Box building glue up???

[Jon Wilson]

I'm about to attempt my first box with 45 degree angle joints.
It's a small(ish) box, approx. 8" x 8" x 3/4"

I'm having a bit of trouble imagining how to "clamp" the box
so that there's enough clamping pressure to bind the joints
but not so much that it causes the joints to slip.

I'm pretty sure there is a simple solution,
I'm probably over thinking the problem.

So... How do you clamp these joints?

TIA!

[Andrew Hughes]

Packing tape is just about the best way.Try searching on utube for all the details.Aj

[Matthew Bradburn]

I've had good luck with 2" wide blue tape. I lay a staightedge on my bench to aid alignment of the box sides, put blue tape down sticky side up, carefully align the box sides on the tape with outside down. Then of course put glue in the joints and roll the package up while inserting the top and bottom. Apply persuasion to any joints that aren't correctly aligned. I haven't tried packing tape.

- Don't forget that when you put the outsides down, the left-right orientation of the pieces is reversed. If you have a particular order of sides in mind that can be confusing. For me, at least.

- There have been issues where removing the tape can take a bit of wood along with.

[Lee Schierer]

Step number 1 is to get your corners cut at precisely the correct angle.

Step number 2 is to get opposite sides exactly the same length.

Step number 3 is to dry fit your parts to insure that steps 1 and 2 have been completed correctly.

Step number 4 is glue up. Tape works quite well but doesn't apply much pressure. You can use tape to hold the box sides in place while you add a band clamp and tighten it to apply pressure to the corners. I like using a nylon strap type with a ratchet. 291494 It will adapt to any number of sides on a box.

[Jim Matthews]

Plywood base for corner blocks, or battens screwed to a board
will hold the sides in place while you clamp (or tape) up.

Cover the jig with Saran Wrap, Wax paper or more tape - so it won't bond with glue.

If the box is manageable by hand, I've seen it done with long strips of tape
applied to the outside of the box, and the works "rolled up".

http://www.popularwoodworking.com/techniques/joinery/a-better-way-to-glue-up-boxes

In practice, I glue up opposite corners first, with aluminum squares
and then join the subassemblies afterwards.

That way, I can't get three corners tight and leave one hopeless
hidden in the back.

[Max Neu]

If you have a bisquit cutter,I would use that.

[Jim Matthews]

I've done the same thing, with splines.

These mainly keep the corners aligned while the glue dries.
The 45 degree miter is amazingly strong, with glue alone.

The strongest variant of this joint I have seen glues up a box
as the OP wishes, and places in cross grain splines.

These would be exposed on a box, and may not be acceptable.
http://www.wooden-box-maker.com/woodworking-joinery.html

291535

[Bill Huber]

I have made a bunch of small boxes and used the painters tape and it worked very well.
If you use good tape and a lot of it the joints are very tight. You can pull the last joint together and tape it really tight.
If the box is not exactly square I then just use a clamp across the corners to square it up.

[Dick Brown]

Painter's tape, glue, fold up, then wrap with surgical tubing, check for square, let dry. I have a chunk of tubing about six feet long that I wrap on urns to do glue ups. After about 10 rounds of it, stretched out with a good bit of tension, seldom need any clamps.

[Max Neu]

Is this box solid wood? Which way is the grain running? If it's end grain to end grain, I would use biscuits, domino's, splines, or some sort of reinforcement.

[Shawn Pixley]

I favor packing tape and clamps. If you put a captured bottom panel is and cut it exactly, it will be easy to keep square. Larger boxes I would glue in two parts. Two sides square and then the two glued components togather paying special attention not to break the earlier glue joint. A mitered joint isn't strong without tenons, splines or feathers.

[Jim Rimmer]

I use the blue tape method and add splines after the glue is dry for a little extra strength.

[Chuck Darney]

I also use blue tape for most boxes. I've also used the Merle Band clamps I got from MLCS. They seem to be pretty well for the mitered corners. I don't have much luck with regular clamps. I never seem to get things as square as I like.

I nearly always use splines for mitered corners.

...Chuck

[David Helm]

I use band clamps and have good success. I also spline, but use dovetail splines instead of straight.

[Alan Lightstone]

Packing tape, then band clamps. Finish off with splines. Learned this lesson the hard way.

even perfectly made end grain miter joints are very weak.