It seems every other project is a box of some sort. This latest box is to hold coffee filters in the cupboard. We tend to lay them on their side so a filter can be easily slipped out. The cardboard boxes tend to take on a lean after a while. We buy filters in packs of 400 from Costco when we can.
The milling, cutting and planing of the stock wasn’t photographed until the final sizing:
a Square Shooter.jpg
Starting with square and equally sized parts makes things a lot easier in the long run:
b Size Check Aisle Three.jpg
Running a finger over the pieces held side by side can reveal if one is a hair bigger than the other.
One mistake might have been not laying out the pieces on the single board before cutting. Things work better on boxes when all the pieces come from a single board. It also helps alignment to cut any slots before cutting the one board into separate pieces. My plan was to do stopped slots instead of using plugs. This was started with a #45:
c Starting Stopped Slot w:#45.jpg
Another advantage of the one piece method is the pieces can be cut so the grain is continuous around the finished piece.
The #45 worked for getting the slot started. It was a bit difficult working smaller stock. A Mini-Router plane was used to cut the slots with the aid of a knife edged marking gauge:
d Using Mini-Router to Cut Stopped Slot.jpg
The notch in the blade for the adjustment nut is a little bigger than the flange on the nut. When loosening the blade lock to adjust the blade it can slip down. Also the lock bolt tends to loosen if one isn’t careful. My solution was to use an end clipped off of an old ball point pen spring and set that between the post and the lock ring:
e Added Spring.jpg
It seems to have helped.
Before this project was started some practice dovetails were cut and helped me to decide two tails and three pins would be fine for this box.
For many years my dividers were seldom used. After having bought a few it seemed maybe they should be put to use. Since using them and getting used to them it seems they are indispensable.
Finding center is easy. One method is to set one pin on a spot that looks like center, check against both side, if there is a discrepancy move the center pin half the difference, then adjust the other pin to the edge.
Sometimes with tails first mine are marked in pencil:
f Tail Board Layout.jpg
A small square can be set against the divider pin for marking.
One advantage of cutting tails first is being able to gang cut the boards:
g Sawing Tails.jpg
Next a fret saw is used to remove the waste:
h Fret Saw on Waste.jpg
Derek Cohen shows cutting a guide notch at the base line with a chisel. That is a helpful step whether cutting out the waste with a chisel, fret saw or coping saw.
Ganging up the tail boards also helps to make the tail faces more square than some of my work.
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jtk
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Originally Posted by Mike Allen1010
