Cary Swoveland
07-04-2008, 4:14 PM
Here are some handles I made for the lids of small boxes:
91920
These are made of ebony. I attach them with 5mm dominos. I like using dominos for this because they ensure the handles are installed straight and held securely (and no screw head is visible inside).
It makes sense to make these in batches. The first step is to mill a block from which the handles are to be cut. The thickness of the block will be the distance the handles stick out height out from the lids.
Next, lay out and cut the Domino mortises. Depending on the sizes and locations of the mortises, you may need to put a spacer between the stock and the Domino's fence, and/or restrict the depth of cut. You can avoid the former by trimming the block to final width after cutting the mortises. To restrict the amount of plunge, either put a wooden donut of the right thickness on one of the Domino's cylindrical shafts, or put a spacer on the outside of the stock, and cut the mortises through the spacer.
After the mortises are cut, a strip of handles can be ripped off the block. Set you TS blade at the desired angle (I used 20 degrees), position the block carefully, with the mortises facing up, and rip the outside edge of the block. Then flip the material over (so the mortises are facing the table), move it to the left for the desired handle width, and do a second rip. The offcut is the keeper.
The individual handles can then be cut to length on the table or mitre saw. I angled the ends of each handle on my disc sander. I did that by setting my miter gauge at 20 degrees, placing a small board against the miter gauge, placing the handle on that board, with the domino on the face and the bottom of the handle against the outside edge, and then slid the handle into the sander.
I cut the dominos slightly long before gluing them to the handles, then trimmed them to length on my disc sander.
Many variations are of course possible.
Cary
91920
These are made of ebony. I attach them with 5mm dominos. I like using dominos for this because they ensure the handles are installed straight and held securely (and no screw head is visible inside).
It makes sense to make these in batches. The first step is to mill a block from which the handles are to be cut. The thickness of the block will be the distance the handles stick out height out from the lids.
Next, lay out and cut the Domino mortises. Depending on the sizes and locations of the mortises, you may need to put a spacer between the stock and the Domino's fence, and/or restrict the depth of cut. You can avoid the former by trimming the block to final width after cutting the mortises. To restrict the amount of plunge, either put a wooden donut of the right thickness on one of the Domino's cylindrical shafts, or put a spacer on the outside of the stock, and cut the mortises through the spacer.
After the mortises are cut, a strip of handles can be ripped off the block. Set you TS blade at the desired angle (I used 20 degrees), position the block carefully, with the mortises facing up, and rip the outside edge of the block. Then flip the material over (so the mortises are facing the table), move it to the left for the desired handle width, and do a second rip. The offcut is the keeper.
The individual handles can then be cut to length on the table or mitre saw. I angled the ends of each handle on my disc sander. I did that by setting my miter gauge at 20 degrees, placing a small board against the miter gauge, placing the handle on that board, with the domino on the face and the bottom of the handle against the outside edge, and then slid the handle into the sander.
I cut the dominos slightly long before gluing them to the handles, then trimmed them to length on my disc sander.
Many variations are of course possible.
Cary