Beveled Box Sides

[Greg Fairweather]

Are the sides of the boxes shown simply beveled at the table saw after glue up? If so, what angle is it best to set the blade to? I will experiment, just wanted to have an idea where to start.

Thanks for any and all help.465460465461

[Brian Tymchak]

Nice box. Those sides are rounded, not beveled. Probably with a router table. However they may have started out as a bevel cut off the bottom side and then shaped with a hand plane or block plane, scraper, etc. My guess for a starting angle for a bevel cut would be about 80°. The side stock may have been shaped on a router table before being cut to length for sides and ends.

On second thought, I think the sides were shaped after glue up since the miter splines are all the same depth.

[Greg Fairweather]

I believe your last assumption would be correct, Now to find a 5" cutting height shaper cutter. :D

[John C Bush]

A friend made one like that design. He mitered and splined the sides, fit the top and bottom, glued up the box and used a 1 1/2" roundover bit on his router table to get the edge contours then resawed the lid on my bandsaw. He tried a cheapo router bit that didn't cut well on a test piece and had a good result with a better (Whiteside??$$) bit. Light sanding at the kerf evened out the round contour. All hobby first time project and it turned out beautifully.

[Edwin Santos]

I made a quiet little box with similar shaping last year, albeit a more Japanese design interpretation.
The box was glued up while the sides were straight and square, and all shaping was done with a sharp hand plane. It was surprisingly quick to do it this way, and very enjoyable.
No reason it would not work with key spline miter joinery like your example.

They would cheer this comment in the Neanderthal forum, but sometimes it is more efficient to do something with a hand tool than go through a bunch of gyrations trying to figure out how to tool up or jig up to do it by machine.
Especially if the project is a one-off.



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[Warren Lake]

Nice work Edwin. We were taught never do a thing by hand if you can use a machine at least one of them taught that way. I look at it that as one or many? then go from there for the how, they are two different things.

High speed steel would cut that stuff nice and clean.

[Alex Zeller]

I made a bunch of boxes with sides like that when I was first getting back into woodworking. I used a bit from MLCS (I think i got one from each one of their lines, MLCS and Eagle America). If I remember correctly they can only do about 1 1/2" so the box height can only be about 3" or so high.
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[Bill McNiel]

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Beautiful design, material choice and execution.

[Greg Fairweather]

Those are beautiful boxes Alex. Can you point me out in the right direction for the bit you used. I have searched MLCS but do not see an appropriate one.

[Greg Fairweather]

Alex. Cancel that. I believe I found the bit you used. MLCS #8592.

[Stan Calow]

I think those profiles are called Queen Anne bits if you want to look for other manufacturers.

[Greg Fairweather]

Thanks Stan, that helps. Right now I sent enquiries out for custom sizing. Will see where that leads me.

[Greg Fairweather]

I received a quote for a bit that has a cutting height of 2.5". It would be $353.00. Ouch, but might be worth the expenditure. To keep the profile looking correct what radius would look best? I am not sure if I want to start with stock thicker than 1 inch but will if I have to.

Thanks for all help.

[Alan Lightstone]

There's a company that makes a jig to do these on a bandsaw. Convex Curve Cutter. They are now sold on Amazon.
https://www.amazon.com/CCC-Convex-Cutter-Cutting-Curves/dp/B07M8DKWMV

Probably also the company directly, but I'm not sure. I bought one years ago, but still haven't gotten around to using it, but looks pretty good. Seems to be designed to exactly making these type of boxes. Pricey, though.

[Philip Hine]

Check out "Convex Curve Cutting system".

Phil

[Greg Fairweather]

Thanks Alan. Very interesting and useful find. May have to buy a bandsaw now.

[Stan Calow]

Maybe you could do it with the 1 1/2" cutting length bits and then plane and sand the middle section. I'd hate to pay that much for a custom bit.

[Greg Fairweather]

Not to thrilled myself, however if I am doing multiples boxes, I may bite the bullet.

[Tim Andrews]

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Don’t mean to hijack this thread, but I gotta say Edwin, that’s one beautiful box. Elegant design, perfectly executed.