Removing Box (or Dovetail) Joint Tips?

[Brody Goodwine]

Well, I'm getting the final glue-up done on some new box jointed poplar drawers for our kitchen, but I'm not sure what method works best for removing the 1-2mm end grain protrusions left from each tip at the corners.

Belt Sander? - seems inprecise

Table Saw - not all the nibs are the exact same length and it feels so "committed"

Router with Flush Trim Bit - I'm leaning this way

Other ideas?

[Leigh Betsch]

Hand plane.

[frank shic]

Hand plane.

+1 for hand plane

[Dell Littlefield]

I have had good luck with a flush trim bit in the router table

[Jerome Hanby]

I've used a block plane and had good results. If I had a ton of them to clean up, I'd use a router with a flush trim bit. For one or two drawers, I'd be done with the block plane quicker.

[glenn bradley]

Hand plane. . . . I'm sensing a trend.

[George Beck]

Hand Plane! Block plane works nicely

[joe milana]

I've done it on the jointer with the infeed table set to just ABOVE zero, but I may get in trouble suggesting it.

PS. Adjust your dovetail jig before making any more drawers.

[Steven Green]

Hand plane no set up and you can keep most of the shavings in your hand and off the floor.

[shane lyall]

SHARP low angle plane. I bought an old Craftsman just for this use. I spent an hour flattening, lapping, and honeing it until it is razor sharp. It zipps across endgrain like butter with shavings so thin you can almost see thru them. Heck, I love useing it so much I cut my dovetails a little long for that very reason! That and it seems the joints just fit better if I do it that way. It's easy to take a few thous off but I don't know any way to put it back on.

[Todd Burch]

Wow. A bunch of hand plane enthusiasts here!

First, a question to the OP, why 1-2mm overhangs, and even more so, why uneven? How are you cutting these? When sizing your drawer boxes, are you cutting the length of your parts 2-4mm longer than needed?

Years ago, I bought a wide belt horizontal sander for just this purpose (and also edges of doors). Takes me about a minute to clean up box joint overhangs, which I try to minimize to start with, on a drawer. 1/32" is more than enough overhang, and I try for less. I cut my stock about 1/32" long. Before that, I used a belt sander (Ryobi, 3" x 21") - you learn to control it. If a drawer is taller than 8 1/2" today, I still use my belt sander.

Most of the boxes I make are out of 1/2" baltic birch, and a hand plane on that stuff is too delicate for the time I want to invest. But, even when making solid stock boxes, I fire up the edge sander.

Thats how I do it.

[Mike Henderson]

Just a comment, I prefer to cut my dovetails just a hair short for a couple of reasons.

1. I find it easier to plane the long grain wood than the plane the end grain.
2. When you glue up, you don't need special jigs to get clamp pressure on the joint. You can use a caul with packing tape on it to do the clamp up (one caul in each direction).

If you're just a hair short, you don't have to plane much at all.

Mike

[frank shic]

great idea, mike. planing across the grain is a pain!

[Brian Kincaid]

Wow I am 'against the grain' on this one which I find funny because I enjoy my hand planes.

Keep making them as you do and use a belt sander to knock off the end-grain. Make sure the belt-feed goes into the drawer to keep from blowing out fibers. Not sure what precision you are concerned about. It will take a WHILE for a belt sander to re-dimension a box, but you might put a round-over somewhere if you are careless. Same comment on hand-plane except with possibility of tearout.

I've made probably 40 drawers this way. Belt sander was purchased for this purpose...
-Brian

[Brody Goodwine]

Thanks for the replies!

I do have an older plane that has been recently sharpened to 6000, but frankly I didn't enjoy using it much and it caused significant tear-out. Maybe a lower angle is needed, but planes are pretty big $$. I ended up grabbing a flush trim bit with double bearings and 1/2" shank. It made the job effortless and quick. I'm not saying that the plane isn't the right tool, but I had a MUCH!!! better experience via the router and a quick sand. I'm sure there is a plane out there that does this job better than my router, but it just wasn't in my shop.

Todd, I said 1-2mm over on the protrusions, not 2-4mm, and most all were 1mm after working on them. Why? It was suggested here to err on the long side since it's better to cut off excess than have a short end. This is good advice, since you can only fix one of those and you note in your post you have overhangs, so why question why I had them? I cut my box joints on my table saw with a dado and box jig. I'm sure any small (less than 1mm, not worth mentioning) variance was due to rocking the board a bit on my initial cuts. 1mm is pretty darn close to 1/32 Todd.

[Todd Burch]

Thanks for the replies!
...
Todd, I said 1-2mm over on the protrusions, not 2-4mm, and most all were 1mm after working on them. Why? It was suggested here to err on the long side since it's better to cut off excess than have a short end. This is good advice, since you can only fix one of those and you note in your post you have overhangs, so why question why I had them? I cut my box joints on my table saw with a dado and box jig. I'm sure any small (less than 1mm, not worth mentioning) variance was due to rocking the board a bit on my initial cuts. 1mm is pretty darn close to 1/32 Todd.

Wow - didn't mean to torque you off Brody.

You did say 1-2mm overhangs, and I read that as "per joint". Each board has 2 ends, so I doubled that when referencing your overall board size. Did I read that wrong?

For a drawer box, the slides I typically use (KV 8400 series) have a clearance tolerance of 1/2" + 1/32" / -0". I plan and layout my drawers 1" narrow than the opening, and 2mm short is out of tolerance. (2mm = 1mm protrusion per joint, aka, each end of a drawer side, and 2mm = 5/64", or 2.5/32", and 4mm out is time to make a new drawer box.)

You said 1-2mm, and 2mm, in my experienced opinion, is a lot, and you are just creating more work for yourself by leaving that much excess, (more sanding effort, and a PITA when measuring and cutting parts oversize to compensate) and I was questioning the excess and how you were compensating. If your tolerances are not a rigid as how I choose to make drawers, then you can choose to ignore my offer of critique and assistance.

And, FWIW, you are wrong. In your case, using solid stock, you can fix either one (long or short protrusions). Reread Mike's post.

[Brody Goodwine]

To be fair Todd, it's the second time you've directed a post like that at me, lets keep it positive to avoid a third.

Each joint was about 1mm over. Not sure why you'd worry about adding the other side since each is cut off individually, but it's kinda semantics. I see where your numbers came from. FWIW 2mm (or 5mm) would have been easy to remove via the flush trim bit. I was more concerned with hitting my spec on the drawer size and less worried about how much I need to cut off. Is it really worth questioning 1mm vs 2mm when they both get trimmed off? Seriously? You're wasting too much effort criticizing a part of the build that is irrelevant, hence why I came down on you. Yes, you can fix the protrusions being short, but we both know you do it by effectively rounding off a corner. Not a huge deal, but a lot worse than a 10mm protrusion that still ends up being a perfectly square drawer.

I plan to use the Blum Blumotions.

[frank shic]

guys, let's not take things too seriously! it's just sawdust ;)

[Bill Huber]

I don't see what the problem is, I just use a chain saw, now it does need to be sharp and you should use it outside the shop, it make a lot of smoke...:D:D

[Todd Burch]

My point wasn't that 1+1=2mm to remove.

My point was that if you don't allow for the 2mm you are removing after assembly, in the initial length of your stock, your drawer box might be out of tolerance for the hardware you are using.

However, drawers being the proper size wasn't your concern, so my posts here were indeed a waste of your time.

For the record, I don't eat Taco Bell, and I don't compensate for poor joinery by rounding over corners.

Good bye.

[David Hostetler]

So you have 1 to do? Hand plane. Do you have multiple to do? Router with flush trim bit.... Use board on the 90 degree edge to hold the router up from the nubs that are proud of the surface there... Works great, just not sure I explain it right...