OK, things are moving right along. I didn't get much done yesterday because a lot of other stuff got in my way so I couldn't spend much time in the shop. All I had to do today was take Miss Honey Bee Rocket Butt to the vet for her yearly shots so that only took a couple of hours. What I did today was rabbit out one edge of the pieces so I can fit the bottom in later. I decided to go with 1/2" birch plywood for the bottom rather than the usual 1/4" because I think it will be a much better moisture seal than the 1/4". May be wrong but that's where we're going with this build. Anyway, once I got the rabbit routed I started cutting parts on the sliding radial miter saw. That is one handy beast and if you tweak it you can get the accuracy pretty much spot on. To keep the parts the same length I used a stop block. You cut both miters on a piece and a miter on one end of the second piece. Then you set the block with the one you finished and that sets the length for piece number two. Easy!

I never count on the saw cutting a really accurate miter so I put a big 45-degree chamfer bit in the table router and proceeded to use the router sled to slick up the miters and get them spot on. Also took the opportunity to make sure the matching pieces were the same length. The microadjust on the router fence lets me make adjustments in 1/1000th increments so fine tuning is butt simple. Then I put the parts together to admire it and see how it looked. It's starting to look like a box.

Trying to clamp up a mitered box without something to stabilize the sides will drive you absolutely bug f**k crazy so you need something in there to keep the edges from sliding around and past each other. I'm investigating the utility of a locking miter bit for the router table but I've got to build some auxiliary jigs to effectively use it. I could have cut slots in the miters and inserted a spline to the strengthen the joint but I was too lazy to set up for that so I decided to make biscuits instead. Just like my coon dog, biscuits are good to have! So I got the biscuit jointer out and cut me some biscuit slots. The biscuits work just like the splines but they are lot easier to work with. Just as strong but not as elegant.

I've been meaning to buy some band clamps for use in gluing these things up since I decided to go with mitered edges rather than simple butt joints. Ran across some Besseys in Lowes the other day and picked a couple up for this project. One of these days I'll get over to Woodcraft in Lexington and get some good ones. Anyway, I dry assembled the project to check for final fit and to figure out how to use the band clamps. They are usuable without going through too many contortions so I think they will work out OK. Then I laid everything out on a piece of waxed paper and did my usual messy job of spreading Gorilla Glue around. Putting on the band clamps was an adventure but it all worked out. I did my patented job of getting glue everywhere but where it belongs so I hope I can get the clamps off. It's good that GG won't stick to plastic very well. I love that big piece of granite for assembling small stuff. I picked it up in Turkey while my wife and I were stationed in Izmir. It cost less than $20 and comes in real handy.

Keep em' coming!

Very nice Ken!

are you gonna finish it with tung oil and poly?

Quotedoubleott05 - 3/29/2012  5:58 PM

are you gonna finish it with tung oil and poly?

Nope! I use Danish Watco penetrating oil finish. I much prefer the look of an oil finish over the glossy stuff. Tung oil is for Homer Formby, not me.

looking good. keep the pictures coming

Damn, Ken, you do great work!  In my very limited woodworking experience, I've discovered that you can never have enough clamps of various varieties, and that a good well-bladed circular saw and a jig for it to ride on makes better long cuts than a cheap table saw.

QuoteAlphairon - 3/29/2012  6:04 PM

Quotedoubleott05 - 3/29/2012  5:58 PM

are you gonna finish it with tung oil and poly?

Nope! I use Danish Watco penetrating oil finish. I much prefer the look of an oil finish over the glossy stuff. Tung oil is for Homer Formby, not me.

There's always Birchwood Casey...

 

easy there killer

Quotegitfiddl - 3/29/2012  6:36 PM

QuoteAlphairon - 3/29/2012  6:04 PM

Quotedoubleott05 - 3/29/2012  5:58 PM

are you gonna finish it with tung oil and poly?

Nope! I use Danish Watco penetrating oil finish. I much prefer the look of an oil finish over the glossy stuff. Tung oil is for Homer Formby, not me.

There's always Birchwood Casey...

 

Ah, yes! Manys the gallon of Birchwood Casey I've been smearing on gunstocks of various varieties. You can pull off a very good approximation of a hand-rubbed oil finish with BC. Smear it on thick, then wipe most of it off with a towel before it dries. Do that several times letting it dry in between then after the last coat polish it with a felt pad, oil, and pumice powder. Looks slick.

QuoteAlphairon - 3/29/2012  7:07 PM

Quotegitfiddl - 3/29/2012  6:36 PM

QuoteAlphairon - 3/29/2012  6:04 PM

Quotedoubleott05 - 3/29/2012  5:58 PM

are you gonna finish it with tung oil and poly?

Nope! I use Danish Watco penetrating oil finish. I much prefer the look of an oil finish over the glossy stuff. Tung oil is for Homer Formby, not me.

There's always Birchwood Casey...

 

Ah, yes! Manys the gallon of Birchwood Casey I've been smearing on gunstocks of various varieties. You can pull off a very good approximation of a hand-rubbed oil finish with BC. Smear it on thick, then wipe most of it off with a towel before it dries. Do that several times letting it dry in between then after the last coat polish it with a felt pad, oil, and pumice powder. Looks slick.

I've probably refinished more solid-body guitars than gunstocks with B/C.  I've used it on wood handled cutlery, too.  Hell, after I refinished the stock of my old (c. 1920 ?) Benjamin air rifle when I was a junior in high school, I might have put some on the ol' hickory stick that hung in the back winder of my pick-up truck...

Its lookin awesome man, keep em comin.

Ah, I love it when a plan comes together.  Looking good Ken.

Looking really nice.

Looking good dude. I can't wait to see the finished product.

Bee-yoo-tee-ful. I really like the racing stripe. That is going to be one fine box.

Just curious ... Have you ever tried to do a half-miter / half butt end? There's an actual name for the joint but don't recall off the top o me head. It's where the inside half of the joint is butt ended and the outside exposed half is mitered.

Looking good Ken! Really liking this thread!!!

That's looking great!.

Very nice Ken, very nice.

Great job Ken!!!! Quality is in the details and you sure have a good eye for it!

You're combining my two favorite hobbies...woodworking and cigars. Great work and awesome tutorial.

Like the look, very classy, Keep the updates and pics coming...