadline on this one, and two more ... by July 17th.

The two more are to be made out of the scraps of this one. It's going to my niece as a display for her wedding photography biz... she's making a keepsake box as a menu item.... might be a nice little gig. The "scrap" boxes are going to be samples..... for the bridesmaid or flower girl... or brides mother.... suppose to be a matching thing all out of the same wood. We'll see how that goes.

By the way... I'm going to "frame" a picture on the inside of the lid with Bird's Eye Maple.... ought to be fun.... I drew up how to cut that up too. The picture will be a 5x3.... and here's how that's going to be done...

I forgot to draw in the dims for the width.... but, I'll tell ya... sketchup shure helped out on figuring this one out. The length of the piece represents the length of the hole that I have to fill. The guidelines represent the cuts that I have to make to obtain the width and center the 5x3 photo..... Gonna waste a little bit of BEM, but I'll find a use for it somewhere down the line. After all, the BEM that I'm using is resaw scrap left over from a project from about a year ago. Should look pretty cool when I get it in there.... I might work on that tonight... I don't feel like sanding this evening.....

http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/nn88/evsallee/2009%20Project%2011/FrameDetails.jpg

[Ed Sallee]

Well... the Bird's Eye Maple wound up fitting rather nice... Now I'm thinking about chopping off an 1/8" all the way around it and put some ebony in there for a transition..... Think I'll do that tomorrow... The pic is Jayce, my niece's son..... :o

http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/nn88/evsallee/2009%20Project%2011/DSC08562.jpg

[Phil Thien]

Great thread, Ed. I'm gonna give it a shot!

[Ed Sallee]

Yup.... the ebony was a good idea.....

http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/nn88/evsallee/2009%20Project%2011/DSC08569.jpg

[John Keeton]

I agree! Certainly sets off the maple from the darker woods. Nice touch!

[gary Zimmel]

Looks like it's going to be another sweet looking box Ed.
Thanks for the quick tutorial.

And one more vote that the ebony sets it off...

[Jerry Murray]

definately thumbs up for the ebony accents!

[Ed Sallee]

One thing I forgot to mention... don't throw away the cut offs.... They can be used when sanding or stuff like clamping on the lid handle. It's a handy scrap to bring that side back to 90 degrees.

http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/nn88/evsallee/2009%20Project%2011/DSC08574.jpg

Everything went together real well... and I sanded and and sanded and sanded some more...

Ya'all have put up with this thread so far....you might as well see one more.... My favorite part.... popping the grain with the oil. Here, there are two fresh coats of Watco Teak Oil.... I like that stuff, seems thinner and more manageable than BLO. And, it's says on the can it's for dense wood...

I won't bug ya no more about this box until it's finished... in about a week. Have to decide on what color to flock the bottom - and the oil needs to set for a while before I lacquer... I need to print the real picture and cut the glass too...

In the mean time... I'm gonna work on smaller boxes from the same wood... see what comes of that...

Thanks for watching and everything.... it's been fun.

http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/nn88/evsallee/2009%20Project%2011/DSC08578.jpg
http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/nn88/evsallee/2009%20Project%2011/DSC08575.jpg

[sean m. titmas]

Nice technique ed. i have a lot of scraps piling up and this is a great idea to use them up.


how did you bevel the inside of the lid? before or after glue-up? its hard to see from the pic if its stepped or beveled.

[Ed Sallee]

The inside of the lid is not bevelled...nor stepped. It's flat... The laminates are playing tricks... :rolleyes:

[John Keeton]

The inside of the lid is not bevelled...nor stepped. It's flat... The laminates are playing tricks... :rolleyes:I am glad I wasn't the only one fooled by that!!!!

[sean m. titmas]

http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/nn88/evsallee/2009%20Project%2011/BevelDetail.jpg





in this drawing it shows the lid to be stepped on the inside. im i not seeing it correctly? it does not look flat to me.

[Ed Sallee]

Yes, the border of the lid is stepped.... but, in the end, the stepped portion was filled with the Bird's Eye Maple.... making the whole thing flat.