Bandsaw box question

[Jeff Horton]

Looking for a simple 'how to' on bandsaw boxes but didn't ever find one. One thing I think I know but I am not sure of. Making the drawer.

Looks to me like you saw them out, the draw shapes out, resaw them to make the face and back, then saw out the drawer shape and then glue the front and back on. Yes??

[Chuck Hayes]

Here is how I do it, I think this is the standard method

1. Glue up your blank to the desired depth of the box (Unless of course you are using a solid chuck of wood)

2. Cut the outside shape of the box on the bandsaw

3. Cut the back off the box on the bandsaw (I usually make the back about a 1/4 - 3/8 inch thick)

4. Cut out the drawer(s) being careful to make your entry cut with the grain to make glue it closed later easier (If you plan on glueing the entry cuts closed)

5. Cut the front and back off the drawer(s)

6. Cut out the "Inside" of the drawer.
6b. Sand the inside of the drawer unless you plan on flocking.

7. Glue the front and back of the drawer back on
7b. Sand the outside of the drawer

8. Sand the inside of the box

9. Glue the back of the box back on.

10. Sand the outside of the box.

Steps 11 - 20. Sand, Sand, Sand . . . .

Someone once said that these should be called Sand-Boxes instead of bandsaw boxes, and that is about the truth of it all. You will spend much more time sanding than cutting.

Chuck

[Cliff Rohrabacher]

That is one excellent description
A question:



5. Cut the front and back off the drawer(s)

6. Cut out the "Inside" of the drawer.
6b. Sand the inside of the drawer unless you plan on flocking.

7. Glue the front and back of the drawer back on


Have you tried or considered leaving the Drawer all one piece and routing out the "inside" of the drawer. You'd not get square corners of course but you could get 'em about .250" radius. I am guesig it might be harder to sand that way but a good cutter will leave things quite smooth.

[Frank Fusco]

I've not made any boxes yet, but Cliff's suggestion sounds logical to me. Maybe just hogging out the wood with drill bits or a forstner then smoothing as best as possible with chisles.

[Jake Helmboldt]

Jeff, there is a book on bandsaw boxes, Building Beautiful Boxes With Your Bandsaw, that looks really good. It has steps to follow and templates. Maybe you can find a copy at your library if you don't want to pop for it. I flipped thru it at Woodcraft to glean some knowledge but I have been reliant on the library to screen books before I purchase.

Jake

[Jeff Horton]

AH HA! I forgot about cutting off the back!

Thanks, drawers were what I wasn't certain about but I could only see one way to make them. Totally overlooked the back.

[Chuck Hayes]

Cliff;

The router idea might work, but I think it would be much more difficult and time consumming to do it that way. I also think you would need some sort of template to prevent "blowing thru" the sides of the drawer.

As far as hogging it out with drill bits, that would take way to long for me (The chisleing part that is). Once the front and back are glued back on, and if you do it carfully enough, it is hard to tell it was ever cut. I also like having the drawer shorter (Less deep) than the box, that allows you a little wiggle room when setting the drawer (I usually put slides under the drawer to help guide it and keep it centered.

Chuck

[Red Dwyer]

Good posts so far. Can I jump in with a question?

I'm just getting started making some boxes and have some questions about blade choice. I have used a 3/16" 4 tooth skip blade and a 10 tooth raker. The 10 tooth makes a much smoother cut but, I dont seem to get much life out of the blade. I am using a Timberwolf blade and I do not push it so fast that it gets hot. It seems to me that after making a series of tight turns the blade gets dull and doesn't want to make the turns as easily as before. The straight cuts are slower but seem OK as far as the cut goes. I have not got to the sand, sand, sand stage yet. I'm just making some practice runs for now.

Any suggestions will be appreciated. Thanks.

Red

[Brian Knodel]

Good posts so far. Can I jump in with a question?

I'm just getting started making some boxes and have some questions about blade choice. I have used a 3/16" 4 tooth skip blade and a 10 tooth raker. The 10 tooth makes a much smoother cut but, I dont seem to get much life out of the blade. I am using a Timberwolf blade and I do not push it so fast that it gets hot. It seems to me that after making a series of tight turns the blade gets dull and doesn't want to make the turns as easily as before. The straight cuts are slower but seem OK as far as the cut goes. I have not got to the sand, sand, sand stage yet. I'm just making some practice runs for now.

Any suggestions will be appreciated. Thanks.

Red
I use a 3/16 10 tpi for all my boxes for the same reason you are experiencing, smoother cuts, less sanding. The following are my findings and my findings only and others may disagree.

A 3/16 10 tpi blade is not designed to cut through and make curves cuts in such thick wood that is used to make Bands saw boxes, it could be up to six inches on a 14 inch saw, but it is the only blade that can make these fine cuts and that is the nature of the beast and is normal. After about 15 minutes of cutting and especially if tight corners are involved you may smell burning on tight corners which will be evident after the completion of the cut. After a few tight corners the blade does not cut well … stop the saw and back out of the cut, unplug the saw and by rotating the upper wheel with one hand and a tooth bush in the other clean the saw dust out of the blade gullets. You can clean the blade with a tooth brush a few times until you can feel and pitch build up on the sides of the blade that you can scrape off with your thumbnail, cleaning the whole blade with your thumbnail on both sides will leave you with a sore thumb and a deep divot in your nail so its time to either take off the blade and clean it with Simple Green or change blades. A 3/16 10 tpi blade just cannot clear the sawdust on thick wood as well as a bigger blade and is more susceptible to heat build up so it needs constant attention. After a few cleanings you will be able to tell if the blade is cutting like when it was new, if after a few cleaning and you are not satisfied it, is simply time to discard the blade and put on a new one. Blade life varies … on a easy styled box with no tight corners you could easily make up of four or five boxes of the same style, on a box with many tight corners you could replace the blade three or four times for one box depending on the wood.

The box below (Birch) if my memory serves me correctly, I used three or four blades.

Hope this helps a little.

Brian
http://www3.telus.net/wood/smc1.jpg
http://www3.telus.net/wood/smc2.jpg

[Alan DuBoff]

Brian,

That is one bad, bad, bad @$$ (this is good, good, good;-) box!

Wow, I really like that puppy!

[Tony Ward]

Making bandsawn boxes there are a free bandsaw box plans, together with the Pocket Guide to Bandsaw Box Making. the idea is that you can download, print and off to your workshop; copy, trace or draw the full size plan and off to the bandsaw.

Please feel free to use the free plans www.tonyward.org (http://www.tonyward.org)

[Red Dwyer]

Brian;

That is one neat box. I'm going to save that photo into my projects folder for future use (if you don't mind).

Your advice for my queston sounds like it should help with my problem. My blade didn't seem to be getting hot and burning the wood (been there, done that). I will try to clean the blade and see if the cut improves.

Thanks for the advice.

Red

[Frank Howell]

Hey Jeff,
Looks like you've got some pretty good tips and instructions here already, so I'll forgo that part and focus on the book.

Here's the one I got, and I really love it. It includes patterns for all the boxes discussed.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1558705228/104-1080779-9849508?v=glance&n=283155

[Mike Peace]

Jeff, there is a bandsawboxes group on Yahoo Groups that you might find interesting. All of the discussion is on bandsaw boxes with many detail discussions on bandsaw box techniques with lots of photographs. Here is the link.

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/bandsawboxes/


Mike